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Events

Points & Prizes at 2022 Hamilton Open

The 2022 Hamilton Open provided a welcome boost to classical chess in Scotland, as the first national over-the-board tournament of its kind since the start of the pandemic. 

Hamilton Chess Club’s well-organised event brought together 50 players, from talented ungraded juniors to experienced International Masters, to compete in a single open section in Bothwell Bowling Club on the weekend of 2/3 April. The format was a five-round Swiss pairings at a time control of 75+0.

Govanhill were represented by two players, Alex Radevic and Derek Rankine, pictured above with Zizheng ‘Friend of Govanhill’ Liu of Strathclyde University (l-r: Alex, Zizheng, Derek).

Derek and Zizheng both achieved a score of 2.5/5, and were pleased to share the best ungraded player prize. 1359-rated Alex went even better, scoring 3/5 and narrowly missing out on the award for the best u-1500 player. 

In round three, Zizheng faced 2400+ International Master Andrew Greet on board one. IM Greet went on to win the tournament with a perfect 5/5.

The full results have been published by Chess Scotland.

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Events

Nat. League & Friendly Results

Scottish National Online Chess League R4

Govanhill won their first game in the final round of the Scottish National Online Chess League, a 3-2 victory against Lenzie 2.

The games were played at the 25+10 rapid time control on chess.com, with the scores as follows:

BoardGovanhillScoreLenzie 2
1Faidon Filipsson (w)1-0Angelo Lynn (b)
2Julien Papillon (b)1-0Chrysa Mitraka (w)
3Derek Rankine (w)0-1Humam Al Dakl Alla (b)
4Jass McNeill (b)0-1Yashwardhan Shankar (w)
5Niall McCamley (w)1-0Tavish Railwani (b)

On the back of a run of defeats, the result unfortunately wasn’t enough to prevent Govanhill finishing bottom of Division Four. Congratulations to Division winners East Kilbride, who achieved promotion.

The fixtures and standings are available on the league website.

Home Leg: Friendly vs Bearsden

Govanhill suffered a 6-2 defeat at home to Bearsden on 29 March, in the latest of our series of graded friendlies.

While the away leg on 1 March saw Govanhill take a narrow win, Bearsden took revenge with wins on five of the eight boards. James Todd scored Govanhill’s only win on board six, while Rhys (board two) and Giuseppe (board five) achieved draws.

The full results are available on the Chess Scotland website.

Away Leg: Friendly vs Strathclyde

The club also scored a 3.5-1.5 defeat away to Strathclyde University, in a game played on 4 April (pictured above is board three, Zizheng-Harvey).

Rhys, Derek and Harvey lost to strong opponents on boards 1-3, while Giuseppe drew on board four, and Alex Lane, in his first game for the club, scored a win on board five.

Credit to our opponents for winning home and away, following a first leg on 28 February. The results have been published by Chess Scotland.

Categories
Club Championship

Club Championship – Round 4 Draw – Mon 11 April

Background

Govanhill’s five-round Club Championship moved past the halfway point in March.

Rhys (pictured above, right) is leading the way by half a point after emerging victorious in a top-of-the-table battle with Aidan in round three.

The Swiss format tournament will conclude with round four in April and the final round in May. The results, standings and round four draw follow.

Individual results and overall standings are also available on the Chess Scotland website.

Round 3 Results

  1. Aidan Doye 0 – 1 Rhys McCrosson
  2. Harvey Dellanzo 1 – 0 Alex Radevic
  3. Derek Rankine 1 – 0 Julien Papillon
  4. Ethan Small 1 – 0 Niall McCamley
  5. Graeme McKinnon 1 – 0 Peter Mark
  6. Libor Masar 1 – 0 Jonny Stark (default win)
  7. Jass McNeill 1 – 0 Jegan N’Dow
  8. James Todd 1 – 0 James Higgins (default win)

Standings After Round 3

PositionNamePointsSBgr*Rating
1Rhys McCrosson360
2Derek Rankine2.52.750
3Harvey Dellanzo22.51338
4Ethan Small22.50
5Aidan Doye21.50
6Graeme McKinnon21.50
7Alex Radevic1.52.251359
8Libor Masar1.51.250
9Julien Papillon111202
10Jass McNeill110
11Niall McCamley110
12James Todd10.50
13Peter Mark0.50.50
14Giuseppe Bosco001416
15Jegan N’Dow000
16Alex Lane000
17Harry Thomson000
18Angus Gillies000
19James Higgins000
20Jonny Stark000
* The Sonneborn-Berger score is used to determine placings in the event of tied scores.

Round 4 Draw

Designated date: Monday 11 April, 7:45pm

  1. Rhys McCrosson (w) vs Derek Rankine (b)
  2. Graeme McKinnon (w) vs Harvey Dellanzo (b)
  3. Ethan Small (w) vs Aidan Doye (b)
  4. Alex Radevic (w) vs Libor Masar (b)
  5. Julien Papillon (w) vs Jass McNeill (b)
  6. Niall McCamley (w) vs James Todd (b)
  7. Alex Lane (w) vs Giuseppe Bosco (b)
  8. Jegan N’Dow (w) vs Peter Mark (b)
  9. Harry Thomson (w) vs Angus Gillies (b)

For any questions about the Club Championship, please contact secretary@queensparkchessclub.com.

Categories
Events

Strong Performances vs GM Jacob Aagaard

This month, we joined our friends in Bearsden Chess Club for a special joint simultaneous exhibition with the renowned Danish GM Jacob Aagaard.

Govanhill took nine players to the event, including two friends from the Strathclyde University team, all pictured above with GM Aagaard. The venue was Bearsden’s home in Cairns Church in Milngavie.

Prizes were awarded to Govanhill’s Derek Rankine and Strathclyde’s Zizheng Liu, who both achieved strong positions and were rewarded with a draw. In addition, Govanhill’s Harvey Dellanzo was praised for his dynamic, enterprising play, and several Govanhill players were among the final games to conclude, in a strong field of almost 30 players.  

Our sincere thanks to GM Aagaard for the opportunity, and to Rob Colston and Mel Burt of Bearsden Chess Club for their efforts in a highly well-organised, welcoming and enjoyable event.

An event report is available on the Bearsden Chess Club website.

Categories
Events

Results vs Strathclyde Uni, Bearsden

Chess Scotland have published results from two recent friendly matches with other clubs.

On 21 February, Govanhill hosted a team of four from Strathclyde University Chess Society. In a close battle with some prolonged endgames, the visitors won 2.5 to 1.5. The second leg will take place at the University on Monday 4 April.

On 1 March, Govanhill took a team of nine to Bearsden Chess Club. With the teams closely matched in rating strength, this was also a highly competitive fixture, which Govanhill edged out 5-4. A return match will take place in Govanhill on Monday 28 March.

Click on the links below for a breakdown of the results:

Results – Govanhill vs Strathclyde Uni

Results – Bearsden vs Govanhill

Our thanks to Strathclyde University and Bearsden. In both friendlies, most of the participants were ungraded and relatively new to competitive chess, indicating the healthy growth of chess in Glasgow.

Photo: ‘Your Own Worst Enemy’ by Garen M. is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

Categories
Events

Teams for Bearsden Friendly & SNOCL R3

It’s another busy period for Govanhill Chess Club, with three team events taking place over late February to mid-March 2022, plus a group coaching session with AGM Nicolas Skettos (Mon 7 Mar), and the third round of the Club Championship (Mon 14 March).

Govanhill’s line-up for upcoming events follow.

Scottish National Online Chess League – 20 Feb

In the third round of SNOCL Division Four, Govanhill will be facing East Kilbride.

Govanhill’s line-up for the games, which will be played on chess.com at the 25+10 time control at 2pm on Sun 20 Feb, is as follows:

  1. Faidon Filipsson (black)
  2. Rhys McCrosson (white)
  3. Graeme McKinnon (black)
  4. Alex Radevic (white)
  5. Harvey Dellanzo (black)

Results and standings will be published on the Scottish Online Chess Organisation website.

Friendly: Bearsden vs Govanhill – 1 Mar

Following our home-and-away eight board friendly with Bearsden Chess Club last year, both clubs have agreed to a rematch.

The first leg takes place in Cairns Church, Milngavie on the evening of Tue 1 March, with a 60+0 time control. The teams are as follows (Govanhill players highlighted in bold):

  1. Robert Dunn (white) vs Rhys McCrosson (black)
  2. Graeme McKinnon (white) vs Peter MacDonald (black)
  3. Christopher Nield (white) vs Julien Papillon (black)
  4. Ethan Small (white) vs Dominic Quinn (black)
  5. Chris Cotton (white) vs Alex Radevic (black)
  6. Derek Rankine (white) vs Callum McCue (black)
  7. Dominik Jargielo (white) vs Jegan N’Dow (black)
  8. Libor Masar (white) vs Andrew MacLellan (black)
  9. Mel Burt (white) vs James Todd (black)

This will be followed by a home leg at the end of March. All games will be graded by Chess Scotland.

Derek Rankine, Secretary, is the contact for any questions around these events: secretary@queensparkchessclub.com

Categories
Events

Scottish National Online Chess League: R1, R2 Teams

Overview

Govanhill’s first foray into national competition starts this weekend with two matches in Division Four of the Scottish National Online Chess League, or SNOCL.

SNOCL was created by the Scottish Online Chess Organisation in 2021 to provide a new channel for inter-club competition while over-the-board leagues are suspended.

The second iteration of SNOCL takes place over January to March 2022, with Govanhill being one of 18 clubs around Scotland taking part. All matches will be played on chess.com at the rapid time control of 25+10.

Selection

Govanhill’s teams for rounds one and two are:

SNOCL Division Four

Round 1 – East Kilbride vs Govanhill (11am, Sun 30 Jan)

  • Board 1: Graeme McKinnon [white]
  • Board 2: Harvey Dellanzo [black]
  • Board 3: Derek Rankine (captain) [white]
  • Board 4: Niall McCamley [black]
  • Board 5: Jass McNeill [white]

Round 2 – Govanhill vs Lenzie 2 (2pm, Sun 30 Jan)

  • Board 1: Rhys McCrosson [black]
  • Board 2: Harvey Dellanzo [white]
  • Board 3: Julien Papillon (captain) [black]
  • Board 4: Jonny Stark [white]
  • Board 5: Libor Masar [black]

Results

Results and league standings will be made available on the Scottish Online Chess Organisation Website.

All individual games will also be graded and published by Chess Scotland.

Categories
Club Championship

Club Championship – Round 1 Draw – Mon 17 Jan

Background

Govanhill Chess Club’s inaugural Club Championship will take place over the first half of 2022.

The tournament will be played over five rounds in a Swiss format (following the premise of “winners play winners” after the first round) at the 60+0 time control.

A prize will be awarded to the winner and all results will be submitted to Chess Scotland for grading.

Timescale

The designated dates for each round are:

  • Round 1: Mon 17 January 2022 (6:45pm start time for all rounds)
  • Round 2: Mon 7 February 2022
  • Round 3: Mon 14 March 2022
  • Round 4: Mon 11 April 2022
  • Round 5: Tue 10 May 2022

Round One

The draw for round one is as follows (white pieces named first):

  • Board 1: Jass McNeill (0) vs Alex Radevic (1359)
  • Board 2: Harvey Dellanzo (1338) vs Jonny Stark (0)
  • Board 3: Libor Masar (0) vs Julien Papillon (1202)
  • Board 4: Derek Rankine (0) vs Niall McCamley (0)
  • Board 5: Rhys McCrosson (0) vs Graeme McKinnon (0)
  • Board 6: Aidan Doye (0) vs Peter Mark (0)

The website will be updated with results, standings and future draws as the tournament progresses.

For any queries, please contact secretary@queensparkchessclub.com.