Durham County Chess

David Walker is organising an online competition on behalf of the Northumberland Chess Association. There are three sections:

• Open
• Under 2000 ECF rating
• Under 1700 ECF rating

Players must be current or former residents of Northumberland or Durham. They must also be ECF members at Supporter level or above.

The competition has 7 rounds, starting 24 October 2020 and finishing by 2 April 2021. Games will be played on lichess at a rate of 60 minutes per game plus a 15 second increment.

For more details, see this document:

https://northumberlandchess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NCA-Online-Rules-i1d1.pdf

For free entry, email championships@northumberlandchess.com with the following details. Closing date for entries is 23 October 2020.

• Player name
• ECF membership number
• Email address
• Telephone (optional)
• Lichess handle
• Section entered

Tim Wall has proposed a North East Online League.

Proposed North East Online League 2020

North Tyneside Council have advised that the congress cannot go ahead against the background of the latest North East lockdown measures. A great disappointment for the organiser Mick Riding after all his hard work.

In the online match on 5th September between the North of England and the South, the first such contest since 1894, the North, captained by Mick Riding, scored a convincing 62-45 win. Several Durham players took part, and the results, plus an online commentary by Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan, can be found on the ECF website:

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/the-online-north-v-south-challenge-2020/

This is going ahead over the weekend of 25-27 September, and has already attracted 39 entries. https://northumberlandchesscongress.webs.com/

From Mick Riding:

On September 5 we have the opportunity to take part in a historic rematch between North and South, the first since 1894.
To join just click on https://www.chess.com/club/ecf-north
For the background stuff go to https://www.englishchess.org.uk/online-north-v-south-challenge-2020/
The occasion is about participating. Of course it’s nice if you’re a 200+ ECF player, but us lesser mortals need not worry. The match will look to pair people up as closely as possible to their playing strength – so there’s room for all.
The only prerequisite is ECF membership. Be aware most expire end August. So if you haven’t renewed please do – or at least sign up as a Supporter (£10) which can later be upgraded to membership – and your £10 will counts towards membership.

With over-the-board chess unlikely to resume in the near future, for the coming season it is planned to arrange the DCCA League as an online event, with two divisions and teams of four. Details will be circulated early in September.

Northumberland are the winners of the first ever ECF Online County Championships! With the help of a few Durham-based players who have competed in the Northumberland League, they defeated Lincolnshire 8½-3½ in the final. Here is the link to the ECF website: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/online-counties-championships-2020-finals/

 

The League Secretary Bryan Bainbridge has put in hours of work calculating the results of the individual county championships. He has now circulated the following information to clubs.

Play in the Durham County Chess League has been suspended and it is clear that any outstanding matches in the current season will not now be played. This means that South Shields A have won Division A and South Shields B have won Division B.

The following tables will be used to decide the individual county championships. The winners of the four sections are:

Alan Sayers Trophy – David Walker

Robin Horner Trophy (under-165) – Ashwin Bhat

Terry Holmes Trophy (under-140) – Dave Patterson

William Bentley Trophy (under-120) – Liam Bellwood

Congratulations to all the winners!

Mick Riding, the Congress Directory, has just sent out the following post to players who had already sent in their entries:

Hi,

I have met with the Mercure Hotel today and agreed that the 2020 Durham Chess weekender has to be cancelled. Given the complexities of rescheduling this year and the importance of staking out ‘our weekend’ we now should look forward to May 7 – 9, 2021. I am awaiting a contract to sign but the venue is booked (-:

With respect to entry fees you can ask me to return or hold over for the 2021 congress. For return I will need your Account Name, Bank Sort Code and Account Number.

With respect to Mercure accommodation bookings please contact the hotel – h8911@accor.com or 01325380222 and they will organise your refund. Or you can change your booking date for next year.

Some of you may have pre-booked and paid for alternative accommodation on a non-refundable basis. The best advice I can offer is to try and change your booking date if your hotel plays hardball over a refund. And please share your experience with me to pass on to our chess colleagues, particularly if your refund request is successful.

In the coming weeks I will update the website, entry form etc to reflect the 2021 dates. Entry fees and prizes will remain the same. Just please God the government doesn’t mess around with Bank Holidays again! Thank you again for your support and believe me, I share your disappointment it has come to this.

Kindest regards – Mick