I’m very sorry to have to report that Maurice Bell died a few days ago. For very many years Maurice was one of the mainstays of Durham County Chess, playing regularly for the county team, participating in meetings and officiating at local congresses. Originally a member at Chester-le-Street, when the club folded he (along with his great friend Roger Simpson) joined Durham City, for whom he played team chess until illness intervened a couple of years ago.
Another former Chester-le-Street member, Tom Reynolds, recalls:
Maurice was a very good fast bowler for Kibblesworth and had a bit of a reputation for being a rather aggressive character on the pitch.Over the chess board he had a never-say-die attitude and I lost count of the number of swindles he managed to pull off from seemingly hopeless positions. He was never afraid to speak his mind, which occasionally upset some people, but essentially he was a very amiable character who loved a good chat over a few beers.
Maurice’s son Keith has said that the family would like to present something – a donation, sponsorship or a cup. This would be a fine way of remembering Maurice, who did so much for chess in County Durham.
Keith has also supplied this wonderful photo of Maurice – in the white sweater with Roger Simpson on his right – playing in a simultaneous display by the legendary Viktor Korchnoi in 1972.
A longer version of this tribute, with a few anecdotes, will be published on the Durham City Chess Club website.
Bryan Bainbridge reports on how the club is managing during the lockdown:
Since the first lockdown all the Bishop Auckland Chess Club players have played every Monday and when available Tuesday nights.
We are still playing the club championship on Monday nights then afterwards we have a Zoom meeting to go through games.
On Tuesday nights we either play in the 4NCL or the North East League then afterwards we have a Zoom meeting to go through games.
We have six new members, so everything is going well for the club. The hospital club have confirmed that we will be welcomed back once the situation allows.
Anyone interested in joining the club can contact Bryan: bryanbainbridge@gmail.com
This is just to advise you that after conversation with the Mercure today we have agreed that the 2021 Durham Congress cannot go ahead this year. May is too soon for confidence to have been restored in public gatherings of this kind. And what lies ahead is too unpredictable to try and reschedule later in the year. One of my initial goals was to stake out our weekend so people knew what and when and I believe our best course is to stick to that.
What I will be doing however is scheduling an event at the Darlington Mercure to celebrate Northumberland (supported by a host of Durham based players) winning the 2020 ECF Online County Championship. I have in mind a 2 round Durham v Northumberland OTB match, with time rates as per the online event (60m, 15s increments), evenly matched teams with players having a White and Black against each other, small buffet and presentation of the winner’s trophy. This will happen when/if the lockdown situation and all things Covid change to the point where we can sensibly go ahead – and the respective NCA and Durham Execs will be party to that decision.
I have a couple of questions outstanding with respect to the Northumberland weekend 23 – 25 September. These are simply around costs, capacity and contingency options. When I have answers I will post you again. For now I am working on the premise it will happen.
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.
