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NEWBURY CHESS CLUB |
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NewsIn the past the Club has published an occasional newsletter - see below for details of past issues. This page now gives general news updates. A Different Challenge (Summer / Autumn 2016)Just after Easter 2016 we were given notice to vacate our premises for 28 years, Mary Hare Grammar School. This resulted in a search for a suitable venue, eaily accessible from the Newbury area, but also for visitors from further afield (eading, Bourne End, Camberley etc). It proved quite difficult in that we are a smll club with limited budget and many potential venues (mostly village halls) were either booked, only had larger more expensive rooms. Where there were smaller rooms we had to check that chess players would not be swamped by noise from the main hall (such as Big Band practice). After much searching we have decided to meet at Woolton Hill Church Hall. The room is smaller than we are used to, but it is easy to reach by visitors using the A34, and it is within our budget. We will learn by experience how suitable it is for serious chess players and what arrangement of tables works out best. 2015-16 Season: Consolidating Our PositionHaving won Division 2 in 2014-15 with a 100% record, it was never going to be easy for the A-team to hold onto its position in Division 1. It's a bit like football championship teams getting promoted and working hard to avoid relegation. After all the average grading for teams in Division 2 is around 130-140 whereas teams in Division 1 typically have average grades in excess of 160. So it is commendable that our A-team won 2 matches and drew one, finishing 7th out of 9, but escaping relegation. Division 3 saw tough competition, since both Camberley and Crowthorne had cut out one of their teams. This meant that their teams in Division 3 were mostly of Division 2 standard. So we were pleased to come in third place behind these two teams, with 6 wins and 3 draws from our 12 matches. The full results can be found on the relevant A-team and B-team pages. New Challenges (Autumn 2015)Our last season was a good one, in that we won the Berkshire League 2nd Division trophy with a 100% record (10 wins from 10 games). As a result the team has been promoted to Division 1 for 2015-16. To give other members more opportunities to play in league matches we have entered a new team 'Newbury B' which starts in Division 3, thus reverting to the situation of a few years ago when we also ran two teams. This season we welcome Andrew Adair and Travor Passby (both formerly of Reading) to our B-team. Unfortunately for reasons of moving away from the area we say goodbye to two regular players - Steve Morgan, a regular player since 2008, and Przemek Nowicki who has returned to Poland. Now that we have two teams, and have lost two players, we face the following challenges this coming season:
Welcome to Newcomers (Autumn 2014)Having decided back in August only to field one team in the Berkshire league, we have had several newcomers join us this season so could in fact have fielded two. When we previously had two teams the A-team was continually 'borrowing' players from the B-team, and the B-team - who were not allowed to use players from the A-team - sometimes played with less that their full complement. If numbers remain high, we shall probably field two teams next season. However, our championship gives players opportunities to play serious matches, and this year a record number (13) are participating. Anyway, a warm welcome to our newcomers and returners:
A warm welcome to all, and we look forward to some more interesting chess as we move forward. Newsletter - June 2008In this edition:
You can download the newsletter here (MS Word format - 2 pages; opens in a new window) Newsletter - Dec 2007
You can download the newsletter here (PDF - 2 pages; opens in a new window) This page last updated 10th August 2016 |
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