Snodland Chess Club organised the inaugural Kent Blitz Chess Championship, which proved to be a great success.
The event was won by FM Martin Taylor of Rainham Chess Club with an extremely impressive 8.5/9. In second place was Ian Watson of Maidstone, Andrew Mayhew of Medway was third and the top placed Snodland player was Ben Spink in fourth place.
We hope to run the event again in the future. More details can be obtained from David Lettington at david_lettington@hotmail.com
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Great start to 2010
Snodland have had a great start to 2010 with 8 straight match wins against other Kent clubs. Some excellent performances have seen the club move into contention for the Harvey Cup, Tom Fuller Cup and Intro Cup competitions.
After a terrible start to the Stevenson Cup campaign, the team have now recorded 3 straight wins to move to 50% for the season, which is a superb comeback. Congratulations to team captain Tyrone Jefferies and the rest of the squad.
We have also progressed to the Semi-Final of the National Club Championship Minor competition with a 2.5-1.5 win over Basingstoke.
After a terrible start to the Stevenson Cup campaign, the team have now recorded 3 straight wins to move to 50% for the season, which is a superb comeback. Congratulations to team captain Tyrone Jefferies and the rest of the squad.
We have also progressed to the Semi-Final of the National Club Championship Minor competition with a 2.5-1.5 win over Basingstoke.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Four matches and a wedding
November has thrown up some interesting results for Snodland, and Snodland players representing Kent.
The first Tom Fuller match of the season, away to Maidstone, produced some very exciting games with the points all going with the white pieces. Snodland went 2-0 up in under half an hour, with strong attacks developing from 1. d4 openings by Pete Hickey and Matt Gazes. Unfortunately, the Maidstone contingent produced two fine attacking displays on boards two and four, tying the match after Neil Miners and Nick Allen both fell to strong kingside play.
Snodland was well represented in the first county games for the U100 and U140 Kent teams, playing Essex away. Strong performances in the U140 division saw Kent come away with an overwhelming victory, overseen by Tyrone Jeffries, captaining on behalf of David Lettington. Both of the Snodland players in the U100 division won their games, however the disappointingly large number of byes conceded by Kent contributed to overall defeat.
Snodland hosted an extremely strong Maidstone side in the Stevenson cup. The loss of several key Snodland players to illness lead to the team being heavily outgraded, and under the circumstances the scoreline of 4.5-1.5 was to be expected. Congratulations to Ben Spink for the sole win for Snodland, and to Nick Allen for a gruelling draw against a higher rated opponent.
Away to Rainham in the En Passant cup, wins by Pete Hickey, Ben ("Mr. Reliable") Spink and David Fowler were enough to tie the match 3-3 on the boards. In an unusual turnup for the books, Rainham had turned out with an overgraded team (average grade ~ 142 compared to a 140 limit) - the half point deduction was enough to give the win to Snodland, 2.5-3!
In other Snodland Chess Club news, congratulations and best wishes to David Lettington and Ruth for their marriage on 25th October.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
A busy start to the new season!
In the few weeks since the start of the season, there has been a lot going on at Snodland.
A team composed of Ben Spink, Matt Bunn, David Nicholls and David Lettington took on some very strong competetion in the National Handicap Rapidplay competiton. Despite being heavily outgraded by some of the teams participating, the team placed as runners up, with an excellent set of results by Ben being particularly encouraging for the coming season.
The first match of the season for the club itself was the Len Hammond Memorial Shield. This friendly match will be held annually between Snodland and Maidstone in the future as a memorial for a greatly missed member of both clubs. Snodland were beaten 5-2, however the match was played in great spirit with fine chess across the boards.
In the two league matches played so far this season, Snodland have given a good account of themselves. A 2.5 - 3.5 defeat in the first Stevenson Cup game played by Snodland, at home to Folkestone, was a fine result by a heavily outgunned Snodland. Wins by Pete Hickey and Ben Spink put the game in the balance, but after some very long and hard fought games on boards two to five, only David Myles was able to hold on for the draw. In the Harvey Cup, Snodland finished 3-3 against Thanet, in a mirror image of the fixture last season! At one win apiece, Tyrone Jeffries wove through a tricky middlegame to reach an excellent ending, however a very neat stalemate resource prevented Snodland from taking the match.
A team composed of Ben Spink, Matt Bunn, David Nicholls and David Lettington took on some very strong competetion in the National Handicap Rapidplay competiton. Despite being heavily outgraded by some of the teams participating, the team placed as runners up, with an excellent set of results by Ben being particularly encouraging for the coming season.
The first match of the season for the club itself was the Len Hammond Memorial Shield. This friendly match will be held annually between Snodland and Maidstone in the future as a memorial for a greatly missed member of both clubs. Snodland were beaten 5-2, however the match was played in great spirit with fine chess across the boards.
In the two league matches played so far this season, Snodland have given a good account of themselves. A 2.5 - 3.5 defeat in the first Stevenson Cup game played by Snodland, at home to Folkestone, was a fine result by a heavily outgunned Snodland. Wins by Pete Hickey and Ben Spink put the game in the balance, but after some very long and hard fought games on boards two to five, only David Myles was able to hold on for the draw. In the Harvey Cup, Snodland finished 3-3 against Thanet, in a mirror image of the fixture last season! At one win apiece, Tyrone Jeffries wove through a tricky middlegame to reach an excellent ending, however a very neat stalemate resource prevented Snodland from taking the match.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Snodland Win Again
Snodland Chess Club have once again won yet another final!!!
This time it was the National Club Minor Championships. The Journey of the tournament started with a tough Maidstone side in which Snodland won the game very tightly on board count! Our next opponents was a strong Rainham side in which Snodland overcame to reach the Semi-finals. Snodland then had to beat Wanstead with a slightly weaker side than normal but overcame all odds when on the day to sail us to the final...Again! On Sunday the 12th of July National Finals day came and we were up against another very strong Hackey team (who knocked us out in the semi-finals of the National Club u100 section thus preventing Snodland from retaining that title (as you can tell, a bit of revenge was of the essence)). The final score fell 2.5-1.5 to Snodland taking victory of the match and the championship to cap off another excellent season of the club. A big well done to the captain David Lettinton who did a fantastic job running the team/s. And also to Tyrone Jefferies whom although wasn't present at finals day stepped in and once again picked up valuable points for the club when it really mattered. So a big well done for those 2 and to the team itself who have all played very well. A deserved trophy!
An honours board will shortly be available to view
This time it was the National Club Minor Championships. The Journey of the tournament started with a tough Maidstone side in which Snodland won the game very tightly on board count! Our next opponents was a strong Rainham side in which Snodland overcame to reach the Semi-finals. Snodland then had to beat Wanstead with a slightly weaker side than normal but overcame all odds when on the day to sail us to the final...Again! On Sunday the 12th of July National Finals day came and we were up against another very strong Hackey team (who knocked us out in the semi-finals of the National Club u100 section thus preventing Snodland from retaining that title (as you can tell, a bit of revenge was of the essence)). The final score fell 2.5-1.5 to Snodland taking victory of the match and the championship to cap off another excellent season of the club. A big well done to the captain David Lettinton who did a fantastic job running the team/s. And also to Tyrone Jefferies whom although wasn't present at finals day stepped in and once again picked up valuable points for the club when it really mattered. So a big well done for those 2 and to the team itself who have all played very well. A deserved trophy!
An honours board will shortly be available to view
Len Hammond
Len Hammond very sadly passed away last week. Len was a very loyal member to both Snodland and Maidstone Chess Club. He had a great sense of humour when at the club, always played for fun and was a joy to be around. He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed.
Rest in Peace
Len Hammond
Neil Wins the B-League
Neil Miners has successfully won the B-League for the season 2008/09! Many congratulations to him on what has been a fine and successful season.
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