News from 2021-22 for Oxfordshire Chess

Oxfordshire Girls Chess Championship at Blenheim Palace

Entry is now open to the Oxfordshire Girls Chess Championship at 
Blenheim Palace on 2 to 3 August. See link below for online entry form 
and further details.

Championship             (2 and 3 August)

Eligibility: Any under 18* Oxfordshire girl with ECF Bronze membership 
or above.
Prizes: Trophy, title and prizes for winner plus additional age-group 
trophies and prizes TBC.

Playing Schedule: Six round Swiss. All moves in 50 minutes plus 10 
seconds increment per move. 
Round times: 
Tue  2 August:   	10:30   13:30   16:00	
Wed 3 August:	10:00   13:00   15:30   prize giving 18:00

* Date of Birth on or after 1st September 2003

Rapid Play Major             (2 August)

Eligibility: Any under 18* Oxfordshire girl with ECF Bronze membership 
or above.
Prizes: Trophies plus additional prizes TBC.

Playing Schedule: Six round Swiss. All moves in 15 minutes plus 10 
seconds increment per move. 
Round times:
10:30 11:30 12:30 13:30 14:30 15:30 Prize Giving 16:30

* Date of Birth on or after 1st September 2003

				

2022 Cowley Blitz

This year's Cowley Summer Blitz will be played online on Lichess on Monday 4th July at 7:30 p.m. It will consist of as many blitz games as you want to play between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. To play, you must have a Lichess account. You must also be a member of the Cowley Blitz Lichess team. If you aren't already a member, you can visit lichess.org/team/cowley-blitz and click the "Join" meeting. When the admins notice, they can then admit you. Please also email David.W.Robson@gmail.com and tell me the name of your Lichess account, and also your real name, so I know who is playing. Also if you would like to be considered for an age or gender related prize, please send me the details. As there are no admission fees, the awards are for the prestige only. Finally, if you are signed up, all you have to do is to visit the tournament link on the night at lichess.org/tournament/9CJSrxxc

2021-22 Prizes

Now the season has been completed, the following prizes have been awarded:

Arthur Mushens Trophy for the best percentage score in division 1 - Filip Mihov

Bernard C Wyatt Trophy for the best percentage score in division 2 - Kenneth Hobson

David Del Nevo Trophy for the best percentage score in division 3 - Andrew Hudson

Lester Millan Trophy for the best percentage score by a junior in any single division - Kenneth Hobson

Ray Starkie Best Game Prize for the best game played in the ODCL or an Oxfordshire County Match - Nigel Moyse

Ray Starkie Best Game Prize

Did you mark the return to over the board chess with your own brilliancy? If so please consider submitting your game from either the ODCL, Frank Wood Shield or Oxfordshire county match for the Ray Starkie Best Game Prize!

Entries can be made by submitting games to me (james.lawrence.cole@gmail.com) to be passed on to Matt Rose, who has kindly agreed to judge again this year, and will initially close on 7th May with a final deadline of midnight 14th May for games played after the initial deadline. EDIT: No entries were received by 7th May and so the deadline for all entries has been extended to midnight 14th May - perhaps one of those games you played is more brilliant than you thought!

Oxfordshire County Chess

Here is a belated match report for the Berkshire v Oxford match held on 
2nd April. 
As I developed a bad cold/cough I asked Nigel Moyse to take over the 
captainship, but unfortunately he developed Covid so I asked Ray Corden 
to take over. 

After all the trials and tribulations Oxford managed to win the final 
match against Berkshire by the narrowest of margins - 8.5:7.5

There looked to be some good results in there, so well done.

We had a couple of defaults, Richard Beckett broke down on the way there 
and Tamal Matilal didn't make it.

Thanks to all who played and to Ray for acting as captain.

As it stands, this result means we win the League. However, the match 
Bucks v Hants never took place - I'm not sure why and it doesn't look 
like they're going to reschedule it.

If they did and Hants won it would put them level on points but they 
would have to win with a 6 point margin to level the game point 
difference.


				

Teaching chess in Oxfordshire schools with CSC

The charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) is currently recruiting new tutors to teach chess to school children in the Oxford area. There has been a significant amount of interest from local schools in our classroom teaching in primary schools and in after school chess clubs recently and we expect this to expand further again next academic year.

You do not have to be a brilliant chess player as most of the lessons are at beginner level. If you enjoy teaching, have some knowledge of chess and are interested in committing to some hours in the afternoon on one or more days each week during school term time, we would be very interested to hear from you. Please take a look at the CSC website for further information about the charity and fill in the application form if you would like to apply.

There is a one-day initial training day in Yarnton on Friday 29 April. If you would like to know a bit more about what is involved in the training and other requirements, how the lessons themselves work, remittance and such like please also feel free to contact me (see contact pages).

Andrew Varney
Regional Organiser (Oxfordshire)
Chess in Schools and Communities

Oxfordshire's Winning Streak Ends

Oxfordshire's run of wins came to an end on Saturday (5th March) when we 
were beaten by Hampshire 11.5:8.5. 
We were without some of our stronger players which put us at a 
disadvantage plus a we had default due to ill-health.
However, it was a close fought match and it could have gone either way.
Even so, we still stay top of the division with 2 points more than 
Hampshire and Berkshire, although Berkshire could draw level if they beat 
Buckinghamshire this coming Saturday.
Our last match is on April 2nd, away to Berkshire, so I would like to  
field as strong a side as possible.
If you are available and would like to play then let me know.
				

Oxfordshire Junior Chess Championships 2021-2022

The championships were held over the weekend of 8th / 9th January 2022 
at Cumnor C of E Primary School.  

The 2021-2022 Oxfordshire Junior Chess Champions are: 

Under 18	Alex Hertog, Kenneth Hobson, Dimitrios Zakarian
Under 15	Alex Hertog, Kenneth Hobson, Dimitrios Zakarian
Under 13	Alex Hertog, Kenneth Hobson
Under 11	Jan Murawski
Under 9	        Aden Kennedy 

Congratulations to the champions and to those who have subsequently been 
selected to represent Oxfordshire Juniors in the forthcoming EPSCA 
(English Primary Schools Chess Association) U9 and U11 competitions. 

Full results (cross-tables) can be found by following the links below.
A schools competition is also run as part of the tournament.  Subject to 
not being allowed to win the prize two occasions in a row, the top-
scoring schools (top scores from top 4 individuals count) in primary and 
secondary sections are awarded an engraved chess clock.  The top schools 
this year were: 

Position	Primary School	 Points
1st	        St Joseph's*	 15.5
2nd	        MCS	         15 (prize winner)
3rd	        OHS        	 12.5


Position	Secondary School     Points
1st	        MCS	             15.5 (prize winner)
2nd	        Cheney	             14
3rd	        Cherwell* / OHS	     8
* 2020 prize winner

Thank you to the organisers, arbiters and Cumnor Primary School for 
enabling the tournament to happen after an absence the previous year due 
to covid-19.  Thank you to all players for participating and parents for 
supporting. 

Under 9 

Under 11 

Under 13/15/18 


				

Oxfordshire win again

Oxford scored a rather flattering 12-5 win over Bekshire this afternoon.
The teams were evenly matched apart from the bottom 3 boards where they 
outgraded us. Oxfordshire started well with 2 quick wins and 2 draws 
which gave us a 2 point lead which we never lost. 
Follow the Chiltern link to see the full results.
A succession of draws followed, then gradually Oxford drew ahead. 
All the matches were closely fought - at least the ones I saw.
Thanks to all who played, I hope you had an enjoyable game.
Especial thanks to those who helped set up and pack up at the end.
The next match is on February 5th against Bucks. We were hammered by 
them in our first match, so a win wold be nice. 
If you are available and would like to play then let me know,
if you haven't already done so.
				

Ojays wins in Junior 4NCL

Oxfordshire Junior teams recently won both the 4th season online Junior 4NCL in Division 1 and the Over the Board weekend in September.

Out of all 4 divisions, Oxfordshire fielded 6 teams out of the more 150 taking part. Division 1 of the online competition consisted of 32 teams in 4 groups.
Ojays A beat Ojays B by 5.5-2.5 at the semi-final stage and went on to win the final by the same score.

Ojays A also won convincingly in Division 1 when J4NCL returned to OTB in September: J4NCL Division 1 Weekend 1

Oxford County Team win against Hants

Oxford won a decisive victory against Hants yesterday (11th) by 8.5:6.5.
The sides were fairly evenly matched although they outgraded us on the 
top 6 boards. The match was very hard fought and the result  was in the 
balance up to the last two games. We had 6 wins and 5 draws. The full 
results are in the Chiltern section of this website.

Despite the COVID restrictions I think everyone had an enjoyable 
afternoon's chess.
Thanks to everone who played, it was a great team effort. Special thanks 
to Ian Bush for his help.
Our next match is a home match on the 8th January against Berks, so if 
you're available and would like to play please let me know 
(stephen.rumsby@maidford.plus.com) 
				

2021-2022 Frank Wood Shield

The Frank Wood Shield draw was completed over zoom this evening and the fixtures are now shown on the competitions page, with first round ties to be played by 3 Feb 2022.

Starred Players

Each team that is required to do so has now declared their three starred players for the season. Please find the list of these players below:

Division 1:

• Cumnor 1: Stuart Macqueen, Nigel Moyse, Mark Sayers
• Cowley 1: Mike Handley, Will Burt, James Cole
• Witney 1: Mike Truran, Dave Hackett, Francis Parker
• Didcot 1: Joseph Conlon, Andrej Olehnovics, Nick Gough
• University 1: Max French, Tom O'Gorman, Filip Mihov
• City 1: Jon Manley, Stuart White, Arya Cont

• City 2: Pawel Murawski, Tim King, Peter McLeod
• Cowley 2: Kenneth Hobson, James Shapland, David Robson
• Witney 2: Alan Gentry, Derek Edwards, Ian Gilders
• Wantage 1: Andy Robbings, John Carter, Peter Dove
• University 2: Callum Smith, Lilya Stewart, Tobia Beccari

---

British Junior Champions 2021-22

The recent in-person British Junior Championships has seen Oxfordshire Juniors take titles in two sections:
Jan Murawski - British Under 10 champion;
Kenneth Hobson - British Under 12 champion.

Oxfordshire Juniors came close in both the Under 16 and Under 14 sections as well, with Adam Sieczowski as runner-up in the former and Dimitrios Zakarian in fourth place in the latter. Congratulations to all for excellent performances.

ODCL Fixtures for 2021-22 have been amended

Please take a look at the fixtures list - last updated 30/9/21

Covid-19 Precautions

As advised in a recent email to clubs, we are collecting and publishing any conditions required at home venues.

• Abingdon School tba
• Banbury Social distancing is to be practiced as far as possible, with specific one-way systems marked and the taking of turns to use confined spaces eg. the toilets. Please use the hand sanitiser provided upon entry and after touching face, nose or eyes. If a participant, or anyone within their household, has COVID-19 symptoms they should not enter the venue. Should a participant develop COVID-19 symptoms within 7 days of the match, they should please alert both the hall's Bookings Manager on 01235 253329 and the organiser of the match.
• Bicester (withdrawn from ODCL for 2021-22)
• Cowley Players who are able to wear face coverings are strongly urged to do so. If there are players who will not be wearing a face covering in a match, their captain is asked to inform the opposing captain in advance. Spectating is not permitted at matches, except by the captains acting in their official capacity. Visitors are to sanitise hands upon arrival. Visitors are invited to provide contact information for the club's Track and Trace system, which is optional.
• Cumnor Sanitiser available for all. If an opponent prefers you to wear a mask then politely do so.
• Didcot All players and others attending the chess club are asked to use the hand gel provided when entering or re-entering the club room (i.e. upstairs at the Marlborough Club).
• Oxford Brookes tba
• Oxford City Only 1 home league match played per evening with open windows for ventilation. Hand gel and cleaning spray will be provided. Individuals should not attend if they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Other measures (eg. masks) are at the discretion of the participant.
• University of Oxford: There are no mandatory requirements but mask wearing by participants is encouraged.
• Wantage Participants are expected to have accepted COVID-19 vaccinations available to them. Participants should sanitise their hands upon arrival and whenever changing to a different chess set. Participants are also strongly encouraged to wear face masks and respect social distancing.
• Witney Participants are kindly requested to wear masks in the playing area and also sanitise their hands whenever they enter the playing area.

Updated Guidance for Clubs and Captains

With many thanks to Gerard O'Reilly, the latest version of the OCA's guidance for clubs and team captains has now been published. The Guidance has been simplified following the Rule changes agreed at the 2021 AGM, particularly incremental time limits, and now includes an appendix on COVID-19 precautions.

It's worth printing this out and having it available on match nights, along with a copy of the updated Rules.

Updated ODCL Rules

The AGM held on 16 Sep 2021 agreed several amendments to the League Rules. There are a few 'tidying-up' changes resulting from the ECF's move to 4-digit ratings and to monthly publcation of rating lists. The following changes are more substantial:

• three divisions
• incremental time limits for all divisions
• numerical limits on grading differences when setting board order
• for 2021-22 only, the number of starred players is reduced from four to three
• for 2021-22 only, Rule 2.4.1 is suspended. Unstarred players may play unlimited times for higher teams without affecting eligibility to play for lower teams.

ODCL Fixtures for 2021-22 released

Please spread the news far and wide: The fixtures for 2021-22 have been released - Please let me know if there are any issues.

The three league divisions have also been set up, but can I please urge all club and team captains to check and update the information contained on the site.

OCA Guidance for OTB Play During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The OCA committee has been asked if it can provide guidance to clubs on what measures should be taken to mitigate the risk of COVID when over the board chess is restarted this season. Please see the link below for an initial draft of this guidance which will be discussed at the AGM on Thursday 16th Sept.

Note the only requirement we have placed on the clubs is to keep the OCA informed of any COVID mitigation steps in place at their venue so visiting teams can know what to expect; the committee strongly believes each club will have its own unique set of circumstances, and so is the best organisation to identify appropriate steps to reduce risk at their venue. That said we have provided a number of what we hope are useful and practical recommendations.