The Chess Club is open from 6pm-10pm on Monday's & Wednesday's from September through to the 22nd May 2019.
Closed at Christmas from 19th-31st December inclusive.
Notice: Our new website came under hacker attack http://plymouthchess.uk so have had to return here temporarily. We hope to resume as before soon.
The Chess Club is open Mondays & Wednesdays 6pm-10pm.
Wednesday 25th October 2017 is the first of our Chess Social Evenings when we feature a Fischer random competion. Scheduled start time is 6.45pm so please arrive early.
David Twine wins the Annual Plymouth Rapidplay outright. Full results and the final crosstable can be viewed on the UTU Swiss Results service. Just type 'results.utuswiss.co.uk' into Google search engine.
Superb performance by Club Champion Neil Crickmore in the Annual Simul.
Neil played 15 opponents simultaneously, winning 11, drawing 2 and losing 2. He played very quickly and all games were finished by 7.40pm, which is a record finishing time compared with previous Simuls. Graham Mill-Wilson and Gary Behan recorded the two wins with Andy Proudfoot and Andy Wright recording the draws. All in all a superb performance by the Club Champion. Well done Neil.
Neil Crickmore completes the double and is the Club Champion for 2016/17 with an impressive 100% record.
Ron Bruce league-Neil Crickmore, Bloodworth league-Brian Medhurst, Larry Guard league-Paul Wood, Strong KO-Neil Crickmore, Challenge trophy-Adam Hart-Davis.
Richard Pollock is Runner-up in the Ron Bruce league where the Club wishes Nick Hodge every success as he leaves for University. Adam Hart-Davis is Runner-up in the Bloodworth league which, following games played on the 22 May, again remains the most competitive competion with no less than 8 of the 12 players separated by just half a point. Andy Proudfoot is Runner-up in the Larry Guard league just half a point in front of Derek Scantlebury. Nick Butland reaches the Strong final.
An incredible fight back from West Devon saw them retain the Devon County Chess Association Inter-area Jamboree Trophy at the Plymouth Chess Club.
The West were 1-3 down after the first four games and 3-5 down after eight games. South Devon needed just a win and a draw from the last four games to win whereas the West needed 3 wins and a draw. A pretty tall order, but the West Devon team staged an incredible turnaround as firstly Martin Quinn won to put them only a point behind at 4-5, the closest they had been to the South in the match. Rob Wilby then won to level the match at 5-5. Game on then as the players crowded around the remaining two boards. Phil McConnell's win over Norman Tidy put the West in front for the first time and the outcome was now in the hands of Clifford Peach on bottom board. A draw would be sufficent but Clifford duly delivered a win over Mike Hussey and the West retained the trophy they had won at Exmouth last year.1. (S) Alan Brusey ½-½ (W) Stephen Levy 2.(W) David Twine 1-0 (S) Matthew Wilson 3.(S) Vignesh Rames 1-0 (W) Nick Butland 4.(W) Martin Quinn 1-0 (S) Charlie Howard 5.(S)John Allen 0-1 (W)Michael Stinton-Brownbridge 6.(W) Adam Hart-Davis 0-1 (S) Joshua Blackmore 7.(S) John Ariss 0-1 (W) Rob Wilby 8. (W) Phil McConnell 1-0 (S) Norman Tidy 9.(S) Benjamin Sturt ½-½ (W) Geoff Banks 10.(W) John Dean 0-1 Nandaja Narayanan 11.(S) Mark Cockerton 1-0 (W) Alan Crickmore 12.(W) Clifford Peach 1-0 (S) Michael Hussey West Devon have now won the Inter-Area Jamboree for the last 4 years including notable wins at Exmouth (2016) and Exeter (2015). Disappointingly East and North Devon failed yet again to raise teams to travel to Plymouth and for the last 3 occasions that Plymouth have hosted the tournament it has been a two team event between the West and South.
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Nightmare Journey !
What should have been a 1 hour journey for the Plymouth team travelling to Teignmouth for their Division 3 match turned out to be a frustratingly long journey lasting just over 2 1/2 hours in total. Following the discovery of phosphorous grenades during the roadworks at Derriford the roads became totally gridlocked as the A386 was closed in both directions. With 3 of the team living in Derriford, Southway and Crownhill it took them almost and hour and half to meet up and get out of gridlocked Plymouth. A phone call to our opponents to advise of the long delay was made and off we went. Our thanks to our hosts for their patience as we eventually rolled in 15 minutes after the start time.
A good turnout at the Plymouth Chess Club before the Christmas break saw Neil Crickmore win the Annual Christmas Rapidplay with 5½/6.
Humprey Andolo finished 2nd with 5/6. Adam Hart-Davis, Nicholas Hodge, Megan O'Brien, Plamen Sivrev, Mick Stinton-Brownbridge & Robert Wilby all joint 3rd with 4/6. 21 players participated in the event which was followed by the Annual Christmas Raffle.
The Club is now closed for Christmas and will re-open on Wednesday 4th January 2017.
* * * * * * MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR * * * * * *
Strong KO 1st Round draw
Ben Raspison v Megan O'Brien, Gary Behan 1-0 Phil Lochhead, Clifford Peach v Humphrey Andolo, Andrew Wright ½-½ 0-1 Tony Tatam, Warren Parkinson v Nick Buckland, John Dean 1-0 Paul Green, John Stephens (Bye), Brian Medhurst (Bye), John James (Bye), Derek Scantlebury 0-1 Richard Pollock, Rob Wilby 1-0 Adam Hart-Davis, Martin Quinn w/d Nick Hodge, Ben Wilkinson v Mick Stinton-Brownbridge, Jim Parsons v Ken Hunter, Michael Ghillyer 0-1 Alan Crickmore, Plamen Sivrev 0-1 Neil Crickmore
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Club Champion thrashes all in the Simul
Club Champion John Stephens defeated all his opponents in the Annual Simul on Monday 3rd October. Although the turnout was disappointingly low, John wasted no time in despatching all eight of his oponents one after the other. Losers were Nick hodge, Mike Ghillyer, John James, Warren Parkinson, Tony Tatam, Brian Medhurst, Derek Scantlebury & Phil Lochhead.
Plamen Sivrev wins the Annual Rapidplay on 28th September with 5½/6.
Steven Levy 4½, Ben Wilkinson, Adam Hart-Davies, Rob Wilby, Megan O'Brien 4, Nick Butland, David Archer, Mark Cockerton, John James, Derek Scantlebury 3, Gary Behan, Warren Parkinson, Paul Green 2, Matthew Colley 1, Jim Parsons.
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Johns Stephens wins the Strong KO Final to complete the double having already won the Club Championship
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TCL completed charts - click on: Fixture list / TCL above
Plymouth added the Torbay Chess League KO Cup to their silverware as they overcame Newton Abbot 4-2 in an exciting match. The result was in the balance to the very last 40 seconds as the top board was to decide the match. Had Newton Abbot's Matthew Wilson won then Newton Abbot would have won the match on a board count decider after a drawn match. However, Plamen Sivrev played a superb endgame in a tense and exciting game as Matthew's flag fell first. Plymouth's winning team were Plamen Sivrev, Megan O'Brien, Nick Hodge, Geoff Wilson, Clifford Peach and Tony Tatam
Plymouth are the new Champions of the Torbay Chess League following their comprehensive 4-0 victory in their last match of the season. For the first time this season, Plymouth were able to field all four of their top players in the team. Teignmouth did not make it easy for Plymouth and put up stout resistance but the overwhelming strength of the Plymouth team saw them through. Click on Fixture list /TCL above to see the League tables and results.
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West Devon (Plymouth and South Hams Clubs) retained the Inter-area Jamboree trophy with a solid performance at Exmouth on Sunday 17th January 2016.
Click on the DCCA Inter-area tag at the top of this page to see the results ect.
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Mick Stinton-Brownbridge won the Annual Christmas Rapidplay/Blitz with a perfect 6/6. Adam Hart-Davis finished 2nd with 5/6 losing only to Mick. Nick Butland and Andrei Rozanov finished = 3rd with 4/6. In total 20 players participated in the annual event which marks the last Club night before the Christmas holiday.
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Thursday 10th December 2015. Oil spillage on A38 causes chaos as Plymouth's Division 1 and Division 3 teams were caught up in the incident. The A38 was closed between Plympton and Lee Mill and the tailback spread for miles. With 5 of the 8 players stranded in Plymouth and unable to get onto the A38 there was no option other than to postpone both fixtures, away to Newton Abbot, until the new year.
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Plamen Sivrev from the host Club wins the 2nd Plymouth Rapidplay Chess Congress held on Sunday 6th December 2015
click on the Rapidplay tag above to view the cross table, prize list and photos
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Club Champion Plamen Sivrev takes on 14 in the Annual Simultaneous, losing just two games, to Derek Scantlebury and Nick Butland. Plamen recorded 5 wins, 7 draws and lost 2.
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Ron Bruce league Champion - Plamen Sivrev (Runner-up - Adam Hart-Davis)
Bloodworth league Champion - Megan O'Brien (Runner-up - Nicolas Hodge)
Ward league Champion - Phil Lochhead (Runner-up - Gary Behan)
Strong KO Champion - Richard Pollock (Runner-up - Nick Butland)
Challenge Champion - Gary Behan (Runner-up - Tony Tatam)
Gordon Nobbs Champion - Megan O'Brien (Runner-up - Tony Tatam)
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John Stephens wins the Annual Rapidplay - click on Rapidplay above for full results
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Gary Behan did not turn up for the Challenge Final replay and subsequent enquiries established he is in hospital. Tony will arrange to play Gary at a later date. We wish Gary a speedy recovery.
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Richard Pollock is the Strong KO Champion after defeating Nick Butland at the 2nd attempt.
Phil Lochhead is Champion of the Ward league and is promoted to the Bloodworth league with Runner-up Gary Behan
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Monday 11th May 2015 - Nick Butland and Richard Pollock have scheduled their Strong KO Final replay for Monday 18th after drawing tonight. Richard has the white pieces in the replay and if that is also drawn its sudden death with a single Rapidplay game to decide the Champion.
The Bloodworth league title went to the wire and was decided in the last league game of the season when Megan O'Brien beat Nick Hodge. Both Megan and Nick are promoted to the Ron Bruce league.
In the Challenge Semi-final replay, lady luck played a huge part in helping Tony Tatam beat Derek Scantlebury at the second attempt. Tony again let slip a two pawn advantage and Derek had the upper hand with a Bishop advantage in the end game. However, Derek blundered at the finish to allow Tony passage into the Final against Gary Behan.
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Club Secretary Tony Tatam (107) beat Vignesh Ramesh (139) in the Playoff Final of the Devon County Chess Association Individual (Minor) Championship.
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A night of shocks in the Semi-finals.
In the Strong KO Semi-final, Nick Butland knocked out Club Champion and Strong KO holder, Plamen Sivrev, at the second attempt. Nick now meets Richard Pollock in the Strong KO Final.
In the Challenge Semi-finals, Gary Behan, with the white pieces, knocked out the favourite Megan O'Brien. Gary must wait to see who his opponent in the final will be as Tony Tatam let slip a two pawn advantage against Derek Scantlebury in a game lasting 93 moves !
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TCL Champions Newton Abbot 'A' had to come from behind to scrape a 2-2 draw to preserve their unbeaten record. Wins from Richard Pollock and Nick Butland put Plymouth 2-1 up.
The final game to be played in the Bloodworth league will decide the Champion. If Nick Hodge either wins or draws with the black pieces against Megan O'Brien then he will be outright Champion. However, if Megan wins then she will draw level with Nick on games points but will become Champion on the Sonneborn-Berger tie break rule. Nick has won 11 and drawn 4 and remains unbeaten. Megan has already lost to Nick in their first encounter so everything to play for here as Megan must go for the win. Both players will be promoted to the Ron Bruce league.
Phil Lochhead and Gary Behan will be promoted from the Ward league to the Bloodworth league as Champion and Runner-up respectively.
Clifford Peach & Ben Wilkinson made history tonight as they played their Homan league game to decide who finished the season as Runner-up to Phil Mcconnell. The Homan league is one of the internal competitions at the South Hams Club. As both players live locally to Plymouth they decided to play here. Ben won with the black pieces.
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ECF Membership subsriptions will increase next season to:
Platinum £60 (no increase), Gold £32 (Junior Gold £26), Silver £22 (Junior Silver £22) & Bronze £15 (Junior Bronze £11)
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On Monday, Plymouth will host the TCL Champions, Newton Abbot 'A', in the final match of the TCL season. Irrespective of the result, Plymouth will finish Runners-up to Newton Abbot.
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It was the Division 3 match that took the limelight away from the Strong KO Semi-finals in front of a capacity crowd. On paper, both teams looked pretty evenly matched, but the home team shocked their opponents with a 4-0 result.
Meanwhile Richard Pollock beat Adam Hart-Davis to be the first to reach the Strong KO Final. However Richard must wait to see who he will be playing as Plamen Sivrev and Nick Butland drew and will replay ion the 6th May 2015.
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Strong KO Semi-finals - Mon 20th April 2015
Plamen Sivrev v Nick Butland Richard Pollock v Adam Hart-Davis
There is likely to be a capacity crowd to watch the Semi-final games and Scantlebury's Division 3 team are also playing in the matchroom against Teignmouth so early arrival is recommended to ensure you have a seat. Flash photography is forbidden as the KO games will be live video feed around the world.
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In the Strong KO Quarter-final, Plamen Sivrev and Martin Quinn drew their replay and therefore the tie went to a single Rapidplay tie break with Plamen winning with the white pieces. Plamen now meets either Nick Butland or Brian Medhurst in the Semi-final.
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Congratulations to Gary Behan who scored 3½/6 at the Teignmouth Rapidplay Congress (Saturday 28th March 2015) and won a grading prize. Gary's wins and draw all came against higher graded opponents and both his losses were against the eventual joint winners.
To view the results/crosstable, click on the following link:
http://results.tournamentdirector.co.uk/
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The Torbay Chess Congress now has its own website and you can enter the Congress online. Click on Links above and then select the appropriate link or click on: http://torbaycongress.com/
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DEVON v CORNWALL
Saturday 7th February 2015 at the Plymouth Chess Club
Devon 1st team 7½ - 8½ Cornwall 1st team
Devon 2nd team (U160) 7 - 5 Cornwall 2nd team
Click below for result sheets and photos:Devon1vCornwall1.xls Devon2vCornwall2.xls Photo Gallery
Despite outgrading Cornwall significantly in both matches, Devon lost to Cornwall 7½-8½in the first team match but won 7-5 in the second team match. Cornwall played very well on the day to win the first team match for the first time in some 25 years. We must congratulate them and for getting out their best team that I can recall. All games will appear on the ChessDevon website as usual. Brian Hewson (DCCA Match Captain)
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New January 2015 Grading list - see Members/Grading list
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WEST DEVON retain the Inter-Area Jamboree trophy
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The Christmas Rapidplay and Christmas Draw were well supported with 24 members present for the last Club evening before the Christmas period. An enjoyable evening was had by all.
The Rapidplay was controlled by Tony Tatam with each player having 10 minutes on the clock and the event being played over 6 rounds.
Richard Pollock was the outright winner finishing with 5/6.
Joint 2nd were John Stephens, Nick Butland & Martin Quinn with 4½/6. Plamen Sivrev, Megan O'Brien, Ben Wilkinson & Adam Hart-Davis all finished equal 5th with 4 pts. Other participants were: Rob Wilby, Brian Medhurst, Clifford Peach, Roy Greenhalgh, Arthur Hatch, Gary Behan, Gerard T'Hart , Alan Crickmore, Derek Scantlebury, John Dean, Chris Zisimides, Ken Hunter, Jim Parsons, Paul Green & Mike Ghillyer.
Derek Scantlebury again organised the Christmas Draw with the proceeds going towards the Club funds.
Thanks to all who donated prizes and also to those who made generous donations.
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1st PLYMOUTH RAPIDPLAY CHESS CONGRESS
The 1st Plymouth Rapidplay held on Sunday 7th December 2014, was an outstanding success. Free beverages and food throughout the day for the players. As well as the usual prizes there were six grading prizes. And in addition to this there was a free draw before each round with players winning a bottle of wine. This was certainly the tournament with a difference. 33 players, from Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, participated in this the 1st Annual Plymouth Rapidplay.
Click on the link below to see the report on Chess Devon and the final crosstable.
http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/HTML/Plm%20rapid/base.htm
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Plymouth's long unbeaten home record in Division 3 of the Torbay Chess League, stretching back more than 6 seasons, ended with a crushing 1-3 loss to South Hams. The last home defeat was way back in March 2008. Plymouth, the TCL Champions for the last 3 years, outgraded South Hams by a massive 63 points, but were no match for their triumphant opponents who fully deserved their victory. Well done South Hams !
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126th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Monday 22nd September 2014
25 Members attended the 126th Annual General Meeting of the Plymouth Chess Club.
Click on Photo Gallery for more AGM photos.
Click on 126th_AGM_Agenda.doc for the Agenda.
Click on 125th_AGM_Minutes.doc for the Minutes of last years AGM.
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Monday 15th September 2014
Club Champion Plamen Sivrev wins 10, draws 1 and loses just 3 games in the Annual Simultaneous. Gerard T'Hart, Megan O'Brien and Phil Lochhead were victorious with Nicholas Hodge drawing against the Club Champion
Click on Simultaneous for more photos taken at the Simul.
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Wednesday 10th September 2014
Club Champion Plamen Sivrev was the outright winner of the Annual Rapidplay winning all six games !
Richard Pollock came a very close 2nd with 5/6.
Finishing = 3rd with 4/6 were Rob Wilby, Nicholas Hodge & Gerard T'Hart.
click on Rapidplay for more photos of the Rapidplay
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Welcome to the Plymouth Chess Club
Venue: Plymouth Bridge Club, 1 Moor View Terrace, Mutley, Plymouth PL4 7EB (near the Fortescue pub)
Normally open on Mondays and Wednesdays
6pm-10pm from September until May/June
* * * Always Closed on Bank Holidays * * *
Car parking: There is a large pay & display car park, just two minutes walking, situated over the railway line, on the other side of the main road (Mutley Plain). Free car parking is available in some of the adjoining streets which do not have restrictions.
Facilities: Refreshments are available from 6.30pm-9.30pm
Annual Subscription. The annual subscription is £25 for full Members. Unemployed & Students £12.50p.
Newcomers are welcome to attend a few sessions without charge, until they have made up their minds whether they wish to join. Just come along to the Club on Mondays or Wednesday but not on Bank Holidays.
The Club runs a number of internal Club competitions to suit different levels of players strength and also participates in the Torbay Chess League.
Affilliated to the Devon County Chess Association and the Torbay Chess League.
Club contact: Tony Tatam
email: tony.tatam@blueyonder.co.uk
Congratulations to Rob Wilby who finished joint 2nd in the 67th WECU Chess Congress (Minor Under 140) and John Stephens who finished joint 4th in the Open. View the results on................. http://results.tournamentdirector.co.uk/
West Devon 6½ South Devon 5½
Plymouth Chess Club hosted the Annual Inter-Area Jamboree on Sunday 19th January. Unfortunately neither North or East Devon could raise teams so it was a two horse race between the West and South. A tense and thrilling encounter resulted in the West just pipping the South with the result in doubt until the final game. Click on this link to see the results. 2014_Inter-area_West_v_South_results.xls Once again the Plymouth chess Club came up trumps with a superb spread for the opposing teams.
18th Dec 2013 - CHRISTMAS RAPIDPLAY
1st - 5½pts John Stephens, =2nd - 4pts Geoff Banks, Florante Nieva, Martin Quinn, Mick Stinton-Brownbridge & Rob Wilby, 7th - 3½pts Adam Hart-Davis.
Club Champion, Plamen Sivrev, won 8, drew 3, and lost just 2 in the Annual Simltaneous display held on the 16th September. Young Nicholas Hodge turned in a fine performance when winning his game. Paul Green was the only other winner and there were draws from Megan O'Brien, Tony Tatam and Phil Lochhead.
The Annual Rapidplay held on Wednesday 11th September resulted in a 3 way tie for first place with Mick Stinton-Brownbridge, Martin Quinn & Rob Wilby all finishing on 5/6.
26-28th April 2013 - Club Secretary Tony Tatam won the Bournemouth Chess Congress Minor Tournament with 4½/5. After four straight wins Tony was up against the number 1 seed and last years winner in Round 5 and needed only a draw to win the tournament. Despite going 2 pawns down Tony fought back strongly to force a winning endgame and the draw was agreed. Plymouth players do well at the Teignmouth Rapidplay on Sat 13 Apr 13 Ben Wilkinson (137), Martin Quinn (133) and to everyone's amazement, Tony Tatam (113) all finished joint 2nd on 4½/6. Ben and Tony were both unbeaten with 3 wins and 3 draws each.Tony selected Ben, Martin and John Dean to represent Plymouth in the team event and the trio finished joint first along with Seaton. Ben 4½, Martin 4½, John 2½ total 11½. Tony took some stick afterwards for not selecting himself but then, as he said, who would have expected him to have finished on 4½.Ironically the the outright winner on 5/6 played Tony in Round 4 and Tony very graciously offered him the draw when his opponent had only seconds remaining and was about to lose on time ! Oh what could have been !John James lso played but unfortunatley had to withdraw after playing the first two rounds.Thursday 21st March - Newton Abbot 4-4 Plymouth. Current Rapidplay Champions Newton Abbot staged a terrific fight back from 0-3 down to lead 4-3 but Plymouth won the remaining game to secure a 4-4 draw to become the new Torbay Chess League Rapidplay Champions.
Thursday 7th March - Plymouth are Torbay Chess League Division 3 Champions following their 3-1 away win at Newton Abbot.
Tony Tatam is the Devon County Chess Association Minor Individuals Champion for the 2nd consecutive year.
The 126th Annual General Meeting of the Plymouth Chess Club will be held on Monday 22nd September at the Plymouth Chess Club, commencing at 7pm. If there is anything any Club Member would like to raise under Any Other Business that is not on the Agenda they should contact the Honary Secretary Tony Tatam, before the day of the meeting.
Click on 126th_AGM_Agenda.doc for the Agenda.
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Club Secretary Tony Tatam is the Devon County Chess Association Individuals (Minor) Champion for 2013.
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The Inter-Area Chess Jamboree held on Sunday 20th January 2013 at the Courtenay Centre, Kingsteignton Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 2QA was won by East Devon, finishing just half a point in front of West Devon.
East Devon 7, West Devon 6½, South Devon 4½.
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ANNUAL CHRISTMAS RAPIDPLAY
Martin Quinn and Plamen Sivrev tied for 1st place on 5/6. Florante Nieva and Ben Wilkinson tied for 3rd place.
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CUP SHOCKER AS CLUB CHAMPION and KO CUP HOLDER EXITS THE STRONG KO CUP IN THE 1st ROUND
Rob Wilby produced the shock of the season as he defeated Club Champion and Strong KO Cup holder Plamen Sivrev in just 16 moves. Rob now meets either Derek Scantlebury or Michael Discombe in Round 2.
Strong KO 1st Round
To be played by 9th January 2013White - Black
Jeff Riggs 0-1 Paul GreenNigel Williams (Bye)Derek Scantlebury 1-0 Michael DiscombePlamen Sivrev 0-1 Rob WilbyAndy Queen (Bye) withdrawnDick Ingerson 1-0 John JamesChris Zisimides 0-1 Phil LochheadJohn Dean (Bye)Brian Medhurst 0-1 Mick Stinton-BrownbridgePhil White (Bye)Florante Nieva 1-0 Geoff WilsonMegan O'Brien 1-0 Gary BehanGeoff Banks (Bye)Chris Nail 0-1 Richard PollockTony Tatam (Bye)Tina Clarke ½-½ Arthur Hatch