The 20th December 2023 saw three games. Two in the Club Championship 23-24 were Frank Whalley (as white) vs Rachel Bunter and Matthew Mackenzie (as white) vs Michael Bunter(game is above), where Frank and Matthew were too strong for the Bunters. The other game was in the first round of the club KO 23-24, where Russell Hayley as white, played Dave cole and Russell won with a spectacular sacrifice, the game is below.
From the match between Barrow and Penrith B, Matthew Mackenzie writes of his game:-
Eggert has outplayed me to reach this position where literally all his pieces are bearing down on Black's K and I can only passively defend. In this position I played 43....Kh7?? 44 Ng1?? Qf7 45 Qh4 Be7 46 Nf3 Bf8 47 Nh2 Qc7?! (there is no chance for counterplay here, White's attack is too strong) 48 Qh5 Rg8 49 Ng4 Qf7 50 Nh6! (should win by force) gh6 51 Bh6?? and now Rg6! and suddenly the tables are turned - White may have missed that after 52 Bf8+ Kg8 53 fg6 Qf8! the Rook covers the critical square h7 and Black is a rook ahead - in the game he went for 52 fg6+ Qg6 53 Qg6+ Kg6 54 Bf8, but this endgame was ultimately losing for White.
So......what instant forced wins did White miss on moves 44 and 51?
I wasnt disheartened when Russell Hayley our(usually reliable) board 2 lost very early on for board 2 vs Andrei Carp in the Cumbria Weekend League, when Barrow were playing Penrith B. This was because on the 5th move I(Alan Llewelyn) had gone a piece up on board 3 and was coasting to a slightly unexpected win vs Steve Murdoch. I felt confident that our board 1 would also rescue the situaton but he and his opponent Eggert Fruchtenicht gave us a few palputations before Matthew was too strong and he won. So 2-1 to us.
The club KO round 1 game between Michael Bunter and Matthew Mackenzie is here below:-(played on the 11th december 23)
On the Wednesday 13th December Michael Bunter as white played Frank Whalley and Frank won, the game was in the Barrow Club Championship 23-24, the game is below.
Look at the above position, in the game Llewellyn vs Glover, with white to move. Black has just played 17...Rd8 the rook coming from f8, why is this a bad error? I warn you the line is very deep and complicated.
The 11th December 23 saw three games, George Horne(white) drew with Russell Hayley, and Rachel Bunter(white) beat Charlie English both games in the Barrow Club Championship 23-24 and in the Club Knockout Matthew Mackenzie was Black vs Michael Bunter and Matthew won. The game between George and Russell is below:-
On Saturday the 9th December 23 the Barrow team of Matthew Mackenzie, George Horne and myself(Alan Llewellyn)on boards 1 to 3 in that order, played Carlisle A and beat them 2-1(Matt and George drew , I won).
On Monday 11th December 23 we move into our new premises at the Navy Club, Ramsden Dock Road, Barrow Island. Due to unforseen circumstances, we have had to move out of the Legion, sorry for the lack of notice.
On the 6th December 23 the Barrow team defeated Kendal B in the mid-week league. Kendal B are one of the contenders for the champions of that League so when we defeated them 3-0 we were very pleased although they only showed up with 2 players. Jon Duffield on board 3 thus had a walkover and when I won after 10 minutes winning a queen already being a piece up it was certain we would win but Trevor played well to beat Jon Rashleigh and the whitewash which I think means we are leaders of the League in the very early stages. Trevor is very busy at the moment so getting his game would be difficult so I have included the video of my game below:-
On the 4th December the Lightning League was played and I(Alan Llewellyn) was first with 3.5/4 then two new members came second and third, Rachel Bunter(a junior) came 2nd with 3/4 and her father, Michael Bunter, came third with 2.5/4
POS
NAME
P
W
D
L
DEF
PTS
1
A LLEWELLYN
8
4
2
2
5
2
R HAYLEY
6
4
1
1
4 ½
3
M MACKENZIE
4
3
1
0
3 ½
4
J DUFFIELD
7
2
2
3
3
=5
T BLOWER
7
2
0
5
2
=5
G HORNE
3
1
2
0
2
7
F WHALLEY
2
1
1
0
1 ½
=8
H BECK
2
1
0
1
1
=8
J WOODBURN
1
1
0
0
1
10
M BUNTER
1
0
1
0
½
=11
R ROY
3
0
0
3
0
=11
R BUNTER
1
0
0
1
0
=11
C ENGLISH
2
0
0
2
0
=11
A SANDERSON
1
0
0
1
0
=11
D COLE
0
0
0
0
0
Above is the table for the Barrow Chess Club Championship 2023-2024-for results up until the 1st December 2023
In the disrupted night of the 29th November 2023, theyre were 2 games played in the lounge, how they dealt with the noise in there I don't know, but Russell Hayley as white lost against Frank Whalley and Matthew Mackenzie beat Rob Roy who 'gave a good account of himself' as Matthew later said.
Barrow Chess Club Knock-Out Cup Round 1:-(to be played by 3rd January 24)
Trevor Blower
vs
Harry Beck
Jim Woodburn
vs
Alan Llewellyn
Matthew Mackenzie
vs
Michael Bunter
Russell Hayley
vs
Dave Cole
George Horne
1-0
Rob Roy
Jon Duffield
bye
Ashley Sanderson
bye
Rachel Bunter
bye
George won the first Knock-Out game to be played against Rob Roy-who after colours were tossed for was black. Rob again played well but he lost in the end. This was theyre round 1 game played on the 27th Nov 23. George thus goes through to round 2 of the KO but Rob is knocked out.
The entry form for the South Lakes Congress in June 2024 (7th to 9th) can be found here.
On Wednesday the 22nd November 23, theyre were two games played in the club championship, one between Russell Hayley as white vs Rob Roy. Rob gave a good account of himself again but when he allowed a pawn defending his rook to be pinned and lost his rook it was over. Russell marches on as a strong contender for the title(Club Champion).
In the other game Matthew Mackenzie as white also laid his claim to be club champion when he ground down the ever fighting, (on the chess board atleast), Trevor Blower, it was a nice touch of a rook sacrifice which saw off Trevors challenge. The game between Matthew and Trevor mentioned is now below:-
The Jon Duffiled game vs Colin Bragg, is given below from the 16th November match between Barrow and Kendal A:-
On monday 20th November 2023-two Barrow Club Championship games were played one between Trevor Blower , as white, vs George Horne which George won and the other game was between Matthew Mackenzie, as white vs Charlie English, which Matthew was too strong for the youngish junior.
In the game Trevor vs George , Geoge to play as Black, George doesnt spot 1...Nc2 but this is not the best move as theyre is a less obvious 1...Nxd4 which gains a slight better advantage for Black. 1...Nc2 looks at first sight like it is best but theyre is the incredibly complicated reply 2 Ne1!!, how on earth both players missed 1 Nc2 is beyond my comprehension.
On saturday 18th November 2023-the Barrow team played what on paper should have been one of our easier matches , in the weekend Cumbrian League, after the drubbing by Penrith A we needed a good result and in the end we got it with a 2.5-0.5 win, but at one stage it looked decidedly dodgy for us, but both Matthew Mackenzie on board 1 and Russell Hayley on board 2 ended up getting spectacular wins while I(Alan Llewellyn) got a draw. The three games are below:-
The game I played(on 16th Nov 23), for the Barrow team against Kendal A, which I(Alan Llewellyn) as Black win against one of the strongest players in Cumbria is given below:-
The game played between Frank Whalley and Jon Duffield (which ended in a draw) in the club championship on the 15th Nov 2023 is below:-
There was a match in the mid-week league which turned up to be quite a result for us as we surprised the League favourites drawing the match 1.5-1.5 , Trevor Blower gave a good account of himself on board 1 but Dave Philips was just too strong, And Jon Duffield got a great draw against Colin Bragg, and in my game(Alan Llewellyn) on board 2 wa struggling in my game against Alex Billings it looked like the inevitable loss but i just managed to pull out my best win ever(a 2015 elo=177 in old rating).
The wednesday 15th November 2023 saw a junior, Charlie English give a good account of himself in his first ever nationally rated match, against me(Alan Llewellyn)-I was white. And similar to Rachel Bunter, who caused Trevor Blower some issues in her first rated game, he had me thinking until he fell appart abit due to inexperience. Frank Whalley(as white) also played Jon Duffield and the game was drawn. Both games were in the club championship 23-24 and the games will be below only mine is included so far but Frank/Jons should also be included here soon.
On Monday 13th November 2023, Trevor Blower as white was lucky to defeat Rachel Bunter in the Barrow Club Championship, the winning move which Rachel missed was hard to find though. The game is below:-
Wednesday 8th November 2023, the game between myself(Alan Llewellyn) and new member Rob Roy almost won, he was clearly winning but ran out of time so I won-the game is below
On the 6th Novemeber the tournament called the Lightning League was played at the club and the winner was me(Alan Llewellyn) on 3.5/4, Matthew Mackenzie and George Horne both finished in joint second on 3/4.
The games from George Hornes joint first place in the Scarborough Congress Intermediate Sectio, ae included below-ote round 1 was a half point bye for George.
The latest table for the club championship can be seen here or can be seen by going to the competitions tab on the bar towards the top, then choosing the second image bar labelled competition positions then choosing towards the bottom of the screen under the archive next to the words club championship and colours sheet is the link 'latest table'.
The 30th October 23 saw a club championship gamlowe between Jon Duffield as white and Jim Woodburn which Jim managed to win after some difficulty. The game is below:-
On the weekend of the 27th to 29th Oct 2023, two of our club members entered one of the hardest and most popular tournaments in Britain, for club players in Scarborough 23. Trevor Blower was one in the minor section and he finished on 2/5, but George Horne in the intermediate section despite taking a half pint bye sorry half point bye in the first round came back to be joint winner in the section with 4/5 (there were 7 players on 4/5), there were 64 players in Georges section and the upper limit was 1850.
The 2 games(1 from George one from Trevor), will appear below in next week:-
(note Trevors tough battle with a strong club player in the Minor SEction is now on here below and shows why I have never won a game at scarborough in two tournies there-Georges game to follow)
On Saturday 28th October 23, the Cumbria Weekend League team of Matthew Mackenzie, myself(Alan Llewellyn) and Jon Duffield found it hard going against a very strong Penrith A team, I myself on board 2 hardly lasted 10 minutes into what can be a 4 hour game. Penrith A look like they will win this seasons Cumbria wide team League, they beat us 2.5-0.5. Matthew got the only points(a draw on board 1).
On the 25th of October 2023, Jon Duffield beat Ashley Sanderson in a Barrow Club Chanpionship 23-24 game, the game is shown annotated , below.
On Monday 23rd October 2023, George Horne as white played me(Alan Llewellyn) and drew,it was in the Barrow Club Championship 23-24. While there was a pretty Queen sacrifice in the game which I made but I had on, and missed a better move which would have won me a piece, instead of the Queen sac. The game is below...
POS
NAME
P
W
D
L
DEF
PTS
1
R HAYLEY
4
3
1
0
3 ½
2
A LLEWELLYN
5
2
1
2
2 ½
3
J DUFFIELD
4
1
0
2
1 ½
=4
T BLOWER
4
1
1
3
1
=4
H BECK
2
1
0
1
1
=6
M BUNTER
1
0
1
0
½
=6
M MACKENZIE
1
0
1
0
½
=6
G HORNE
1
0
1
0
½
=9
R BUNTER
0
0
0
0
0
=9
R ROY
0
0
0
0
0
=9
D COLE
0
0
0
0
0
=9
J WOODBURN
0
0
0
0
0
=9
A SANDERSON
0
0
0
0
0
The table of the Club Championship is given above for 19th October 2023, it tarted beginning of september and will end in May 24. Games are fully rated by the ecf (same as KO games) and are 1 hr 30 minutes.
1st round Barrow Club KO 23-24:to be played by 3rd January 2024
Trevor Blower
vs
Harry Beck
Jim Woodburn
vs
Alan Llewellyn
Matthew Mackenzie
vs
Michael Bunter
Russell Hayley
vs
Dave Cole
George Horne
vs
Rob Roy
Jon Duffield
bye
Ashley Sanderson
bye
Rachel Bunter
bye
The games will be rated if your in your first three games which are free with the English Chess Federation-To get the rest of your games rated join the ECF as a Bronze member atleast. Research into recording games with chess notation is important to learn. Games are 1 hour 30 minutes on the clock, with colours decided by coin toss or pawn choosing before the game.
On monday 16th October 2023, In the mid week League we played our first match of the season as Barrow, which is mainly made up of the old Barrow B team(Trevor Blower, myself-Alan Llewellyn, Jon Duffield and we had a new member Harry Beck in the team).
We won 2.5-1.5 against Ulverston C with Trevor and Jon Winning and me(Alan) getting a draw and Harry unfortunately losing on his first game.
Below are the three games from monday 9th october 23- they are in a list at the bottom left, if you dont see the list look for the icon second from the right, directly under the board image and pieces, it is next to a cog icon
On the Monday 9th oct 2023, there were three games played in the club championship, all three were draws, Russell Hayley vs Matthew Mackenzie, George Horne vs Jon Duffield and Myself (Alan Llewellyn) vs Michael Bunter. Incidentally Rachel Bunter a junior of about age 14 or 15 beat Trevo Blower in a friendly, if repeated a few times that would make her one of the top girls in the country for her age group. The championship games will be shown above in the next few days.
On the 4th October 2023, Harry Beck as black got a win in the Barrow Club Championship against Trevor Blower, the game is below:-
On Monday 2nd October 2023, the Lightning League night 1 was played and Matthew Mackenzie was the nightly winner with 4/4 while George Horne and I(Alan Llewellyn) were in joint second with 2.5/4. Russell Hayley will count himself unlucky in our game we played in the final round when I played a howler of a mistake in the opening and he duelly made a move after the 10 second mark was up by atleast a second, the rules state that because you have to move on the 10 second buzzer and it means less time for your opponent if you transgress (the 10 seconds are set on a tape recording of a buzzer), I got awarded the game which I am certain I would have lost if played out.
Note should be made of a few new members , Father and Daughter called Michael and Rachel Bunter, they can certainly play very well and a complex game is given below from the Lightning League. The game is between Rachel as white and myself(Alan) and the game looks like i am giving away pieces to the untrained eye.
On Wednesday 27th Sept 2023 I(Alan Llewellyn) as black defeated Jon Duffield in the Barrow Club Championship.
On Monday 25th Sept, Russell Hayley as black beat Jon Duffield by trapping his Queen in the Barrow Club Championship, below is the game and Russell continues his unbeaten run.
The games of Martin Gawne from the Rhyl Congress Maor where he achieved 3/5 are given i the following link http://www.alanllewellynchess.co.uk/Rhyl/games.html Note-thegames are now annotated by me(Alan Llewellyn).
On the weekend of the 22nd to 24th of Sept 2023, Barrow club members, Martin Gawne and myself(Alan Llewellyn) both entered the Rhyl Congress Major Tournament and Martin scored a creditable 3 points out of 5 games, i struggled against an average opponent of about 1760 and scored 1.5/5. My own games can be seen on this external web page
Below is the game played in the Barrow club championship between myself(Alan Llewellyn) as white against Russell Hayley on the 18th Sept 2023, which Russell assuredly won.
On Wednesday 13th Sept 2023, a club match between Russell Hayley(as white) vs Trevor Blower was won by Russell in spectacular style. The game is below:-
On Monday 11th Sept 23, a club championship game was played which Trevor Blower as Black defeated me (Alan Llewellyn) rather conclusively. the game is below and below that is Jon Duffields game with Trevor as promised, from wednesday 6th.
On 6th Sept 23, two club championship games were played. Jon Duffield as black won against Trevor Blower and I(Alan Llewellyn) as black won against promising junior Harry Beck. My game with Harry is below and Jons game will follow.
The Itenerary (with just lightning dates-KO dates to follow) is on the site
(the image with Itenerary written on it) on the competitions page above
competition positions image. click here.
The AGM minutes from wednesdays 2023 Annual General Meeting are on the info page in the minutes archive but can directly be seen here.
The colours sheet showing what colour you are in the club championship against all your opponents(Its an all play all) can be seen by clicking on this link.
The provisional starting lineup for the Club Championship is given the table , dont worry if your name isnt on the list, , you will have plenty of opportunity to go on the list if you come and pay your membership (see below for rates), the table can ordinarily be found by chosing the competitions page (click on competitions then the second image from the top entitled competition positions-under itenerary image then look under the archived results). click on latest table for current positions and colour sheet for what colour you will play your game against everyone in the club championship, note the knock out will get greater coverage in the future with a list of players still in it.
The AGM went ahead on the 30th Aug 23, the AGM notes should be provided on this news page, but the past AGM notes can be found on the info page by scrolling down. The fees have changed for full county and club membership they have gone up to 18 pound, you will only have to pay this if you want to enter the internal club main competitions and club vs club country leagues. If you just want to enter internal competitions the amount you pay has gone upto 11 pound. Junior fees are 2 pound all for a years membership.
Note should go the the fact that the English Chess Federation gives you a rating, i think you have to have atleast bronze membership(at around 18 pounds), juniors are free for first year and you will get all your serious games for competitions rated on a nationally recognised online accessible system, which is available on our club website. An email address to contact is given here:-
It is my understanding all positions were retained at the club, although Russell Hayley was now the club auditor.
In the club we have a pre-season period in-between the summer league and the serious season events when the Pairs and the AGM is held, on the 28th Aug 23 we will just have unformal friendlies while on the 30th Aug is the AGM where you can inform Trevor Blower of whether you are entering the Club Championship (an all play all at nationally recorded games for rating purposes at 1 hour 30 minutes for the whole game-each) the KO is similar but you get knocked out after every round if you lose and replay if you draw. You will need to record your games in algebraic notation(google it in wiki). There is also the Lightning Tournament where you have to make a move every 10 seconds on a buzzer, each in turn, and finally there is a Time Ladder where you challenge someone close to you on the ladder to a time-handicapped game decided on official rating.
The season starts on 4th September 23 and runs until may 24.
My games can be seen from the big tournament(The Manchester Harry Lamb Memorial 23) on the following link( see the drop down menu for other games-top left)-all games are included. Note it is an exterior site(ie my own chess site)
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51 Bh6?? and now Rg6! and suddenly the tables are turned - White may have missed that after 52 Bf8+ Kg8 53 fg6 Qf8! the Rook covers the critical square h7 and Black is a rook ahead - in the game he went for 52 fg6+ Qg6 53 Qg6+ Kg6 54 Bf8, but this endgame was ultimately losing for White.
