By Angus French -- 14 October 2020

Our club championship was held on Thursdays 10 and 17 September with three rounds on each day. 15 played and we welcomed Lawrence, Cyrus and Adrian for their first S&BCC tournament. It was also Michal’s first online club tournament. The final scores were: 5 – Graham K, Antony H; 4.5 – Martin S; 3.5 – Alan R, Amar A; 3 – Michal T (three games played, one point in byes), Lawrence W, Michael C, Alex S, Eric M; 2.5 – Paul R; 1 – Ruairi I (four games played), Adrian K, Cyrus B; 0 – Deni Y (one game played).

With scores equal and having drawn their individual game (in round 4), Graham and Antony played an Armageddon game to determine the champion. Antony was drawn White (6 minutes and needing to win) and Graham Black (5 minutes and needing to draw or win). Antony triumphed, with the extra time telling in the end. So congratulations to Antony, club champion for 2020. And congratulations also to Amar who is the U1800 champion, scoring a creditable 3.5 points. Lawrence, Alex and Eric also impressed with their play and results.

The tournament was an attempt to replicate- so far as possible - the format of the club over-the-board rapidplays we’ve held in recent years. Did it work? Well, Lichess doesn’t directly support tournaments with three rounds on one day and a further three rounds on another day. So pairings were made using separate pairings software and published manually. Players drawn White had to find and then challenge their opponent. The first round a little messy due to some late arrivals. This had some knock-on effects including a later finish on the first day. But, with familiarity, the second day ran more smoothly. I hope those who played enjoyed the event but I think in future we’ll probably stick to single day (evening) events using lichess’s automations to provide tournament management.

Further details including game results and links are available at: http://www.zen116966.zen.co.uk/Chess/ClubChamp2020/SBCCClubChampionship2020.pdf.

Editor’s note: huge thanks to Angus for the great organisation, especially as it meant he couldn’t play!

Read Antony Hall’s round by round account of his tournament in ‘The Art of Luck in Chess.’

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