Registered Charity Number 263049

The Gazette

August 2015

Registered Charity Number 263049

BCA Website Address: www.braillechess.org.uk

Email:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/braillechess @braillechess

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrailleChess

To contact a member of the committee, please see the Braille Chess Association’s website where there is a facility for emailing each officer.

Note: The views expressed in the Gazette do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the BCA, nor those of the editor.

CONTENTS

Editorial 3

Forthcoming Events 3

Future of the BCA British Championship 4

All Under One Roof 5

BCA Members in Mainstream Tournaments 6

Words from the Whitehouse 6

Why Not Give Haaksbergen a Try? 7

Treasurer’s Report 7

Apex Credit Management – Fund Raising Report, June 2015 7

Membership Secretary’s Report 8

Correspondence Chess Director’s Report 9

3rd BCA Email Tournament 10

Six Nations Tournament 10

ECF National Chess Club Championship 12

2015 BCA Junior Championship 12

More Junior News 13

Haaksbergen 2015 13

Morecambe Revisited by Bill Armstrong 14

Windermere 2015 Poem by Joan Shorrock 15

Chris’s Puzzle 16

Millennium Club 17

Personalia 17

Letter from Mary Marshall 17

Obituary for International Master Colin Crouch 17

Editorial

As I write, the good old British summer is in full swing, with overcast skies and frequent downpours! Wimbledon is over and, as seems to be the case every year, tennis reporters have not been able to resist likening their game to ours: "Such a chess match at time, tennis matches!" declared a commentator during James Ward’s 3rd round match. In both activities the players try to outwit one another by employing clever tactics on the board or court and anticipating their opponent’s next move or shot, but do the two games really have that much in common? True, some chess players are as highly strung as Ivan Lendl’s racquet, others make backhanded remarks to the arbiter and a few resort to McEnroe style tantrums, though thankfully not in BCA tournaments where conduct is of the highest standard! On the other hand, we play with a set whereas tennis players compete for a set. Our playing surface is typically wood or plastic, not grass or clay. Is a rook charging from one back rank to another similar to a powerful baseline shot or a bishop sweeping down a long diagonal akin to a cross court volley? Could an en passant pawn capture be the equivalent of a passing shot down the line? Crucially, why do we never remark that a chess game was like a tennis match? Intriguingly, the Biel International Chess Festival is advertising a “Chess-Tennis Tournament” for teams with two players this summer, so perhaps they will find the answers!

This gazette is as packed as Centre Court for a Singles Final! Since the last issue, both the BCA Junior Championship and the main BCA British Championship have been contested. You can read the reports in these pages, together with news of BCA members competing in other events such as the Six Nations Tournament in France, the annual Haaksbergen event and the ECF National Chess Club Championship. Your committee is seeking suggestions as to how attendance at the BCA British Championship can be improved in future and there is an update on the innovative fundraising activities carried out by our supporters at Apex Credit Management. Other articles include a poem about Windermere 2015, news of a BCA member appearing on television later this year and a charming letter from a loyal friend of the BCA who made excellent audio recordings for many years. Tragically we also have another obituary, this time for our former champion, Colin Crouch.

Please send any submissions for the November gazette to arrive no later than the end of September. Right now, it’s time to serve some strawberries and cream!

Julie Leonard

Forthcoming Events

16th to 18th October 2015 - The Lucy Walsh and Mary Cuthbert Memorial Tournament

The 2015 International Autumn Tournament weekend will be dedicated to the memory of Lucy Walsh and Mary Cuthbert, two very popular and much loved members of the BCA who supported BCA events for many years. The tournament will take place at The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate from Friday 16th October to Sunday 18th October 2015. It will consist of two five-round Swiss tournaments - an Open Tournament and a Challengers Tournament for those whose grade or estimated grade is 100 or below. Both tournaments are open to blind and partially-sighted players and to associate members of the BCA. The Old Swan Hotel has proved to be a very popular and suitable venue on previous occasions and we look forward to returning. The hotel is within walking distance of the lovely spa town of Harrogate and a short taxi ride from the railway station.

The BCA has once again been able to provide a subsidy for the Friday and Saturday nights. The cost for members and associate members for dinner, bed and breakfast will be £39 per person per night sharing a double or twin room; the cost of a single room is £43 per person per night. The cost for non-members and those wishing to stay the Sunday night will be £56 per person per night in a double/twin room and £62 per person per night in a single room. Payment for all nights’ accommodation and the £10 entry fee plus room requirements should be sent to the Treasurer, Gill Smith by the closing date, Friday 28th August. If you have any queries please contact the organiser: Mark Hague.

18th to 20th March 2016: The David Hodgkins Memorial AGM Chess Congress

This will be held in memory of David Hodgkins, one of our most active, loyal and much loved members who sadly passed away in early 2015. It will take place at The Hallmark Hotel, Derby. The AGM will be held at 2pm on Saturday 19th March. We are pleased to be returning to this popular hotel with its excellent facilities. The hotel is located within a few yards walk of Derby railway station and is very convenient.

There will be two five round chess tournaments. The Open section is open to all visually impaired chess players and associate members of the BCA and the Challengers is limited to those graded 100 or below. The entry fee for both tournaments is £10. The cost of dinner, bed and breakfast for members and associate members is £39 per person per night for Friday and Saturday nights in a single room, and £35 per person per night in a double/twin room. For non members and those staying on the Sunday night, the cost will be £56 per person in a single room and £50 per person in a double/twin. The closing date for entries is 25th January. Please send your entry fee and full payment for all accommodation to Gill Smith by this date. Please send any resolutions or other items for inclusion on the AGM agenda to Guy Whitehouse by 31st December 2015. Also, let Guy know if you are planning to attend the AGM without staying at the hotel so that we can let you have the AGM papers.

Organiser Steve Burnell.

25th June to 2nd July 2016: Chairman’s Cup, Whitehall Hotel, Exeter Park Road, Bournemouth

The Chairman's Cup is open to all visually impaired players whose grade or estimated grade is 140 or below and to BCA associate members within the same grading limit. The event is played over 7 rounds with one round each day. Players may request a half point bye in any one of the first six rounds. If there are sufficient numbers there will be two sections. Entry fee: £10. Cost of accommodation to members and associate members of BCA: £260 for the week. The cost to those booking 1 to 4 days: £54 per day. The cost to non-members of BCA: £336 for the week.

The closing date for bookings is 30th April 2016. Bookings accepted after that date, at the discretion of the organiser, will be subject to a late booking fee of £10 per person. Bookings, including full payment, should be sent to: Mrs Gill Smith (see list of BCA Officers for contact details). Please note: Rooms will not be reserved until full payment has been received. The Whitehall Hotel has become very popular with our members who particularly appreciate the good food and the very friendly and helpful staff. The hotel is situated a relatively short downhill walk to the seafront, lower gardens and shops. In addition to the chess tournament there will be a varied programme of social activities. Anyone with ideas for social events, or who wants further information is invited to contact the organisers: John and Pam Jenkins

Bookings: When entering any of the Forthcoming Events, please refer to your May 2015 Gazette for the BCA Booking Conditions and Procedures.

Please note: BCA reserves the right to refuse or cancel any entry or to exclude any person from any event it runs.

Future of the BCA British Championship

Once again we find ourselves scratching our heads and wondering what we can do to make our British Championship an event more attractive to our members including our leading players.

During the 1990's we enjoyed a surge of interest, with numbers peaking in the mid 40's. This enabled us to run minor events alongside the main Championship event. Since the turn of the century, however, there has been a persistent decline in the number of entries for this event. Following low entries in 2009 and 2011 we opened our 2013 Championship to visually impaired players from beyond the UK and to our associate members, in the hope it would boost the numbers. The result was disappointing with just three additional entries who were not UK visually impaired players. At the 2014 AGM it was decided, by a large majority, to continue with the BCA British Championship as a seven day event, but to revert to the event being limited to UK visually impaired players. The result was an even lower entry with just ten players and just twenty in our party. Once again we failed to attract most of the leading players.

This lack of support for a week long British Championship presents us with a variety of problems:

1. With such low numbers it makes it difficult for us to negotiate favourable rates with the kind of hotels that can provide the facilities we need for a high profile event such as the British Championship.

2. When we fail to attract the support of the majority of the leading players the event becomes less meaningful as a national championship event and less attractive to potential sponsors.

3. An event without the leading players becomes less relevant as a bench mark for judging the relative strengths of players when selecting teams and individuals for major international events.

With the members so emphatically deciding upon a seven day format limited to UK VI players so recently as the 2014 AGM, we, on the tournament sub-committee, feel it would not be proper for us to propose alternative formats without first seeking the advice and the views of members. We are, therefore, inviting you to contact the Tournament Sub Committee with your views and with any suggestions you may have. We will report back in the February issue of 'The Gazette' and the BCA British Championship will appear as an item on the agenda for the 2016 AGM, when any ideas can be debated.

We would like to hear from any member who has come across a hotel they think might be a possibility for the BCA British Championship. We don't expect you to negotiate; we will do that. We feel most members will have some idea of the requirements: Sufficient rooms for up to 40 guests, with some single rooms; a function room for chess playing; suitable for VI people and for guide dogs; reasonable travel connections.

Stan Lovell

All Under One Roof

Members can claim support for attending any of these congresses from the Congress Support Scheme. You just have to flag up with the Congress Support Officer, Mark Kirkham, that you intend to participate, and assuming you have not exceeded the amount you are entitled to claim in a year and that you send in a small report on the tournament afterwards you could probably offset the vast bulk of costs incurred by playing in an event.

This list should not be treated as definitive and is only as complete as I can make it whilst complying with gazette deadlines. The following events take place in hotels so the accommodation and tournament are at the same venue.

Castle Chess

These are organised by Tony and Barbara Corfe. You can subscribe to Tony's newsletter yourself; just email him at one of these addresses and you will be added to his list of subscribers. Tony and Barbara are used to having visually impaired participants in their events. I have also found that other participants in Castle Chess events have got to know and befriended BCA players.

Please note that unless otherwise stated, all Castle Chess congresses are now six-round Swiss events and you are allowed to take a half-point bye in any two of the first five rounds. The grading bands are an Open which also has an U180 section, the Major for those under 160 with an Intermediate section for U140s, and a Minor section for those with a grade less than 125 with a Challengers section for U100s.

25th – 27th September 2015, 8th Portsmouth Congress, Lysses House Hotel, High Street, Fareham.

The Portsmouth Congress tends to be popular with local players and hotel rooms at the venue are limited. If you do go and get a room at the hotel, and if you think you are likely to play the next time this congress is held, it might be an idea to rebook the room when you check out on the Sunday.

9th – 11th October 2015, 1st Harrogate Congress, Old Swan Hotel.