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Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic the Welsh Chess Union (WCU) has suspended charging membership fees. Now with over the board chess starting to resume it has been decided to recommence membership fees for the period 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2022. We have kept membership fees consistent with those prior to the pandemic at £15 for adults and £7 for juniors.
In order for new members or for existing members to renew your membership please complete the form which can be downloaded from here and return it to the following email address finance.director@welshchessunion.uk or post it to WCU Membership Secretary, 9 Kingfisher Court, Llanelli SA151GT.
There are two ways as outlined on the form that membership fees can be paid. These are:
- By bank transfer to the Welsh Chess Union Account – Sort Code: 30-98-94 and Account Number 01112471. If you are paying by bank transfer please make sure you include your name as the reference to the payment as otherwise I may not be able to trace it when it arrives.
- By posting a cheque with your completed form to WCU Membership Secretary, 9 Kingfisher Court, Llanelli SA151GT.
In order to enter any WCU events whether they are online or over the board you need to be a current WCU member.
Previously, the WCU has allowed the payment of memberships applications via Paypal but this facility was not cost effective for the WCU and has been closed.
Every moth the International Rating Officer receives from FIDE a results report.
It shows every Fide-rated game played by WLS players, and is very useful
to the WCU rating officers and potentially to the selectors.
The main problem is that no-one wants to wade through it just in
case they find something.
Therefore the International Rating Officer has created this website:
This includes monthly summaries etc., as well as the original
files.
He has also created a program so the monthly updates should
There is also a permanent link to this website on the main menu at the top of this page under Grades>FIDE Rating Monthly Update.
Very sad news has reached the WCU that our FM Iolo Ceredig Jones passed away today after a long illness.
The WCU wishes to express our sincere condolences to Iolo’s family and friends at this very sad time.
There will be a private funeral on Wednesday September 15th at Aberystwyth Crematorium at 1pm.
Contributions, if desired, to Gwenllian Ward, Glangwili Hospital by Alun M. Esau, Funeral Director, Soar, Sarnau, Llandysul, Ceregion, SA446QS.
Obituary in English by Howard Williams
Iolo Ceredig Jones 1947-2021
Iolo passed away on 6 September 2021 just under a year after suffering a serious stroke, from which he never recovered. His contribution to chess in Cardigan, in Dyfed and in Wales generally has been immense.
Iolo was born in rural Ceredigion and, unlike most leading Welsh chess players of his generation, who came to the fore through schools’ chess and made their names playing in and for Wales as teenagers, Iolo was self-taught and never had the benefit of WCU coaching schemes. He first became known outside south-west Wales in the late 1960s as a Welsh Championship contender, finishing just behind the winners in 1968 and 1969 and continued to come close in the following years. It came as no surprise therefore when he was selected as a member of the Welsh team for our first ever Olympiad in 1972. But, far more strikingly, he then held his place in the Welsh team for the next 13 Olympiads, up to 1998, taking him to such far-flung venues as Buenos Aires, the Philippines, Moscow and the little-known Caucasian republic of Elista. He was not available between 2000 and 2008, needed at home to care for his ageing parents, but he regained his place for the 2010 and 2012 Olympiads. Iolo took one of the gold medals for his result at the 1990 Olympiad in Novi Sad (now part of Serbia) where he scored 6/7 and his performance in the 1998 Olympiad on Board 4 earned him the FIDE Master title. Perhaps his most memorable game was a narrow failure to beat the great Hungarian Grandmaster Lajos Portisch at the 1974 Olympiad in Nice. The game with Iolo’s typically modest notes is given below.
Iolo’s taste for international chess was not dulled during the last decade of his life. He was instrumental in ensuring Welsh entries in the European Seniors Team Championship (for over 60s) and later the World equivalent (for over 65s), playing Board 1 and captaining the team. He also led the ‘Cardigan’ team which played in the European Club Cup on three occasions between 2013 and 2016, earning its place through the Welsh Chess Premier League competition.
Iolo, together with his father the distinguished Welsh-language literary figure T Llew Jones and with Canon Seamus Cunnane, was responsible for founding the Cardigan Club (which first met in Llandysul in the sixties). Iolo went on to run the club for the next fifty years, during which it dominated other clubs in the Dyfed Chess League. Iolo’s contribution to Dyfed’s two annual individual tournaments was also enormous. In 1972, at a time when British weekend congresses were few and far between, the first Dyfed Open Congress took place at the Cliff Hotel, Gwbert, just outside Cardigan. 48 such events followed, attracting strong entrants from all over England and Wales, including a number of grandmasters who were often surprised to leave prize-less. Iolo himself won the top section on several occasions, most recently in 2017. In addition, Iolo was responsible for running the annual Dyfed Closed Championship where he acted as congress secretary and tournament controller, not to mention presenter of the prizes. At the time of his stroke Iolo also held the posts of Dyfed League Organiser and Dyfed Rating Officer and remained the Dyfed representative on the Welsh Chess Union’s selection committee.
Iolo co-authored with his father the only Welsh language chess book ever published, a book for beginners with a title, A chwaraei di Wyddbwyll? (‘Do you play gwyddbwyll?’). The title refers to a medieval Welsh tale relating a dream where King Arthur thus invites one of his noblemen to play a board game (which may have been chess) while the king’s soldiers fight outside against the nobleman’s flock of ravens.
At the board, Iolo’s was a distinctive presence. Firstly, his powers of concentration were immense. He almost never left the board during a game however long, not even to spend a penny, and turned the tables on many in the fourth hour of play and beyond, especially in the endgame. He never blundered. He was an especially difficult opponent with the black pieces, making it as hard as possible for his defences to be broken down. He would accept spatial disadvantages freely so long as he could avoid structural weaknesses. Casual attempts at attack were always repulsed and very few of his opponents ever recovered from the loss of material. His results might have been even better had he not sometimes shown excessive respect for the reputation of his strongest opponents.
Away from the board Iolo was always friendly, generous and convivial, fond of a pint (especially Doom Bar) and a glass of the red wine he had discovered on his chess excursions abroad. He got on well with all the members of the many chess teams he captained, itself no mean feat. He played local league cricket in his younger days. In recent years was a valuable member of one of the teams in the national poetry knock-out competition broadcast weekly on Radio Cymru, turning strict metre verse to comic ends, laughing for example at the Cardi’s reputation for thrift. He liked nice cars and female company.
All who knew Iolo will miss him hugely.
Obituary in Welsh by Howard Williams
Iolo Ceredig Jones 1947-2021
Bu farw Iolo ar 6 Medi 2021 ychydig yn llai na flwyddyn ar ôl iddo ddioddef strôc ddifrifol nad oedd gwellhad ohoni. Mae ei gyfraniad i wyddbwyll yn Aberteifi, yn Nyfed ac yng Nghymru benbaladr wedi bod yn anferth.
Cafodd Iolo ei eni yng nghefn gwlad Ceredigion ac yn wahanol i’r rhan fwyaf o chwaraewyr blaenllaw Cymru ei genhedlaeth, a ddaeth i’r brig drwy wyddbwyll ieuenctid drefnedig, hunan ddysgedig oedd Iolo ac ni fanteisiodd ar gynlluniau hyfforddiant Undeb Gwyddbwyll Cymru. Aeth yn adnabyddus y tu allan i Dde-orllewin Cymru am y tro cyntaf yn y 1960au diweddaraf wrth iddo gystadlu ym mhencampwriaeth Cymru, gorffen ychydig y tu ôl i’r enillwyr yn 1968 a 1969 a pharhau i ddod yn agos at y brig yn y blynyddoedd canlynol. Am hynny, ni fu syndod pan gafodd ei ddewis yn aelod o dîm Cymru ar gyfer ein Olympiad cyntaf erioed yn 1972. Ond yn llawer mwy trawiadol daliodd ei le wedyn ar gyfer yr 13 Olympiad nesaf, tan 1998 gan deithio i cyrchfannau mor wasgaredig â Buenos Aires, ynysoedd y Ffilipinau, Mosgo ac Elista, gweriniaeth anenwog yn mynyddoedd y Cawcasws. Nid oedd Iolo ar gael rhwng 2000 a 2008, am fod angen iddo aros gartref i ofalu am ei rieni yn eu henaint, ond adenillodd ei le ar gyfer y digwyddiadau yn 2010 a 2012. Cipiodd Iolo un o’r medalau aur am ei ganlyniad yn Olympiad Novi Sad (yn Serbia bellach) yn 1980, lle sgoriodd 6/7, ac enillodd deitl Meistr FIDE am ei berfformiad ar fwrdd 4 yn Olympiad 1998. Efallai mai ei gêm fwyaf cofiadwy oedd ei fethiant o drwch blewyn i faeddu’r Uwchfeistr mawr o Hwngari, Lajos Portisch. Ymddengys y gêm gyda sylwadau Iolo arni, sy’n nodweddiadol wylaidd.
Ni phylodd blas Iolo ar wyddbwyll ryngwladol yn ystod degawd olaf ei fywyd. Efe oedd yn allweddol wrth sicrhau bod timau o Gymru yn cymryd rhan ym Mhencampwriaeth Ewrop i chwaraewyr hŷn (dros 60) ac wedyn yn y gystadleuaeth fyd-eang debyg (i’r rhai dros 65), gan chwarae ar Fwrdd Un a chapteinio’r tîm yr un pryd. Arweiniodd hefyd dîm ‘Aberteifi’ a chwaraeodd yn y gystadleuaeth swyddogol i glybiau Ewrop deirgwaith rhwng 2013 a 2016, yn Rhodos, Skopje a Novi Sad, a hynny ar ôl iddynt ennill eu lle trwy Uwchgynghrair Gwyddbwyll Cymru.
Roedd Iolo, ar y cyd â’i dad, y llenor Cymraeg o fri, T Llew Jones, a’r Canon Seamus Cunnane, yn gyfrifol am sefydlu Clwb Aberteifi (oedd yn cwrdd yn gyntaf yn Llandysul yn y chwedegau). Aeth Iolo ymlaen i redeg y clwb dros hanner cant o flynyddoedd pan oedd y clwb yn tra-arglwyddiaethu dros glybiau eraill yng Nghynghrair Wyddbwyll Dyfed. Roedd cyfraniad Iolo i’r ddau dwrnamaint i unigolion a gynhelir yn Nyfed yn swmpus hefyd. Yn 1972, pryd roedd cystadlaethau dros y penwythnos o’r fath yn brin ledled Prydain, cynhaliwyd Cyngres Agored Gyntaf Dyfed yng Ngwesty’r Cliff, Gwbert, nid nepell o Aberteifi. Dilynwyd honno gan 48 digwyddiad tebyg wrth dynnu chwaraewyr da o bob rhan o Gymru a Lloegr gan gynnwys sawl uwchfeistr a gafodd ei synnu’n aml wrth ymadael yn ddi-wobr. Enillodd Iolo ei hun yr adran uchaf nifer o weithiau, yn ddiweddaraf yn 2017. At hynny, roedd Iolo yn gyfrifol am redeg Pencampwriaeth Gaeedig Dyfed yn flynyddol gan weithredu fel ysgrifennydd y gyngres, rheolwr y twrnamaint a hyd yn oed gyflwynydd y gwobrau. Ar adeg ei salwch roedd Trefnydd Cynghrair Dyfed, Swyddog Graddio Dyfed a chynrychiolydd Dyfed ar bwyllgor dewis Undeb Gwyddbwyll Cymru ymhlith swyddi gywddbwyll eraill Iolo.
Yn 1980 ysgrifennodd Iolo a’i dad yr unig lyfr gwyddbwyll Cymraeg ei iaith i’w gyhoeddi erioed, llyfr i ddechreuwyr a’r teitl, A chwaraei di Wyddbwyll?, arno, Mae’r teitl yn cyfeirio at y chwedl Gymraeg ganoloesol sy’n adrodd breuddwyd lle mae’r Brenin Arthur yn herio marchog i chwarae’r fath gêm yn ei erbyn wrth i filwyr y Brenin ymladd y tu allan â haid o gigfrain y marchog.
Wrth y bwrdd roedd gan Iolo bresenoldeb arbennig. Yn gyntaf, roedd ei allu i ganolbwyntio yn enfawr. Ni fyddai byth bron yn gadael y bwrdd yn ystod y gêm, ni waeth pa mor hir oedd hi, hyd yn oed i fynd i’r tŷ bach. Byddai’n troi‘r byrddau ar sawl un yn y bedwaredd awr o chwarae ac wedyn, yn enwedig yn y rhan derfynol o’r gêm. Ni fyddai byth yn bwnglera. Gwrthwynebydd neilltuol o anodd oedd Iolo gyda’r darnau du. Byddai’n amddiffyn mor wydn ag y bo modd gan ildio lle ar y bwrdd yn hytrach na derbyn gwendidau strwythurol yn ei safle. Bob tro byddai’n bwrw ymosodiadau difeddwl yn eu hôl. Ac ychydig iawn oedd y gwrthwynebwyr a lwyddai i achub y gêm ar ôl colli darn iddo. Efallai y byddai ei ganlyniadau wedi bod yn well byth pe na bai wedi dangos weithiau ormod o barch tuag at enwau mawr ei wrthwynebwyr cryfaf.
Oddi ar y bwrdd roedd Iolo wastad yn gyfeillgar, hael ac yn llawn afiaith, yn hoff o‘i beint (yn enwedig Doom Bar) a gwydraid o’r gwin coch roedd wedi magu blas arno ar ei deithiau gwyddbwyll dramor. Roedd ei berthynas ag aelodau’r timau niferus roedd yn eu harwain yn dda, a hynny’n dipyn o gamp. Roedd yn arfer chwarae criced mewn cynghrair leol pan oedd yn iau. Yn ddiweddar roedd yn aelod gwerthfawr un o’r timau lleol yn y gystadleuaeth farddonol wedi’i darlledu’n wythnosol ar Radio Cymru. Byddai’n troi’r gynghanedd at ddibenion ei hiwmor er enghraifft wrth chwerthin am ben y Cardi darbodus. Roedd yn hoffi ceir braf a chwmni benywaidd.
Bydd pawb oedd yn nabod Iolo yn gweld ei eisiau yn ddirfawr.
Games
Here are a few of Iolo’s games
Iolo Jones – Leon Burnett
Welsh Championship, Aberystwyth, April 1968 (Notes HW)
1.d4 d6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 g6 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Qd2 Bg7 7.0–0–0 0–0 8.h4 Black has played rather routinely in response to Iolo’s unusual line against the Leningrad Dutch but needs now to decide what to do about his kingside. He should keep the h-file closed either with …h5 or else plan to meet h5 with g5 and h6 with Bf8 (rather than have the bishop entombed on h8); hence Black needs to play 8…h5 or 8…Re8 here. 8…c6 9.h5 Re8 10.hxg6 hxg6 11.e3 a6 12.Nge2 Kf7 13.Nf4 b5 14.Be2 Already White is threatening 15. Nxg6! and 14…b4 15 Na4 just loses the ‘b’ pawn. 14…Rh8 15.d5! Black would like to close the position to maximise his chances of living with the coming incursion into e6 but he is too far behind in development and the white knights are not to be thwarted. 15…b4
16.dxc6! Qe8 [16…bxc3 17.Qd5+ etc] 17.Rxh8 Bxh8 18.Ncd5 Qxc6 19.Nxg6! Bg7 20.Nge7 Qc5 21.Nxc8 Nd7 22.Ncb6 Nxb6 23.Nxb6 Qxb6 24.Qd5+ 1–0
Iolo played a substantial role in Wales’ qualifying for the ‘A’ group in the Nice Olympiad in 1974, rubbing shoulders with a large proportion of the best players in the world at that time. Here is Iolo’s near miss against the super-strong Hungarian grandmaster. The notes are Iolo’s.
Iolo Jones – Lajos Portisch
Olympiad Final A Nice (Rd 7), 21.06.1974
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0–0 e5 6.Nc3 Nge7 7.d3 0–0 8.Ne1 [The knight is destined for c2 where, together with Rb1, it will assist in the advance b2–b4.] 8…d6 9.Nc2 Be6 10.Nd5 Qd7 11.Rb1 Rab8 12.Nxe7+ Nxe7 13.b4 b5 14.bxc5 dxc5 [14…bxc4 15.Rxb8 Rxb8 16.dxc4 dxc5 17.Qxd7 Bxd7 with fairly equal position is interesting.]
15.Rxb5 Rxb5 16.cxb5 Qxb5 17.Na3 Qa6 18.Qc2 Nf5 19.e3 Nd6 20.Rd1 Rb8 21.Bf1 [Threatening 22 d4 and also enabling White to play Na3–c4.] 21…Bg4 22.Rd2 [22.Re1 Qa5 23.Qd2 Qxd2 24.Bxd2 Rb2 wins for Black.; 22.Be2 Bxe2 23.Qxe2 e4 is also incorrect, since after the exchange of pawns, Black has a valuable asset in his passed “c” pawn.] 22…Qb6 23.Nc4 Nxc4 24.dxc4 Bf5 25.e4 Be6 26.Qd1 Qc7 27.Rb2 Rd8 28.Rd2 Rd4 29.Bb2 Rxe4?! [A dubious attempt at avoiding the very drawish position which arises after the natural 29…Rxd2 30 Qxd2.] 30.f3 Rd4 31.Bxd4 cxd4 32.Bd3 Bh6 33.Rb2 Be3+ 34.Kg2 Qa5 35.Qc2 Qc5 36.Qa4 Qc8 37.Qxa7 Bh3+ 38.Kh1 Kg7
39.Qe7? [An inaccurate move in my anxiety to reach the time control at move 40 – better was 39 Rb8!]
[39.Rb8 Qc6 (39…Qe6 40.Qc5+–) 40.Qa8+–] 39…Be6 40.Qd6 Qa8 41.Kg2 [The sealed move. In those days, the time control was 40 moves in 2,5 hours, with the game being adjourned overnight at the end of the 5–hour playing session. There was no ‘fast finish’. During the night, the Welsh team worked hard on the adjourned position and everyone was convinced that it was a certain win for White. But when I woke up next morning, I found a possible loop-hole for the Grandmaster to save himself. However, with an 8.30.a.m.start, there was no time to analyse the position further and we had to trudge off to the playing hall.] 41…Qa5 42.Qb4 Qc7 43.Qb5 Kh6! [The saving move for Black, since the queen no longer has to defend the pawn on e5.] 44.a4 Qc8 [The whole point of Black’s previous move becomes clear.] 45.h4 Bh3+ 46.Kh2 Bf5! 47.Qb3 Bxd3 48.Qxd3 Qc6 49.Kg2 Qxa4 50.Re2 Qa7! [Preventing 51 Rxe3.] 51.Qe4 Qa3 52.Qxe5 [Conceding the draw, but Black was threatening 52… Qc1.] 52…Qd3 53.Rxe3 dxe3 54.Qg5+ Kg7 55.Qe5+ Kf8 56.Qh8+ Ke7 57.Qe5+ Kd7 58.Qb5+ ½–½
The next game played in the last but one round of the Haifa Olympiad in 1974 is an example (one of many) of an over-optimistic opponent foundering on the rock of Iolo’s Old Indian Defence:
Bjoergvin Viglundsson (Iceland)- Iolo Jones (Notes HW)
22nd olm final Haifa ISR (12), 07.11.1976
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Bg5 c6 7.0–0–0+ (I long held the view that if I could castle queenside with check I must be winning.) Nbd7 8.Nf3 Kc7 9.Bh4 Bb4 10.Kc2 h6 11.a3 Bxc3 12.Kxc3 Ne4+ 13.Kc2 g5 14.Bg3 f5 (White is now in a serious mess – he should have exchanged his dark-square bishop when he had the chance.) 15.Rxd7+ Kxd7 16.Nxe5+ Ke6 (Probably this was White’s best bet but he does not have enough compensation for the exchange.) 17.f4 c5 18.e3 b6 19.Be1 Bb7 20.Rg1 Rhg8 21.Be2 Nf6 22.g3 Be4+ 23.Kc1 Rad8 24.b3 Nd7 25.Nxd7 Rxd7 26.g4 gxf4 27.exf4 fxg4 28.Bxg4+ Ke7 29.Bh4+ Kf8 30.Bg5 Rh7 31.Re1 hxg5 32.Rxe4 Rxh2 33.Be6 Rg7 34.f5 Rf2 35.Re1 g4 0–1
The next game is an example of Iolo’s ability to extract a win from a position which others would give up as a certain draw.
Iolo Jones – Tom Brown
Dyfed Open Fishguard (Rd 3), 27.02.2016
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nbd2 0–0 7.0–0 Bf5 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.Qxb6 axb6 10.b3 Ne4 11.Bb2 Nxd2 12.Nxd2 Rd8 13.e3 b5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Rfc1 Na6 16.a3 e6 17.b4 Bd3 18.Bf1 Bc4 19.Nb1 Nc7 20.Nc3 Rdc8 21.a4 Bxf1 22.Kxf1 bxa4 23.Nxa4 Nb5 (This position has to be quite level.) 24.Rc5 Nd6 25.Nb6 Rxa1+ 26.Bxa1 Rc6 27.Nd7 Rxc5 28.dxc5 Nb5 29.Bxg7 Kxg7 30.Ke2 f6 31.Kd3 Kf7 32.Nb6 Ke7 33.e4 dxe4+ 34.Kxe4 f5+ 35.Kd3 g5 36.Nc4 Kf6 37.f4 gxf4 38.gxf4 Nc7 39.Nd6 Nd5 40.b5 b6 41.cxb6 Nxb6 42.Nc4 Nd7 43.Kd4 Ke7 44.Ne5 Nb6 45.Kc5 Nc8 46.Kc6 Na7+ 47.Kb6 Nc8+ 48.Kc7 Na7 49.Nc6+ Nxc6 50.Kxc6 1–0
The game below may well have been Iolo’s last competitive game. The World Seniors was abandoned at about this point and the players returned home to lock-down. The game is typical of many Iolo wins. He doesn’t bother much about obtaining an opening advantage yet wins with comparative ease.
Iolo Jones – Kevin James (Ireland)
World Seniors Team Ch (Over 65 Section) Rd 6, Prague, 11.03.2020
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Nbd2 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.Bb5 Bd6 8.Bxd6 cxd6 9.c3 0–0 10.Be2 Re8 11.0–0 e5 12.Re1 Rc8 13.Nf1 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 e4 15.Be2 Ne7 16.Bb5 Rf8 17.Ng3 Ne8 18.Qb3 Nc7 19.Be2 a6 20.f3 Ng6 21.fxe4 dxe4 22.Bg4 Rb8 23.Nxe4 d5 24.Nd2 b5 25.Qc2 Rb6 26.Rf1 Nh4 27.Nf3 f5 28.Nxh4 fxg4 29.Rxf8+ Qxf8 30.hxg4 Qd8 31.Nf3 Ne8 32.Ne5 Nf6 33.Qf5 Ne4 34.Qf7+ Kh8 35.Rf1 Rf6 36.Rxf6 gxf6 37.Nc6 Qg8 38.Qxg8+ Kxg8 39.Ne7+ Kf7 40.Nxd5 1–0
The website has been updated recently to include the new school year-groups. This will help organisers and selectors. Ratings on the site are currently those held when the arrival of Covid put a halt to all over the board competition in Wales. These are unlikely to accurately reflect standards when play restarts, with some players playing little or no chess for a year and a half and others playing a lot of on-line chess during a stage in their life when rapid improvement often occurs. It is also likely a number of players on the list will not resume playing. It is therefore my intention when over-the-board chess restarts to treat all players as ‘new’ players with no rating and use their results when they start playing again in conjunction with their most recent rapidplay and full time limit ratings to give initial estimates of their rating strength. For those playing actively I would expect their ratings to arrive at a ‘correct’ level fairly quickly.
John D Thornton – junior rapidplay rating officer
Following on from the success of the 1st online Olympiad in 2020 and with the continuing travel restrictions due to Covid 19 it was unsurprising that FIDE organised a second online Olympiad. Once again the time limit for the event was 15 mins each for all moves plus 5 second increments from move 1. This was certainly a challenge for the players who are used to playing much longer time limits in such competitions.
155 countries entered this event and it was a fantastic honour to be asked to Captain and play in the team for the second time. The format of the event was the same as in 2020 with it being a mixed team event. A squad of 11 players were selected including 4 men – Jonathan Blackburn, Grzegorz Toczek, Jason Garcia and Allan Pleasants, 3 women – Olivia Smith, Kimberley Chong and Julie Wilson, 2 junior male players being Hugo Fowler and Duncan Macdonald and 2 junior females being Susanna Fraser and Hiya Ray
We were ranked 74th of the 155 countries and were once again placed in Division 3 of the competition which started on Friday 27th August 2021 and the 50 teams in Division 3 were put into 5 groups of ten teams.
Division 3 Report
We played 3 games each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the other 9 countries being Palestine, Zambia, Botswana, Kosovo, Scotland, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, Angola and ICCD. To progress to Division 2 we needed to finish in the top 3 teams in our section.
Each match included 6 players being 2 men, 2 women, 1 junior male and 1 junior female and they played against their equivalent from the other countries. The pools were a straight forward league structure with 2 points for each match you win and 1 point for each match you draw.
As captain I had to quickly get up to speed on the technical requirements of the competition. It can be so easy for a player to use a chess computer to tell them what moves to play in such a competition. FIDE did all they can to avoid cheating and all games were played whilst on webcam and we were not allowed to have any books, papers or other electrical devices in the room whilst the match was being played. We could not have our desk facing a window in case someone was outside the window giving us messages and we were not allowed to leave our desk whilst the game was ongoing. No one was allowed to enter the room either and we were observed by an independent arbiter for the duration of the match. After each game we had to make ourselves available to be interviewed by the arbiter if required to explain why we played certain moves.
Some of the matches were commented on by Grandmasters on the Chess.com website which was a particular privilege for individuals.
Round 1 –
Our first round match was against Palestine and as one of the weaker teams in the group it was important we got off to a winning start. Unfortunately, Olivia and Greg were not available for rounds 1-3 which made it a more challenging match. We managed to win the match fairly comfortably with good wins for Jason, Kimberly, Hugo and Susanna.
Final Score Palestine 1.5 – Wales 4.5
| Bo. |
10 |
Palestine |
Rtg |
– |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
1½:4½ |
| 4.1 |
|
Khaled.A, Hemaid |
1928 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn,
Jonathan L B |
2195 |
1 – 0 |
| 4.2 |
|
Alqwasma, Mohamed |
1732 |
– |
|
Garcia, Jason |
2067 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.3 |
|
Taqwa, Hamouri |
1116 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.4 |
WCM |
Faqeeh, Rahaf |
1444 |
– |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
½ – ½ |
| 4.5 |
|
Mohamad, Seder |
1699 |
– |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.6 |
|
Sawan, Eman |
1000 |
– |
|
Fraser, Susanna |
1428 |
0 – 1 |
Round 2 –
In round 2 we face a much stronger Zambia team that beat us in last year’s event 4.5 – 1.5. However, a real solid team performance with great wins for Kimberly, Julie, Duncan and Hiya resulted in an excellent 4.5 to 1.5 win. I was really pleased for Hiya and Duncan winning in their debut match in this event.
Final Score Wales 4.5 – Zambia 1.5
| Bo. |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
5 |
Zambia |
Rtg |
4½:1½ |
| 2.1 |
FM |
Blackburn,
Jonathan L B |
2195 |
– |
IM |
Jere, Daniel |
2397 |
½ – ½ |
| 2.2 |
|
Pleasants, Allan J |
2092 |
– |
FM |
Munenga, Douglas D |
2009 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.3 |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
– |
WFM |
Mwango, Lorita |
1874 |
1 – 0 |
| 2.4 |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
– |
WCM |
Mbatha, Constance |
1705 |
1 – 0 |
| 2.5 |
|
MacDonald, Duncan |
1415 |
– |
|
Mwape, Mwewa |
1798 |
1 – 0 |
| 2.6 |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
– |
|
Simwaka, Walusungu Nozyani |
1329 |
1 – 0 |
Round 3 –
Our third round opponent’s Botswana were evenly rated to us and we were looking to finish day 1 on a real high. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan and with only Hugo winning we didn’t get the result we wanted.
Final Score Botswana 4 – Wales 2
We ended the day with 4 points from 3 games and in 4th place overall.
| Bo. |
6 |
Botswana |
Rtg |
– |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
4 : 2 |
| 5.1 |
IM |
Oatlhotse, Providence |
2182 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn,
Jonathan L B |
2195 |
½ – ½ |
| 5.2 |
CM |
Mosutha, Thuso |
1949 |
– |
|
Garcia, Jason |
2067 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.3 |
WCM |
Gabatshwarwe, Refilwe |
1667 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.4 |
WIM |
Francis, Onkemetse |
1726 |
– |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
½ – ½ |
| 5.5 |
|
Selogelo, Othata |
1707 |
– |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.6 |
WFM |
Marape, Naledi |
1629 |
– |
|
Fraser, Susanna |
1428 |
1 – 0 |
Round 4 –
It was great that on Saturday we had both Olivia and Greg available and with a really tough match v a very strong Scotland team to come in round 5 I picked a really strong team for the match v Kosovo. We drew with Kosovo last year 3 -3 in this event so knew it was not going to be easy. Initially the match result went against us 3.5 to 2.5 with only Kimberly and Hiya winning but we were subsequently awarded the match 3.5 to 2.5 on Monday after the event had finished due to an intervention from the arbiters.
Final Score Kosovo 2.5 – Wales 3.5
| Round 4 on 2021/08/28 at 1200 UTC |
| Bo. |
8 |
Kosovo |
Rtg |
– |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
2½:3½ |
| 1.1 |
FM |
Ermeni, Avni |
2201 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn,
Jonathan L B |
2195 |
½ – ½ |
| 1.2 |
|
Bardhi, Valmor |
2171 |
– |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
1 – 0 |
| 1.3 |
WCM |
Saraci, Ndriqona |
1225 |
– |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
0 – 1 |
| 1.4 |
WCM |
Saraci, Rinesa |
1184 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
0 – 1 |
| 1.5 |
|
Dobraj, Bleron |
1879 |
– |
|
MacDonald, Duncan |
1415 |
1 – 0 |
| 1.6 |
|
Recica, Jona |
1000 |
– |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
0 – 1 |
Round 5 –
Now came our toughest game against a Scotland squad which boasted a GM, IM and WGM. Like most other teams against Scotland we really struggled and thankfully Susanna saved us from being whitewashed.
| Bo. |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
2 |
Scotland |
Rtg |
½ :5½ |
| 5.1 |
|
Garcia, Jason |
2067 |
– |
IM |
Greet, Andrew N |
2434 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.2 |
|
Pleasants, Allan J |
2092 |
– |
FM |
Abdulla, Murad |
2167 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.3 |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
– |
GM |
Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan |
2282 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.4 |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
– |
|
Lampard, Alice |
1763 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.5 |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
– |
|
Gordon, Frederick |
1415 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.6 |
|
Fraser, Susanna |
1428 |
– |
|
Feng, Jennifer |
1097 |
½ – ½ |
Final Score Wales 0.5 – Scotland 5.5
Round 6 –
We really needed a good result against a strong Nigeria team to keep our chances of qualifying for promotion to Division 2. This for me, was one of our best performances of the weekend at a crucial time for us. We had great wins from Jon and Greg against higher ranked opponents on boards 1 and 2 and Kimberly, Hugo and Hiya continued their excellent form with wins against higher ranked opponents on their boards.
Final Score Wales 5.5 – Nigeria 0.5
This was a great way to end the day and we were still in joint 4th place behind Scotland, Angola and Botswana. We knew that to qualify we needed to win all of our games on Sunday.
| Bo. |
1 |
Nigeria |
Rtg |
– |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
½ :5½ |
| 2.1 |
FM |
Kigigha, Bomo |
2314 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn, Jonathan L B |
2195 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.2 |
FM |
Osunfuyi, Abimbola |
2305 |
– |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.3 |
|
Samson, Peace |
1828 |
– |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
½ – ½ |
| 2.4 |
WFM |
Ogbiyoyo,
Perpetual Eloho |
1792 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.5 |
|
Okemakinde, Toluwanimi |
1975 |
– |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.6 |
|
Pelomoh, Jessica |
1737 |
– |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
0 – 1 |
Round 7 –
Starting on Sunday against United Arab Emirates as one of the weaker teams in the group was a must win game for us to have any chance of being promoted. Generally, we outranked our opponents on each board but many of the players rankings in this event could not be relied upon. This ended up being much closer than I wanted but we managed wins from Jon, Olivia and Hiya to win a close match. Hiya continued her excellent run of form winning her 4th game in a row.
Final Score Wales 3.5 – United Arab Emirates 2.5
| Bo. |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
9 |
United Arab Emirates |
Rtg |
3½:2½ |
| 4.1 |
FM |
Blackburn, Jonathan L B |
2195 |
– |
CM |
Khalifah, Khaled |
1555 |
1 – 0 |
| 4.2 |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
– |
|
Abdulrahman Mohammad, Al Taher |
1412 |
½ – ½ |
| 4.3 |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
– |
WCM |
Fatima, Saif Al-Ali |
1313 |
1 – 0 |
| 4.4 |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
– |
|
Anoud, Eisa Bashkardi |
1000 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.5 |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
– |
|
Al Darmaky, Sultan |
1588 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.6 |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
– |
|
Alghala Ali, Alali |
1109 |
1 – 0 |
Round 8 –
With Angola beating Botswana in round 7 we had moved up to 3rd place but knew we had the undefeated Angola team in round 8. We now knew that if we won both our remaining games we would qualify for promotion to Division 2. For this reason, I decided to keep the same team that had won in rounds 6 and 7. This game was very much one in which I couldn’t stop biting my nails but with wins from Kimberly, Olivia and Hugo we managed a brilliant win.
Final Score Angola 2.5 – Wales 3.5
Angola went on to beat a weakened Scotland team in round 9 and this was the only game they lost in the whole event. A fantastic team effort.
| Bo. |
3 |
Angola |
Rtg |
– |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
2½:3½ |
| 3.1 |
IM |
Silva, David |
2321 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn,
Jonathan L B |
2195 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.2 |
|
Dias, Vanderson |
2178 |
– |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
½ – ½ |
| 3.3 |
WIM |
Caxita, Esperanc |
1837 |
– |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.4 |
WFM |
Pires, Luzia |
1655 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.5 |
|
Prospero, Alexandre |
1560 |
– |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.6 |
|
Paulo, Jemima |
1754 |
– |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
1 – 0 |
Round 9 –
Our last round opponents were the team bottom of the pool ICCD, The International Chess Committee of the Deaf. I was now really nervous hoping we could finish off the event with the win that we needed to get promoted to Division 2. I made one change to the team bringing in Susanna for Hiya. I would like to thank Allan, Julie and Duncan for their fantastic attitude in supporting the team on the last day when they were not playing. Things in this match started well with wins for Susanna and Greg putting us 2 -0 up. Then Kimberly drew leaving us needing 1 win to win the match. I could see that Hugo was struggling so needed Olivia or Jon to win their games. Thankfully Olivia won to confirm our win and promotion. I knew Jon was gutted in losing his match as at the time he thought it may have cost us promotion but thankfully that wasn’t the case.
Final Score Wales 3.5 – ICCD 2.5
| Bo. |
4 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
7 |
ICCD |
Rtg |
3½:2½ |
| 3.1 |
FM |
Blackburn, Jonathan
L B |
2195 |
– |
|
Jankunas, Tomas |
2037 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.2 |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
– |
|
Mate, Balazs |
2110 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.3 |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
– |
WCM |
von Erichsen, Annegret |
1998 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.4 |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
– |
|
Malika, Handa |
1345 |
½ – ½ |
| 3.5 |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
– |
|
Piekielny, Pawel |
1838 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.6 |
|
Fraser, Susanna |
1428 |
– |
|
Grybauskaite, Ugne |
1000 |
1 – 0 |
We had done it!!! Three wins 3.5 to 2.5 on the final day meant we had finished in third place in Pool C ahead of Botswana and Zambia but behind Angola and Scotland.
Final Table
| Rk. |
SNo |
|
Team |
Games |
+ |
= |
– |
TB1 |
TB2 |
TB3 |
| 1 |
2 |
|
Scotland |
9 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
41,5 |
0 |
| 2 |
3 |
|
Angola |
9 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
39,0 |
0 |
| 3 |
4 |
|
Wales |
9 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
14 |
31,0 |
0 |
| 4 |
5 |
|
Zambia |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
30,5 |
0 |
| 5 |
6 |
|
Botswana |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
29,0 |
0 |
| 6 |
1 |
|
Nigeria |
9 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
8 |
26,0 |
0 |
| 7 |
9 |
|
United Arab Emirates |
9 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
20,5 |
0 |
| 8 |
10 |
|
Palestine |
9 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
18,5 |
0 |
| 9 |
7 |
|
ICCD |
9 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
17,5 |
0 |
| 10 |
8 |
|
Kosovo |
9 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
16,5 |
0 |
To finish third in such a tough group was an amazing team effort and we have now been rewarded with being promoted to Division 2 which will be a fantastic opportunity for the players to play incredibly strong opposition. I would like to thank all the players for making my job easy during the weekend. We really played as a team with contributions from different players in different games. The Division 2 matches will take place on Thursday 2nd September to Saturday 4th September 2021 and will be broadcast once again on Chess.com/Live TV. A number of us appeared on the chess.com coverage over the weekend and hopefully we will make a repeat appearance next weekend.
Division 2 Report
Having been delighted to get promoted from Division 3 we knew the challenge that faced us in Division 2 would be significant. Most of the teams had titled players filling all the places in their squads. To make the challenge even more significant a number of our squad were unavailable for a number of our games. We contacted the arbiter to request to make changes to our squad but unfortunately this was refused. Olivia Smith was unavailable for 6 of our 9 games which meant that Kimberly and Julie had to play all the games on days 1 and 2. Also Susanna Fraser was unavailable for the first 5 rounds which meant that Hiya Ray was needed to play the first 5 rounds. Both Jon Blackburn and Greg were unavailable for the majority of games on Saturday. Based on this unavailability it was an achievement not to default any boards during our 9 games
We played 3 games each day against the other 9 countries being Malaysia, Italy, Estonia, Iraq, Latvia, Moldova, Switzerland, Uzbekistan and Austria. To progress to Division 1 we needed the miracle of finishing in the top 3 teams in our section.
Each match included 6 players being 2 men, 2 women, 1 junior male and 1 junior female and they played against their equivalent from the other countries. The pools were a straight forward league structure with 2 points for each match you win and 1 point for each match you draw.
Round 1 –
Our first round match was against Malaysia whose team were full of titled players. Julie, Hiya and Greg had great draws against their titled players but overall Malaysia were just too strong for us.
Final Score Wales 1.5 – Malaysia 4.5
| Bo. |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
7 |
Malaysia |
Rtg |
1½:4½ |
| 4.1 |
FM |
Blackburn,
Jonathan L B |
2195 |
– |
FM |
Lim, Zhuo Ren |
2173 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.2 |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
– |
FM |
Subramaniam, Sumant |
2094 |
½ – ½ |
| 4.3 |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
– |
WIM |
Azhar, Puteri
Munajjah Az-Zahraa |
1776 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.4 |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
– |
WFM |
Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada |
1783 |
½ – ½ |
| 4.5 |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
– |
FM |
Chan, Kim Yew |
2214 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.6 |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
– |
WCM |
Chua, Jia-Tien |
1798 |
½ – ½ |
Round 2 –
It didn’t get any easier in round 2 when we faced one of the group favourites Italy. Having a Grandmaster on board 1 and titled players in the remainder of the team this was an incredibly difficult challenge. Unfortunately, this resulted in us suffering our first whitewash in the event.
Final Score Italy 6 – Wales 0
| Bo. |
1 |
Italy |
Rtg |
– |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
6 : 0 |
| 3.1 |
GM |
Moroni, Luca Jr |
2519 |
– |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.2 |
IM |
Lodici, Lorenzo |
2289 |
– |
|
Pleasants, Allan J |
2092 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.3 |
IM |
Zimina, Olga |
2327 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.4 |
WIM |
Movileanu, Daniela |
2099 |
– |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.5 |
FM |
Di Benedetto, Edoardo |
2152 |
– |
|
MacDonald, Duncan |
1415 |
1 – 0 |
| 3.6 |
WFM |
Sala, Giulia |
1859 |
– |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
1 – 0 |
Round 3 –
Our really tough day continued in round 3 against a strong Estonia team and unfortunately we suffered our second whitewash of the day.
Final Score ales 0 – Estonia 6
We ended the day in 10th place overall and this day showed the gulf in standard between division 3 and division 2.
| Bo. |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
5 |
Estonia |
Rtg |
0 : 6 |
| 3.1 |
FM |
Blackburn, Jonathan L B |
2195 |
– |
IM |
Sirosh, Ilja |
2226 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.2 |
|
Garcia, Jason |
2067 |
– |
|
Vorobjov, Pavel |
2287 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.3 |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
– |
WFM |
Sinitsina, Anastassia |
2156 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.4 |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
– |
|
Viikmaa, Karmen |
1844 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.5 |
|
MacDonald, Duncan |
1415 |
– |
|
Rychagov, Nikita |
1954 |
0 – 1 |
| 3.6 |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
– |
|
Blokhin, Sofia |
1762 |
0 – 1 |
Round 4 –
After a really tough first day we had to pick ourselves up and reenergise ourselves for day 2. Our 4th round opponents were Iraq who had also been promoted from Division 3 and we had beaten them 3.5 – 2.5 in last year’s event. With great wins from Greg, Kimberly and Hiya and a good draw from Jon we managed to repeat the win from last year. It was such a relief to win our first game in Division 2.
Final Score Iraq 2.5 – Wales 3.5
| o. |
9 |
Iraq |
Rtg |
– |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
2½:3½ |
| 4.1 |
FM |
Salih, Akar Ali Salih |
2259 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn, Jonathan L B |
2195 |
½ – ½ |
| 4.2 |
FM |
Ahmed, Ali Layth Ahmed |
2163 |
– |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.3 |
|
Al-Fayyadh, Zainab
Asif Abdulah |
1733 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
0 – 1 |
| 4.4 |
WFM |
Jalaluldeen, Kareen
Kamal J. |
1751 |
– |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
1 – 0 |
| 4.5 |
FM |
Rabeea, Sabah Nori |
1841 |
– |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
1 – 0 |
| 4.6 |
WCM |
Al-Fayyadh, Yamama
Asif Abdula |
1611 |
– |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
0 – 1 |
Round 5 –
On a high after our win against Iraq we came back down to earth with a bump against an incredibly strong Latvia team. Allan Pleasants had a brilliant draw against his FM opponent which saved us from a whitewash.
| Bo. |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
3 |
Latvia |
Rtg |
½ :5½ |
| 2.1 |
FM |
Toczek, Grzegorz |
2240 |
– |
GM |
Meshkovs, Nikita |
2536 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.2 |
|
Pleasants, Allan J |
2092 |
– |
FM |
Mustaps, Matiss |
2376 |
½ – ½ |
| 2.3 |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
– |
WGM |
Rogule, Laura |
2261 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.4 |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
– |
WFM |
Vidruska, Renate |
1951 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.5 |
|
MacDonald, Duncan |
1415 |
– |
FM |
Golubovskis, Maksims |
2244 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.6 |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
– |
|
Golsta, Madara |
1895 |
0 – 1 |
Final Score Wales 0.5 – Latvia 5.5
Round 6 –
Our last match of day 2 wasn’t any easier with us being paired against Moldova. Jon Blackburn had an excellent draw against his IM opponent which again avoided a whitewash for us.
Final Score Moldova 5.5 – Wales 0.5
| Bo. |
4 |
Moldova |
Rtg |
– |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
5½: ½ |
| 5.1 |
IM |
Macovei, Andrei |
2272 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn, Jonathan L B |
2195 |
½ – ½ |
| 5.2 |
IM |
Schitco, Ivan |
2290 |
– |
|
Garcia, Jason |
2067 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.3 |
|
Verbin, Valentina |
1659 |
– |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.4 |
|
Petricenco, Ana |
1344 |
– |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.5 |
FM |
Lashkin, Jegor |
2180 |
– |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.6 |
|
Tuktamisova, Diana |
1542 |
– |
|
Fraser, Susanna |
1428 |
1 – 0 |
At the end of day 2 we were placed 9th in the group.
Round 7 –
It was great to welcome Olivia back into the squad for Round 7. However, Greg was now in Poland playing an over the board match and Jon was also unavailable. We were paired with Switzerland and Allan and Olivia had great draws but unfortunately, we were unable to win any boards.
Final Score Wales 1 – Switzerland 5
| Round 7 on 2021/09/04 at 1000 UTC |
| Bo. |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
6 |
Switzerland |
Rtg |
1 : 5 |
| 1.1 |
|
Garcia, Jason |
2067 |
– |
IM |
Gaehwiler, Gabriel |
2355 |
0 – 1 |
| 1.2 |
|
Pleasants, Allan J |
2092 |
– |
FM |
Arcuti, Davide |
2083 |
½ – ½ |
| 1.3 |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
– |
|
Tamrazyan, Gohar |
1578 |
½ – ½ |
| 1.4 |
|
Chong, Kimberly |
1790 |
– |
|
Thode, Gilda |
1910 |
0 – 1 |
| 1.5 |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
– |
FM |
Fecker, Noah |
2112 |
0 – 1 |
| 1.6 |
|
Fraser, Susanna |
1428 |
– |
|
Zhuang, Yongzhe |
1645 |
0 – 1 |
Round 8 –
Our round 8 opponents were Uzbekistan whose board 1 despite only having a 1666 rating had beaten two GMs in the event already. Allan and Olivia played excellent matches and won their games but unfortunately the rest of us lost.
Final Score Wales 2 – Uzbekistan 4
| Bo. |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
– |
10 |
Uzbekistan |
Rtg |
2 : 4 |
| 5.1 |
|
Garcia, Jason |
2067 |
– |
FM |
Madaminov, Mukhiddin |
1666 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.2 |
|
Pleasants, Allan J |
2092 |
– |
|
Rakhmatullaev, Almas |
1967 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.3 |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
– |
|
Salimova, Asal |
1700 |
1 – 0 |
| 5.4 |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
– |
|
Malikova, Marjona |
1592 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.5 |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
– |
CM |
Begmuratov, Khumoyun |
1887 |
0 – 1 |
| 5.6 |
|
Ray, Hiya |
1542 |
– |
WFM |
Khegay, Yuliya |
1600 |
0 – 1 |
Round 9 –
Our last round opponents were Austria who had GM Markus Ragger 2630 on board 1. This was a match that got away from us as Julie had a fantastic win and Susanna and Olivia enjoyed good draws. Jon played brilliantly against Markus Ragger and got himself into a rook and pawn ending with an extra pawn. Unfortunately, with a few seconds left Jon blundered and eventually lost.
Final Score Austria 4 – Wales 2
| Bo. |
2 |
Austria |
Rtg |
– |
8 |
Wales |
Rtg |
4 : 2 |
| 2.1 |
GM |
Ragger, Markus |
2630 |
– |
FM |
Blackburn,
Jonathan L B |
2195 |
1 – 0 |
| 2.2 |
IM |
Froewis, Georg |
2484 |
– |
|
Pleasants, Allan J |
2092 |
1 – 0 |
| 2.3 |
WFM |
Polterauer, Chiara |
2057 |
– |
WFM |
Smith, Olivia |
1957 |
½ – ½ |
| 2.4 |
WFM |
Froewis, Annika |
2092 |
– |
|
Wilson, Julie |
1826 |
0 – 1 |
| 2.5 |
FM |
Morgunov, Marc |
2182 |
– |
|
Fowler, Hugo |
1686 |
1 – 0 |
| 2.6 |
|
Vicze, Kata |
1662 |
– |
|
Fraser, Susanna |
1428 |
½ – ½ |
At least we didn’t finish in 10th place and our win over Iraq meant we finished 9th in our group. The teams promoted to the top division were Latvia, Moldova and Italy.
Final Table
| Rk. |
SNo |
|
Team |
Games |
+ |
= |
– |
TB1 |
TB2 |
TB3 |
TB4 |
TB5 |
| 1 |
3 |
|
Latvia |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
38,0 |
0 |
99 |
163,8 |
| 2 |
4 |
|
Moldova |
9 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
14 |
35,0 |
0 |
102 |
166,0 |
| 3 |
1 |
|
Italy |
9 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
36,5 |
0 |
96 |
154,3 |
| 4 |
5 |
|
Estonia |
9 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
32,5 |
0 |
83 |
138,3 |
| 5 |
10 |
|
Uzbekistan |
9 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
30,0 |
0 |
91 |
146,8 |
| 6 |
7 |
|
Malaysia |
9 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
28,0 |
0 |
49 |
82,8 |
| 7 |
2 |
|
Austria |
9 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
26,0 |
0 |
38 |
74,3 |
| 8 |
6 |
|
Switzerland |
9 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
22,5 |
0 |
32 |
64,5 |
| 9 |
8 |
|
Wales |
9 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
11,0 |
0 |
0 |
10,5 |
| 10 |
9 |
|
Iraq |
9 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
10,5 |
0 |
0 |
0,0 |
This had been an incredibly challenging few days against some incredibly strong opposition with a squad which had limited availability during the 3 days. This resulted in an incredibly tough schedule for some players with for example Julie Wilson playing 8 of the 9 games and both Hugo Fowler and Kimberly Chong playing 7 games. I believe as a squad we overachieved by getting promoted from Division 3 and during the two weeks we managed to win 5 matches 3.5 to 2.5 with contributions coming from all players. The whole event was fantastically organised by the arbiters and it was a pleasure to be part of such a prestigious event. I would like to thank all players for their amazing efforts and I am sure we will all have learned something during our matches.
Thanks for reading
Jason Garcia
Captain
Wales Online Olympiad Team 2021
As the Welsh Government (WG) announces changes to regulations it remains the case that clubs and organisers must continue to take responsibility for any events they put on, with suitable risk assessments, mitigation arrangements and precautions in place. This page summarises some of the key WG guidance points and recommendations which are relevant for chess events and should be considered by clubs and organisers as we move forward.
Updates (7th September 2021) are shown in blue.
Further updates will be made as necessary when regulations/guidance change
Relevant guidance for current regulations in place can be found on the main WG COVID-19 web pages here:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) | Topic | GOV.WALES
Continue reading COVID Guidance / Recommendations
The Wales team is as follows:
| Category |
‘Main’ Players |
Reserves |
| Open Boards |
1. Jonathan Blackburn |
3. Jason Garcia |
| 2. Grzegorz Toczek |
4. Allan Pleasants |
| Women’s Boards |
1. Olivia Smith |
3. Julie Wilson |
| 2. Kimberly Chong |
4. Hiya Ray |
| Open Under 20 |
1. Hugo Fowler |
2. Duncan Macdonald |
| Girl Under 20 |
1. Susanna Fraser |
2. Hiya Ray |
| Team Captain |
Jason Garcia |
We wish them all the best!
Over many months Welsh Chess Union officials have been monitoring both Welsh Government regulations and Welsh Sports Association advice.
We hope to have more information when the next announcement is made prior to 6th August.
The Welsh Chess Union has organised a Zoom meeting for one official from each club (and also Zone officials) which will take place on Monday, 16th August at 7 pm to give advice.
We are restricting this meeting to one per club so that the numbers attending do not get too large.
At present it seems highly likely that all clubs will need to have a written risk assessment prior to opening and we have also been told by WCU Insurers (who also cover clubs) that this risk assessment must be approved by the National Governing Body.
At the meeting we will give guidance on completing a risk assessment and discuss other things to be considered when reopening.
URGENT: FIDE ON-LINE CHESS OLYMPIAD: SELECTION OF WELSH TEAM AND CAPTAIN:
DEADLINE FOR RESPONSES – END SUNDAY 25 JULY
1. Introduction
The World Chess Federation (‘FIDE’) are organising a second on-line chess Olympiad at very short notice. The full details can be found at:
https://reg-olympiad.fide.com/login.phtml
and here
https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/OnlineOlympiadRegulations2021.pdf
It is open to one team per member country. Entries need to reach FIDE by 31 July and include a list of players and reserves. A team captain also has to be nominated. We therefore need to identify very quickly those who wish to participate (if selected).
2. Action needed
If you wish to take part in this event and are definitely available, please e-mail
Peter Bevan (internationaldirector@welshchessunion.uk) and
Howard Williams (chairmanofselectors@welshchessunion.uk)
by the end of next Sunday 25 July specifying in what capacity (see below).
3. Format of Event
The event consists of matches between teams of six, two places open to anybody, two places for women, one player (either sex), and one girl both born on or after 1 Jan 2001. Each country is entitled also to nominate one reserve for each of these six ‘main’ players.
Games are played on-line at a rapid chess rate, here 15 minutes plus 5 second increments from move 1.
Initially teams will participate in seeded all-play-all ten-team groups. This seeding works generally by allocating teams to divisions of 50 and then splitting the fifty into equal strength groups of ten. The top three teams in each group go on to the next stage; the other seven are eliminated.
A team’s nine matches are played on three consecutive days at a rate of three rounds a day. The timing of the three rounds within those days will take into account the time-zones in which countries are situated.
Games may be played from home though teams are encouraged to gather together at one venue if a country’s lockdown rules, as they then stand, permit. Please assume that you will need to play from home.
Only the ten-team APA tournaments in a particular division will take place simultaneously. All the matches for the bottom division will be completed before the next-to-bottom division’s tournaments start and so on. This enables the top three teams in a lower division APA tournament (15 teams in all from the division) to be promoted into the next division’s APAs. On the completion of the Division 2 tournaments the event moves on to the play-off stage essentially a series of knock-out matches and eventually a winner emerges.
The timetable for the event is set out in full in Section 4 of the FIDE regulations to which there is a link above.
4. Likely Seeding of Welsh Team
Seedings are determined by the average position of teams in the 2018 Olympiad in Batumi and in the 2020 on-line Olympiad and have no link to the ratings of those selected for this event. The rules are complex but we are likely to be seeded to play in Division 3 (as in 2020).
5. Period over which participants must be free
As a result it appears that we will play our nine games over the three days August 27 to August 29. And if, contrary to the seeding expectation, we finish in the top three in our group, we would then play a further nine games in Division 2 over the period Sept 2-4.
FIDE will confirm the allocation of teams to divisions on August 8.
6. Requirements for selection as a player
Players must be registered as Welsh by FIDE and meet the WCU’s domestic eligibility rules for international competitions under the auspices of FIDE.
Access to a lap-top (with a camera turned on during rounds so that an arbiter can observe the player remotely) is necessary. The rules prevent games being played from a tablet or mobile phone.
All Welsh players will need to be registered with a nickname on the CHESS.COM platform before we can enter.
As some rounds are almost bound to fall in the working day players must be free to participate throughout Wales’s playing days (likely to be August 27-29 (see Schedule in Regulations).
All players need to be aware of the FIDE regulations for this event including the fair-play rules (see link to the regulations in Para 1 above).
Experience of playing chess on-line is highly desirable.
7. Team Captain Duties and Requirements
The captain chooses the team for each round from the main players and the reserves.
The captain must participate in the technical meeting (via Zoom) held the day before the start of the games in the division in which Wales is placed.
8. Notification
Those stating their wish to take part in this event (see para 2 above) will be considered for selection next week and will receive a response by Saturday July 31.
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