Welsh Online Junior Champs U16, U13, U11 and U9 Results

Under 16

1st Yuxuan Wu 2nd Bence Szakmany 3rd Milo Davies

Under 13

=1st Khushi Bagga and Tabitha Ryan 3rd Osian Jessop

Under 11

1st Emma Kong 2nd Rishit Desai 3rd Sebastian Hoccom

Under 9

1st Rishit Desai equal 2nd Gruff Dafydd and Lucas Zheng

15th Online Scottish Chess Tour Weekend 2nd-5th July

Scottish Chess are organising this event and they are inviting entries from WCU members.

This event covers Blitz, Open, Major (U1800), Minor (U1300) and Allegro for all, U15, and U11,

Anyone wishing to compete, please see this link.

 

2021 European Individual Championship, Reykjavik, Iceland

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

DEADLINE: 30 June 2021

This announcement invites WCU members, registered as Welsh with FIDE, to let us know by 30 June whether they may be interested in taking part in this event by e-mailing Peter Bevan (internationaldirector@welshchessunion.uk).

Details of Event

This event will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland from 25 August 2021 (date of arrival) to 6 September (date of departure). More detailed information is available here. Briefly, the WCU has not been represented at this event since 2013 but this is an exciting opportunity to play in a high-level event like this so it is an event the WCU should encourage it’s members to participate in wherever possible. Details of accommodation costs and the transportation / registration charge are given in the website announcement. Sadly the WCU is only able to contribute to pay for one player’s entry fee which is 100 Euros. Should more than one member accept the invitation then the WCU contribution would remain at 100 Euros but be split amongst the welsh participants.  

COVID-19

As of 21 June 2021, Iceland is on the Green List so there is no requirement to quarantine. Obviously, the situation may change before the event takes place especially as there are rising COVID-19 cases with the Delta variant in the UK at present. This may result in the Iclandic authorities to prevent British citizens from entering Iceland. Therefore please take this into consideration before booking anything as the WCU can not be liable for any refund as this will be a personal decision by the individual to travel. 

ECU E-Magazine May 2021

This can be viewed here.

Sam Jukes wins 1st Welsh Online Major and Khushi Bagga wins 1st Welsh Minor Championship

Major results:

Sam Jules came 1st with 6/7.

Elliott McNeil came 3nd with 5.5/7.

Yuxuan Wu came 3rd with 4.5/7.

Full results here:

Minor results:

1at Khushi Bagga 6/7.

2nd Anshul Swamy 5.5/7.

=3rd David Norris and Emma Kong 4.7.

Full results here:

Jonathan Blackburn wins the 1st Welsh Online Chess Championship

Jonathan Blackburn won the 1st Welsh Online Chess Championship with a score of 5.5/7.

Tim Kett was second with 5/7.

Grzegorz Toczek was 3rd with 4.5/7.

The full final table can be found here

John Porter RIP

It is  with great sadness that news has reached the WCU that John Porter, De La Beche Chess Club, West Wales recently passed away. His clubmate Ken Huntley has written  this obituary below.

John Porter – an Obituary by Ken Huntley 

I joined the Tycoch Chess club in 1975, played two games and then the club folded.  Paul Headon then persuaded Alan Rosser and myself to join the Hendrefoilan club, and it was here that I first met John Porter.  John was a chartered accountant, and his work brought he and his family to Swansea at much of the same time as myself . We quickly became close friends as we had a lot in common.  John was slightly older than me but born in Penarth, and I was a Cardiffian. Being from the same part of the world, we could relate to many things.  Of interest is the fact that John’s work as an accountant brought he and his wife Maureen together. He was obliged to audit the accounts of the firm where she worked in Cardiff, and their relationship took off from that moment.

 

Although John’s first love in sport was cricket, he was a committed chess player, At Hendrefoilan he soon brought his son Stuart along to join the club, and naturally took over as Treasurer very quickly.  He also took a keen interest in the running of the WWCL and was a regular attendee at AGMs.  It was no surprise therefore that in 1993 John was elected be a Vice President of the League.  In 2003, John was an obvious candidate to take up the post of Treasurer to the League, and he served in this position for 14 years until ill health forced his retirement.  John remains the second longest serving member of this position. Surprisingly, although working as an accountant throughout his life, he could never be persuaded to take any interest in computing.

 

For all the time that I have known John, he has been heavily involved in coaching juniors in various sports.  With John’s encouragement both his sons loved playing cricket and soccer.  They both reached a high standard at both and have represented Swansea City at junior levels. John continued to be involved with Swansea junior cricket long after his sons stopped playing.  When I suggested that John might do the same with chess, he did not hesitate, and ran the junior team at Hendrefoilan school for many a year.  Only when school regulations changed and made this difficult was John forced to give this up.

 

After John’s forced resignation as Treasurer, his persistent illness forced him to spend a considerable time in nursing care, but eventually he was able to return home to his wife Maureen.  He became housebound for a while after falling and breaking an ankle, but over time his health improved considerably.  I lost touch with John over this last year because of the Covid shutdown regime, so it came as a huge surprise to hear that John had died.  Maureen told me that John had spent seven weeks in hospital and died there on the 5th May. Reading between the lines, it is suspected that he died of bowel cancer.

 

John has been a loyal friend of mine throughout the 46 years that we have known each other, and he will be sadly missed.

COVID Precautions Version 1 – May 2021

This document will be updated following further review and input. Organisers should consult the version current on the website at the time of organising an event.

As we continue along the Welsh Government’s relaxation of restrictions, chess players are looking forward to over-the-board play once again, and organisers for clubs, leagues and events will be considering when to open up, what type of events to run, and what precautions to take. Continue reading COVID Precautions Version 1 – May 2021

ECU E-Magazine April 2021

This can be viewed here.

Gary Wakeham RIP

It is with great sadness that we have learned that Gary Wakeham passed away at his home on Wednesday 14th April at the age of 64.

Gary was a long standing member of Cardiff Chess Club and over the years served as Club Secretary and Team Captain and was also a very popular Junior Coach.

Away from the board, Gary ran his own building maintenance business and was also a very talented artist, selling many of his paintings to customers both in the UK and worldwide.

Above all, Gary was a devoted family man and liked nothing better than relaxing with his wife Gail and his children and grandchildren.

We will miss his hard work, integrity and great sense of humour, as well as the times spent at the end of a chess evening, putting the world to rights over one or two shandies.