CLUB NIGHTS

The club meets throughout the year on Monday evenings (6.0 - 10.45, usually ample free parking on Mondays) at West Herts Sports Club, 8 Park Avenue, Watford WD18 7HP.    Juniors have priority during the first 90 minutes.   

Chess is played in the Function Room although members and visitors have access to the separate and comfortable lounge bar area - as well as alcoholic beverages, the bar serves tea, coffee and soft drinks.   The club plays in the 4 Nations Chess League and the Hertfordshire League with junior teams playing in the Junior 4 Nations Chess League.

Intending new members of all levels and abilities (with the obvious proviso that they know how to play chess) are welcome.  Club policy is that newcomers are allowed three visits as guests to sample the atmosphere and decide whether they wish to apply to join the club.   This website aims to give full information about the club but, if you find there is anything not covered here, please use the "Contact Us" facility and a committee member will get in touch.

Jennifer Hurrell presents Ernest Karumazondo, joint winner with Andrew Stone, with the Price Cup

4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE - DIVISION 4

Second 4NCL weekend is 11-12 January at the Holiday Inn, Maidenhead/Windsor, and team selection is currently under way although we're still seeking two or three new players, preferably strong players, to reinforce our squad and give Watford A the chance to escape from Division 4.

Slightly disappointing result from the first weekend which took place at Maidenhead on 9-10 November when Watford A made hard work of beating one of the weaker teams 6-0 in the first round and then, in a match it should almost certainly have won, was held to a 2.5-2.5 draw in round 2.   Meanwhile Watford B faced two significantly stronger teams and lost 5-1 and 6-0, although some of our players will feel disappointed not to have done better.

Dates/venues for the 3 later weekends are shown on our 'Fixtures' page, with the next in early February, again in Maidenhead.    The two final weekends will be in Daventry.  Interested new players are invited to contact the club committee (as an option to personal contact, anyone can use the 'Contact us' tab at the top of the page) to express their interest.

Main points to note are that 4NCL entails one round each day, with the rate of play 40 moves in 100 minutes (plus 30 second increments from move 1) followed by the rest of the game in 50 minutes (again with 30 second increments). That means a 60-move game could conceivably take as long as 6 hours, far longer than local league chess.  

Starting times are 2.0 on the Saturday of each weekend followed by (except in the May three-day weekend) 11.0 for Sunday's games.    All games are ECF-graded and, subject to meeting the usual conditions, FIDE-rated.

More information about 4NCL appears on its website.  

Division 4, leading standings after round 2:

HERTFORDSHIRE CHESS LEAGUE

The 2019-20 competition began on 30 September.   After the initial few matches, our u-120 team has a perfect record with three wins from three played.   In the main league, star performers are currently Watford 2 with two wins and one draw from its three matches.

See 'Fixtures' page for a list of fixtures over the first half of the season.

Please note recent HCL rule changes which include

3.7.4 The home player (or a proxy acting on their behalf) must first decide, before starting the clock, whether they wish to invoke the 35 moves in 75 mins, plus 7 moves each 15 minutes rate of play. If they decline, the away player (or a proxy) then can decide. Note that the player choosing to play this rate of play travels in the event of the match continuing after adjournment.
3.8.1 For games played using the Fischer Timing rate of play (all moves in 70 mins plus 10 secs) clocks are stopped immediately by the player having the move when “time” is called and the game shall be sent for adjudication.

CLUB SHIRTS

Club polo shirts can be bought, in various adult and junior sizes, at  https://myclothing.com/ costing £5.50 to £6 [juniors] or £7 [adults] with £3 delivery charge.   T-shirts also available, junior sizes only, £5 to £5.50.

CLUB NEWS IN BRIEF:

Potters Bar LJCC u-12 qualifier, 2 December:  Avy Dasgupta 5/6

Price Cup [club championship] results are at http://chess-results.com/tnr488577.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=2

Hampstead u-1700, 23-24 November:  Avy Dasgupta 3.5/5

Letchworth rapidplay, 17 November:  Cecil Sloan 4/6 [2nd=] in  u-145.

Basildon LJCC u-8 qlfr, 17 November:  Aarav Arora 4/6.

North London LJCC u-12 qualifier, 3 November:  Avy Dasgupta 4.5/6 [2nd].

Letchworth rapidplay, 27 October:  Cecil Sloan 5/6 [1st], Dhruv Radhakrishnan 4.5 [2nd] in u-145.

Watford match results are now reported on this site by team captains - a change from the past 5 years.

Golders Green open rapidplay, 12 October:  Ernest Karumazondo 4/6 [4th=]

Letchworth rapidplay, 29 September: Dhruv Radhakrishnan 4.5/6 [1st=], Cecil Sloan 4/6 [3rd=] in u-145; Avy Dasgupta 5/6 [2nd] in u-120; Keith Hylands 5.5/6 [1st] in u-105.

Barry David (first left) and Neil Dunlop (third left) playing for the London team in the 24th European Deaf team championship, 16-20 July

Neil Dunlop (see pic above) scores 5/7 at the European Deaf team championships, 16-20 July

Archive:

Club rapidplay, 8 July 2019, results at http://chess-results.info/tnr453784.aspx?lan=1

Price Cup (2018-9 club championship), October 2018 to June 2019, results at  http://chess-results.com/tnr382758.aspx?lan=1

2nd Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 27 May 2019, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr435032.aspx?lan=1

Club rapidplay, 13 August 2018, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr374277.aspx?lan=1

1st Watford Junior (u-12) Rapidplay, 30 July 2018, results at http://chess-results.com/tnr373197.aspx?lan=1

JUNIOR 4 NATIONS CHESS LEAGUE   

Next J4NCL weekend is 18-19 January at the Holiday Inn, South Normanton, off the M1 motorway just north of Nottingham - roughly a two-hour drive.   Team selection is currently under way.   That's followed, quite closely, by the third and final weekend of 15-16 February at Daventry Court Hotel.

The first 2019-20 J4NCL weekend took place 5-6 October at Basingstoke Country Hotel with two Watford teams in Division 2.   Of our 12 squad members, only four had played in previous J4NCL weekends so the squad was short on experience.

In the event, Watford 'A' finished in mid-table with 5/10 while Watford 'B' narrowly avoided bottom place with 2/10, with a lot of experience being gained over the weekend.   Standout performers were the teams' respective top boards, Jeff and Sean, who both went through undefeated to score 4 points from their 5 games.    For full results, click on the 'Results' tab at the top of this page.

At present, we appear to be looking at a single team for South Normanton but back to two teams for Daventry.    However, there's still time for interested new players to join our J4NCL squad - use the "Contact us" facility on this website - for all or part of both weekends.  To be eligible, juniors must be under 18 on the date of the game in question. 

More background on J4NCL appears on the 4NCL website

OTHER JUNIOR MATCHES

Watford juniors play twice a year against Uxbridge juniors in a double-round rapidplay where virtually the entire Watford junior membership is invited to take part.    There were two well-contested matches in January and June 2019, with Watford running out winners on both occasions.   Next Uxbridge match is on Monday 9 December.

Watford juniors also now play an annual match against St Albans juniors to coincide with the longstanding Cheshire Trophy match between the two clubs - but at the opposite venue.   The first, in September 2019, was a close affair contested over 2 rounds of rapidplay with St Albans emerging 12.5-11.5 winners.

Annual General Meeting

held at

West Herts Sports Club, Park Avenue, Watford WD18 7HP

on Monday 16th September 2019 at 7:30pm 

 AGENDA

1.  Receive apologies for absence

2.  Approve minutes of September 2018 AGM (copies are attached)

3.  Receive report from the President on the 2018-19 year, and to approve the Accounts for the financial year ending 31st July 2019

4.  Agree Club membership subscriptions for 2019-20. The Committee proposes:

Adults Full £60, Associate £40 and Social £20. 

Juniors and students Full £35 Social £20.

Full membership entitles a member to participate in all Club activity.

Associate membership: a member can take part in the Club’s inter-club competitive activities (but not the Price Cup) but not otherwise use the club’s facilities on club nights, except for designated special events.

Social membership entitles a member to full use of the Club’s facilities on club nights but not to participate in any of the club’s competitive activities (including the Price Cup), except for designated special events.

The subscriptions represent an increase on last year because the club will pay next year for all (adult and junior) 4NCL fees. There will be a £2 discount in all categories for everyone who pays by bank transfer, with the member’s name as a reference, before 1 October 2019.

5. Present trophies to winning individuals - prizewinners are pictured elsewhere on this page

6.  Elect Officers, Secretaries and Committee for 2019-20:

7.  Any Other Business  

Paul Littlefair

Secretary

 Cecil Sloan is the proud winner of the Dobson Shield

David Healey wins the Silver Knight 

CLUB END-YEAR RAPIDPLAY - 30 DECEMBER 2019

Rounds at 6.30, 7.15, 8.0, 8.45 and 9.30 but option

to take up to two 1/2 point byes

Club members only.  Entry £1 adults, 50p juniors,

free to those wearing club shirts.

Graded rapidplay [20 minutes each] event. 

Accelerated Swiss to minimise mismatches

All entry fees returned as prizes.

Everyone is welcome (to access, click on pictorial below) at Geir Erik Nielsen's YouTube channel at

PLAY AN AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE)

Tired of playing the boring old computers that always beat you or play so weirdly you can't understand what is going on, asks webmaster Geir Erik Nielsen? Read our article on Artificial Intelligence and how you can install it at home

Also embedded in the updated article is now a video of how to get the best of Arena and Leela at home.

As a teaser for it all, and as an incredibly instructive game, here is how Leela deals with the Benoni