World Championship Chess 2024 Roundup

Follow the 2024 World Chess Championship with commentary and highlights by Hastings’ own, Ollie Willson.

I expected the best version of him: Game 1 of Gukesh v Ding.
No quick draws: Game 2 of Ding v Gukesh.
Man out of time: Game 3 of Gukesh v Ding.
I believe in playing the best moves: Game 4 of Ding v Gukesh.
A Queenless Middlegame or an Endgame: Game 5 of Gukesh v Ding.
The one that got away: Game 6 of Ding v Gukesh
Fortune favours the bold: Game 7 of Gukesh v Ding.
Playing the long game: Game 8 of Ding v Gukesh.
Don’t blink: Game 9 of Gukesh v Ding
No way through: Game 10 of Ding v Gukesh

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Warren G Hepworth

Warren Grey (sometimes spelled ‘Gray’) Hepworth was born in Mafeking, South Africa, on 7.9.1890. In the 1911 census he was shown as living in Tiverton, while a bank clerk. He fought in World War 1 in the Royal North Devon Yeomanry and the Devonshire Regiment. In 1915 he was unlucky enough to be stationed at Gallipoli. In 2021 three of his medals were auctioned at Bonhams and sold for £180.

In 1922 he married Elisabeth Grace Browne at Exeter. In the 1939 Register he was living at Rye as a manager of Lloyds Bank. The Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 5.1.1952 described him as a retired bank manager from Worcester, who was so impressed by the Hastings Chess Congress that he joined the chess club and accepted an invitation to become a vice-president. The same newspaper of 6.12.1952 mentioned that he was chairman of the Hastings Rotary Club.

I have a few references to matches in which he represented the club and I get the impression that he was an average club player or a little above average. I could not find a single reference to his playing in the East Sussex team in the Sexton Cup, so perhaps he was not very ambitious. Here are the few references that I have come across, though probably one could find several more:

1954 Board 5 for Hastings ‘B’ v Bexhill ‘A’. Drew with R E Smith.
1954 Board 2 for Hastings v Bexhill. Drew with F W Boff, a strong player, his best result.
1958 Board 13 for Hastings v Watford. Won v j Harvey.
1958 Board 14 for Hastings v Canterbury. Lost v R Boughey.

By 1958 he seems to have become inflicted by an illness and the Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 21.10.1958 mentions the new BBC chess programme called Network Three and states that it will be a godsend for chess-playing invalids like W G Hepworth. Hepworth himself added that he had high hopes that he would be in Hastings for the congress. He had lived for several years at 26, Warrior Square, but it appears that in that year he moved out to Hiham Green, near Rye.

Hepworth was a member of a revived Rye CC in 1959. During his time there he played in two matches against Hastings, the second of which was early in 1960.

I am not sure exactly when he moved to the Felpham District of Bognor, but in the Bognor Regis Observer of 12.5.1961 he is mentioned as playing in the club championship of Bognor CC. In another edition of the newspaper (10.2.1961) it is recorded that he played on board three for the club in a match against the local LEC Refrigeration Company and drew with G Biggs. He gave a brilliancy prize for the club and was a member in the 1962-63 season competing in the major event rather than the club championship. He died in 1963, aged 72. His wife died in 1982 in Exeter..

There was an obituary for him in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 4.5.1963. This described him as a former vice-president and auditor for the club. His professional help in committee was said to be invaluable. The article adds that until his move to Bognor, he had been a daily frequenter of the club. It is stated that he played a lively and quite formidable game, but he never bothered to play really seriously. He liked a bright, quick game with a fast-moving opponent. He was always excellent company. As a child he was in Mafeking during the seven month siege by the Boers in 1900. He vividly recalled the arrival of Lord Roberts’s relieving infantry.

B.Denman

Hastings draw Bexhill in Cups

Hastings have drawn local rivals Bexhill in both SCCA The McArthur Cup and Paul Watson Trophy.

Hastings will first contest the Paul Watson Trophy on Sunday 1st December before travelling to Bexhill on Friday 7th March 2025 to take part in the prestigious McArthur Cup.

The Paul Watson Trophy is a four board 1825 avg K.O. for both East and West Sussex.

The McArthur Cup which has been going for over 125 years is straight forward 6 board K.O. and is currently held by East Grinstead.

 

McArthur Cup Draw:

1st Round:
 
West: Sussex University v Lewes
2nd Round:
 
West: Sussex University or Lewes v Horsham (home team dependent on winners of the 1st round match).
           Brighton v East Grinstead
East: Bexhill 2 v Hastings & St. Leonards (Friday March 7th)
          Crowborough v Bexhill 1
Schedule:
1st round match to be played by January 18th 2025
2nd round to be played by March 8th
Semi-Finals to be played by April 26th
Final to be played by May 31st
 
 
Paul Watson Trophy:
 
1st Round:
 
West: East Grinstead v Bognor & Arun
East: Bexhill 2 v Crowborough
2nd Round:
West: East Grinstead or Bognor & Arun v Lewes (Home team dependent on winner of 1st round)
           Sussex University v Horsham
East:  Bexhill 2 or Crowborough v Uckfield (Home team dependent on winner of 1st round)
           Hastings & St.Leonards v Bexhill 1 (Sunday 1st December 2:00PM)
Schedule:
1st round matches to be played by January 18th 2025
2nd round to be played by March 8th
Semi-Finals to be played by April 26th
Final to be played by May 31st

November Rapid play

NOVEMBER RAPID PLAY
Sunday November 24th

by courtesy of THE CHAIRMAN AND COMMITTEE

OF HASTINGS & ST LEONARDS CHESS CLUB

TO BE HELD ON

SUNDAY 24TH NOVEMBER 2024

CLOCKS START 2:00 p.m.

(arrive and check in by 1:45 p.m.)

7 Round Swiss of 10 minutes per game plus 5 seconds per move.

Results will be submitted for English Chess Federation rapidplay grading.

ENTRIES FROM CLUB MEMBERS ONLY

Many modest (sometimes silly) prizes to be won by players at all levels.

Prize giving is expected to be finished by 6:30 p.m.

Entrance numbers strictly limited to 24 utter absolute tops

and people will be turned away after that number is reached,

so advance booking is strongly recommended.

Entry fee: £3 pay on the day.

Book by e-mail to hastingschessclub@outlook.com text or phone Adrian on 07518415429

No tournament if fewer than 12 entries by Monday 28th October.

Haphazard tea time refreshments (self-service) provided.

Visitors’ parking vouchers (cheaper than street parking) available from Jim Wheeler,

07875 712005 or james.wheeler9@btinternet.com

Lightning strikes once

The first Lightning tournament to held at the club in long while will be at the club this Saturday 14th September at 2PM.

The Glyde Cup will be up for grabs for members in what’s hoped to be a regular event going  forward.

To enter this competition and play a part of history (Cheshire noted about our 1895 Great Tournament that “Bird and Janowski enlivened us with a little lightning chess.”) please contact Adrian in the first instance

Lightning chess rules for this weekend:

Lightning chess can be a game between two players where the thinking time is regulated either by a buzzer sounding every ten seconds or by using digital clocks set in >Bronstein= mode.
1. The time limit between moves shall be ten seconds.
2. Where a buzzer is used, each player on his turn to move, shall move immediately the buzzer sounds – not before or after.
3. A move must be completed before the buzzer ceases to sound or the time on the clock expires. Any player exceeding this time limit is likely to be defaulted. An Arbiter should only give one warning of this, and thereafter enforce the Rule.
4. If a player completes an illegal move, his opponent can immediately claim the game. If he does not do so, but instead replies to the illegal move with a move of his own, the illegal move stands and the game must continue.
5. A player may not claim a draw on grounds which normally require the existence of a game score (eg repetition or the “50-move” circumstance).
6. Except insofar as they conflict with the Rules given above, the normal Laws of Chess (including the touch move Rule) shall apply.
7. If the Arbiter considers: (a) that neither player is trying to win; (b) that one player is unnecessarily prolonging the game; (c) or that irregularity or malpractice has occurred then, notwithstanding anything stated above, he may: (1) award a win to one player and a loss to the other (2) award a loss to both players (3) declare the game a draw (4) order the game to be replayed with or without colours reversed.
8. In the event of any dispute arising over the interpretation of these Rules, the Arbiter’s decision shall be final.
See you there.

Hastings Weekend u1800 October 5/6 2024

Hastings Club Weekend u1800 Chess Tournament

October 5/6 2024

To be held at the Hastings and St. Leonards Chess Club 2 Cornwallis Terrace Hastings TN34 1EB

Round Times

Saturday 5th October

Round 1 10.00. Round 2 14.00. Round 3 18.00.

Sunday 6th October

Round 4 10.00. Round 5 14 00.

This will be limited to approx. 24 players with free tea coffee and sandwiches

All players will need to be silver or gold members of the ECF

Entry fee non club members £25

Hastings club members and Juniors £20

September grades will be used

Time control 1-hour 40mins +15sec a move

½ point Bye Round…………….

Prizes

1st £125

2nd £75

3rd £50

Grading under 1600 £75

Entry to

Marc Bryant at 2 Cornwallis Terrace Hastings Sussex  TN34 1EB

Email        bryant8830@yahoo.co.uk

Tel 01424 436313

Entry form

Name

Grade

Club

Phone number

Email

Address

Hastings Dominating Kent

Hastings’ teams in all four divisions/cups entered this season have reached the semi-final stage.

Our Harvey team was runners-up in the Mid-Kent division despite a thumping 5-1 win against Weald Of Kent our final game of the season. An away Semi-Final against Petts Wood & Orpington(5) tonight is the reward.

In the En Passant Cup, our team topped the division and have home advantage against Charlton on Saturday 11th.

Henry’s Super Stevenson Team scraped through as runners-up having the same number of match points and board points as third-placed Rainham but due to head-to-head results were given the nod. Another away semi-final match to Petts Wood & Orpington on Friday 17th. Charlton awaits the winners in the Final.

Umberto’s Underdogs were runners-up in the Tom Fuller Cup and now have a plum tie against Charlton away to look forward to on June 1st.

It’s very rare to have all our teams reach the semi-finals and may cause a bit of a problem if all make it through to the final as we may not have enough players, but that will be a nice problem to have if it happens.

Come on Hastings!

Kent County Chess Association Semi-Finals

Stevenson
17/05/2024 Petts Wood & Orpington v Hastings & St Leonards

En Passant
11/05/2024 Hastings & St Leonards v Charlton

Harvey
03/05/2024 Petts Wood & Orpington v Hastings & St Leonards

Tom Fuller
TBA Charlton v Hastings & St Leonards

 

Est. 1882