SBCC.pngSOUTH BIRMINGHAM CHESS CLUB News

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22nd May 25
Summer League
All five SBCC teams in this year’s Summer League were Playing at home in a very busy night at Stirchley United, lots of rivalry with the A playing B in 7400 and 5800 sections,
and 6600 Playing Kynoch.

 

15th May 25

Div. 3 Play-off
The 3A team Freefold went to play Stourbridge at the Warley Quinborne venue to decide which one was going to be crowned Division 3 Champions.

A very close Match resulted in a

8th May 25

SBCC AGM.

The clubs AGM took place at Stirchley United with 19 in attendance, best turn out for an AGM in over 10 years,

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Mark Drugan (President), Tim Lane (Secretary and Treasurer), Terry Walker (Match Captain, Tournament Secretary, Librarian), Julian Camino Sanchez, Sean Doherty, Steve Edwards, Robert Glass, Cory Hazlehurst, Paul Heeney, Kevin Hurney, Louis Maciel, Filippo Montanelli, Aaron Norton, John Pitcher, Asim Qureshi, Derek Stockhall, David Thomson, David Wilkinson, Alan Woollaston (19)

Apologies for absence

Apologies had been received from Joe Kadar, Matt Little, Richard Mycroft and Sean Ralph.

Minutes of the previous AGM

The Minutes of the previous AGM, held on 22 May 2024, had already been circulated.  A motion accepting them as a true record of the Meeting was passed by general acclamation.

Matters Arising

None.

President's Report

Mark Drugan reported that his second year as President had sometimes felt like a move from “you can’t please all the people all the time” to “you can’t please any of the people any of the time”.  It had been a year of challenges, especially venue challenges, and he paid tribute to the members who had put in work looking at candidate alternative venues.  At one time it had appeared that we were going to move mid-season to the Billesley, but in the end we managed a full season at MASC and left for our new venue at SUWMC on good terms.  He thanked those who had been involved in the move, whether proving muscle power, transport, or temporary homes for the library. He additionally thanked the captains who had marshalled the teams throughout the season, which in some cases had been a particular challenge because of the large number of reserves that had been needed.

Secretary’s Report

Tim Lane reported that he had entered nine teams in the BDCL and one in the DDCL.  68 players had been registered for BDCL chess at the start of the season and there were four late registrations.  Seven members had been entered in the BDCL’s individual events.  The Club’s Executive Committee had met three times, on 28 August (to select teams for the coming season), 7 October (in the aftermath of the MASC AGM) and 20 March (to reach a decision on proposing a change of venue to an EGM).

The Executive Committee had identified and evaluated a number of candidate new venues during the course of the year, including the Billesley, the Loyal Caledonian Corks, Kings Heath Cricket Club and the Bulls Head.  An EGM had than been held on Thursday 3 April to agree the move to SUWMC, which took place on Saturday 26 April, with a number of members helping out on the day.

Guidance from the ECF on safeguarding had become available in recent weeks, and the Executive Committee would need to review this guidance to ensure suitable safeguarding provision exists.

Treasurer’s Report

Tim Lane presented the Club’s accounts for 2023-24 which showed a small loss as the year had seen some non-recurring costs (clocks, van hire) he didn’t anticipate an increase in subscriptions for the coming year.

The Treasurer reported despite a small loss, the club accounts are in a healthy state and club fees will remain the same for the following 2025-26 season. see below.
Match Captain’s Report

Terry Walker reported that the season had started with the annual friendly against Olton, which had resulted in a 10½-4½ victory.  Nine teams had been entered in the BDCL, but the 4B team had been withdrawn mid-season.

The Division 1A campaign started badly when we discovered Pelle Larsen had returned to his native Denmark.  Despite this, the team finished second with seventeen points, and won the Homer Trophy.

Sixteen players were used during the season. The best score was achieved by Elis Dicen with 7/10.

The 1B and 1C teams both managed mid-table finishes, using fifteen and thirteen players respectively.  The best scores were achieved by Aditha Vaidyanathan (8/10) and Karan Kukreja (8/10).

In Division 2, captain Rob Glass did a great job in avoiding relegation by three points.  Rob scored 50% and was the only team member who played in every match; 22 players were used in all.

The Division 3 side finished tied for first place and would meet Stourbridge in a play-off for the title.  They also reached the final of the Terrill Trophy.  The best result was Claudio Vaduva’s 7/9.

The Division 3B side finished mid-table with five victories and five defeats.  The best result was Junior Taitt’s 7/10.

The Division 4A team achieved a mid-table finish with fourteen points.  The best score was achieved by Fillipo Montanelli with 6½/9.
The Division 4B team ran into difficulties with player availability and transport which led to the team being withdrawn. The best scores were achieved by Chaniru Ranasinghe 4/5. + 3/4. for 4A. = 7/9.

The Division 5 team finished second with 21 points and had been promoted.  They had also reached the final of the Barrington Trophy.  Captain Louis Maciel achieved the best score with 7/10.  Steve Cornfield scored 6/6.

In the BDCL’s individual events, Cory Hazlehurst had retained the Open title.  Joe Kadar had shared the max-1750 title and Louis Maciel had won the max-1450 event.

31 trophies were available during the BDCL season and this year we had won thirteen of them.

We had entered a single team in the max-1800 section of the DDCL and had won that event for the third consecutive year.

Beer and curry nights were held in June and December.

Tournament Secretary’s Report

Terry Walker reported that both events, the David Dunn rapid-play championship and the Club standard play championship, had attracted fewer entries than usual, possibly because of venue-related issues.  The number of dropouts had also been larger than usual.  Four rounds of each event had been completed, and both were being led by Adithya Vaidyanathan.

Librarian’s Report

Terry Walker reported that the bookcases from MASC and all their contents were currently being housed by Vaidy Ramanathan and Asim Qureshi.  He noted that Adithya Vaidyanathan was currently studying “My System”.

Publicity Officer’s Report

Alan Woollaston reported that web costs for the coming year were unchanged.

Presentation of Trophies

The Club’s trophies were presented as follows:

Election of Officers

The Club’s officers were elected as follows:

·         Subscriptions

·         The Treasurer proposed that subscriptions should be unchanged at £32 (full membership), £22 (“half” membership) and £7 (junior membership).  Members who played competitively also had to join the ECF.  This was seconded by Mark Drugan and passed by general acclamation.

·         ECF fees

·         Terry Walker noted that the cost of ECF Bronze membership for the 2025-26 season would be £21.

·         Summer League

·         The club had entered two teams in the max-7400 section, one team in the max-6600 section and two teams in the max-5800 section.  Fixtures were already available on the web.

·         SUWMC AGM

·         SUWMC’s AGM would take place on Sunday 18 May.

·         BDCL AGM

·         This would be held at Longbridge CC on Monday 9 June.  The Fixtures Meeting would be held at Olton on Tuesday 17 June.  Volunteers for the latter would be notified in due course.



30th April 25
From the Old to the New

Following 38-year tenure at Moseley all service’s Club, South Birmingham Chess Club took the decision to re-locate, Various options were looked at that had weekly availability and was within the club’s budget,
Also finding a venue that was not too far from what the players were used to would be Ideal, although the club’s name does allow for some scope. Eventually the Executive Committee were able to recommend their choice to the rank and file.
An EGM was called at the proposed venue and the recommended choice was accepted unanimously, with Stirchley United Working Men’s Club being the new venue of choice. A celebratory curry Followed at the nearby Masalla Merchant Restaurant.

     

Notice by letter was given to MASC, with the lack of heating on the first floor and the sounds of band practice from below, being the main reasons quoted, making playing conditions difficult for competitive chess.

A date was chosen after all BDCL home league matches had finished and transport was arranged. On Saturday April 26th the Magnificent Seven rode into Moseley, raided the rooms of equipment cupboard, Books, cases and Trophies,

had one last drink in the garden and rode out again to Pastures new… Stirchley United WMC, 41 Hazelwell Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham B30 2PR.

    

Following the Move the last two Dudley Matches were rearranged at the new Venue, With the SB Dudley Boyz winning the title for the third year running and 5 out the last 10….... somethings never change…. 😊 

    

   The Cupboard now at SUWMC                                                               Casual Chess with J.P.  joining in.                                                                                                                        SB Dudley Boyz Vs Warley Quinborne.

 

29th April 25
Individual Champ Again.

Cory Hazelhurst who has supported the club this past two seasons in 4NCL, League and Internal events. has Retained the League Individual Open Trophy he won 2024, and again by beating Ian Emery of WQ to Win the 2025 Final, this is only the third time SB have ever won this.

Joe Kadar agreed to share the Individual 1750max with Tayeb Kazemi after a drawn game.
Louis Maciel Won the Individual 1450max by beating Stepanovic of Central Birmingham.

 

10th April 25
Trophy Finals

South Birmingham got to Three of the Four Trophy Finals, which is an amazing feat in itself, Mixed fortunes was the outcome Central Birmingham 2 overcame South Birmingham 3A in the Terrill Trophy.
South Birmingham 1A just managed to overcome a 3.5-point handicap to beat Shirley & Wythall 3 in the Homer Plate by a score of 5 to 4½.

Mercia 4 won convincingly against South Birmingham 5 in the Barrington Plate.

 

3rd April 25
Martin to the rescue

Hello Chess Players,

Last night saw our division two team play their last match of the season at home against Walsall Kipping.

Walsall have been having a bad season and only secured 3 points from 7 matches, and so needed to win their three remaining matches to stay in division 2.

Our team had 8 points and a draw from this match would guarantee us staying up in division 2.

 When the Walsall team arrived, it was obvious that they meant business. Their team included former British Champion and International Master Robert Bellin, former 8 times British Ladies Champion a Women's Grandmaster Jana Bellin and their son Christopher Bellin (rated 2022). I think that their strategy was to win on the top boards and draw on the bottom boards.

As the match progressed Walsall's strategy seemed to be working. The first result was a draw on board 3 by Captain Rob, Nat had a wild game and eventually through the towel in giving them a one-point lead. Draws followed on boards 4, 5 and 6 putting Walsall in the lead 3 - 2 leaving Martin to play for a win against Robert Bellin.

 Martin has his own unique style and this obviously challenged Robert Bellin who had not encountered such a player before. Players had castled on opposite wings and Martin had a good attack going against Bellin's king. With both players running short of time, Martin went for the kill and Bellin was soon defeated.  

Well done Martin whose win secured our teams place in division 2.

Results below.

1 

1913 (1900)

Smyth, Martin D

B

1 - 0

G

Bellin, Robert

2313 (2343)

2 

1845 (1859)

Kasafir, Nathanael

N

0 - 1

G

Bellin, Christopher J

2022 (2011)

3 

1841 (1845)

Glass, Robert

B

½ - ½

G

Bellin, Jana M

1933 (1943)

4 

1821 (1808)

Dos Santos Silva, Bruno A

G

½ - ½

B

Crump, John E

1864 (1831)

5 

1800 (1860)

Robinson, Daniel C

B

½ - ½

G

Daniels, David W

1787 (1805)

6 

1740 (1754)

Drugan, Mark A

G

½ - ½

B

Nixon, Peter

1427 (1436)

Total

10960

 

3 - 3

 

11346style

T.W. Walker

 

March 10th 25

The League Team Lightning Tournament took place at Olton's venue last night. There were 10 teams in two sections. A very strong entry saw the top section having 4 teams in a double round all-play-all.

South Birmingham A won with 19½ points. Solihull A were second with 16½ points the individual prize was shared between Finlay Bowcott-Terry and Karan Kukreja, both scoring 6 points from 6 games.

Section B featured 10 teams in a single round all-play-all and was won by South Birmingham C, with 13 points. Second place was shared by Central Birmingham A and Olton B, with 11½ points.

 The Individual prize was won by Matthew Allen, with 4½ out of 5.

 

SECTION A - DOUBLE ROUND

 

S.B'ham A

S.B'ham B

Solihull A

Olton A

S.B'ham A

S.B'ham B

Solihull A

Olton A

Totals

Pos

1

S.B'ham A

xxxxxxxx

4

2

4

xxxxxxxx

3.5

3

3

19.5

1st

2

S.B'ham B

0

xxxxxxxx

0.5

2.5

0.5

xxxxxxxx

0

2

5.5

 

3

Solihull A

2

3.5

xxxxxxxx

3

1

4

xxxxxxxx

3

16.5

2nd

4

Olton A

0

1.5

1

xxxxxxxx

1

2

1

xxxxxxxx

6.5

 

SECTION B

 

C. B'ham A

S. B'ham C

Solihull B

Olton B

S.B'ham D

C. B'ham B

Totals

Pos

1

C. B'ham A

xxxxxxxx

1.0

1.0

3.0

3.0

3.5

11.5

2nd=

2

S. B'ham C

3.0

xxxxxxxx

2.0

1.5

3.5

3.0

13

1st

3

Solihull B

3.0

2.0

xxxxxxxx

0.5

3.0

1.0

9.5

 

4

Olton B

1.0

2.5

3.5

xxxxxxxx

1.5

3.0

11.5

2nd=

5

S.B'ham D

1.0

0.5

1.0

2.5

xxxxxxxx

2.5

7.5

 

6

C. B'ham B

0.5

1.0

3.0

1.0

1.5

xxxxxxxx

7

 

 

Feb 1st Feb 25

South Birmingham Division 3A Win Promotion

With two Games to go Matt Littles Freefold have secured Promotion back to Div.2 with at least a top 2 finish. Matt Writes…

Hi everyone,

We played our 8th game of 10 this week, Tuesday at home. A win guaranteed us promotion so we took nothing for granted. I’d had a bad weekend so decided to sub myself, I knew I’d assembled a team to do the business though, here’s the lineups.

Decimator vs Kazemi 

Junior vs Evans

Bruno vs Archibald

Tricky vs Lynus 

Claudio vs Gillespie

Steve vs Mulrey

I was marking some maths papers in the big room, so limited knowledge of the games. 

Bruno was first to finish, super speedy had taken out Archibald leaving him zero chance at counter play, he was done by 9 a real return to form. Great to have him back in the team too. 1-0.

Junior finished second I think, I tight game where he did what was required, no drama and a solid draw, 1.5-0.5.

The boards then stated tumbling… Steve won a piece with a nasty temporary queen sac with night fork following, Mulrey just extended his hand… 2.5-0.5

Claudio had to wait for his win, Gillespie getting set up solid early, but i told him just to wait and the mistake would come, and sure enough, it did. He was able to win a pawn, and then just squeezed until Gillespie had no juice left. 3.5-0.5.

Decimator finally finished against an under graded Kazemi… it was a tight game on board one. Decimator kept it super solid and a draw was agreed. 4-1

Tricky, who continues to play better under 2 minutes again ran his clock down to almost nothing… playing on increment, he outmanoeuvred Lynus in great style and eventually played the winning move. Once in the board, the match was over 5-1.

Big win, just two games left. still unbeaten and promoted… but will we win the title?

Match cares attached

Have a nice weekend all 😀

☘️Threefold☘️ and TC

 



 

 

28th August 24

Pre-Season Annual friendly match

This year’s Annual friendly match took place at Olton over 14 Boards, 

Pre-Season-Friendly-Match (southbirminghamchess.club)

 

27th August 24

Club Champions

Each Year South Birmingham run Internal Club Tournaments. The club Championship was run as a standard play Swiss over 7 rounds with the winner holding the title as Club Champion

This Year Adithya Vaidyanathan became SBCCs youngest ever Club Champion. The Club Championship Trophy was presented by current SBCC President Mark Drugan at the Annual Friendly match.

SBCC Std Play Champ 23-24 | ECF League Management System (englishchess.org.uk)

 

This year’s SBCC rapid play Swiss over 7 rounds was won by Cory Hazlehurst and wins the David Dunn Trophy, presented President Mark Drugan at the Annual Friendly match

SBCC Rapid Play Champ 23-24 | ECF League Management System (englishchess.org.uk)

Preesh Gandhi was this year’s winner of the Performance Cup which is awarded to the Player with best score graded under 1600. 8 wins and 4 draws.
Best draw against 1944 at Rapid-play, Best win 1752 at Standard play, these are rated games so no freebees here… Well Played Preesh.

 

28th July 2024

Summer League

SBCC Entered 5 teams in the BDCL Rapid Summer League this year, 1 in the Open section, 2 in the7400max and 1 in each of the 6600max 5800max sections.

three titles have been won…. 7400max 6600max and 5800max,

The below first picture is after the final 6600 match at Warley Quinborne

Left to Right: Louis Maciel, Darren Whitmore, Derek Green, Steve Edwards, Rob Glass …… other contributing players not in the picture

Sean Doherty, Sean Ralph, Milenko Walner, Mark Drugan, Sathya Vaidyanathan, Junior Taitt and yours truly…

 

From the winning 7400max team who have retained the title. With the table showing South Birmingham in 1st and 2nd Place

Hello chess friends.

This is the final email from the targets… as you are aware we won the 7400 rapid summer league, for the second year running! It’s way we did it that even surprised me, just look at the team I assembled, basking in their own glory. I’m not sure how we did so well, but the team definitely played for each other, it’s the only way to get these results in a very competitive division. It is incredible, played 14, won 13, drew 1. You could call us the invincible’s? Just look at the final table

.

We destroyed everyone, no other way to say it. The only team to take us close were our own B team, the Druge with the Vaiders… it was our toughest and closest game of the season, and they were absolutely brilliant and pushed us all the way to the last match.

The players..

Dazzler - my word what’s he been doing ?! Only Magnus Carlsen could have known how he felt, winning 12.5/14 points over the 7 matches. He’s been playing rapid online but sets the board up, it really shows how’s been able to condense his thinking for this time control, and bring his classical game to the rapid board. He played every match, we can only dream of such greatness.

Claudio - after I was forced to play game 1, I knew we needed an extra player. I was able to draft in Romania’s premier chess streamer, and it was so good to have him back in the fold. He beat a GM online over the weekend, as you do, and he played that way all season, just ripped through people. He was a little board rusty at first game leaving a piece en prix for no return, but after that he didn’t lose a game. Just took out trash on board 4 all season long.

Nat - I think Nat is a little like me over the board with regards his emotions, feeling good he is awesome! And he felt good playing summer league, which was nice after he had to miss a chunk of the winter season. If there was one game that told me we had this season, it was when he took out 2111 rated Lambourne, and it wasn’t time trouble or a blunder, he just outplayed him in both games, my season highlight. He looked healthy and happy, he did the business, the man.

Cory - Couldn’t believe it when the classical open champion was available for the team, what a board one. He delivered all season and blunted the other teams attack. So solid, very technical play, I watched fully both his games last match, you can feel the class it’s just a next level thing. Big thank you and congrats on a great season, only loss of the season was to Adithya, he smashed the rest.  

Tim - I had to have Tim in the team else we wouldn’t have been the A team, which after 2 seasons as B team meant a lot to me. Tim’s always in the 7400A, and so it had to be. Mr super solid got a respectable 4/8 and made sure we had what we needed, a lot of draws as I recall.. careful play and a great anchor for any team. Another awesome player.

TC - ok so I only played one game, but I beat Sathya who went 10/10 (!!) after our match for the rest of the season, which meant we won the first game against our biggest rivals, the B team. My illness, reactive arthritis, is quite energy sapping, only Samson could know how I feel after losing hair, getting better though pretty sure… the boys carried me and I thank them for it.

Just look at these season stats, unbelievable!

Takeaways 

The B team were excellent, and with Singerman on the verge of securing the 6600 title, and Terry already securing the 5800, now we’ve added the 7400 South Birmingham are considered the rapid chess powerhouse of the midlands.

This team has been lovely every game, always buzzing and happy, it’s been a real pleasure.

We win three years running, we call it a dynasty.

If a picture could some up the season, this would be it.   Targets 7400 Champions 2024

Left to Right: -Nat Kasifir, Iulian Valduva, Matt Little, Tim Lane, Cory Hazlehurst and Darren Whitmore.

TC and the targets

 

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