All posts by Ian Whittaker

Dear Club Member

We kicked off the Scottish National Online Chess League campaign on Sunday. The 1st Team had a 5-0 win against Dundee 2, and drew with CSBOS. The 2nd Team drew against the Sneaky Stalematers (who I think are Dunbar!), and won 3-2 against Edinbugh University 2. Full results here.

Next round is on Feb 28th, and I’ll be in touch in a couple of weeks.

We’ll continue with the rapids on Tuesday and blitz on Wednesday again. Hopefully you find at least one that is of interest. Both start at 7.45pm and run for 90 minutes.

Tuesday Rapid (7mins + 5s / move)

Wednesday Blitz (password 1822 to join)

Thanks

Neil

Dear Club Member

Another week of lockdown. Here are the club activities over the next week or so:

Rounds 1 and 2 for Online SNCL (SNOCL) takes place next Sunday (31st). I’ve had a good amount of interest and we have entered 2 Teams. If you are interested in playing (even for later rounds) and haven’t yet let me know then please reply.

We’ll slightly speed up the Tuesday Rapids this week as a trial to 7 mins + 5s / move). Otherwise it will be the same Tuesday Rapid / Wednesday blitz combination:

Tuesday Rapid

Wednesday Arena (password 1822 to join)

Thanks

Neil

Dear Club Member,

There is a new Team event scheduled to begin on Sunday January 31st – the Scottish Online Chess League (SNOCL). Format is 2 rounds per day, rapid format (25mins + 10s / move), teams of 5 players. Further information is here.

Please let me know if you are interested in playing. We may enter a number of teams if there is sufficient interest.

We had good numbers for last week’s Tuesday and Wednesday events and will continue with the same formats again. Both start at 7.45pm and run for 90 minutes.

Finally, we will play against the Mechanics Institute on Saturday Feb 6th. If anyone has experience of Team matches on chess.com then please let me know.

Thanks

Neil

[The Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club in San Francisco is the oldest chess club in the United States.]

Dear Club Member,

Happy New Year! Hopefully 2021 will see a return to over the board chess, and we will be able to meet in person at the club.

This week, as well as the Wednesday blitz event, we will run a friendly event with a slower time control on Tuesday.  This will hopefully appeal to those who like a bit more time for their games, and less experienced players as well. Both events will start at 7.45pm and will last 90 minutes, but you can join whenever suits.

Tuesday event: 10 mins + 5 sec/ move:
https://lichess.org/tournament/OPJd8F8Y
(you need to be a member of the Edinburgh Chess Club lichess group to join)

Wednesday event: Blitz 3 mins + 2sec / move
https://lichess.org/tournament/ifvbJrHP
(password is 1822 to join)

Best wishes,
Neil

Dear Club Member

Tuesday Evening Social

We have arranged a zoom meeting for Tuesday (15th December)  at 7.45pm for which members have been sent an email invitation.  It will be an informal meet, with a chance to catch up with other club members.

If there are a few newcomers I can give a quick tour of lichess online, and there will be an opportunity to play or watch some chess too.

Match against Spartak Vlasim

We lost a blitz match on Tuesday against Czech side Spartak Vlasim by a score of 46-35. Our team was Calum MacQueen, Sergio Bermudez, Neil Berry, Daniel McGowan, Graeme Kafka, David Oswald, Willie Rutherford, Duncan Grassie, Mike Ridge. Calum and Sergio led the way, scoring 8 and 7.5 /9 respectively. An enjoyable (but tough!) match.

Spartak have close ties with Czech GM David Navara, and David kindly sent us a signed copy of his book “My Chess World” for our library.

Wednesday Blitz

Link is below. Password 1822 to join, kick off is 7.45pm as usual.
https://lichess.org/tournament/rz54FtR4

Best wishes,

Neil