Another fantastic attendance today with a total of 21 participants, including 4 new starters who joined us for the first time. If all of our members were to turn up on a Saturday, we would be very close to reaching full capacity! My thanks to Jon for his support and help with the tutoring.
A warm and heartfelt welcome to Aida, Rowan, Harvey, and Archie, who are all fairly new to this incredible and timeless game of chess. I sincerely hope that they thoroughly enjoyed their very first encounter and experience with the fascinating world of chess. We don’t mind how you come dressed!
Game of the Day
The game played between Jonah and Kieran, which ultimately ended in a draw that was mutually agreed upon by both players, offers several interesting points worth noting. There are various strategic moves and tactical decisions throughout the game that provide valuable insights. The detailed analysis of this game has been conducted by Graham, who highlights the key moments and critical turning points that could of influenced the outcome.
There were other games which ended in draws/stalemate, so to that end here are a few hints and tips on Draws in chess.
This theme is not about wins or loses, but DRAWS
There are a few ways in which a game can be drawn:-
- Insufficient pieces left on the board ie:-only 2 Kings and a Bishop, King against King, King and Knight against King
- By agreement – you or your opponent could offer a draw
- If the same position occurs 3 times during a game, a player can claim a draw
- 50 move rule – if no pawn has been moved and no capture of a piece after 50 moves by each player the game is drawn
- Stalemate – It is a draw when a player whose turn it is to move is not in check but cannot move without going into check
- Perpetual check – repeating the same move over at least 3 times
If Black moves the Queen to e3, not checking the King, the white king has nowhere to go - Stalemate, a draw.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If white leaves the Queen on f7 and moves the King to get closer, the black King has nowhere to go - stalemate.
to avoid this, keep the Queen on the 7th rank but further away, ie:- e7,d7, c7 etc
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
An example of Perpetual check - White is ready to mate the Black King but the Black Queen can force a draw by continually checking the White King - draw!
Ladder Latest
Wins today for Isaac, Michal, Wyatt, Fin, Kieran, Reyaan, Lewis, Rowan, Tishi, Archie and Eden.
A clash of the top two resulted in a win for Wyatt, so for the time being he leads the Ladder Board. Kieran won against Gagan which puts him into 3rd place. Here are the top 16 places:-
Jon and I would like to say 'Good Luck' to all our members who have entered tomorrows Junior Chess competition.
As the main title of this post indicates, I will be away on holiday next week, so we will reconvene on March 14th.
