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Atticus 2 beat Waterloo 5-2 15/11/21

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Written by: sjb

Category: Club News

Published: 19 November 2021

 

Atticus 2 continued their good start to the season with another convincing win, this time against Waterloo.

Some very interesting matches but Atticus always looked to have the advantage.

Board 7  A very solid performance by Sanjoy which gave Graham Solomon little chance to get any activity.

Board 6  Brian Ewart looked to press home his attack but Scott Bradshaw held firm and still had a good material advantage when a draw was agreed.

Board 5  Dave Stuttard went  all in with a brilliant winning tactical attack against the normally very solid Mike Connor.

Board 4  Luke's position seemed very level and continued well into the end game before his opponents clock got the better of him.

Board 3  David Lawson went for a nice  Kingside attack which eventually gave him a good avantage going into the end game.

Board 2  Andrej looked to the have the edge against Colin Horton but time became a crucial factor and a draw was agreed.

Board 1  Steve Kee will feel aggreived as he had managed to get himself into an almost winning position against IM Gary Quillian but Gary found the right moves to take the point as time became the crucial factor.

 

Atticus 1 Squad put up a great performance v Aigburth 1 17/11/21

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Written by: sjb

Category: Club News

Published: 18 November 2021

 

A brilliant performance by the Atticus 1 team last night, unfortunately with the top 4 boards unavailable and a number of Atticus 3 reserves also unavailable, 3 players were recruited in the very last moments from the Atticus 4 squad. Thanks to all of them for standing in particularly Howard Sleeman who was only contacted a few hours before the match.  Although Aigburth were also missing some players,the Atticus team were outgraded by an average of 70 points per board.

Natasha May got the team off to a brilliant start with a 15 move miniature, Howard fought well to gain a draw against Sean Kane.

Chris Wentworth sacced a piece for active play and turned down a draw in trying to force the win against Anthony Pimblett. Anthony with fine defensive play was eventually able to turn things around in his favour.

  Derek Rooney continued his fine season with a win against Brendan.  Ben and Nick eventually found themselves in inferior postions against their very experienced opponents.  The match hinged on the last game on Board 1 between James Rothwell and Aigburth captain Steve Lee. As the seconds disappeared Steve had more to think about with his King being more vulnerable in the centre. As the pieces crashed around the board at both ends, James finally came out on top to give Atticus a well earned draw.

Atticus 1 v Atticus 2: Another great derby night!

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Written by: Sanjoy Banerjee

Category: Club News

Published: 06 October 2021

After a long break following the COVID-19 pandemic, it was great to see everyone down at the club again for the first league fixture of the season.

Atticus 1 will need to adjust to life without their top board for the first half of the season, but in spite of the scoreline, the games were very evenly contested.

Luke and Nick Martin were first to finish.  An interesting line in the Caro leading to a draw by repetition.  Dave Stuttard and James Rothwell also shared the spoils before the first decisive result came as Brian won well against Nick Griffin, making his competitive debut for the club, in an aggressive line of the King's Indian.

Andrej then extended the advantage with a fine win against Dave James, and Derek and Sanjoy agreed a draw in a tight game in the Cambridge Springs.  The match was sealed when Steve Kee and Charlie agreed a draw, in a game where Steve looked to have a slight advantage.  And Steve Burge rounded off a good evening for Atticus 2 by edging out Steve Philp in an interesting game where both players were on the front foot, but white was ultimately stronger.

 

 

AGM REPORT Tom Webb

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Written by: sjb

Category: Club News

Published: 22 July 2021

 

A report of the MCA AGM 

Of 21/07/2021 held at Aigburth Cricket Club 

 

This was a sparsely attended AGM with 3 clubs [Hoylake, PKA, Waterloo not attending, the meeting was however, quorate . St Helens(formally Widnes have withdrawn from the League)

The following items were discussed 

1  Lessons from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 season 

Every one agreed that the 2019-20 season had been abandoned although Liverpool still have a strong sense of injustice and feel they won the Division 1 title. Their actions after the closure of the season claiming certain matches as forfeiture was condemned by an Atticus representative and their demand that that the Web controller withdraw his email was also rounded on. Discussion was curtailed by the chair and moved onto the next season. 

Representatives of Liverpool felt that the time limit set for the on-line league was too long and that this had put off many players from their club which is why they didn’t enter the competition. Discussion ranged around the topic but it was generally agreed that the time limit worked well. All agreed that Martin had done a marvelous job in setting up and running the competition in a very professional manner. 

For next season the priority would be to establish over the board [OTB] chess and there were no current plans to run an on-line league, although the possibility of ad hoc on-line tournaments may be run if there is sufficient time, capacity and interest 

2  Treasures Report 

The bank balance is extremely healthy with £7,000circa in the bank with no outstanding debts 

For 2021-2 the ECF have said they would prefer individuals or for preference, clubs pay for membership…the Club should collect the fee and pay in batch. For this reason, the MCA will in future, not be collecting and paying ECF fees 

By way of note the current lowest membership [Bronze] is £18 and if paid before August will run until Aug 2021 

Action Point for Atticus decide on ECF fee and Club membership fees 

For 2021 -22, due to the healthy finances of the MCA there will be no board fees. This should help clubs revitalize their own finances or reduce membership fees 

3  Election of Officers 

The following decisions were reached 

President Russell Cowell 

Vice President Tom Webb 

Secretary Nick Martin 

Treasurer  Leon Wolszcak 

Website and fixtures Martin Blasczyk [if he is prepared to continue] 

Tournament controller  Dr Will Cook [if he is prepared to continue] 

NCCU Delegate Nick Martin 

Junior Organiser Jim Gallagher 

Child protection Kevin Sartain 

Committee Members The same as this year [if they are prepared to continue] i.e. 

Graham Heath [Wallasey], Gareth Ellis [Widnes], Alan Kelly [Wallasey], 

Luke Boumphrey [Atticus], Mike Clarke [Liverpool] and Bart McHugh [Skelmersdale] 

Grader  Vacant Action Point is anyone in the club prepared to take on this role? 

 

4  Leagues and Cup competitions 

 

Main Leagues 

Division 1  [7 Boards]  Controller Dave Whitby

Aigburth 1

Atticus 1

Atticus 2

Hoylake 1

Liverpool 1

Wallasey 1

Waterloo

 

Division 2  [6 Boards]  Controller Leon Wolszcak

Aigburth 2

Atticus 3

Liverpool 2

PKA 1

Southport 1

Wallasey 2

 

Division 3    [6 Boards]  Controller Jim Moran

Atticus 4

Formby 1

Hoylake 2

Liverpool 3

Skelmersdale 1

Wallasey 3

 

 

 

Division 4    [6 Boards]  Controller Russell Cowell

Aigburth 3

Formby 2

Liverpool 3

Liverpool 4

Skelmersdale 2

Wallasey 4

 

600 and 440 Leagues 

 

600 League  [4 Boards]  Controller Dave Whitby

Aigburth

Atticus

Formby

Hoylake

PKA

Southport

Waterloo

 

All teams play each other once 

 

440 League  [4 Boards]  Controller Luke Boumphrey

Aigburth

Atticus

Formby

Hoylake

PKA

Wallasey

 

All teams play each other once 

 

Knotty Ash Cup and John Ripley Leagues 

Both competitions have 10 entries for 2021-2 

 

 

5  Any other business 

Playing and Covid protocols 

Quite a broad ranging discussion but in summary 

Any ECF guidelines would be adopted 

Captains arranging games would confer with their opposite number any specifics 

In general the clubs would have to follow the house rules of the venue 

Promoting chess across Merseyside 

Generally thought to be a good thing! Some discussion on widening across social media 

Russel Cowell, the new president, has some initiatives in mind 

Atticus Video Meeting

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Written by: Martin Blasczyk

Category: Club News

Published: 12 May 2021

If you want to meet online, simply click on "Atticus Video Meeting", enter your name, join the conference, invite your friends and enjoy the video meeting! Have fun!

No software installation necessary.