A Chess Club For All

We meet from 7.30pm every Tuesday at the Hertford Club in the town centre. Either Andrew or Alan (or another club member) will usually be there to welcome you. But if you're new, best to contact one of us first.

FRIDAY 19TH APRIL

Hertford fixtures and results from January 2024.

October to December 2023 fixtures and results.

4NCL ONLINE - Well done our 4NCL teams for a very creditable set of results and thank you Dave for organising. Hertford 1 were 3rd in the their Division 1 group. Hertford 2 finished 7th in Division 3.

This has been a long journey for our intrepid chessplorers. From the dark days of the covid epidemic to the sunny pastures of normalized play, our band of friends have battled foes from across the country from Cornwall to Kent and Wessex to Scotland. They have never flinched in their desire to put the small market town of Hertford firmly on the map.
Lest we forget, this has all been enabled by the sterling effects of our mentor and leader Dave. Having already led our team to unrivalled success in the county league, he came out of semi retirement - I forget whether it was five or possibly six consecutive league titles - but I still proudly wear the T-shirt which boldly proclaims our, (or is it his) success.
We started in the lowest of the five divisions and with the support of so many of our extended club, rose to the higher echelons of the 4NCL. We even at one stage grew to three successful teams.
As your unofficial statistician,(all things number based are my passion), I have collated all nine season’s results. I could give special mention to many in this family, but suffice to say that all of us have played an integral part in this success.
May our club in all its parts go from strength to strength.
Barry

ST ALBANS CONGRESS - A great turnout by Hertford Chess Club at the St Albans Congress at the weekend with a record 12 players from our club taking part. Our top scorers were Duncan Marshall, Richard Bellamy and Gerald Gregory all with 3.5 points – Duncan in the Intermediate and Richard/Gerald in the Minor. Well done to all involved.
Full results can be found : here.

HERTFORD CHESS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
Round 10, the final round, is underway with matches to be played by Thursday April 25th.


4NCL ONLINE ROUND 6
CAPTAIN'S REPORT - The rooms at the ‘Hotel d’Echecs’ are predictably odd. L-shaped … reminiscent of a Knight move, I suppose. And decorated entirely in black and white.
Portraits of the chess greats adorn the walls of the long corridors … Alekhine, Fischer, Kasparov, Swanson.
And there is a unique business model at the ‘Hotel d’Echecs’. Each day, all guests must play one game. A win, and you live for free. A draw, you keep your room, but you must pay. And a loss? Oh my. Almost horrible to contemplate.
You are removed from your comfy bed, the mini-bar is locked shut and you are consigned to the kitchen or … worse still … to the laundry room. A particularly bad loss means that you will be asked to deal with a blocked sink … or maybe worse.
This system works well enough. There are few staff at the ‘Hotel d’Echecs’ but, supplemented by the losing guests, all rooms, all meals, all … facilities … are provided satisfactorily.
I changed the linen in 100 beds this week, but least I had the privilege of refreshing the Executive Suite where Ewan stayed, and the Penthouse Apartment occupied by Steve. It was an honour to plump their pillows.
Down in the kitchen, Simon and Mark were not so fortunate. Peeling potatoes and chopping cabbage in a steam-filled room is never fun, but it hardens the resolve. And Barry and Paul (not the Chuckle Brothers) will enjoy our simple soup.
As the working day draws to a close, we assemble at Reception to greet the Maitre d’. He thanks us for our efforts before dismissing us … but is interrupted by a gurgling and a clamouring.
James has arrived with his bucket and mop signalling that it is time for us to go.
Tomorrow, of course, things will be different. Others will have to fold the towels while I watch Netflix. Wonderful smells will emanate from the kitchen as others produce my lunch. And no-one will have to come to my room with a sink plunger and a horrible rag.
Dave Rudd

HERTFORD 3 v ST ALBANS 5 - MATCH REPORT
Great result on Tuesday evening to secure a draw (and, in all likelihood, our future participation in Division 4) against St. Albans 5, a team who until very recently have been cruising at the top of the division. Even though we were outgraded on every board and missing some key players, we dug in and got a good result.
My opponent played a Catalan, an opening I don't know a great deal about, but I played my usual sideline and seemed to get a reasonable position out of the opening despite some mildly unprincipled play. We very nearly agreed a draw by repetition early on, but I decided at the last minute to keep going and although I felt at the time I ended up a bit worse with a very dodgy pawn structure, the engine thought I was fine. Eventually, my opponent somewhat 'overplayed' it, and blundered with 30. Nf4??, and I won in the next fifteen moves or so.
How would you follow up here as Black?
I didn't get a good look at James' game but unfortunately he blundered a fork in the end. Hard luck! Zach's first classical game seemed to be going quite well from what I could see, with equal material but some nagging queenside pressure in Zach's favour - but it was always going to be tough for him outgraded by some 180 points or so, and when I looked again he was down a queen. It was a bit of a mismatch from the start, though, and Zach held his own admirably given the circumstances. So don't be disheartened, Zach!
Jem pounced on a blunder from his opponent in the middlegame and the two times I wandered over for a look he seemed to be absolutely dominating, eventually finishing the game with an unstoppable mating attack - which is a fantastic result given that his opponent is rated 1700ish.
This brings us to Mike's game, a curiously closed affair with long pawn chains for both sides and seemingly sparse opportunities to attack. Mike, up a pawn (I think?) and also with a considerable time advantage, offered his opponent a draw, which he accepted. Personally, I'd have played on - I had a tricky pawn lever idea in mind - but I concede that outgraded by a full 300 or so points and with the opportunity to secure a much-needed point for the team, a draw was probably not a bad idea.
With that point in hand it is now (again, I think?) impossible for us to be relegated! This is due to the fact that many of the teams below us have to play each other, so thought it's possible for any one of them to climb above us - even lowest-placed Watford 2 - it's not possible for all of them to climb above us. Congratulations everyone!
Thanks, as ever, are in order to our 4th team player-uppers James, Jem, and Zach for stepping in and covering for us this week - your efforts are much appreciated. And congratulations to Zach for completing his first classical OTB game. It's all uphill from here.
Louis Cowell

CLOCK MANAGEMENT
The following two documents give information for setting digital clocks:
Clock Settings and Using the DGT XL Clocks.
Did you know that if your opponent makes an illegal move and presses his clock that you can claim a 2 minute time bonus? But it is up to you (and ONLY you) to call it out. If this happens to you, I would suggest you let your opponent know that you intend to stop the clocks and claim an extra two minutes. Then note down the exact times on both clocks and inform your captain. The link to the video clip below explains how then to adjust the clocks. Basically you need to add 2 minutes to your own time and deduct 10 seconds from your opponents time (this latter is because they will have wrongly received an extra 10 second increment for pressing their clock after the illegal move). Note that the video clip below shows an adjustment for a 30 second increment, and also ignore any reference to move counters – we don’t use them.
You Tube Video Clip.
The three links above will disappear from this page in two weeks but they are already also available on the 'Links' page.

FRIDAY 1ST MARCH
CLUB BLITZ TOURNAMENT - Balloons, bunting, photos, food, family, spectators and 14 players - this is what was waiting for Paul Byway at the club last Tuesday evening. His daughter Steph had suggested some time ago we arrange a surprise for him to help celebrate his 80th birthday. The secret was so well kept though that Paul decided to stay at home and miss the blitz set up to lure him to attend. No matter, Steph brought him in soon afterwards.
Gerald and Nithin finished as joint winners with 4/5 points each. An enjoyable evening for all.

LICHESS If you are a player who does not believe takebacks have a place in competitive matches then you can set lichess so that neither player can use this feature. Simply click on your user name and then 'Preferences'. One of the options shown is 'Game behavior' (US spelling) and the third choice down controls takebacks.