The City of Newcastle Lightning Championship saw a Double Round Robin Competition with only 6 players competing. Held at Panthers Newcastle on Monday 16 May, the tournament was won by Bernie O'Riordan on 8.5 from a possible 10 points. Second was Kevin Black on 8 points, followed by Michael McGuirk 7.5, Shaun Booth 3.5, Doug Carey 2.5 and Trevor McIlveen 0.
Congratulations to Michael McGuirk on winning the 2010 City of Newcastle Championship in an extremely tight finish against Toby Coates. Michael has proven victorious and a worthy Champion by defeating Toby Coates for the title. Both players came to the board in the last round with 3.5 points each. Michael, playing Black, got the upper hand in the middle game and never really let Toby back into the game.
Final scores are as follows: Michael Mcguirk 4.5 from 5 points, a clear point ahead of his nearest rivals, with Toby Coates and Jonathan Weslake on 3.5 points, Doug Carey on 2.5 and Michael Macokatic on 1 point. Jonathan Weslake in his first senior tournament played exceptionally well, holding his own against more seasoned players, with favourable comments by his opponents on how well he played. Doug Carey (the octogenarian) would not be disappointed with 2.5. Unfortunately Michael Macokatic had to withdraw from the tournament after Round 3. As has been stated earlier, Cardiff has proven its unpopularity as a venue for genuine rated competition, as well as social chess, and from now on all serious competitions will be played at Newcastle Panthers. The games from the tournament are as follows:
Jonathan Weslake - Toby Coates [B52]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 20.05.2010, Round 1
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.a4 g6 5.d4 b6 6.dxc5 bxc5 7.Qd5 Bxb5 8.Qxa8 Bc6 9.Qxa7 Bxe4 10.Nc3 Nc6 11.Qb7 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Nd4 13.Nb5 Ne6 14.Qc6+ Qd7 15.Qxd7+ Kxd7 16.a5 Bh6 17.0–0 Bxc1 18.Rfxc1 Nf6 19.c4 Ra8 20.a6 Ne8 21.Ra3 N8c7 22.Rca1 Nxb5 23.cxb5 Kc7 24.b6+ Kxb6 25.Rb3+ Kc6 26.a7 Kc7 27.Kf1 Nd4 28.Re3 e5 29.Ra6 Nc6 30.Rea3 f5 31.Ke2 h5 32.h4 Kb7 33.f4 e4 34.Kd2 d5 35.Kc3 Rxa7 36.Rxa7+ Nxa7 37.Rb3+ Kc6 38.Rb8 Nb5+ 39.Kd2 Nd4 40.Kd1 Nf3 41.Rc8+ Kb5 42.Rd8 Kc4 43.b3+ Kd4 44.Rd6 Nxh4 45.Ke2 Ng2 46.Rd8 Nxf4+ 47.Kd2 h4 48.Rh8 h3 49.Rh7 g5 50.Rh6 g4 51.Rf6 Nd3 52.Rxf5 Nxf2 53.Rh5 g3 54.Ke2 h2 55.Kf1 h1Q+ 56.Rxh1 Nxh1 57.Kg2 Kc3 58.Kxh1 Kxb3 59.Kg2 c4 60.Kxg3 c3 61.Kf4 c2 62.Ke5 Kc4 63.Kd6 c1Q 64.Ke5 e3 65.Kd6 e2 66.Kd7 e1Q 67.Kd8 Kb5 68.Kd7 d4 0–1
Michael Macokatic - Doug Carey [B20]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 20.05.2010, Round 1
1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 e6 3.Nh3 Nc6 4.Qf3 Ne5 5.Qb3 Nxc4 6.Qxc4 Be7 7.0–0 Nf6 8.Nc3 d6 9.e5 dxe5 10.d3 0–0 11.Bg5 a6 12.Rfe1 Qd4 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Re4 Qxc4 15.Rxc4 b6 16.Ne4 Be7 17.Neg5 h6 18.Nf3 Bf6 19.Re1 Bb7 20.Nxe5 Rfd8 21.Re3 Rac8 22.b4 Bd5 23.Rf4 cxb4 24.c4 bxc3 25.d4 c2 26.Nd3 c1Q+ 27.Re1 Qxe1+ 28.Nxe1 Rc1 29.Kf1 Bc4+ 0–1
Michael McGuirk - Jonathan Weslake [C26]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 27.05.2010, Round 2
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 d6 6.d3 Be6 7.Na4 Qe7 8.Nxc5 dxc5 9.0–0 h6 10.b3 Bg4 11.h3 Bd7 12.Bb2 Nd4 13.c3 Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 Bc6 15.Qe3 0–0 16.f4 exf4 17.gxf4 Rfe8 18.Qg3 Rad8 19.e5 Nh5 20.Qg4 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 g6 22.d4 cxd4 23.cxd4 c5 24.Rad1 cxd4 25.Bxd4 Kh7 26.Qf3 Ng7 27.Bxa7 Ra8 28.Qe3 Qa3 29.Bc5 Qxa2+ 30.Rf2 Nf5 31.Qd3 Qa6 32.Qxa6 Rxa6 33.Rd7 Kg8 34.Rxb7 Rd8 35.Ra7 Rxa7 36.Bxa7 Rd3 37.b4 Rg3+ 38.Kh2 Rb3 39.Bc5 Ng7 40.Re2 Ne6 41.Bd6 Nxf4 42.Ra2 Rxh3+ 43.Kg1 Rb3 44.Ra8+ Kg7 45.Rb8 Ne2+ 46.Kf2 Nd4 47.Bf8+ Both players then stopped recording their moves because of less than 5 minutes on their clocks. Both players eventually agreed to a draw. ½–½
Toby Coates - Michael Macokatic [A40]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 27.05.2010, Round 2
1.d4 Black failed to attend the game and White was awarded a win by forfeit on time after 30 minutes 1–0
Doug Carey - Toby Coates [A22]
City of Newcastle Championship, Played at Panthers Newcastle by aarrangement, 31.05.2010, Round 3
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 0–0 5.Nf3 d6 6.Qc2 c6 7.0–0 Be6 8.d3 Nbd7 9.a3 Bxc3 10.Qxc3 Rc8 11.b4 b5 12.Bb2 Nb6 13.c5 Na4 14.Qc2 Nxb2 15.Qxb2 Bg4 16.Rac1 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 d5 18.Qxe5 Re8 19.Qd6 Qxd6 20.cxd6 Red8 21.Rc2 Rxd6 22.Rfc1 Re6 23.e3 Kf8 24.g4 g5 25.Kg2 Ke7 26.Kg3 h6 27.Rh1 Kd6 28.h4 Nd7 29.hxg5 hxg5 30.Rh7 f6 31.d4 a6 32.Be2 Re7 33.Rxe7 Kxe7 34.Bd3 Nb6 35.Bf5 Rc7 36.f4 Kd6 37.Kf3 Re7 38.fxg5 fxg5 39.e4 dxe4+ 40.Bxe4 Nc4 41.a4 Rf7+ 42.Bf5 Re7 43.axb5 axb5 44.Re2 Rxe2 45.Kxe2 Kd5 46.Kd3 Nb2+ 47.Kc3 Nd1+ 48.Kd3 Nf2+ 49.Ke3 Nh3 50.Be4+ Kc4 51.Bxc6 Kxb4 52.d5 Kc5 53.Ke4 b4 54.Ba4 Nf2+ 55.Kf5 Kxd5 56.Kxg5 ½–½
Michael Macakovic - Michael McGuirk [A00]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 03.06.2010, Round 3
White failed to attend the game and Black was awarded a win by time deault after 30 minutes 0–1
Jonathan Weslake - Michael Macokatic [A00]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 10.06.2010, Round 4
White scored 1 point after Black notified the DOP that he was withdrawing from the tournament 1–0
Michael McGuirk - Doug Carey [B22]
City of Newcastle Championship, Played at Panthers Newcastle by aarrangement, 14.06.2010, Round 4
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 e6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 c4 7.Bc2 d5 8.Qg4 Nc6 9.Bg5 Qc7 10.Ne2 Ne7 11.0–0 Ng6 12.f4 Be7 13.Nd2 Bxg5 14.fxg5 Qe7 15.Nf4 Bd7 16.Nh5 0–0–0 17.Nxg7 h6 18.Rf6 Rdg8 19.gxh6 Rxh6 20.Nh5 Rgh8 21.Bxg6 fxg6 22.Nf4 Qh7 23.Nf3 Na4 24.Ng5 Rh4 25.Qg3 Qg8 26.Nxg6 1–0
Toby Coates - Michael McGuirk [D43]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 17.06.2010, Round 5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e4 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Bb4+ 9.Ned2 Nd7 10.Be2 c5 11.0–0 0–0 12.Ne4 Qe7 13.a3 f5 14.Ng3 Ba5 15.dxc5 Bc7 16.b4 a5 17.Nd4 Nb8 18.Nb5 Be5 19.Rb1 axb4 20.axb4 Nc6 21.f4 Rd8 22.Qc2 Bb8 23.Bh5 Nxb4 24.Qf2 Nd3 25.Qe3 Qxc5 26.Qxc5 Nxc5 27.Bg6 Ra2 28.Rbd1 Rad2 29.Rxd2 Rxd2 30.Re1 Nd3 31.Re2 Rd1+ 32.Nf1 Nxf4 33.Kf2 Nxg6 34.g3 Kf7 35.Ne3 Rd3 36.Rc2 Bd7 37.Ke2 Ne5 38.h3 h5 39.g4 hxg4 40.hxg4 f4 41.Ng2 Rg3 42.Nxf4 Nxg4 43.Nd3 Rg2+ 44.Kd1 Ne3+ 0–1
Doug Carey - Jonathan Weslake [A25]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, 17.06.2010, Round 5
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Bc5 5.e3 a6 6.Nge2 d6 7.0–0 Rb8 8.a3 0–0 9.b4 Bb6 10.Bb2 Bf5 11.d3 Qd7 12.Rc1 Bh3 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.cxd5 Ne7 15.e4 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 f5 17.f4 Ng6 18.Qd2 Rf7 19.fxe5 dxe5 20.Nc3 f4 21.Qe2 f3+ 22.Rxf3 Rxf3 23.Qxf3 Rf8 24.Qh5 Rf2+ 25.Kh1 Qf7 26.Qh3 Qf3+ 0–1
Played at Panthers Cardiff on 13 May, Bernie O'Riordan and Toby Coates shared first place from a field of ten players, both players scoring 7 points each. Biting at their heels were Kevin Black, Michael McGuirk and Alex Mehan on 6 points, followed by Stephen Cassettari on 5 points, Ron Groenhout on 4 points, Bela Nemeth 3 points, Doug Carey 1 point and David Absolom with a duck egg! The tournament was conducted in good sportsmanlike manner with no disputes. Players are becoming more familiar with the rules of Lightning & Rapid Play Chess, resulting in fewer disputes. A good time was had by all.
Congratulations to John Marsden on winning the 2009 City of Newcastle Championship in a cliffhanger finish against Bernie O'Riordan. Final standings were as follows: John Marsden 4.5, Bernie O'Riordan 4, Doug Carey 3.5, Toby Coates 2, Bela Nemeth 1 & Doug Wright 0. Thankyou to all players who competed.
Wednesday 20 May, saw the commencement of the City of Newcastle Championship at Panthers Cardiff with a disappointing field numbers-wise, with only six players turning up to do chess battle. Interesting brevities occurred in the early rounds. Round one saw John Marsden defeat Bela Nemeth in 15 moves, whilst in the second round Bela Nemeth was crunched for the second week in succession, this time by Bernie O'Riordan in 23 moves. The third round of the tournament saw Bernie dispensing with Doug Carey in another 23 move slugfest. Round four saw some some solid games with no upsets with the trophy well and truely up for grabs. Bernie led the field with 4 points, followed closely by John Marsden on 3.5, Doug Carey on 2.5, Bela Nemeth & Toby Coates on 1, with Doug Wright yet to open his account. The scene was set for an exciting fifth and final round of The Championship between Bernie O'Riordan who needed only a draw to secure victory, whilst John Marsden needed to create something special playing the Black pieces. In John's case it was all or nothing! The game that clinched victory for John is shown immediately below, whilst other games from various rounds are shown as well.
Bernie O'Riordan - John Marsden [C29]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 5 Board 1, 01.07.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Be2 0–0 7.0–0 c5 8.d3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Nc6 10.d4 f6 11.exf6 Bxf6 12.Ba3 b6 13.dxc5 Bxc3 14.cxb6 Re8 15.Rb1 axb6 16.Rb3 Bf6 17.Bb5 Bb7 18.Rd3 Ne5 19.Bxe8 Nxd3 20.Bf7+ Kxf7 21.Qxd3 Kg8 22.Qb3 Ba6 23.Re1 Bc4 24.Qe3 d4 25.Qc1 Qd5 26.Bb2 Rxa2 27.Rd1 Be2 28.c4 Qxc4 29.Qxc4+ Bxc4 with an intense time scramble that lasted for another 10 or 12 moves 0–1
John Marsden - Bela Nemeth [C30]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 1 Board 2, 20.05.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bc4 h6 6.fxe5 dxe5 7.Nxe5 0–0 8.d4 Bb4 9.0–0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nxe4 11.Nxf7 Rxf7 12.Rxf7 Kh8 13.Qf3 Nf6 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.Rxf6 1–0
Toby Coates - Doug Carey [D85]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 1 Board 3, 20.05.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb2 c5 8.Bc4 0–0 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.0–0 Qa5 11.h3 b5 12.Bd5 Bb7 13.a3 Rfd8 14.Qc2 cxd4 15.cxd4 Rac8 16.Qb3 e6 17.Bxc6 Bxc6 18.f3 Qb6 19.Kh1 a5 20.Rfd1 Be8 21.Nf4 Rc4 22.d5 a4 23.Qd3 Bxb2 24.Rab1 Be5 25.Nxe6 fxe6 26.Qxc4 Qf2 27.Qb4 Qg3 28.Kg1 Qh2+ 29.Kf1 Bg3 30.Qe7 Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qxg2+ 32.Ke3 Qf2+ 33.Kd3 Qxf3+ 34.Kd4 e5+ 35.Kc5 Qc3+ 36.Kb6 Bf2+ 37.Ka6 Ra8+ 38.Kb7 Qc8# 0–1
Bela Nemeth - Bernie O'Riordan [B02]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 2 Board 1, 27.05.2009
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nxd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 c5 6.a3 Nc6 7.d3 Bf5 8.Bd2 Nd4 9.Ba2 c4 10.Ne4 cxd3 11.cxd3 e6 12.Bb1 Be7 13.Bc3 0–0 14.Nf3 Nb5 15.Ng3 Bg6 16.Ne5 Bf6 17.Nxg6 Nxc3 18.Qb3 hxg6 19.bxc3 Nd5 20.Ne4 Nxc3 21.Nxf6+ Qxf6 22.0–0 Ne2+ 23.Kh1 Qxa1 0–1
Doug Carey - John Marsden [A29]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Newcastle, Round 2 Board 2, 27.05.2009
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.d3 Be7 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.0–0 0–0 9.a3 Be6 10.b4 a5 11.b5 Nd4 12.Nxe5 Bf6 13.f4 Nb3 14.Rb1 Qd4+ 15.e3 Qxc3 16.Bb2 Qc5 17.d4 Qxb5 18.Bxb7 Nc4 19.Bc6 Qb6 20.Bc1 Rab8 21.Ba4 Nd6 22.d5 Bh3 23.Rxb3 Qa6 24.Re1 Rb6 25.Nd7 Bxd7 26.Bxd7 Rfb8 27.Qd3 Qa7 28.Rxb6 Qxb6 29.Kg2 Nb7 30.Qc2 Nc5 31.Bc6 g6 32.Re2 Qa7 33.Qc4 Rb1 34.Rc2 Nb3 35.Kf3 Rxc1 36.Qxb3 Re1 37.Re2 Rf1+ 38.Kg2 Ra1 39.a4 Qc5 40.Rc2 Qe7 41.Re2 Qc5 42.Rc2 Qe7 ½–½
Bernie O'Riordan - Doug Carey [D85]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 3 Board 1, 10.06.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Ba3 0–0 8.Bc4 c6 9.f4 b5 10.Bd3 Nd7 11.Nf3 Nb6 12.0–0 Be6 13.f5 Bc4 14.e5 f6 15.fxg6 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 fxe5 17.gxh7+ Kh8 18.Nh4 Rf6 19.Rxf6 exf6 20.Ng6+ Kxh7 21.Ne7+ Kh8 22.Qh3+ Bh6 23.Qxh6# 1–0
John Marsden - Toby Coates [B00]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 3 Board 2, 10.06.2009
1.e4 e6 2.d4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Bd3 h6 5.0–0 Nf6 6.Qe2 Qe7 7.c4 d6 8.Nc3 a6 9.b3 g6 10.Bb2 Bg7 11.e5 dxe5 12.Nxe5 0–0 13.Ne4 Nfd7 14.f4 f5 15.Nxg6 Qe8 16.Nxf8 Qxf8 17.Ng3 Qf7 18.Rae1 Nf8 19.d5 exd5 20.Nxf5 d4 21.Qg4 Kh8 22.Re7 Qg6 23.Qxg6 Nxg6 24.Rxg7 Nxf4 25.Bxd4 Nxd3 26.Ne7 1–0
Toby Coates - Bernie O'Riordan [E00]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 4 Board 1, 17.06.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.a3 d5 4.Nc3 a6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.g3 Bd6 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Qe7 12.Ne2 Bc7 13.0–0 0–0 14.N2c3 Rd8 15.b4 a5 16.Rb1 axb4 17.axb4 Bf5 18.Re1 Qf8 19.Rb2 Nd7 20.Nc5 Rab8 21.Qf3 Bg6 22.Ra1 Bb6 23.N3a4 Bc7 24.Nxd7 Rxd7 25.Qg4 Rbd8 26.Rd1 Be5 27.Nc5 Rxd4 28.Rxd4 Bxd4 29.Rd2 Bxc5 30.Rxd8 Bxf2+ 31.Kxf2 Qxd8 32.Qf4 Qb6+ 33.Ke2 Qb5+ 34.Kf2 Qf5 35.Qxf5 Bxf5 36.b5 cxb5 37.Bxb7 b4 38.Bd5 Bc2 39.Ke2 g5 40.Kd2 Bf5 41.Kc1 Kg7 42.Kb2 Kf6 43.Kb3 Be6 44.Bxe6 Kxe6 45.Kxb4 Ke5 0–1
Doug Carey - Bela Nemeth [A31]
City of Newcastle Championship, Panthers Cardiff, Round 4 Board 3, 17.06.2009
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.g3 e6 7.Nc2 Bc5 8.Bg2 0–0 9.0–0 h6 10.a3 Ne5 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.Nxe3 Qc7 13.Qb3 Rb8 14.Rac1 Nc6 15.Qa2 Nd4 16.Rfd1 e5 17.Ned5 Nxd5 18.cxd5 Qd6 19.e3 Nf5 20.Ne4 Qb6 21.d6 h5 22.b4 Qd8 23.Qc4 b5 24.Qc7 Bb7 25.Qxd8 Rfxd8 26.Rc7 Bxe4 27.Bxe4 Nh6 28.h3 f5 29.Bd5+ Kh7 30.Rdc1 Rb6 31.Bb7 Rxd6 32.Rc8 Rxc8 33.Bxc8 Rd3 34.Bxa6 Rxa3 35.Bxb5 d5 36.Bc6 d4 37.exd4 exd4 38.Rd1 Rb3 39.Be8 g6 40.Rxd4 Ng8 41.Rd6 Ne7 42.b5 f4 43.Rd7 fxg3 44.Rxe7+ Kh6 45.fxg3 Rxg3+ 46.Kh2 Rb3 47.Re6 Rb2+ 48.Kg3 Rb3+ 49.Kg2 Rb2+ 50.Kf3 Rb3+ 51.Re3 Rb4 52.Ke2 Rb2+ 53.Kd3 Ra2 54.Kc4 Ra8 55.Bc6 Ra4+ 56.Kc5 Rf4 57.b6 Rf5+ 58.Kd6 1–0