BCCA General Secretary, Editor of "Correspondence Chess" : BCCA & ICCF Tournament Director; ICCF International Arbiter (IA) : ICCF Qualifications Commissioner for 4 years from 2009-13.
BCCA teams have triumphed in the last couple of days!
BCCL (British CC League): the BCCA Giants team (8 players with each player playing two games) have won the BCCL Championship. The crosstable can be seen here: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=63471 Although there are 2 games still awaiting adjudication decisions, the Giants cannot be caught. The full team was CaptainNeil Jefferson, Olli Ylönen, Brian Thompson, Yosua Sitorus, Graham Pattrick, Allan Gardner, Johnny Owens, Andrew Ellis.
Welsh Member Organisations Team Tournament II: the BCCA Wildcats have won this event (5 players with each player playing 6 games) which came down to the very last game. The full crosstable can be seen here: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=56581 Congratulations to the team who comprised Captain Russell Sherwood, Mark Eldridge, Brian Thompson, Les Ellis, Keith Kitson.
The 2016-7 Handicap Tournament finished in a tie for 1st place between Paul Terry & Russell Sherwood. Paul earns 5 CM points & they share the prize money for 1st/2nd place. In 3rd place was Raymond Burridge.
The Handicap tournament is now free to enter so any member can enter at any time. Pairings are by post or e-mail.
Richard Akrill has been awarded the BCCA Candidate Master Title after reaching 20 Candidate Master (CM) points. His points were accumulated in 4 different Trio’s as well as winning a Silver Medal tournament: well done to Richard!
All the games in this event have now finished & the final crosstable can be viewed on the Server here: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=65672 Congratulations to Greg Hughes who scored a fantastic 11.5/12 to win the tournament and a Bronze Medal – well done Greg! Honorable mentions go to Pablo Moujan & Ben Wood whose scores of 11 and 10.5 respectively would usually be good enough to win the event! Pablo earns 3 Candidate Master points for 2nd place.
The 2017/18 BCCA Championship Final, Candidates & Reserves have all just got underway for the new season. 79 players in total (11 in the Final, 36 in the Candidates & 32 in the Reserves). The Championship Final https://www.iccf.com/event?id=70820 has the highest average rating yet recorded of 2342. All crosstables can be viewed on the webserver. Good luck to all!
Alexander Sherwood has become the 10th BCCA member to be awarded the Candidate Master Title in 2017. His 2nd place in a BCCA Candidates tournament, added to his previous points from winning two Trio’s and a Silver Medal tournament, enabled him to reach the magic 20 points barrier. At only 18 years of age, Alex is the youngest holder of the BCCA Candidate Master Title.
Malcolm Winter has become the latest BCCA member to be awarded the Candidate Master Title. He has earned his 20 CM points by winning (or jointly winning) six different Trio’s, including two Class 2 Trio’s, winning a Reserves tourney and a Bronze Medal tourney. Well played Malcolm!
Colin Cheek & Greg Hughes are the latest recipients of the BCCA Candidate Master Title, both earning the award in the same Trio! Greg Hughes was awarded his CM points over a 6 year period starting in 2011 in a Silver Medal tournament, and earning more points since in BCCA Reserves, an Endgame tourney, and four Trio’s. Colin Cheek has earned his CM points over a 3 year period starting in 2014; a Silver Medal tourney, a Bronze Medal tourney, BCCA Reserves and four Trio’s. Congratulations & well played to both players!
I am seeking players for an upcoming match versus our friends in Australia. Maximum rating 2200.
We have played CCLA Australia each year for the last 3 years; we won the first two matches but lost the latest one. These matches have proved popular with members & usual provide good evenly matched chess. If you wish to play, you will play just 2 games versus one opponent (one with White, one with Black). Time control 10 moves in 40 days. Played on the webserver.
There is no fee. If you wish to play, please contact Neil Limbert before August 26. The games should get underway in September.
It is our sad duty to report the recent death of long standing BCCA member Ron Cooper. Ron had been battling cancer for several years but that didn’t stop him playing a high volume of games at a brisk pace. He was a reliable player, featuring many times for various BCCA teams & he never defaulted games. In 2016, he was awarded the BCCA Candidate Master Title. In other words, an ideal BCCA member in many respects. He is a loss to the Association & the world of chess. RIP.