This page contains items which first appeared on the Home page. They are moved here approximately four weeks after first appearing, unless they are still topical. For old news from previous years, click on the links below.
The 2008 Zollner Book (edited by John Wheeler) is now available from David Walshaw, who hopes to have copies at various local events. The price is £4.40 direct or £5.00 by post. (23/7/08)
Congratulations to Lara Barnes, who has just been appointed an ECF Senior Arbiter. (19/7/08)
Due to resignations, and the item below, there are a few changes to the composition of the NCA Executive Committee. For details click the link on the left. (8/6/08)
It is with great regret that the NCA Executive Committee has to announce that as from later this month, the Newcastle Evening Chronicle's Thursday 'Bishop column' will no longer be published. We recently received a letter giving one month's notice, the reason being purely economic. Since the regular fees for this column provided the NCA with a significant amount of its regular income, this has financial implications for the organisation. This column has been published regularly for very many years, and several well known local players have written the column in the past, with John Wheeler having the dubious honour of being the last one. (6/6/08)
Robert Forsythe and Matthew Holborow tied for first place in the Sell (U150) championship. The final table for all three individual championships are now available. (6/6/08)
The Zollner Trophy has resulted in a one-all tie between Dean Graham and Roger Coathup, after a playoff; each player won a game with black. It is believed that this is the first time ever that it has been shared in this way. (5/6/08)
At the recent Hartlepool Weekend Congress, Roger Coathup (Tynemouth) came 3rd in the Open with 3½/5; in the Major, Ron Plater (Kings), Darren Laws (Tynemouth) and Paul Bielby (Jesmond) shared 1st place with 3½; in the Minor, Stan Hawes (S Shields) shared 3rd place with 3½. (3/6/08)
Following a request at the recent NCA AGM, old match results for the League and Summer KO are now available via links on the League etc page. (20/5/08)
Correspondence Chess results have been added to the 'League etc' group, and a few new results added. (17/5/08)
At the recent Durham Congress, there were three local prize winners. In the Open, Jonathan Hawkins (Leam Lane) shared first place with three others on 4/5; in the Minor, David Walshaw (Jesmond) and Matthew Tayor (Tynedale) also shared first place with two others on 4/5. The full list of prizewinners is available. (30/4/08)
Mike Nicholson has passed on some information about junior correspondence chess:
'... the first Open Junior World Correspondence Cup,
details of which can be found at www.iccf-webchess.com/Message.aspx?message=213
. This event has just been announced by the International Correspondence
Chess Federation, and has a closing date of June 20th. It will be played
on the ICCF's webserver, so there are no problems of postal transmissions, nor
of language (everything is in English).
Competitors must have been born after June 30th, 1988, and entries have to be in
by June 20th, 2008.
Further information can be obtained via the website, but seriously interested
players needing more information about this form of chess are welcome to phone
me on 01434-602435'. (29/4/08)
There is a shortage of active qualified tournament controllers in the North East. If anyone is interested in this essential duty, please contact Lara Barnes. If enough people are willing, she'll arrange some training. (27/4/08)
The North East Rapidplay Circuit organiser. Graham Marshall is standing down after doing this for quite a few years. Ernie Lazenby, Chairperson of the Cleveland CA has now taken this on, but If anyone else is also interested, it would be useful to have a reserve. If so, please contact one of them. (Updated 29/4/08)
The Executive Committee recently discussed the structure of the league for next season. and came up with a proposal. John Wheeler has written this up as a discussion document for the AGM in May. This may also be downloaded as a Word doc. (16/4/08)
John Turnock has produced a revised discussion document on alternative registration schemes for next season. This will be formally discussed at the NCA AGM in May. Please have a look at this and decide on your club's decision. A downloadable Word version which may be used to produce printed copies is also available. (20/3/08)
The last rounds of the NCA individual championships are now underway, but with one round to spare, Craig Borwick has already won the Newcastle (U120) competition. (9/4/08)
The NCA League matches are now more or less all finished, assuming that Tynemouth Sprites in Div 3 will not be completing their match programme. The final tables (subject to confirmation by the League Conductor) can be seen by clicking on the 'League etc' link on the LH side. Congratulations to the new champions - KIngs B (Div 1), Gosforth Empire (Div 2) and Morpeth C (Div 3). (29/3/08)
The NCA Rapidplay was held on Sun 16/3/08.
Open - 1st Charlie Storey (Jesmond) 4½/5, 2nd Dean Graham
(Kings) 4, 3rd Chris Wardle (Edinburgh) 3½
Major - 1st Andy Robinson (Kings) 4½, 2nd Noel Boustred (Gosforth) 4, 3rd
Bob Mitcheson (Kings) 3½.
Minor - 1st= Fred Stobart (Hetton Lyons), Len New & Stan Johnson (S Shields) 4.
(16/3/08)
There were some local prizewinners at the recent Blackpool Chess Conference.
In the Open, David Eggleston (Durham), was 2nd= with 4/5; in the Major, Tony Foster (Sunderland) shared the Veterans Prize with 3½; in the Intermediate, Noel Boustred (Gosforth) was first with 5 while Kevi Cox (Gateshead Libs) was 3rd= on 3. More details are on the Conference website. (Revised 18/3/08)
Some of you may remember Kanwal Bhatia, former Northumberland Junior Champion, once of Church High School, the NJCA and South Shields. She has been chosen to play for the ECF in Oslo in February. Further details are on the ECF website. From Paul Bielby. (31/1/08)
Mike Nicholson has supplied the following: Each nation had 5-board men's and women's teams, and Kanwal was on board 3 for England. With one win and two draws she top-scored equal with Harriet Hunt (board 1) and helped England to second place behind Sweden. More details are on the Norwegian website. For those who can access pgn files, her win against Women's FIDE Master S Bjerke of Latvia (2166) can be seen there: <Bhatia 1-0 Bjerke.pgn>. Kanwal's own Elo rating is 2054. She has played regularly in the 4NCL, coming up against some strong opposition. I note one win against S Ledger. (added 26/2/08)
The latest results from the County Correspondence Chess match are now available. (Updated 7/3/08)
To make it more manageable, the 'Old News' page has now been split into three sections - the current one ('07-'08), and archived news from 2006, and 2005. The later two are reached via the former. (18/2/08)
Some local players also did well in the recent Tony Kiddle Memorial Congress at Hartlepool. In the Open, Jonathan Hawkins (Leam Lane) shared first place with Bret Addison (Hartlepool) on 4/5, while Clive Waters and Michael Hubbard (both Tynemouth) were =3rd on 3½; in the Major there was a 4-way tie for first place on 4 points, including Antonio Moneva-Jordan (Tynemouth); in the Minor, Geoff Shearing (Eldon Leisure) was =2nd on 4. A full report (including a few pictures) is available on the Cleveland CA's website. (Revised 29/1/08)
The NCA has received a request from a housebound gentleman who lives in Wallsend, to invite any players with spare time, to visit him for a game. He doesn't have a PC, and misses playing over the board chess. If anyone is interested in this, please contact Abi Adams. (12/1/08)
A few local players did well at the recent Fulprint York Congress. Tim Wall ("Moscow") tied for first place in the Open on 4½/5. Jesmond players featured In the Major, Paul Bielby tied for first place with 4½/5, while Daniel Lai (3) and Thomas Glover (2½) received prizes. More details are on the ECF website. (13/1/08)
Last changed: 02/09/08