Club Membership 2023-24

At the AGM on 29th August, the Treasurer will be proposing no changes to the 2022-23 membership rates for 2023-24 and will confirm that the club continues to accept annual membership payments by cash and cheque, and weekly payments by cash. However, all members are strongly encouraged, if they have not already done so, to set up a GoCardless direct debit agreement with the club. Our GoCardless payments system has been operating smoothly for two years now, and the number of members paying the club this way is already in double figures.

Please visit our Pay page to read more and set up your GoCardless direct debit agreement. If you already have an agreement set up with the club, do not set up another one - your membership payments will continue to be drawn by this method unless you have asked us to stop. Whether paying by cash/cheque or via GoCardless, please ensure that the club has your current email address. We will shortly be emailing all members requesting the they update their membership details. This information will be stored securely in the club’s Mailchimp account, and no financial information will be stored along with it.

Finally, if you wish to play rated games of chess - such as those in our internal club competitions, league matches and one-off evening league events - then please ensure that you are a paid-up member of the ECF for the 2023-24 season. ECF membership is a requirement for rated play, so if your ECF membership status is showing as “Not Member” on the ECF Ratings website then you will not be permitted to play rated games with the club. ECF Bronze membership, which costs just £18 for the year, is sufficient for all club and league competitions. If you are considering entering other tournaments or congresses - e.g. the 2024 Thanet Congress - then ECF Silver membership covers your rated play in those too. Join the ECF or renew your membership here.

Nik Loginov (Broadstairs) v Ethan Latymer

[Event "51st Thanet Congress Minor"] [Site "Sandwich Technology School"] [Date "2023.08.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Nik Loginov"] [Black "Ethan Latymer"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1439"] [BlackElo "1443"] [EventDate "2023.08.18"] [ECO "E61"] {The fifth and final round of the 51st Thanet Congress witnessed the clash, in the Minor section, of two up-and-coming young talents from Broadstairs and Sandwich respectively. After a couple of missed opportunities, Black finally took control with a rook on the seventh and proved the win with the relentless advance of his queenside pawns.} 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.g3 d5 {The tricky Gruenfeld Defence} ( {The standard King's Indian Defence with} 5...d6 {is far more common here.} ) 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bg2 Nc6 $5 {Black blocks his c-pawn in return for early piece activity.} ( 7...c5 $1 8.O-O Nxc3 9.bxc3 Nc6 ) 8.Qb3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 e5 $1 {Ethan finds an important central strike.} 10.Ba3 Re8 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.O-O c6 14.Rad1 {Nik hits his opponent's queen, but it was time for her to move anyway.} 14...Qb6 15.c4 Be6 16.e3 $6 Bf6 ( 16...Qa6 $1 {threatens the pawn on c4:} 17.Rc1 Rad8 18.Bc5 b5 19.cxb5 cxb5 20.Qb4 Bc4 {It's too late for f4 now.} 21.Rfe1 Qxa2 22.Bc6 a5 $1 23.Qb1 {(forced)} 23...Qxb1 24.Rxb1 b4 ) 17.Rc1 Rad8 ( 17...Qxb3 $1 18.axb3 a5 $1 19.f4 a4 20.Rb1 $4 axb3 21.Rxb3 Bxc4 {forking the rooks.} ) 18.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Be7 $6 {This surrenders the long diagonal.} 20.Bb2 $5 Qb4 21.Qxb4 Bxb4 22.Rc1 Rd8 23.c5 $2 ( 23.Bd4 $1 {was necessary, to block the open file and stop Black's planned incursion on the seventh rank.} ) 23...Rd2 $1 24.Bf6 Bxa2 25.Be7 Ba3 26.Re1 Rc2 ( {The immediate} 26...a5 $1 {looks best. After all, White has completely lost control of the queenside.} 27.Ra1 a4 $1 28.Be4 Bb4 29.Bf6 Bb3 30.Kf1 Bxc5 31.Bc3 Rd6 32.Bb2 b5 {and here come three connected passed pawns!} ) 27.Rd1 Rc1 $1 {The player up material forces an exchange.} 28.Rxc1 Bxc1 {It's now the battle of the bishops.} 29.Bh3 f5 30.Bf1 b5 $6 ( 30...a5 $1 {is still the move.} ) 31.cxb6 axb6 32.Ba6 b5 33.Bb4 Bb2 34.Bb7 Bd5 35.Kf1 Kf7 36.Ke1 Bf6 37.Ba5 Ke7 38.Kd2 Kd6 39.Kd3 c5 $1 {"Where do you think you're going?"} 40.Bxd5 Kxd5 41.f3 c4+ 42.Kc2 Kc5 43.Bc3 $2 {This makes Black's job easy. The white king alone can't stop this pair of connected passed pawns.} 43...Bxc3 44.Kxc3 b4+ 45.Kc2 Kb5 46.e4 fxe4 47.fxe4 Kc5 {White resigns. The black king can round up the white e-pawn and then see his own pawns home.} 0-1

Robert Starley v S Wyn Howells (Wales)

[Event "51st Thanet Congress Open"] [Site "Sandwich Technology School"] [Date "2023.08.18"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Starley, Robert"] [Black "Howells, S Wyn"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2064"] [BlackElo "1673"] [EventDate "2023.08.18"] [ECO "B38"] [Annotator "Robert Starley"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventType "swiss"] {Robert Starley kicked off a successful run in the FIDE-rated Open section of the 51st Thanet Congress, which saw him take a share of 2nd place alongside two titled players, with this sacrifice-laden miniature in Round 1. Robert annotates his own game. B38: Sicilian: Maroczy Bind with 5...Bg7 and 7...0-0} 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Be3 {last book move} 6...e6 $6 ( 6...Qb6 $5 7.Nb5 Qa5+ 8.N1c3 Nf6 $11 ) 7.Nc3 Nge7 8.h4 {Black is intending to castle next, so I wanted to do what I could to make him think twice about that.} 8...O-O {Black bravely castles into the attack. Objectively there is nothing wrong with that, but it seems scary to allow my h-pawn to keep marching towards the king.} ( {Black could also have considered playing} 8...h5 {himself, to slow down my advance, but this also creates additional weaknesses.} 9.Ndb5 $16 ) 9.h5 a6 $2 {Too slow. Now Black must start to counterattack in the centre.} ( 9...d5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.hxg6 fxg6 12.exd5 Bxd4 13.Bxd4 Nxd5 14.Bc4 $11 ) 10.Be2 {Developing can't be bad, but maybe it was even better to continue my attack more quickly with} ( 10.Nxc6 $5 Nxc6 11.Qd2 $16 ) 10...d5 $14 {still the right idea, starting to play actively} 11.hxg6 fxg6 ( 11...hxg6 $14 {is also playable - it looks bad to open the h-file bad it is difficult for me to exploit.} ) 12.cxd5 exd5 13.exd5 $6 {The engine isn't a big fan of this move, preferring:} ( 13.Nf3 $5 Na5 14.Rc1 dxe4 15.Qxd8 Rxd8 16.Ng5 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 $16 ) 13...Nxd5 14.Bc4 {At this point I thought I was already winning, however the engine points out an amazing defensive resource...} 14...Ne7 $4 ( 14...Nxd4 $142 $1 {Giving up a piece with check like this is extremely difficult for a human, so it is no surprise that both me and my opponent missed this.} 15.Bxd5+ ( 15.Bxd4 Re8+ 16.Kf1 Be6 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 $11 ) 15...Be6 $11 {and material will remain level} ) 15.Nxd5 $18 Nxd5 16.Qb3 {Now the knight is lost.} 16...Kh8 ( 16...Qa5+ 17.Bd2 Qc5 18.Bxd5+ Kh8 19.Nf3 $18 ) 17.Bxd5 Re8 18.O-O-O {This move not only unpins the bishop, more importantly it connects the rooks and allows for fireworks down the h-file.} 18...Bd7 $2 {Allowing a nice finish, but Black is completely lost anyway.} ( 18...Bg4 19.Bf3 Qc8+ 20.Kb1 Re5 $18 ) 19.Rxh7+ $1 {Mate attack.} 19...Kxh7 20.Rh1+ Bh6 21.Bg8+ $3 {The prettiest and most precise way to win the game, sacrificing the bishop to allow the queen to join the party.} ( {The most obvious move} 21.Rxh6+ {is still winning but it's not so easy to finish after} 21...Kg7 $18 ) ( 21.Bxh6 {was my original idea before I found Bg8. Black's only way to avoid getting mated with a devastating discovered check is} 21...Re1+ 22.Rxe1 Kxh6 $18 ) 21...Rxg8 22.Qf7+ Rg7 ( 22...Kh8 23.Rxh6# ) 23.Rxh6# 1-0

Congress Pairings / Standings / Results

Links to Chess-Results.com by Section:

Open

Challengers (Major)

Intermediate

Minor

51st Thanet Chess Congress

Sandwich Technology School is the venue for this year’s Thanet Chess Congress, back after a break of four years, open to players of all ages and abilities. This is a three-day tournament, being held across the weekend of 18th-20th August 2023. The congress is the premier chess event in the region and has a rich history spanning over 50 years. The Open section frequently features titled players, and there is an advertised prize fund of £2,400.

Find out more about the history of the Congress at www.eastkentchess.org.uk/congress and enter online at https://congress.org.uk/congress/215/home.