Did You Know Chess is a Summer Outdoor Game?

The Club's first meeting in Dartmouth took place on 15th June 2017 - and, to take advantage of the long hours of daylight, it was an outdoor affair overlooking the Dart estuary.

Ben Wilkinson organised a freindly Blitz tournament. Despite being handicapped by a glass of red wine, he coped admirably.

Smiles and a handshake as Cliff Peach and John Belli prepare for battle. John looks rather sinister in those shades, doesn't he?

It's also all smiles between Ben and Steve. But would Steve have been smiling quite so broadly if he'd foreseen the result?

The battle of the Tonys - Tony Tatam and Tony Collins. It's only a few moves in, but they're looking pretty focussed already.

Andrew Kinder takes on Roy Greenhalgh. Two tricky customers - but on this occasion it was Andrew who prevailed.

French Defence Exchange Variation. In one of the upsets of the evening, Phil McConnell somehow managed to prevail over Paul Brooks.

The weather is fine, and the view is lovely. But the chess players all have their heads down over the chess boards.

Time to get the fleeces out as the sun goes down. Tony Collins and Roy Greenhalgh play a 1.e4 e5 opening.

A cracking game between Andrew Kinder and Tony Tatam - it went to a tense end game before Andrew got a pawn to the 8th rank and Tony succumbed.

Steve Levy takes on Paul Brooks - the two favourites according to the bookies. On this occasion Steve emerged as the winner.

It looks as if Alan Davies and Cliff Peach have played a 1. d4-d5 opening. Cliff, aided by a cup of tea, was the winner.

Phil McConnell and Ben Wilkinson were both on 100% after 3 rounds. But when they met on Round, 4 Ben gave Phil a sound thrashing.

As the evening wore on, the players who had been on the wine and beer were at a significant disadvantage to those who hadn't!

In the end, bad light stopped play. But only after 6 rounds of very enjoyable - but rather mixed quality - chess had been played.

At the end of the evening, the joint winners were Ben Wilkinson and Steve Levy on 5/6. Congratulations to both, and many thanks to Ben for doing the pairings.