South Hams Chess Club
South Hams Chess Club

Competitions in the 2014-15 Season

Torbay Chess League

In the 2014 -15 season, we are entering teams in Torbay Chess League Division 2 and Division 3.  Fixtures, match results and reports will be posted on this website.

Internal Club Leagues

Clifford Peach has kindly volunteered to organise the internal club competitions this season, and he is introducing a new format. The main leagues are to be the Homan League and the Dunleavy League, both named after former club members who did great service for the club. There will also be a Challengers League in which two members can play each other on nights when they are not involved in a club match and are unable to arrange a game in the Homan/Dunleavy leagues. Finally, the M. Wray Shield is a league for the players who entered the preliminary round of the Cookworthy Cup.

From September to December 2014, players will be assigned to the main leagues as follows. The grades listed below are the ECF July 2014 grades.

Homan League

Dunleavy League

SurnameFirst nameGrade
WilkinsonBen129
PeachClifford110
McConnellPhil102
BestBarclay90
CollinsTony78
SurnameFirst nameGrade
RussellDennis112
FowlerJames105
GreenhalghRoy97
AshbyKen83
SweetmanBarry56
McCammontAnderson

This means that each player in the Homan League will need to play eight games by Christmas (four opponents, with each opponent played once as White and once as Black), while each player in the Dunleavy league will need to play ten games.

From January 2015, the Homan League will become the first league, and the Dunleavy League will become the second league, by the following process:
  • The bottom two players in the Homan League will move to the Dunleavy League.
  • The top two players in the Dunleavy League will move to the Homan League.
  • The two players finishing third in their league will play each other (colours decided by toss), whereupon the winner will play from January onwards in the Homan League, and the loser will play in the Dunleavy League. In the event of a draw, colours will be reversed and theplace in the Homan League will be decided by a Quick Play game of 15 minutes each; if the Quick Play game is also a draw, this process will be repeated until the result is not a draw.

In January 2015 the newly-constituted Homan and Dunleavy Leagues will start from a clean slate. The club champion for the season will be the winner of the Homan League from January until the end of the season.

The allocation of players to the Homan and Dunleavy Leagues next season will be determined by final standings at the end of this season (not by grades).

Cookworthy Cup

In addition to the leagues, our usual knockout competition, the Cookworthy Cup, will take place; details will be posted on this website once the first round draw has taken place.

ECF Grading

Games in the Torbay Chess League, Homan League, Dunleavy League, Challengers League, M. Wray Shield and Cookworthy Cup will all be graded.

Time Controls

For all graded games, each player must complete the first 35 moves in 75 minutes. After Black's 35th move, 15 minutes is added to each player's clock for a Quick Play finish.

Colours

In each half season of the Homan and Dunleavy Leagues, when opponents first play each other colours will be determined by toss. When the same two players meet for the second time, colours will be reversed.

In the Cookworthy Cup, for the first round of both the preliminary competition and main competition, colours will be determined when the draw is made. For subsequent rounds, colours will be determined by toss "on the night".

Administration

  • Club members should wherever possible arrange their games in the internal club competitions in advance - ideally a week beforehand. Arranging games in the Homan and Dunleavy leagues takes priority over the Challengers League.
  • If any new members join part way through the season, Clifford may, at his discretion, allocate them to play in the Homan League or Dunleavy League.
  • If your opponent requests a late start due to work commitments, please accommodate this request.
  • Do not start a Challengers League game before 7:15pm, as the other internal competitions take priority; if a member arrives after 7:00pm, it is possible that his arrival will enable a game in one of these other competitions to take place that evening.
  • A result book will be at the club, and results should entered into the book before players leave in the evening.
  • Don't forget to check the website regularly for results!