English Deaf Chess Association

October 2010

EDCA National Championship, Sheffield

Date: 23rd-24th October 2010

Venue: Sheffield Deaf Sport and Social Club

Latest official entrants:

Christopher Kreuzer, Phillip Gardner, Alasdair MacLeod, Mick Simmons, Tim Jones, Barry David, Neil Dunlop, Michael Freund, Robert Burnett, Frank Wood, Peter Sharpe

Left to right: Richard Dunn, Christopher Kreuzer, Phillip Gardner, Ilan Dwek (Captain), Neil Dunlop, Alasdair MacLeod, Barry David (EDCA Chairman, kneeling down)

Formerly called the 'ICSC World Team Championship', the new name of 'ICSC Chess Olympiad' was greeted with universal approval as it felt extra special and made it more attractive to prospective sponsors. It was held in Estoril, Portugal about 20km west of Lisbon where it was mostly warm with a little bit of rain for a couple of days in the middle. We were fortunate that we managed to get a special offer on our hotel, 4 star, with a delicious cooked breakfast included as well. This was thanks to the search efforts of Barry David, our chairman and chief England supporter in Estoril where he joined us for 4 days at the end.

The chess conditions were very good with a nice large hall and top notch chess equipment so it felt like a professional tournament. There were 2 main differences from previous ICSC events in that there was a zero default time in place i.e. you had to be in your seat by the start time otherwise you lose. This was a new FIDE rule introduced as from July 2009. At first I thought it was a little strict but by the end of the tournament I was swayed by the arguments for this rule as it's about respect for your opponent, spectators and officials.  Indeed, it worked well as there was only one game throughout the entire tournament where this rule was enforced when an Israeli player overslept after a siesta believing the afternoon round was starting at 3.30pm instead of 3pm! You see, it was a start time of 3.30pm only for the 2 rounds a day in the timetable but for the 1 round a day the start time was 3pm.

The other new rule was the so called "Sofia rule" where you cannot agree a draw before 30 moves unless it's a repetition of moves or perpetual check. The arbiter has to agree any draw made before 30 moves. After 30 moves it's up to the 2 players. This seemed to pass by well without incident. The time control was 90 minutes for all moves with an increment of 30 secs added to your time for every move. We have had experience of this before in the 2007 ICSC Europa Cup in Bulgaria and the occasional tournament at home so we had no problems with it.

Every event isn't without its own problems as we sampled the Portuguese culture of waiting for quite a while before something happens. But the good food and drink more than made up for it as witnessed by the example of the closing ceremony banquet in a 5 star hotel. This tournament turned out to be the strongest ICSC event held with 2 GM's, 3 IM's and 4 FM's competing as well as numerous 2200+ players.

The England board order was;

1. Chris Kreuzer
2. Phillip Gardner
3. Alasdair MacLeod
4. Ilan Dwek (Captain)
5. Neil Dunlop
6. Richard Dunn

The current EDCA Champion, Lewis Martin was unfortunately not availble due to A level exams.

1st Round  LOST ½-3½ v. Germany

We expected a hard first match as we were seeded 12th out of the 17 teams lined up at the start. On board 1, Chris faced IM Sergey Salov for the 3rd time.... alas it wasn't 3rd time lucky as Chris fought well but Sergey found the winning line in the endgame. On board 2 Phil was slowly positionally outplayed by another strong and experienced player Hoffman, an ICSC GM.

On board 4, Neil made his England debut which was quite a baptism of fire against Jentsch, ELO 2174. He was getting outplayed and was a pawn down with little to show for it and resigned soon afterwards. It wasn't until after the game that we discovered that Neil had overlooked a winning rook move despite being a pawn down. Sitting next to him at the time I didn't see it either and was thinking of the same king move that Neil played in the game! "I played that king move on automatic pilot" said Neil - the same goes for me after I glanced over briefly at that point, I guess that makes me an automatic co-pilot......

On board 3 as white I allowed the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf where I was well prepared for the pawn sacrifice but sank into thought on move 10 when faced with a rare move. A forced repetition of moves was played after only 18 moves...but 3 hours thinking time had been used up by myself and my opponent, Mucha, when we had 15 mins each left (!) The draw stopped a whitewash and put a tiny bit of pride back into the England camp.

2nd Round WON 4-0 v. India DEFAULT

This was a most unfortunate situation where after sitting at the board for 5 mins, no Indian players turned up. It wasn't until afterwards when we discovered that there was a dispute between India and the Portuguese organisers over money and the Indian men's team were thrown out of the tournament. Their ladies' team still continued so I guess their budget could only stretch that far.

A great shame and a disappointing way to win 4-0 without a single move played. An amusing observation was shared with us by Phil who realised that we were leading the tournament after 1 round and a few minutes into the 2nd round (!)

3rd Round DREW 2-2 v. Kazakhstan

The first good news for England at last was Neil's win against an ELO 2144 rated player on board 4 where he played a nice attacking game right from the start against the Caro-Kann. A superb performance by Neil who had already forgotten about what happened the day before. On board 2 Phil seemed to have the positional edge but could not break down his opponent's solid defence and so agreed a draw. On board 3 I was up against it after a slightly dodgy opening but fought back, choosing to sacrifice a pawn to activate my pieces and get into a rook and pawn endgame a pawn down but with drawing chances. Soon afterwards I gratefully accepted my opponent's draw offer. On board 1, Chris had another tough game against an ELO 2229 rated player who has played for the ICSC team in the FIDE Olympiad. Both players got into time trouble but Chris missed a chance in the queen and rook endgame where instead he was saddled with weak isolated pawns and had to succumb to defeat.

4th Round LOST 1½-2½ v. Poland

This was the most controversial match that I have been involved in over 15 years of competitive chess. I obviously don't want to go into too much detail as I could write a book about it (!). Let's just say that Poland had their own political problems with 2 different organisations vying to control the Poland team - indeed there were two different board orders handed in which caused an uproar. As a result we did not start our match until 20 minutes after all the other matches started. So the organisers broke their own zero default rule about starting play at 3pm sharp :-) Their board 3 was defaulted as a kind of punishment for this debacle. This was a shame for Neil who was raring to go as white again following the high of his win in the previous round. On board 4 Richard a tough game against the c3 Sicilian and faced a difficult defence when faced with d5! completely opening the position up and Richard resigned later on. On board 2 Ilan wheeled out his trusted and solid black repertoire where he prepared hard before the game against the strong Stzrelecki ELO 2150 and didn't have much  trouble holding his position together and forced a repetition for a well earned draw. This left myself on board 1 needing a result to draw or win the match. Alas I was slowly outplayed by Checiak who ground me down right to the end.

Afterwards I wrote a letter of complaint in my capacity as EDCA Secretary about how the situation was handled at the start which affected our players. A couple of days later only ICSC was courteous enough to respond with an explanation of what happened as we were in the dark about what happened until that evening. No such reply was forthcoming from the Portuguese organisers and the Poland officials although the Poland players we faced were apologetic for the situation.

5th Round WON 2½-1½ v. Portugal

We bounced back with a win which was a welcome boost following the disappointment of the Poland match. On board 1, Phil overlooked a strong knight sacrifice made by his opponent. He fought back with a counter sacrifice too but his opponent found the refutation and Phil had to resign when faced with too much material loss. On board 2, I sacrificed a pawn against the Accelerated Dragon and attacked on the kingside where I sacrificed the exchange which was enough to convince my opponent to resign immediately after 22 moves. On board 4 Neil won a nice clean game with tactics favouring him leading to another win for England. This left Ilan on board 3 needing at least a draw to win the match for England. This he duly did but had to sweat it out to the end - or in Ilan's words to the effect of something like "He gave me a lot of the brown stuff and I had to clean it up" you can see the gist of what he said :-) 

6th Round LOST ½-3½ v. Ukraine

Following our win against Portugal, we bounced back down to earth after a heavy loss to the strong Ukrainian team. How times have changed quickly since we beat them in a shock win in the 1st round 4 years ago. On board 4 Neil got into difficulties when mixing up plans in the opening and had to resign when his king was too exposed. On board 3 I faced the Accelerated Dragon again, but this time my opponent knew the theory better than my previous opponent. I had considered a interesting tactical possibility in the middlegame which took me nearly 30 mins to think about but rejected it and instead went into an endgame with equal material but with doubled pawns. I could not save this endgame while I was slowly ground down again like against Poland. This left Chris and Phil on the top 2 boards trying to save our bacon and avoid a whitewash. Phil played the Benko Gambit and got a good enough position for a draw but his opponent's captain rejected Phil's draw offer although she seemed to be happy with a draw. Later on after a tough fight and short of time, Phil had to succumb to defeat. This left Chris saving our bacon with a hard fought draw where he was slightly better throughout the game but his opponent defended well.

7th Round WON 3½-½ v. Scotland

It was great to see Scotland back as a team after a few years' absence - they were unfortunate when their 5th player Jack Giffen had to pull out at the last minute so their 4 players had to play all 9 rounds! England got the better of the Scots in the match with Richard on board 4 and Ilan board 3 using their experience to win against John Dearie and John Christie without too many problems. Chris on board 1 had an exciting tussle with Robert Burnett where it looked like Robert missed something with his strong queen and rook but Chris kept cool and mopped up with a pawn storm against a lone bishop.  On board 2 I prepared all morning against Ian Carmichael's 1.f4 or 1.b3 opening but instead he played 1.e4. Thanks Ian (!)...next time I'll just go for swim instead of preparing for you! Or perhaps I should join the Scotland team for 2014? ;-)  Ian had the initiative for much of the game and overlooked a strong looking backwards queen move which I had seen and feared. The game later fizzled out to an agreed draw.

8th Round WON 2½-1½  v. Azerbaijan

I was able to put my feet up for this match and so enjoyed spectating the games after visiting nearby Cascais. On board 3 Neil was in difficulty as black where his king was looking exposed but was relieved to get the half point in the bag. On board 4 Richard won a fine game smoothly and safely put another point in the bag so reducing the pressure on Chris and Phil on the top 2 boards. On board 1 Chris had a difficult game against the ICSC World Deaf-Blind champion Slepsov who slowly outplayed Chris just like he outplayed me in Hamburg last year in the Europa Cup. He had a grim defence a pawn down but it was even more grim when he lost a second pawn and so threw in the towel. This left Phil needing to win his game to win the match for England which he duly did slowly outplaying his opponent with precise moves a pawn up in the endgame.

9th Round LOST 1-3 v. Uzbekistan

I came back into the team fresh faced and I decided my preparation would just consist of a 10pm bedtime with zero chess preparation. This seemed to work well when on board 3 I won with the Dragon where the thematic exchange sacrifice on c3 along with complications on the queenside helped me back on terms in what looked like an interesting middlegame until my opponent suddenly blundered on the 29th move and resigned 4 moves later. Earlier Ilan on board 4 won a pawn out of the opening but at the cost of a lack of development and lost later after a flurry of moves which I missed out on seeing. Once again our boards 1 and 2 had another tough game against strong players where Phil's c3 Sicilian did not work out where he lost control of his d4 pawn and resigned soon afterwards. Chris had another difficult defence with black where he did well to get down to a rook and pawn endgame 2 pawns down with drawing chances available. Alas in time trouble he couldn't find the most accurate defence to pressure his opponent and resigned.

In the end we finished 11th= and 13th on tie-break which was pretty much par for the course given that we were the 12th seeds. It was clear once again that boards 1 and 2 is the toughest job for any of us - it didn't matter which one of us. It was no surprise that most of our points came from boards 3 and 4 given that was a much easier task. Hopefully all the players enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from it. I know I did.

Croatia won the event for the first time with Poland 2nd and Ukraine 3rd.

For a full set of results see;
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr34970.aspx?lan=1

There will be photos, clips and games appearing on the ICSC website in due course here;
http://web.tiscalinet.it/estoril2010/olympiad10.htm 

When it comes up, I recommend having a look at the games that I personally witnesssed and was the most memorable for me as a spectator - Dunlop-Rozhkov for a nice attacking game; IM Collutiis-Bokros for the queen sacrifice and Naurygaliev-Burnett for a tremendous fight by EDCA member Robert which went to the wire until he unfortunately lost on time. 

There was also the 1st ICSC World Blitz Championship held, which was won by IM Sergey Salov. For England, Phillip Gardner, Richard Dunn and Chris Kreuzer also played. For full results of this see;

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr35051.aspx?art=4&lan=1&m=-1&wi=1000

Now it's time for the thank you's, like an actor speaking after winning an Oscar..........

Thank you Barry David for the moral support and arranging the bargain accommodation. Thank you Peter Handy for arranging the pennants given to our opponents' captains - they were all much appreciated by our opponent teams. Thank you Phillip Gardner for spotting the bargain England tshirts. Thank you Ilan Dwek for taking on the additional responsibility of captain, which as I discovered last year at the Europa Cup as captain of LDCC, is not an easy job to do. Thank you to Neil and Chris for their huge chess library - probably more books than the chess library in Hastings (!) Also thanks to them for their use of their laptops with game databases to help us with preparing for specific opponents.

Finally a big thank you to all our players themselves - Chris, Neil, Phil, Richard and Ilan for giving up their time off work and committing themselves to play chess for England and acquitting themselves well on behalf of the EDCA. Fundraising was very difficult due to various reasons: Portugal was very expensive in many respects, the economic downturn had an impact and the weakness of the pound against the euro did not help either.

The EDCA would like to thank the Friends of Chess and London Deaf Chess Club for their continued financial support and we also appreciated the individual donations given by our supporters.

Alasdair MacLeod
 

May 2010

April 2010

Latest entries for EDCA Matthew Sunderland Rapidplay, Lutterworth, 17th April 2010;

Richard Dunn, Chris Kreuzer, Alasdair MacLeod, Bary David, Ilan Dwek, Jet Ajimal, Mick Simmons, David Whiston, Phillip Gardner, Gian Muccini

February 2010

November 2009

EDCA National Championship, Bristol

Result

Premier
1st Lewis Martin (Swindon) 4/5 Cedric White trophy + £60
2nd Richard Dunn (Hampstead) 3.5/5 SB: 10 Runner-up, £30
3rd Neil Dunlop (Bath) 3.5/5 SB: 9.5
4th Barry David (Finchley) 3/5 SB: 8
5th Phillip Gardner (Letchworth) 3/5 SB: 6
6th Michael Freund (Canons' Park) 2.5/5 SB: 9.5
7th Ilan Dwek (Cricklewood) 2.5/5 SB: 8
8th Chris Williamson (Birmingham) 2.5/5 SB: 5
9th Chris Kreuzer (Whitton) 2/5 SB: 8
10th Alasdair MacLeod (Worcester Pk) 2/5 SB: 4.5

Major
1st Jet Ajimal (Birmingham) 2.5/5 John Brown trophy + £25
2nd David Whiston (Sheffield) 2/5
3rd Mick Simmons (Sheffield) 1.5/5
4th Frank Wood (Liverpool) 0.5/5

Congrastulations to Lewis, at 18 the youngest EDCA Champion since Michael Freund in 1975.

Many thanks goes to Neil Dunlop for ensuring that things ran smoothly at the Bristol end and to Bristol Centre for the Deaf for allowing us use of their premises for the weekend. Great support was given by Ilan Dwek for being tournament controller where things ran smoothly without problems.

For the 2010 EDCA National Championship, the provisional venue is Birmingham.


October 2009

EDCA National Championship, Bristol 2009

Latest official entries (in alphabetical order);

Alasdair MacLeod
Barry David
Chris Kreuzer
Chris Williamson
David Whiston
Frank Wood
Ilan Dwek
Jet Ajimal
Lewis Martin
Michael Freund
Mick Simmons
Neil Dunlop
Phillip Gardner
Richard Dunn

July 2009

37th EDCA Congress and National Championship

Date: Saturday 17th - Sunday 18th October 2009
Venue: Bristol Centre for Deaf People

For further details email: englishdeafchess@aol.com



June 2009

London Deaf Chess Club once again took part in the ICSC Europa Cup held in Hamburg (Germany). LDCC, the 9th seeds, finished 8th out of 14 teams. The event once again won by Kiev (Ukraine) with Zagreb (Croatia) 2nd and Otweck (Poland) 3rd.

See here for the LDCC Captain's report;

http://www.londondeafchessclub.com/fdisplay.asp?fid=451&fnno=93


May 2009

London Deaf Chess Club beat Sheffield Deaf Chess Club to earn the right to represent the EDCA at the upcoming ICSC Europa Cup in Hamburg this June.

Result

Morning, 1st game
LDCC                                          SDCC
1. Chris Kreuzer (W) 1 - 0    Michael Freund (B)
2. Alasdair MacLeod 0 - 1    Peter Sharpe
3. Phillip Gardner      1 - 0   Stephen Gibson
4. Ilan Dwek             1 - 0    David Whiston

LDCC 3 - 1 SDCC

Afternoon, 2nd game
LDCC                                               SDCC
1. Chris Kreuzer (B)  0.5 - 0.5 Michael Freund (W)
2. Alasdair MacLeod   0 - 1    Peter Sharpe
3. Ilan Dwek               1 - 0    Stephen Gibson
4. Richard Dunn          1 - 0    Mick Simmons

LDCC 2.5 - 1.5 SDCC

Final result: LDCC 5.5 - 2.5 SDCC

EDCA William Onion Lightning Championship

Result, 8 rounds all-play-all
1st= Chris Kreuzer, Alasdair MacLeod 6.5/8
3rd Ilan Dwek 6/8
4th James Kelberman 4.5/8 *
5th Michael Freund 4.5/8
6th Barry David 4/8
7th David Whiston 2/8
8th Mick Simmons 1/8 **
9th Kevin Dingley 1/8

*James beat Michael in their individual game and so was placed ahead in 4th place.
** Mick beat Kevin in their individual game and so was placed ahead in 8th place.


February 2009

EDCA Club Championship

London Deaf Chess Club v. Sheffield Deaf Chess Club

Venue: Luton Deaf Club,
Alban Neve Centre,
49, Old Bedford Road,
LutonLU2 7NX.

Date: 21st February 2009

2 matches, starting at 10am and finishing at circa. 5pm.

Spectators welcome!

EDCA Tri-AGM and William Onion Lightning Championship

Venue: Luton Deaf Club
Date: Sunday

Tri-AGM to start at 10.30am

Lunch 12.30pm-1.30pm

William Onion Lightning tournament 1.30pm-3.30pm


October 2008

Chris Kreuzer made it 4 in a row in winning the Premier up in Edinburgh.
Richard Dunn was 2nd and Lewis Martin was 3rd.

Frank Wood won the Major which he last won back in 1989! John Christie was 2nd and John Dearie was the best performance out of the 4 deaf-blind players who took part in the Major.

See link below for full results and report on the event;
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/national/2008/edca_nov08.htm

England beat Scotland at chess; Scotland beat England at draughts

See full England v. Scotland results here;
http://www.scdad.co.uk/



August 2008

Lewis Martin wins World Deaf Junior bronze medal!

In the Men's event, England's Chris Kreuzer finished with 5/11, 17th out of 24 players. In the junior event, Lewis Martin came 3rd for the boys in a 11 round all-play-all.

For full results, games and photos see http://www.chess08.com/


June 2008

The October weekend date has been confirmed by SCDAD;

England vs. Scotland Chess and Draughts match;
Date: Friday 17th October 2008
Venue: Deaf Action, Edinburgh

Joint SCDAD and EDCA Congress
Date: Saturday 18th October - Sunday 19th October 2008
Venue: Deaf Action, Edinburgh

Provisionally the chess/draughts matches will take place on the Friday afternoon and evening with a meal in between. This will enable the England players to have the choice of travelling up on Thursday or on the Friday morning.

Further discussions are continuing between myself and my counterpart in Scotland, Ian Carmichael - this includes putting together the entry forms and accommodation details. So more details to come - but for now, put that October date in your diaries!


April 2008

The EDCA have accepted an invitation from SCDAD for another round of England v. Scotland chess and draughts matches. The joint SCDAD/EDCA Chess Congress will also be held in Edinburgh on an October weekend - date to be confirmed.

Next year for 2009 we will revert to our traditional cycle with our national Championship held in an Midlands venue, possibly Birmingham.


April 2008

Here is the EDCA group travelling to Switzerland this July;

World Individual (Men) - Chris Kreuzer (England); David Guy (Wales)
World Junior (Boys) - Lewis Martin
World Open - Barry David, Neil Dunlop, Richard Dunn

ICSC officials Phillip Gardner and Michael Freund will also be attending.
Lewis' father will also be present and EDCA treasurer Ilan Dwek will attend the ICSC Congress on our behalf. Tony Boyce will be with Ilan for the same
weekend.

For more details on the ICSC event in St.Gallen, Switzerland see;
www.chess08.com


November 2007

EDCA Qualifying tournament 16th-18th November, London

1st Chris Kreuzer 4.5/6
2nd= Phillip Gardner 2.5/6
2nd= Alasdair MacLeod 2.5/6
2nd= Barry David 2.5/6

Congratulations to Chris Kreuzer on earning the right to represent England in the ICSC World Individual Championship in St. Gallen, Switzerland in July 2008.


November 2007

35th EDCA Congress and National Championship, October 2007

Congratulations to Chris Kreuzer on winning a hat-trick of EDCA National Championships! In the Major, debutant Neil Dunlop stormed through the field with a perfect score.

For a full report and results see http://www.englishchess.org.uk/national/2007/edca_nov07.htm

September 2007

35th EDCA Congress and National Championship, October 2007

This will be held at Luton Deaf Club over the weekend of 27th-28th October 2007. Entry forms have been sent out - if you would like one, email englishdeafchess@aol.com


July 2007

The EDCA Qualifying tournament due to be held over the weekend of 13th-15th July has been postponed to 16th-18th November 2007. The participants are;

Christopher Kreuzer, Phillip Gardner, Alasdair MacLeod, Barry David

It will be a 6 round all-pla-all with both colours and the venue will be 38 Ebury Street, London SW1. Spectators welcome - for more info. about the event email englishdeafchess@aol.com


June 2007

ICSC Europa Cup, Primorsko (Bulgaria), 30th May-4th June 2007

London Deaf Chess Club once again represented the EDCA and finished a creditable 9th out of 16 teams after being seeded 11th. The winners for the 3rd successive time was Kiev (Ukraine), 2nd Zagreb (Croatia), 3rd Hamburg (Germany).

The LDCC team finished on 14.5/28 points, just above 50%. The individual performances were as follows;

1. Chris Kreuzer 3.5/6
2. Alasdair MacLeod 3.5/7
3. Richard Dunn 2.5/6
4. Barry David 1.5/3
5. Ilan Dwek 3.5/6

The next Europa Cup will be held in Hamburg (Germany) in 2009.


June 2007

EDCA Qualifying tournament

This will be held over the weekend of 13th-15th July 2007 and will be a 4 player double round all-play-all. The 4 players are;

Phillip Gardner
Chris Kreuzer
Alasdair MacLeod
Barry David

The winner will represent England at the ICSC World Individual Championship to be held in St.Gallen (Switzerland) from 19th July-2nd August 2008.

The EDCA have offered a place in the 2nd ICSC World Junior Championship at the same venue as themain event to Lewis Martin, 15.


June 2007

35th EDCA Congress and National Championship, October 2007

This will be held at Luton Deaf Club over the weekend of 27th-28th October 2007. So keep that weekend free!


January 2007

EDCA Club Championship
(28th January 2007, Sheffield)

Sheffield Deaf CC - London Deaf CC

Match 1 result:

1. (W) Peter Sharpe ½-½ Alasdair Macleod
2. (B) Steve Gibson 0-1 Christopher Kreuzer
3. (W) David Whiston 0-1 Ilan Dwek
4. (B) Mick Simmons 0-1 Barry David

SDCC ½-3½ LDCC

Match 2 result:

1. (B) Peter Sharpe 0-1 Christopher Kreuzer
2. (W) Steve Gibson 0-1 Ilan Dwek
3. (B) David Whiston 0-1 Barry David
4. (W) Mick Simmons ½-½ Michael Freund

SDCC ½-3½ LDCC

Final result: SDCC 1 - 7 LDCC

Congratulations to LDCC in earning the right to represent England in the Europa Cup for Deaf Chess Clubs to be held in Bulgaria, 30th May - 4th June 2007.

The EDCA are grateful to Sheffield Deaf Sport and Social Club for letting us have the use of their premises for the day.


November 2006

34th EDCA Congress & National Championship,
Sheffield, 28th-29th October 2006

Chris Kreuzer successfully defended his EDCA title in Sheffield with an unbeaten score of 4/5. Second place was very close with three players tied on 3.5 points but after applying the tie-break system, as Alasdair MacLeod beat both Robert Burnett and Lewis Martin, he was awarded 2nd place. Robert Burnett was 3rd with Lewis Martin 4th as Burnett had a better Sonneborg-Berger score.
The EDCA National Championship title went right to the wire with everything depending on the very last game to finish in the 5th round. Kreuzer needed at least a draw while MacLeod needed to win to reclaim the title he won in 2004. Both players certainly took their time, with the opening moves made carefully. MacLeod missed an opportunity to gain a clear advantage in the middle game, instead going for a variation where he was a pawn up - but in a rook and pawn endgame. Krezuer hung on in severe time trouble, making the last 15 plus moves to time control in less than 2 minutes. He even fought back in the endgame, gaining the initiative despite being a pawn down. Krezuer forced a repetition of moves with MacLeod's turn to be in time trouble in the rapidplay finish, so giving him the EDCA National Championship for the second time.
In the Major tournament, Gary Hunter of Warrington found himself in hot streak of form to win the Major Section, his first EDCA trophy. John Christie from Scotland performed very consistently to win second place. Top seed David Whiston couldn't find top form in finishing third.
The EDCA would like to thank Sheffield Deaf Sports and Social Club for letting us have the use of their premises for the whole weekend.

Premier (5 rounds)
1st Chris Kreuzer (Whitton) ECF 148 4/5 £60 + Cedric White trophy
2nd Alasdair MacLeod (Worcester Park) ECF 141 3½/5 £30
3rd Robert Burnett (Dundee) ECF 138 3½/5
4th Lewis Martin (Swindon) ECF 146 3½/5
5th Peter Sharpe (Sheffield) YCA 126 2½/5
6th James Kelberman (Purley) ECF 100 2½/5
7th Ian Carmichael (Falkirk) 125E 2½/5
8th Michael Freund (Stanmore) ECF 119 2½/5
9th Albert Kelberman (Grays) 110E 2/5
10th Barry David (Finchley) ECF 126 2/5
11th Chris Williamson (Birmingham) ECF 100 1½/5
12th Mick Simmons (Sheffield) ECF 101 0/5

Major (5 rounds)
1st Gary Hunter (Warrington) 4½/5 £40 + John Brown trophy
2nd John Christie (Kirkcaldy) 3½/5 £20
3rd David Whiston (Sheffield) ECF 103 3/5
4th Mark Towler (Aberdeen) 3/5 £25 Best Minor performance
5th Andrew McLean (Stirling) 3/5
6th John Dearie (Riddrie) 2½/5
7th John Brown (Borough Green) 2½/5
8th Graham Duff (Dundee) 1½/5
9th Des Masterson (Islington) 1/5
10th Tom Selby (Stepney) ½/5

England v Scotland chess/draughts matches, Sheffield 27th October 2006

Chess
Morning: England 'A' 4 - 0 Scotland 'A'
England 'B' 3 - 1 Scotland 'B'
Afternoon: England 'A' 2½-1½ Scotland 'A'
England 'B' 4 - 0 Scotland 'B'

Total: England 13½ - 2½ Scotland

The EDCA retained the WR Leitch trophy won in Glasgow 2002.

Draughts: England 16 - 16 Scotland



September 2006

World Deaf Team Championship, Hungary 8th-17th September

England finished 7th, an excellent performance after being 10th seeds. The highlight was the 1st round victory against the 2nd seeds, Ukraine. See "Games" for the game score of Chris Kreuzer's miniature against an ELO rated 2291 player.

The winners were Russia, 2nd Germany and 3rd Hungary.

See http://msssz.hu/chess/results.html for full results, games and photos.

The English Deaf Chess Association would like to thank the Friends of Chess, London Deaf Chess Club, Sheffield Deaf Chess Club and the many individual donors whose loyal support made this valuable experience possible.


August 2006

England vs. Scotland Chess and Draughts matches
27th October 2006, Sheffield

34th EDCA Congress and National Championship
28th-29th October 2006
Sheffield

For an entry form email: englishdeafchess@aol.com

June 2006

A profile of Lewis Martin was shown on BBC's See Hear on 10th June.
May 2006

BBC's See Hear - Keep an eye out for an upcoming report on EDCA member Lewis Martin.

Watch this space!

March 2006

William Onion Lightning Championship, Luton, 23rd March 2006

Result (8 rounds, all-play-all)
1st Alasdair MacLeod 8/8
2nd Phillip Gardner 6/8
3rd= Michael Freund 5/8
3rd= Barry David 5/8
3rd= James Kelberman 5/8
6th Chris Kreuzer 4/8
7th= David Whiston 1.5/8
7th=Gian Muccini 1.5/8
9th Mick Simmons 0/8

It was Alasdair MacLeod's 3rd EDCA Lightning title.

January 2006

Lewis Martin has pulled out of the England team due to school committments. A great shame as he was available to play on the original date of July 2006 in Italy but that changed to September 2006 in Hungary. Lewis is replaced with Ilan Dwek, the 1st reserve.

The revised England team is as follows;

Phillip Gardner (Letchworth)
Chris Kreuzer (Whitton)
Richard Dunn (Hampstead)
Alasdair MacLeod (Worcester Park)
Ilan Dwek (Hendon)

October 2005

33rd EDCA Congress and Annual National Championship, Birmingham

Chris Kreuzer wins first EDCA National Championship

Premier (5 rounds)
1st Christopher Kreuzer (Twickenham) 4½/5
2nd Phillip Gardner (Letchworth) 3½/5
3rd Robert Burnett (Dundee) 3½/5
4th Alasdair MacLeod (Worcester Park) 3/5
5th Lewis Martin (Swindon) 3/5
6th David Guy (Llanelli) 2½/5
7th Barry David (Finchley) 2/5
8th James Kelberman (Kenley) 2/5
9th Chris Williamson (Birmingham) 1/5
10th David Whiston (Sheffield) 0/5

Major
1st Mick Simmons (Sheffield) 4/5
2nd Rod Owen (Wolverhampton) 3/5
3rd Gary Hunter (Warrington) 3/5
4th John Wassell (Birmingham) 2½/5
5th John Brown (Borough Green) 1½/5
6th Jet Ajimal (Birmingham) 1/5

Tournament Controller: Ilan Dwek (Hendon)

April 2005

EDCA Qualifying tournament, 22nd-24th April 2005, London
5 round all-play-all
1st Richard Dunn (Hampstead) 3.5/5
2nd Lewis Martin (Swindon) 3/5
3rd Phillip Gardner (Letchworth) 3/5
4th Chris Kreuzer (Twickenham) 2.5/5
5th Ilan Dwek (Cricklewood) 1.5/5
6th Barry David (Finchley) 1.5/5

Congratulations to Richard Dunn, Lewis Martin, Phillip Gardner and Chris Kreuzer in joining Alasdair MacLeod (Current EDCA Champion) in earning to right to represent England in the World Team Championship for the Deaf to be held in Italy next year.
Lewis Martin, 13, proved that his 4th place in the EDCA National Championship last October in Romford was no fluke in coming 2nd in the narrowest of tie-break margins ahead of 7 times EDCA Champion Phillip Gardner.

33rd EDCA Congress
The EDCA Executive are proud to announce the date and venue of the 33rd EDCA Congress.

Venue: Birmingham Deaf Sports and Social Club
Date: 29th-30th October 2005

Entry forms and further details will be out later in the summer. In the meantime, put the date in your diary!

April 2005

EDCA Qualifying tournament
Venue: 38 Ebury Street, London, SW1
Date: 22nd April-24th April 2005
Participants;
Phillip Gardner, Chris Kreuzer, Richard Dunn, Ilan Dwek, Barry David, Lewis Martin.
5-round all-play-all system.
The top 4 players will earn the right to join the reigning EDCA Champion Alasdair MacLeod in the 5 man team for the World Team Championship to be held in Bolzano, Italy, July 2006.

November 2004

EDCA Congress, Romford, 30th-31st October 2004
Alasdair MacLeod new EDCA Champion
Alasdair MacLeod has become the first "new face" to be English Deaf Chess Champion for 10 years!

Premier (10 players)
1st Alasdair MacLeod (London) 4/5
2nd Phillip Gardner (Letchworth) 3.5/5
3rd Chris Kreuzer (Teddington) 3.5/5
4th Lewis Martin (Swindon) 3.5/5

Alasdair MacLeod won £60 & the Cedric White trophy. Phillip Gardner won £30.

Major (7 players)
1st Chris Williamson (Birmingham) 5/6
2nd John Brown (Kent) 5/6

Chris Williamson won £40, the John Brown trophy. John Brown won £20.

Chess book prizes were given out as well.

The key moment in the Premier was the 4th round where Alasdair MacLeod finally beat 7 times EDCA Champion Phillip Gardner for the first time ever in 8 years! In the final round, Lewis needed to beat Alasdair to become champion while Alasdair needed only at least a draw. After winning a pawn and feeling comfortable, Alasdair offered a draw which Lewis had little option but to accept. Phillip Gardner won 2nd place on tie-break from Chris Kreuzer and Lewis Martin.
The most eye-catching performance was from the deaf chess prodigy Lewis Martin, 13, and a pupil at MaryHareGrammar School, who was making his debut in the Premier. The occasion unfazed him where managed to defeat 2 members of the England Deaf Team who played in the last World Deaf Team Championship in Lithuania back in 2002. He only lost 1 game - to the no.1 seed, Phillip Gardner.
Special mention also has to be made of David Whiston who won the Major last year and so was promoted to the Premier this year. He produced some giant-killing wins against the no. 3 seed and no.7 seed. He finished with a very creditable 50 % score despite being the bottom seed.
The Major section saw plenty of action due to the change to an all-play-all format. The experienced Chris Williamson won the John Brown trophy where the key moment was his win against Lou Nardi in the penultimate round. John Brown himself made a comeback to EDCA Congress chess after more than 15 years to claim 2nd place!
The EDCA would like to thank Romford Deaf Club for being excellent hosts and letting us have use of their premises. Special thanks goes to James Kelberman for setting up the arrangements with Romford over the past few months and for making sure the hungry chess players were fed properly! The bonus of the weekend was holding Albert Kelberman's birthday celebrations on the Saturday evening which was enjoyed by all.
Thanks also goes to Ilan Dwek for his valuable assistance in organising the tournament and ensuring things went smoothly with the equipment and pairings. Additional thanks are due to the unexpected volunteers who helped out with the setting up of equipment and catering.
All in all you can see it was a fantastic team effort!
Last but not least - many thanks to all the participants of this Congress in helping this be a weekend to remember!

September 2004

EDCA Club Championship, London, 4th September 2004

Match 1
London Deaf                       3 - 1         Sheffield Deaf
1. Chris Kreuzer (w)            1 - 0           Peter Sharpe (b)
2. Richard Dunn (b)            1 - 0           Ian Carmichael (w)
3. Alasdair MacLeod (w) 0.5 - 0.5         Stephen Gibson (b)
4. Ilan Dwek (b)             0.5 - 0.5          David Whiston (w)

Match 2
London Deaf                      4 - 0           Sheffield Deaf
1. Richard Dunn (b)            1 - 0            Peter Sharpe (w)
2. Alasdair MacLeod (w)    1 - 0            Ian Carmichael (b)
3. Ilan Dwek (b)                1 - 0             Stephen Gibson (w)
4. Barry David (w)             1 - 0             Mick Simmons (b)

Result: LDCC 7 - 1 SDCC

Congratulations to London Deaf Chess Club for earning the right to represent the EDCA in the Europa Cup for Deaf Chess Clubs to be held in Slovakia, June 2005.

William Onion EDCA Lightning tournament, London, 5th September 2004

1st Alasdair MacLeod 7/9 (winner on tie-break)
2nd Richard Dunn 7/9
3rd Michael Freund 6/9

Played in a all-play-all format with 10 players, Alasdair MacLeod won his 2nd EDCA Lightning title.

August 2004

32nd EDCA Congress
When: 30th-31st October 2004
Where: Romford Deaf Club

For more info. please contact: info@englishdeafchess.org.uk

EDCA Club Championship
Date: 11am, Saturday 4th September 2004
Venue: 38 Ebury Street, London, SW1
EDCA AGM
Date: 10.30am-12.30pm, Sunday 5th September 2004
Venue: 38 Ebury Street, London, SW1
EDCA William Onion Lightning tournament
When: 1.30pm-4.30pm, Sunday 5th September 2004
Where: 38 Ebury Street, London, SW1

August 2004

World Individual Championship for the Deaf, World Junior Championship for the Deaf, World Open, (Malente (Nr. Hamburg), Germany)

Results
The England representative, Phillip Gardner put in a very solid performance in coming 13th= out of 28 participants with 5.5/11 but ended 18th on tie-break.
Veselin Georgiev (Bulgaria) successfully defended his title with 9/11 ahead of Diulio Collutiis (Italy) also 9/11 but Georgiev beat him in their individual game. Sergei Salov (Russia) was 3rd. EDCA members David Guy (Wales) was 19th and Ian Carmichael (Scotland) was 27th.
In the World Open EDCA members Richard Dunn was 4th out of 31 participants with Chris Kreuzer 9th and Robert Burnett (Scotland) 17th.

January 2004

World Individual Championship for the Deaf, World Junior Championship for the Deaf, World Open, (Malente (Nr. Hamburg), Germany)
The above prestigious event will be held from July 23rd to August 5th 2004.
If you are interested in taking part in the World Open or attending as a visitor, then send an email to; info@englishdeafchess.org.uk

November 2003

EDCA Congress, Sheffield, 8th-9th November 2003

Barry David successfully defends EDCA title.

Many congratulations to Barry David on successfully defending his EDCA title! It is his 3rd title after his successes in 1983 (!) and 2002.

Premier
1st Barry David (Finchley) 4/5
2nd Peter Sharpe (Sheffield) 4/5
3rd Ilan Dwek (Cricklewood) 3.5/5

Major
1st David Whiston (Sheffield) 3/5
2nd Mick Simmons (Sheffield) 3/5

The 31st EDCA Congress was successful with 17 entries which could have become well over 20 if several notable players had been able to take part!
The EDCA would like to thank Sheffield Deaf Club for being excellent hosts and look forward to returning in 2006!
I would also especially like to thank Mick Simmons, David Whiston and Peter Sharpe for ensuring that things were organised at the Sheffield end. Last but not least, I would like to thank Ilan Dwek and James Kelberman for their assistance in controlling the tournament.
All in all you can see it was a fantastic team effort!

November 2003

The 31st EDCA Congress will be taking place in Sheffield over the weekend of 8th-9th November 2003.
There will be prizes and trophies on offer and evening entertainment on the Saturday evening in addition to the bar facilities.
Everyone of all playing strengths are welcome to play and if you want further details then please contact us at; info@englishdeafchess.org.uk

September 2003

David Guy vs. Phillip Gardner II

This re-match was held over the weekend of 13th-14th September 2003 having been postponed from May 2003. It was won by Phillip Gardner after the first 2 slowplay games were drawn but Phillip won both of the rapidplay games
Many congratulations to Phil who earns the right to represent the EDCA at the World Individual Deaf Chess Championship in Hamburg, July 2004.

July 2003

EDCA vs. British Correspondence Chess Association match

We urgently need volunteers to represent the EDCA in this challenge correspondence chess match between the EDCA and the BCCA. We are hoping to raise a 10 man team. For further details contact us at; info@englishdeafchess.org.uk

February 2003

The EDCA AGM took place in Luton on the 8 th February 2003. It marked the end of an era with both our Secretary, Phillip Gardner and Treasurer, Michael Freund stood down with a combined service of over 40 years between them. They both now join the ICSC (International Committee for Silent Chess) in their respective positions. The EDCA wishes them both the best of luck!
The new EDCA Secretary is Alasdair MacLeod and the new EDCA Treasurer is Ilan Dwek.
James Kelberman continues as EDCA Chairman and Mick Simmons comes on board as EDCA Executive Officer.

November 2nd-3rd 2002

EDCA Club Championship, Wakefield, Yorkshire

4 teams, London 'A' & 'B', South Yorkshire and Birmingham will take part in this tournament where the winners will qualify to represent England in the Europa Cup, due to be held in Lvov, Ukraine in Easter 2003

July 19th-August 2nd 2002

World Team Championship for the Deaf, Vilnius, Lithuania.

The EDCA sent a team to represent England Deaf to take part with other 12 countries. The England squad consisted of ;
Phillip Gardner (Captain), Chris Kreuzer, Alasdair MacLeod, Ilan Dwek and Michael Freund.
The runaway winners were the favourites, Russia with Ukraine 2nd and Kazakhstan 3rd. The England team, seeded 10th, eventually finished 9th. A full report with England games scores and photos will be distributed soon. Want one? Contact us! info@englishdeafchess.org.uk