Amsters Visit to Vienna 2014
Visit date: Thursday, 20th - Monday, 24th February 2014
The club travelled to Vienna to play two clubs. There were seven players in the team:
Name | ECF | ELO | |
---|---|---|---|
Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell | 177 | 2016 | |
Ian Gooding | 175 | 2000 | |
Chris Majer | 173 | 1984 | |
Ian Cross | 155 | 1840 | |
James Palmer | 150 | 1800 | |
Ray Claret | 119 | 1552 | |
Peter Baker | 86 | 1288 |
# ELO Conversion: ECF*8 + 600
The team flew from Gatwick to Vienna on Friday afternoon and arrived in the city around 8 pm local time. This allowed sufficient time to check in at the hotel Zipser in the city centre before meeting up to have dinner in a restaurant nearby.
Match v Schachklub Favoriten (Saturday, 22nd February)
The following morning the team travelled to play our first match against Schachklub Favoriten at the Cafe-Restaurant "Anningerblick". This meant a fair journey by public transport, travelling on the U-Bahn to Reumannplatz (Line 1), then taking Tram line 67 to "Altes Landgut", followed by a 10 min. walk to the venue. The match was played in the afternoon and was closely contested. The result was an honourable draw by 3½ - 3½. The match was followed by drinks in the café before the team returned to the hotel.
Match v Schachklub Heitzing (Sunday, 23rd February)
On Sunday morning the team travelled to play the second match against the Hietzing/Fischer Wien club at the Restaurant Wienerwald (244, Schonbrunner Strasse). The venue was located close to the Schonbrun Palace allowing for a quick visit to the palace garden before the match. Once again this meant taking the U-Bahn from the city centre, this time to Meidling Hauptstrasse (Line U4). The match was played in the afternoon and again was closely contested. The result was a 4-3 win to our hosts.
Sightseeing
On Monday 24th the team had free time for site seeing in the city before having to travel to Vienna airport to catch the 8-45 pm flight to Gatwick
Visit to Malta 2016
There were eight players in the our touring team this year. We played two Matches against different teams fielded by the Malta Chess Federation.
Our base camp was the Hotel Plaza Regency in Sliema. The accommodation was good and the hotel staff were extremely friendly and helpful.
Sat. 20th Feb - Match 1 (Qormi)
The first match on Saturday 20th February was played at the Malta Federation’s venue which was a school in Qormi. The match was a close contest, with St Albans narrowly edging the match by 4½ - 3½.
Bd | Col | MALTA | Result | St Albans | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | W | Patrick Zerafa | 1 - 0 | Ian Gooding | |
2 | B | Mario Psaila | 0 - 1 | Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell | |
3 | W | Joseph Baldacchino | ½ - ½ | Chris Majer | |
4 | B | Matthew Saliba | 0 - 1 | Ian Cross | |
5 | W | Ian Refalo | ½ - ½ | James Palmer | |
6 | B | Samuel Herd | ½ - ½ | Ray Claret | |
7 | W | Matthew Conti | 1 - 0 | Terry Douse | |
8 | B | Christian Conti | 0 - 1 | Peter Baker | |
3½ – 4½ |
Sun. 21st Feb – Match 2 (Sliema)
The second match on Sunday 21st February was played at the team’s hotel in Sliema. The match was another close contest, with the match finishing level at 4 - 4.
Bd | Col | MALTA | Result | St Albans | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | B | Duncan Vella | 0 - 1 | Ian Gooding | |
2 | W | Jake Darmanin | 0 - 1 | Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell | |
3 | B | John Richards | 1 - 0 | Chris Majer | |
4 | W | Cosmin Alexa | 1 - 0 | Ian Cross | |
5 | B | Ron Sammut | 1 - 0 | James Palmer | |
6 | W | Marcel Camilleri | ½ - ½ | Ray Claret | |
7 | B | Matthias Gatt | 0 - 1 | Terry Douse | |
8 | B | David Gauci | ½ - ½ | Peter Baker | |
4 - 4 |
Visit to Delft 2018
Visit date: Friday, 2nd March - Sunday, 4th March 2018
Five players took part in the trip to The Netherlands this year. We were “a man-down” because Paul’s evening flight to Amsterdam had been cancelled due to adverse weather. The team (in board order) was:
1. | Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell | ECF 189 | ELO 2112 | |
2. | Ian Gooding | ECF 170 | ELO 1960 | |
3. | Ian Cross | ECF 145 | ELO 1760 | |
4. | Ray Claret | ECF 115 | ELO 1520 | |
5. | Peter Baker | ECF 90 | ELO 1320 |
Delft Old Town
Base camp for this year’s trip was the Best Western Museum Hotel, Delft. It was located in Oude Delft Street, in the old town, near two of the town’s grandest Protestant churches. The “New Church” contains the crypt of the “House of Orange” Royal Family. The “Old Church” contained the tombs of former nobles and Royalty. Local wealthy citizens paid to be buried in the churches alongside famous individuals. The smell of rotting corpses became overwhelming and the practice ceased in the 17th century. Those rich enough to afford this custom were dubbed “the stinking rich”.
The townfolk often took advantage of the cold weather to skate on the frozen canals in the town. The ice was surprisingly thick, in excess of 5 inches in places. Delft pottery is renowned for its distinctive blue colour and the local museums and shops exhibit some fine examples. The main town square is a fine example of late medieval architecture. It is well preserved and features an ornately decorated Town Hall, as well as distinctive houses and shops. Many houses in the old Town were individually named, in accordance with local tradition.
Match v Delft (Friday evening, 2nd March)
Our first opponents were the DSC club in Delft. Their venue was about 15 minutes’ walk from the hotel. Our hosts had kindly prepared a meal of lamb stew for the players which was a welcome start to the evening. It was decided to play one long-play game. St Albans were White on odd numbered boards. The match was keenly contested and ended in a draw 2½ - 2½.
Match v De Uil (Saturday afternoon, 3rd March)
Our second opponents were our friends at the De Uil club in Hillegom. This meant a train journey from Delft to Leiden central station, where we changed trains for the line to Hillegom. It was decided to play one long-play game. St Albans were White on odd numbered boards again. Our hosts proved too strong for us and they won 3½ - 1½. After the match, players met for dinner at “La Rueda”, an Argentinean steak house.
Delft Guided Tour (Sunday morning, 4th March)
On Sunday, our DSC host, Rene Pouts, personally gave the team a guided tour of Delft Old Town. Rene’s knowledge of Delft provided a fascinating insight into the history and culture of the town. The walking tour lasted around 90 minutes. It was followed by lunch in a local restaurant which offered traditional Dutch food and Belgium beer.
Double Cross Match vs Harrow 2018
St Albans 23.5 vs 16.5 Harrow
Board | Name | Grade | R1 | R2 | vs | R1 | R2 | Name | Grade |
1 | Roberson, Peter T | 234 | 1 | 1 | vs | 0 | 0 | Patryk Stanisz | 204 |
2 | Fraser-Mitchell, Jeremy N | 189 | 0 | 1 | vs | 1 | 0 | Steven Coles | 191 |
3 | Willmott, Neil D | 182 | 0 | 0 | vs | 1 | 1 | Miroslaw Walkusz | 186 |
4 | Ellis, Aidan B | 177 | 0.5 | 1 | vs | 0.5 | 0 | Nevil Chan | 179 |
5 | Gooding, Ian | 170 | 1 | 0 | vs | 0 | 1 | Jagdeep Dhemrait | 162 |
6 | Bower, David E | 161 | 0 | 1 | vs | 1 | 0 | Soren Jensen | 160 |
7 | Lawrence, Paul | 154 | 0.5 | 1 | vs | 0.5 | 0 | Greg Breed | 154 |
8 | Cross, Ian K | 145 | 0 | 1 | vs | 1 | 0 | Steve Dale | 154 |
9 | Laskier, Paul | 133 | 0 | 0.5 | vs | 1 | 0.5 | Bill Phillips | 153 |
10 | Hambly, David | 152 | 1 | 0.5 | vs | 0 | 0.5 | Mary Deans | 142 |
11 | Narbeth, Simon | 128 | 0 | 0 | vs | 1 | 1 | Rishi Patel | 138 |
12 | Whitworth, Michael H | 122 | 1 | 1 | vs | 0 | 0 | Surjit Dhemrait | 120 |
13 | Douse, Terry | 113 | 1 | 0.5 | vs | 0 | 0.5 | William Kwoh | 113 |
14 | Claret, Ray R | 115 | 1 | 1 | vs | 0 | 0 | David Wray | 112 |
15 | Pines, Chris | 111 | 1 | 0 | vs | 0 | 1 | Faye Ainscow | 109 |
16 | McMahon, Austin | 104 | 1 | 1 | vs | 0 | 0 | Simon Ogah | 96 |
17 | Copner, John | 104 | 0 | 1 | vs | 1 | 0 | Manav Dhemrait | 89 |
18 | Baker, Peter C | 86 | 0.5 | 0 | vs | 0.5 | 1 | Manoharan Dilukshan | 88 |
19 | Feldman, Keith | 98 | 1 | 1 | vs | 0 | 0 | David Walker | 81 |
20 | Jones, Tim | 76 | 0 | 0.5 | vs | 1 | 0.5 | Seamus Cody | 42 |
Round 1 | 10.5 | vs | 9.5 | ||||||
Round 2 | 13 | vs | 7 | ||||||
Annual General Meeting
Minutes of St Albans Chess Club AGM's since 2008 are available for download through the following links: