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Nomads News Nomads Night Out After an open top bus victory parade through the
streets
Week 23 The final match of the season for the club was the B Team away at Ecclesall B. Whether we won or lost we were going to finish second behind SASCA A, so we drew 3-3, but that didn't make any difference either. Paul C Third at the Nottingham Open Paul C came third equal at the Nottingham Open with 3½/5 behind GM Mark Hebden 4½ and IM Andrew Greet 4
Paul's 3½ included a draw against IM Andrew Greet. Peter Carden was mercilessly thrown into the Major after a good result at Doncaster and lived to tell the tale with 1½/5. Nomads Night Out - Friday 19th May in 1967 the Lisbon Lions famously won every competition they entered. This year The Neepsend Knights/Gardeners Guerrillas/Gardeners Gorillas almost did the same. Nomads A win Division 1 and the Davy Trophy To celebrate a fairly amazing season the club are going bowling at Centertainment followed by a curry at a venue to be confirmed. If you know a decent curry house let us know in the forum. Week 21 - A Team Champions Wednesday at The Gardeners the A Team beat Worksop 5½-2½ to win Division 1 and the Davy Trophy. The crowning achievement of a great season for the club. Congratulations to the A Team. Meanwhile in a forgotten corner of The Gardeners the C Team, posing as the B Team, beat Clay Cross 5½-½. Nomads Forum Resurrected We've reinstated the Bulletin Board as a place to discuss, amongst other things, a Calendar of Events for the Summer and should the C Team take promotion? Follow the forum link on the left or click here to contribute. Forthcoming Events Rotherham Rapidplay, Easter Monday 17th
April Week 20 - A Team beat Chesterfield A Monday the A Team beat the mighty Chesterfield A 5-3. This means they only have to draw their last match of the season at home to bottom of the league Worksop next Wednesday to be sure of the Championship. What could be easier? It's like chasing 129 to win a Test Match. Wednesday the B Team travelled to Aughton and won 4½-1½. Orangutan Quiz Answers Orangutan 1
you probably spotted this one Week 19 - The C Team's Perfect Season Wednesday at The Gardeners the A Team beat close rivals Ecclesall A 5½-2½ (!) to keep their Championship bid on track. Without taking anything for granted this means that if the A Team win against Chesterfield A on Monday then they are favourites to win the League. Meanwhile away at Aughton B it looked like the C Team might come unstuck in their last game of the season but, thanks to what was either a really good move or a really bad move, Graham won a lost game and with it we won a drawn match 4-2 for a perfect 16 0 0 season. Week 18 Tuesday Nomads B travelled to Clay Cross in what was almost a repeat of last week's Richardson Plate Final apart from this time we won by the slighter wider margin of 4½-1½. This score included a win on chess, rather than a loss on time, by Kev whose bemused opponent, after being such a good position, must still be wondering how he lost this game. Wednesday the A Team and C Team squeezed into The Gardeners. With other top teams dropping points (or pints, as I type every time, and then have to change it) the A Team can now win the League if they win all their games. This plan swung into action with a 5½-2½ win over Rotherham Juniors. Meanwhile, in the back room the C Team made it 15 wins out of 15 for the season by somehow beating Clay Cross 5-1 after Ian and Graham both rescued completely lost games. Nomads win Cup and Plate Tuesday Nomads II travelled to Clay Cross for the Richardson Plate Final and won a very tight match against a strong team 3½-2½ for the club's second trophy of the season. Special mention to Mursal who, with everyone watching, kept his cool to win the deciding game on Board 2. Thursday Nomads I beat Barnby Dun Bishops in the Richardson Cup Final 4½-1½ to make it a three trophies out of three! We have a Cup Final Commemorative Three Game Special Edition this week featuring Paul C, Chris, and Mohammad pretending that blundering a pawn was really a gambit leading to a spectacular combination.
Week 17 Wednesday at The Gardeners. A top of the table four pointer with SASCA A for the B Team ended in a 2-4 loss. Thursday, the A Team kept everyone on their toes by winning 4½-3½ at Phoenix. The Division 1 title is still on the cards. On the same night the C Team came from 0-2 down to somehow win a nailbiter 3½-2½ at Wombwell. 14 wins out of 14. You can see Graham winding up the tension to breaking point here, and Paul B playing his part here. Week 16 - C Team Champions of Division 3 Wednesday at The Gardeners. The C Team played Rotherham in a match that, according to Kev's deductions, we had to win to secure the Division 3 Championship. Fortunately we were at home so that part of the evening was highly likely to go according to plan. This time the problems only began when we actually started playing games. For most of the evening, apart from new recruit Peter, who cruised to a win here, we were in some trouble but, with a fair amount of luck (again), it has to be said, we eventually won 4-2. 13 wins out of 13. We are the Champions. Friday(!) the B Team travelled in the snow to Rotherham Juniors and won 4-2. To keep them in the picture at the top of Division 2. Week 15 Wednesday the A Team, who are back in with a chance of winning the league after Chesterfield beat Ecclesall, won 7-1 away at Barnby Dun. Meanwhile at The Gardeners, after an evening of macho chess, the B Team, also in with a chance of winning their Division, eventually lost 2½-3½ to University A. Friday the C Team, who barring disaster should win their Division, disastrously turned up at the wrong venue in town but, after more stunt driving from Kev, made it to the right venue out of town with seconds to spare and beat Sheffield Deaf 5-1. 12 wins out of 12. Crockery Semi Finals Wednesday Nomads I were away at Worksop in the Richardson Cup semi- final and won 4-2. Nomads II were in the Plate semi-final against SASCA II and won 5½-½. The ½ was Phil's who managed to scrape this draw against an opponent graded 39 thereby violating the chess law that says you should always beat players whose grade is less than your age. Week 14 Wednesday at The Gardeners. The A Team would have been hoping to return to winning ways against Chesterfield A. Wins on the top three boards would usually mean the club's strength in depth would see us through, but losses on the bottom three boards meant a final score of 4-4. You can see most of Prasun's game* here. Chris has also annotated a nice win (incidentally featuring the collector's item of Nh6 and Na6) here. With only one point out of a possible six since Christmas it's a season of two halves for the A Team. It's still a season of one half for the C Team. We beat second placed Ecclesall C 4½-1½ to make it 11 wins out of 11. Bill has obviously been keeping a close eye on Veselin Topalov's reassessment of the value of the pieces (scroll half way down for Topalov's amazing win over Aronian). Bill sacced the exchange and posed too many problems for White. You can see the conclusion of the game here - use Preferences/Flip Board to see the game from Bill's point of view. *Judging from his scoresheet Prasun is obviously doing very well in the Doctor's Illegible Handwriting module of his medical degree Week 13 Wednesday the A Team were away at Ecclesall A, recently strengthened further by an influx of overseas talent. Jeremy (or was it Stuart?) won a bit of a stormer against an opponent graded over 30 points higher but the rest of the team struggled, and the final score was 2-6. An ashen faced Paul Cumbers said, "The lads can only benefit from the international experience."* Meanwhile, away at Worksop B, the C Team faced the strongest challenge yet to their 100% record. A quick loss by Robert and a quick win by Paul B made it 1-1 but the other four boards were fairly even. The match was eventually decided when Oliver won on time on Board 6 to secure a 3½-2½ win. *This quote is a complete fabrication. Week 12 A quiet week for the club with only one match. The B Team were at home to Woodseats B. In two of the games - Graham's and Phil's(?) - no pawns were exchanged at all - this is chess porridge - and none of the players fancied grinding out a win in 150 moves so these were drawn. Ken and Mursal won, while Stuart and Mohammad drew for a 4-2 win in the match. Stuart's report here. Nomads at the York Congress The weekend of the 6th-8th January (this is news?) Eric, Ian, and Kev set off at some preposterously early hour on Saturday for the York Congress. Eric won some prize money in his section, Kev scored more than 0, and the English Chess Federation report somehow omitted this win by Ian from its selection of games. (Remember F11 for Full Screen view and you can follow variations by clicking on asterisked moves.) Week 11 A challenging week for the Nomads. Monday an under strength B Team tried to lower its chances still further by picking Paul B instead of Phil F and then trying to turn up at the wrong place. The combined talents of Kev, Ian, and Paul B saw to it that we could put out a decent team at the right venue. The result - another 3½-2½ win, the third minimalist mauling in a row by the B/II team. Wednesday at The Gardeners. For the A Team it was the return match against Woodseats A. When the scorecard began to fill up with a couple of wins by Stuart and Mursal it was looking good for us, but a quick glance round the boards and it soon became clear we were in trouble. Several of the games went to time scrambles and chances came and went but 3½-4½ was probably a fair result. Paul C has generously donated a painful loss to Andrew Ledger here. Meanwhile in a forgotten corner the C Team march resolutely on, with Oliver taking a night off from Kung Fu and debuting on Board 6, eased to another win, 4½-1½. Maintaining our 100% record. Will the C Team crack under the intense psychological pressure? Crockery Week In the Cup quarter final Aughton defaulted against Nomads I. Leaving Paul C with a headache as to how he can get a big enough squad together should they make it through to the final. Kev suggested submitting a team anyway and in that way those players may be deemed to have played even thought they didn't play. Does anyone have the name of a good lawyer? In the Plate Quarter Final Nomads II were up against fourth division Darnall and Handsworth. In keeping with traditions the team from the lower division ran us close but eventually we won, just, 3½-2½. Christmas Puzzles Solutions The solutions to the Christmas puzzles can be found here. Puzzle 1 and Puzzle 2 I thought were just about within reach if you had enough time on your hands. Puzzle 3 was appropriate for Christmas as you had to be drunk to work it out. Christmas Puzzles 1 For the first puzzle the White King is invisible. Where is he?
2 It is Christmas so what could be easier than Mate in 1
3 What could be easier than mate in 1? Mate in less than 1
Happy holidays. "Week" 10 To celebrate the centenary of Einstein's demonstration that time is relative the Sheffield and District Chess Association have announced that Week 10 will begin on Monday 19th December and end on Friday 14th January. Nomads A began this "week" with a trip to Barnsley A. Captain Cumbers showed faith in his team after the dropped point against Worksop by naming an unchanged side. A 5½-2½ victory and a masterstroke of man management. You can see Prasun's game from this match here. Wednesday the B Team were at home to Aughton A. A 3½-2½ win. Graham's game is well worth a look. The C Team taught him everything he knows. Week 9 Last week the A Team kidnapped nearly half our squad and this week the B Team tried to hoodwink us into forfeiting 0-6 by playing a very ineligible player on Board 1 but Kev's experience saw straight through this dastardly plot. In the blink of an eye we swapped Mursal for Azmiddin - who really should have been doing his homework - and disappeared into deepest Derbyshire. Another 5½-½ win. Another wooden spoon for Paul B to add to his collection. Wednesday the A Team travelled to Worksop and dropped the first point of the season. A 4-4 draw keeps it very interesting at the top of Division 1. Week 8 Monday the B Team were away at SASCA A who, disguised as SASCA I, had beaten Nomads II 6-0 earlier in the season. The B Team were slightly under strength but several good wins, and a draw by Mursal against a 150+ rated opponent, meant an excellent 5-1 away win. Wednesday the A Team were at home to Phoenix A. In a desperate bid to drop points Paul C recruited some C Team talent but Azmiddin and Kev both won contributing to an overall 6½-1½ score in the match. Despite being stripped of the talents of Azmiddin and Kev the C Team's good run continued with a 5½-½ win against Wombwell. Special mention to Robert for another win against an opponent graded around 80. Wooden spoon to Paul B for the half point dropped. A pretty remarkable 17-3 score for the club this week. Week 7 Wednesday at The Gardeners. The B Team were at home to Rotherham Juniors. Stuart was once again able to name his unchanged side with the exciting blend of youth and experience. A couple of quick wins gave the advantage which game by game became an impressive 6-0 win. A great result. Wednesday at Nellie Dene's, a good pub near the station. The C Team were away to Rotherham. Ian displayed his C Team credentials by thinking he was a piece down when he wasn't, and then forgetting that pieces can move backwards. He lost. Other results meant that everything hinged on the last game. Graham had been suffering a pawn down for most of the evening. We all gathered round to suffer with him. He managed to cling on for a draw in the game, and a win in the match, 3½-2½. Friday at Rotherham Juniors. The club's strength in depth showed again and the A Team won 5-3. Week 6 continued Thursday a strong B Team travelled to the 197 Club to play University A (who, with a 3-3 draw, beat the C Team to the 2004-2005 Division 3 Championship with the last move of the last game of the last match of last season). A couple of losses, on Boards 1 and 2, including Mithun beating Mohammad on Board 1, draws on Boards 3 and 4, and wins on Boards 5 and 6, including P Ford seeing off D Fault in no uncertain terms, meant this 3-3 result had a pleasing symmetry about it and what's more conclusively proves that the B Team are no better than the C Team. Paul C's battle for second place With the website playing up for a few weeks you might not have had chance to keep up with Paul C's battle for second place in Game of the Season. Three recent games
Next week thrill to a Queen sac followed by 0-0!! mate. Week 6 Wednesday at The Gardeners. The A Team were at home to Barnby Dun Bishops. Team Bus A (Chris) broke down which meant that Team Bus B (Chris's missus) had to be called into action to pick up Mohammad, Azmiddin, and Mursal. After some adrenaline-pumping, breakneck, death-defying, heart-stopping, jaw-dropping, stunt chase driving (this bit is not true) across the city, A Team Bus B screeched to halt outside The Gardeners. Shattered, broken, and bruised the Team piled out of the car, into The Gardeners, and the match kicked off at ten past eight. Chris took an early draw so he could go and sort his car out. On Board 1 Paul C's battle with himself for second place in Game of the Season continued. Nbd7 provoked White into opening the position too soon and with pieces swarming all over the White King the game was all over in a very impressive 17 moves. Mursal also won very quickly. By the end of the evening everyone (apart from Jeremy) had joined in for a 7-1 win. Meanwhile in a forgotten corner of The Gardeners the C Team played Sheffield Deaf, who only had four players. This gave us a 2-0 lead which turned into a 6-0 win. You can see another good game by Graham here. Richardson Cup Monday Nomads I were in action (while Nomads II were in inaction) away at Chesterfield - who knocked us out of last year's cup. With that in mind a close match might have been expected, so to win 5-1 was a great result. Week 5 Wednesday the B Team, or rather half of it, were at home to Ecclesall B. Robert Shaw was on Board 1 against the astronomically rated Arash Akbarinia (check here for his world ranking) and should have got ½ a point for lasting over 30 moves (note for AGM: We move that if the rating difference is greater than 100 points the higher rated player has to checkmate in under 30 moves or the game is declared a draw). Robert has rather generously submitted the game for all to see here. D Fault had a couple of poor games so 1½-4½ was good in the circumstances. The C Team went to The Abbey to play Ecclesall and won a close match 3½-2½. Chess Board Ian has put together a prototype Bulletin Board aided by cups of tea from Paul B. Click here to express your opinion on anything at all. Vaguely chess related topics preferred but not compulsory. Bulletin 1 - The Future Prophetic Paul's version of Bulletin 1 with teams ordered by maximum available points, and a Cross Table for all four divisions, is another masterpiece of Excel formatting. Marvel at it here. GW Moses Trophy If you would like to represent your club in the only individual KO trophy in the area, please phone John Fryer (0114 2301697) before the 20th of November. Ideally the representative should be the club champion, or the strongest player available. There is no fee for the GW Moses Trophy. Sheffield Championship Please send entries to John Fryer, 322 Ringinglow Road, Sheffield, S11 7PY by the 30th November. Entry fee is £2 (payable to S&DCA). At least 6 rounds are guaranteed between December and May 2005. Bulletin 1 The first bulletin of the season has just arrived. With the novelty of a double default. And remember: "You get nothing for being top on Bonfire Night." Or is that Christmas? Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 Richardson Cup Week 4 Wednesday at The Gardeners. The C Team played Worksop B. Graham lost his first game, and Azmiddin drew but Ian, Kev, Paul B, and Bill won some dodgy games to give us a 4½-1½ victory. Games available for download Following a request, with a bit of help I managed to figure out how to make games available for download so if you click here you can see Mohammed's game again. This time it should open in a new window and there should be the option to download it as pgn. News from Peter Sidorov I sent Peter Sidorov an email the other day as we hadn't heard from him in a while. This was his reply: Hi, Paul Week 3 Monday the B Team, most of them in Phil's car, travelled to Woodseats B. All six games were decisive and the B Team won 4-2. Game of the Season already? Did you see Mohammed's game? Did you see Mohammed's game? This was becoming the stuff of myth and legend. People at the club had been talking about it for days. Grown men had reportedly been seen turning away in horror as yet another piece was put en prise. This can't work. Can it? If the pieces were soldiers then some of them would have won medals in this game. Take a look at it here. Week 2 The third week of the season all three teams were in action - and in alphabetical order too. Monday the A Team had what might turn out to be an early season four pointer against champions Woodseats A. Draws on the top three boards, including Paul C (who, if he gets any more feathers in his cap, will end up looking like this, or possibly this) against IM Andrew Ledger, meant that a grading advantage on the lower boards gave us a chance to win the match. Jeremy, Mohammed, and Ken all won their games. The final score, 5-3. The title race is on. Wednesday a strong B Team played Stannington B and won 4-2. Thursday the C Team managed to find their way to the centre of town and then to Barnsley to play Barnsley B who had a decent team out. With another good win by Graham castling late to pursue an attack here, Ian - who's place in the C Team may be in jeopardy if he continues to play proper chess (you can see this game here), Dave Norris, and Eric, and a dreadful/shameful/pitiful loss by Paul B we won what could have been a difficult match 4½-1½. A, B, C, three wins out of three. A very good week for the club. Richardson Cup Nomads I were drawn against Ecclesall and won a tight match 3½-2½. Check out Mohammed's spectacular game here. An early contender for Game of the Season. Nomads II were up against a strong SASCA I team and were thrashed 6-0 (ouch). Week 1 The A Team played Barnsley A, runaway winners of last year's Division 2 title, and kicked off with a 5-3 win. The C Team, with Ian making his debut as captain, played Aughton B and came from 2-0 down to win 4-2. You can see Graham's debut on Board 1 here. A winning start for both teams. Phoenix Friendly Thursday night was the annual friendly against Phoenix at the Bridge Inn. Both teams had roughly the same number of players and one version of the score was a 7-4 win for Nomads. Ian checkmated Phil Beckett with Black in only 21 moves. You can see this game here. 10 minute tournament Back on September 7th we had a 10 minute tournament. "Like real chess only faster". The joint winners on 4/5 were Mithun, Mursal, and Paul B (that last bit's not a typo).
Page last updated 15/08/07 |
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