All posts by Ian Whittaker

On Saturday evening the club played a return match against the Mechanics Institute of San Francisco played over 10 boards on chess.com (2 games on each board: 15 minutes for the game with 2 second move increments) .

The game was broadcast (and recorded) on Twitch with commentary by a great line up made of GM Nick de Firmian, FM Paul Whitehead, WCM Allyson Wong along with MI’s Chess Director Abel Talamantez and MI’s General Manager Dr Judit Sztaray.

We lost 14-6 in the end against a strong side, but managed some good performances.  The top two boards ended equal with FM Neil drawing both his games on top board against IM Josiah Stearman whilst Adam deserves special mention for winning one game against GM Patrick Wolff.   Berislav managed half a point versus IM Elliott Winslow.  Ian held US National Master Mike Walder to a draw in their first game but whilst fighting hard in their second game got into time trouble and lost defending an opposite bishops endgame.

Some games from the match, annotated by GM Nick de Firmian, are in MI’s recent newsletter.

Message from Abel and the Mechanics’ Chess Team:

Hi Neil,

We wanted to give thanks to you and your team for helping organize the club match. It is great to have this kind of positive interaction between our clubs and communities, and we look forward to continuing to engage and collaborate in the future.

Edinburgh’s Team:

Neil Berry (thebalernobull)
Adam Bremner (AllStarShark)
Berislav Marusic (Sunshine1978)
Henk Bulthuis (henkbu)
Ian Whittaker (scotsgeek)
AJ Rushing (anacampserote)
Calum McGillivray (Penguin89C)
Ross Blackford (Ragnar006)
Robert Kane (fiercebadger)
Ian Johnston (SplashLeChat)

Full results can be found here on Chess.com.

Dear Club Member,

Last Tuesday we faced Liverpool Chess Club, the oldest chess club in England and established in 1837 (15 years our junior!). The final score was a win for Edinburgh, 123-114. We’ll hopefully be able to arrange a return match.

This week’s club events:

Wednesday Blitz Arena (7.45pm start, 1822 to join)

Saturday return match against Mechanics’ Institute (7pm)  Similar to last time, with a couple of tweaks. It will be 2 rapid games of 15+2 against the same opponent.  The match will take place on chess.com.  We’ll determine the pairings manually, so please let me know in the next couple of days if you would like to play.

Thanks

Neil

Dear Club Member,

Congratulations to Allan Buchan on making his first Correspondence Master norm in the British Correspondence Candidates event:
https://www.scottishcca.co.uk/news.html#item17

A reminder that tomorrow evening we play Liverpool in a 5+3 arena at 7.30. Open to all players with a lichess blitz rating of over 1400. You can join via the link below:
https://lichess.org/tournament/ZqdMWqdn

Our Wednesday blitz arena is at the usual time of 7.45pm. Use password 1822 to join.
https://lichess.org/tournament/7LlaNXdS

Best wishes,

Neil

Dear Club Member,

No Tuesday event this week, but we have arranged a match against Liverpool Chess Club on Tuesday 13th April. Liverpool are the oldest club in England (est. 1837).  It’s an arena format of 5mins + 3s / move, and will run for 90 minutes (you play as many games as you can). Anyone can play – the more players enter the better – and the top 5 scores count for the final result. Link is below.

We are also arranging a rematch against the Mechanics’ Institute on the evening of April 24th. Details will follow over the next couple of weeks.

Our usual blitz event runs this Wednesday.

Tuesday 13th April, Liverpool Match, 7.30pm start:
https://lichess.org/tournament/ZqdMWqdn

Wednesday 7th April blitz arena, 7.45pm start, 1822 to join:
https://lichess.org/tournament/nDnm6Hbz

Best wishes,

Neil

Dear Club Member,

Edinburgh Chess Academy

First of all a shout out to our Tiger Cubs coach Andrew Green, who through the Edinburgh Chess Academy has organised an online tournament for Scottish juniors with a £10,000 prize fund. The event takes place on June 12-13, and more details can be found on their website.  Please spread the word!

Scottish National Online Chess League (SNOCL)

The final round of the SNOCL  took place on Sunday. Unfortunately we finished with a couple of losses.  Thanks to those who played, and I did manage to win the afternoon blitz for a small amount of revenge.

This week’s events

Both start at 7.45pm.

Best wishes,
Neil