Brighton and Hove Chess Club

The Railway Club, Belmont House, 4 Belmont, Dyke Road, Brighton, BN1 3TF (near Seven Dials)

CLUB MATCH WITH DIEPPE CHESS CLUB on 27th September 2008 (Updated: 30th September 2008 by Duncan Roy)

5th Dieppe Chess Congress

In 2009, the Dieppe Chess Club is hosting an international chess congress (Their 5th!) between 22nd and 30th August.

Karpov Simultaneous Match

Aside from the normal Congress type competitions, Mr Karpov will be playing a simultaneous match from 3:00 to 6:00pm on 22nd August; the games from 30 of the boards will be broadcast live on the net.

Provisional Congress Details

Registration and licence control : 23rd August until 1:30pm.

Round 1 : 23rd August at 2:30pm - opening of the festival by the partners accompanied by Mr. Karpov

Round 2 : Monday 24th August at 8:30am

Round 3 : Monday 24th August at 3:30pm

Round 4 : Tuesday 25th August at 2:00pm

Round 5 : Wednesday 26th August at 2:00pm

Round 6 : Thursday 27th August at 2:00pm

Round 7 : Friday 28th August at 2:00pm

Round 8 : Saturday 29th August at 2:00pm

Round 9 : Sunday 30th August at 9:30am

Prizegiving at 5:30pm followed by a freshments.

Haute-Normandie v Sussex

In the evening of Friday 28th August there will be a friendly match between chess clubs in these two regions. Haute-Normandie will be represented by Dieppe and Gonfreville chess clubs. At the moment the Brighton & Hove Chess Club will be the sole representative of Sussex. According to my French contact, Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club has also been invited to represent Sussex but is yet to decide.

Whether this match will replace or be in addition to our inter-club match between Brighton & Hove and Dieppe will be a matter for the Brighton & Hove Club to decide nearer to the time.

Pre-Match Concert Cllr Rachel Fryer set the cultural mood with a free concert of classical music. The club is indebted to Rachel - she even cut short a Danish masterclass to come back and play for us. You can buy her CDs from here. Venue, Time, Teams & Time Controls The match took place in the main hall of the Friends' Meeting Centre, Ship Street, Brighton on 27th September 2008 between 2:00 and 6:00pm. There were 15 players on either side. Here is the line up with the piece colour specified by the background colour of each name and the result.
Brighton & Hove Player	ECF Grade	Approximate ELO Grade	Dieppe Player	ELO Grade	Result
1. Geoff James	183	(Official ELO Grade) 2206	1. Christophe Ferrant	2147	1 - 0
2. Paul Batchelor	149	1995	2. Olivier Delabarre	2097	½ - ½
3. Paul Selby	140	1950	3. Richard Lefebvre	1860	1 - 0
4. Neil Tasker	123	1865	4. Arnaud Plessis	1770	½ - ½
5. Duncan Badham	121	1855	5. Olivier Druoineau	1770	½ - ½
6. Michael Cain	103	1765	6. Alain Meliot	1650	0 - 1
7. Kevin Gee	92	1710	7. Marc Rousselin	1680	0 - 1
8. John Smuts	91	1705	8. Franck Julien	1590	½ - ½
9. Steve Diver	89	1695	9. Jean Charles Lanneau	1500	0 - 1
10. Charles Holcombe	85	1675	10. Laurent Samson	Ungraded	½ - ½
11. Sue Chadwick	78	1640	11. Frederic Gault	Ungraded	1 - 0
12. Simon Hayward	75	1625	12. Frederic Sellier	1400	½ - ½
13. Andrew Caswill	65	1575	13. Charlotte Sellier	1200	0 - 1
14. Duncan Roy	53	1515	14. Annie Chapelier	Ungraded	1 - 0
15. Matt Barber	Unofficial 34	1420	15. Sylvain Peron	Ungraded	1 - 0
Results (Brighton & Hove won, but only just!)					8 - 7
Reserves
16. Bob Davies
The time controls were somewhat unusual, in keeping with the time controls we played when we visited Dieppe: 2 hours per player for the whole match. Also they gave us the white pieces on top board when we visited them and we agreed that they should have the white pieces on top board when they came here. If you would like to print your own version of this poster, you can download the full resolution edition (which will print properly) from here. I am aware the our's is not England's first chess club but it is the first one which is still going, sort of. The fact is that it looked good on the poster, okay?
History In a historic first, 14 players from our club went to Dieppe in September 2007 and played the local club. The picture to the right is Duncan Badham and Grant Minshull, with England at their backs, as we sailed from Newhaven. Full details and all the photographs of the trip are here. We invited them to come to England in 2008 to play us.

Photographs (courtesy of Frederic Sellier) You can also view these photographs as a slideshow or in their own album (both links open in new windows).
	The Dieppe Chess Club caught the 3am ferry to go to Newhaven. Here's them watching their home town fade away as they cross the channel.
	Dawn over the English Channel - a marvelous sight!
	The first sight of England for the Dieppe team.
	The ferry enters Newhaven.
	One of the most photographed beaches in the world.
	The venue.
	Rachel Fryer entertaining the troops before battle.
	Christophe Ferrant v Geoff James Geoff, playing black won his match on top board.
	Paul Batchelor v Olivier Delabarre Paul Batchelor playing white on 2nd board drew with Olivier Delabarre. Olivier is the President of the Dieppe Chess Club.
	Richard Lefebvre v Paul Selby Paul Selby won, playing black, on 3rd board.
	Neil Tasker v Arnaud Plessis Neil Tasker drew his game on 4th board, playing white.
	Olivier Drouineau v Duncan Badham Duncan Badham drew on 5th board, playing black.
	Michael Cain v Alain Meliot Michael Cain lost, playing white, on 6th board.
	Marc Rousselin v Kevin Gee Kevin Gee lost, playing black, on 7th board.
	John Smuts v Julien Franck John Smuts, playing white, drew on 8th board. Special thanks go to John Smuts for his invaluable translations and for taking the Dieppe team back to the train on Sunday evening.
	Jean Charles Lanneau v Steve Diver Steve Diver lost, playing black, on 9th board.
	Charles Holcombe v Laurent Samson Charles Holcombe, playing white, drew on 10th board.
	Frédéric Gault v Sue Chadwick Sue Chadwick, playing black, won on 11th board.
No photograph of 12th board because Simon Hayward's opponent took the photographs! Sorry Simon...
	Charlotte Sellier v Andrew Caswill Andrew Caswill, playing black, lost on 13th board.
	Duncan Roy v Annie Chapelier Duncan Roy, playing white on 14th board, won.
	Sylvain Perron v Matt Barber Matt Barber won, playing black on 15th board.
	The team from Dieppe.
	The Dieppe Team and the Brighton & Hove Team, minus me (Duncan Roy) for some reason... these photographs were taken in the garden of the Friends' Meeting House, where the game was played.
	Sue Chadwick hosted a marvelous soiree in the evening for all the players and our pianist. Short speeches were made by Olivier Delabarre and Duncan Roy; gifts of Harvey's Thomas Paine ale were given to each of the French players. Mr Delabarre invited our club to come to Dieppe in August 2009 to repeat the match. Special thanks are due to: Sue Chadwick, Shelagh Holcombe, Hermione Roy and Duncan Badham for preparing the food & to Ollie Chadwick for providing the music. This photograph shows the moment before the post-match speeches, during which thanks, congratulations and gifts were exchanged. We had Harvey's Ale on tap and a bottle of Thomas Paine ale (also from Harvey's) was given to each French player, to honour the fact that this great adopted son of Sussex (Lewes) played a key role in both the American and French revolutions... apparently he was elected to the French national convention even though he couldn't speak French.
	After the formalities, we partied into the evening in Sue's garden and kitchen. There was music, food, drink and much merriment.
	After the 2008 Brighton Rapid Play Chess Tournament, in which 11 of the French players played, John Smuts took them back to the station. John reported that they had a wonderful weekend and looked forward to welcoming us to Dieppe next year.
	Like the true chess players that they are, the French played through the night on the journey home.