• Ranking and
  rating systems for all play modes and rates of
  play.
  
  
• Bullet, blitz,
  rapid and long games.
  
  
• ‘Fini’ server
  currency, 10 Fini = 1 US$.
  
  
• Moderators and
  admins online available for help and
  information.
  
  
• Tournament
  formats: Round robin, Knockout & Scheveningen.
  
  
• Users can organize their
  own tours, if ranked bishop or higher.

• Detailed tour tables and
  chat info's keep you always up to date.
  
  
• US$ 1’150,- Prize money for each of our Freestyle tours
  starting every 2 weeks (Feb. 1, Feb.
  15., March 1 and March 15).
  
  
• Fini Welcome
  Gift: 100 Fini for each of the first 100
  participants
  of our Freestyle Tournaments.
  
  
• Further
  enhancements planned like: Swiss tournaments, broadcasting and
  correspondence chess.

Exeter Hall Oxford Road Kidlington – 4th & 5th  February  2012

The Kidlington Chess Tournament is now in its 35th year and from the early beginnings as a small local event Kidlington Tournament has grown to become one of largest tournaments in the UK. It is known and enjoyed by players from around the country with participants of all ages. With a seasoned team of controllers and ECF arbiters, pleasant and comfortable surroundings ensure an enjoyable atmosphere for all.
NEW !     4  SECTIONS FOR 2012 Get you entrance forms at http://home.btconnect.com/OCA/

26.12.2011
– Until 1980 the only way to show a chess
game was for a master to stand in front of a demo board and move the
magnetic pieces by hand. Then the BBC TV station pioneered a radical new
technology: using a glass chess table and chess pieces with symbols
stuck to their bases they brought us animated games, commented semi-live
by the players. You can watch these shows on YouTube. Read more http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7787

The world’s first ever FIDE-rated Blitz tournament will take place at the White Rock Hotel, Hastings on Monday 2nd January.

FIDE are starting to collect rating information from blitz and rapidplay games starting 1 January 2012.  The two new lists will be published 1 July 2012.   The standardplay ratings will not be affected by the blitz or rapidplay results.  The ratings of players who are already FIDE-rated will be used initially.

We asked the
juniors who play for the Junior 4NCL Cumnor and
Witney team to select their favourite game from
the recent Junior 4NCL weekend.
Here are some of
the results; I think you'll agree that in a
couple of year's time it's going to be pretty
scary for us old-timers when we come up against
them. Maybe it's time to retire while the
going's good ... - MT.

The 2011 Cowley Christmas Blitz was held on Monday 19 December, with 47
players taking part.

Marcus Harvey (Bicester) repeated his success in the 2009 Christmas
event, with 9.5 points out of 10, again winning by a margin of
1.5 points. Cowley's Heather Lang took second place, with Csaba
Koszta and Maria Wang half a point further back on 7.5.

The 2011 Cowley Christmas Blitz will be held on Monday 19
December at Cowley Chess Club (at Rose Hill Methodist Church in the Main
Hall downstairs). All chessplayers are welcome.

Classic Pairings published


The pairing schedule is now published. Nigel Short will sit out the first round and be the first player to assist the commentary team.
Round 1
pairings: Vladimir Kramnik v Hikaru Nakamura; Levon Aronian v Luke McShane; Magnus Carlsen v David Howell; Michael Adams v Vishy Anand; Nigel Short v Boris Becker, who is coming to the Classic on 3rd December!
Clickhere to see all Classic pairings and schedule.

Source: Chessbase.com – Network18’s Firstpost.com, India’s first
exclusive online news and views website, has launched an online chess
championship for its readers. This fortnightly event will see
Vishwanathan Anand share some of his real-life chessboard experiences
with online participants as a part of ‘Firstpost Battleboard’, which
calls for audience participation. Read more:-Press release.

Hi all,

The University Chess Club is organising a simul with IM Richard Palliser next week. There are about half a dozen places left, so I would be very happy if you would offer these to your clubs/teams.

The simul takes place in North Quad Lecture Room at St John's College on Tuesday 22nd November, starting at 7.30pm (meet at lodge at 7.15pm). The cost for participating is £7. Spectators are more than welcome to come along (completely free of charge, of course). Register simply by e-mailing erik.thornblad@st-hughs.ox.ac.uk.

Witney Chess Club will be holding two more evenings with Peter Wells
on 7 November 2011 and 5 March 2012. Please see the Witney Chess Club
website for more details.

Please note the 31 October deadline for discounted fees.

Link: http://www.witneychess.co.uk

Hi all

First, thanks to Mike, Alan, Jon, Roger and everyone else involved for running an excellent Witney Rapidplay! The University contingent greatly enjoyed it.

Second, I'm pleased to say that at the OU Rapidplay we will be able to offer lighter refreshments, and that St Hugh's College has also been kind enough to allow participants to take part in their Saturday brunch. The brunch runs 10:30-13:30, so it should be open between rounds 1 and 2, and between rounds 2 and 3.

Best wishes, Erik Thornblad

The 8th annual Oxford University Chess Club Rapidplay will take place on 29 October 2011 at St Hugh's College, Oxford. As before, there will be one Open and one U170 section, with entry fees being £17 and £12 respectively. The total prize fund is £600. If you would like to enter, please download the entry form. Entries should be sent to Erik Thornblad, either via post (St Hugh's College, St Margaret's Road, Oxford OX2 6LE) or e-mail rapidplayoxford2011@gmail.com.
Link: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~chess/rapidplay.shtml

09.10.2011 -

Witney Chess Club held its annual rapidplay
tournament on 8 October at The King's School,
Witney. We decided for the first time to hold an
adults section alongside the junior event, and
its success surpassed our expectations, with no
fewer than 20 people entering. The juniors
section was also extremely well supported, with
35 boys and girls taking part. A great (although
exhausting) day was had by all, and many thanks
are due to The King's School, to Hacketts To Go
and to the controllers (Alan Kennedy, Roger
Turner, Jon D'Souza-Eva, Tim Partridge and Mike
Truran) for the provision of an excellent venue,
excellent catering facilities and excellent
organisation respectively.

More HERE

Rapidplay press report
18.10.2011
There is a nice report in the Witney Gazette and Oxford Times about the Witney Rapidplay here - MT.

Witney Chess Club will be holding their popular annual junior chess tournament at Kings School Witney on Saturday 8 October.
In addition, for the first time we will also be running an adult event alongside, which we hope will become a valuable addition to the Oxfordshire chess scene.

The two entry forms for the respective tournaments can be found here.

Junior Tournament in PDF
Junior Tournament in Word
Adult Rapidplay Tournament in PDF
Adult Rapidplay Tournament in Word