We are assembling BCCA teams to enter the next season of the ICCF Champions League. So, if you are rated around 2250 or over, you can be considered for one of the teams.

BCCA will pay all entry fees so this is an excellent way to get value for your membership.

The ICCF announcement is here: https://www.iccf.com/message?message=1256  so you can probably expect to play 12 games.

Champions League play is usually quite tough. Players will be organised into teams of 4 players and most players will play in Level C. Last time around, the strength of play in Level C ranged from Category 3 on top board to Minor Categories on lower boards.

So, if you fit the rating criteria, do you wish to be considered to play? Because teams consist of 4 players, I cannot guarantee anyone a place at this time. If I get an odd number of players then some people may miss out. But most will get to play. BCCA entered 6 teams (24 players) last season.

Obviously, all players must maintain their BCCA membership for the duration of the tournament.

If you wish to play, please let me know within the next 10 days. Thank you.

Regards,
Neil Limbert
BCCA

The latest issue of the BCCA magazine (CC203) has now been posted out to all members. You should receive your copy through the post in the next few days.

As well as including your Membership Renewal form, it contains annotated games from BCCA members and two grandmasters!

After 25 years in control of the BCCA Handicap tournament, Steve Clark has had to retire due to ill health. BCCA owes a great debt of thanks to Steve & we wish him well.

The new Handicap Tournament Organiser is Phill Beckett. All Handicap players should, from now on, report all results & request new pairings from Phill. His contact details are:- Brough House, Church Laneham, RETFORD, NOTTS DN22 0NQ. Email address will be provided upon request & will appear in the next magazine.

BCCA thanks Phill for taking this role on in BCCA’s longest standing tournament (running since 1909). All BCCA members can enter this tournament free of charge at any time. Pairings are by post or email (not webserver) and you can take on as many or as few opponents as you wish. But you do need a minimum of eight results (between 1 September to 31 August annually) to be eligible for a prize.

The 2018 webserver Silver Medal tournament No.1 has now finished and the final crosstable (with all the games) can be seen on the server here. Congratulations to Anthony Roberts for winning the tournament – well played! Anthony will receive a BCCA Silver Medal & is also awarded 10 Candidate Master points taking his total to 18 (20 points needed for the BCCA Candidate Master Title).
2nd place goes to Andrew Smith who is awarded 6 Candidate Master points (taking his total to 8).
In 3rd place was Antony Copsey who is already a BCCA Candidate Master.

The 2018 Postal Bronze tournament has finished resulting in victory for David Cook – well played David! The final crosstable & games can be viewed here . 

David is also awarded 3 BCCA Candidate Master points.

Only 3 players entered the 2018-19 Endgame tournament which resulted in a comprehensive win for Frank McMahon. The final scores were: F McMahon 7½, D Richardson 3, M Thistlewood 1½.

The Endgame tournament provides valuable endgame practice without affecting your rating (these tournaments are unrated). For next season, these tournaments will be free to enter!

Dave Grobler has won the 2018 Webserver Silver Medal tournament No.2 with an excellent score of 8/10 – well played Dave! Arthur Reed can count himself unlucky in 2nd place achieving the same score as Dave but losing out on the top spot on tie-break. The full crosstable can be seen here.

In 3rd place was Alan Sutton earning 3 Candidate Master points. These CCM points were enough to take Alan over the 20 point barrier & earn him the BCCA Candidate Master Title – congratulations to Alan!