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News
30 August 2010
Information Sheet 1 for the new season is here. Please note in particular that the Individual Blitz Tournament will be held on 16 September at 6.45pm in the Greycoat Room at the Civil Service Recreation Centre. Entries to Nigel Blades by 10 September.
The redevelopment of the website is nearly complete. The new website (same address) will probably go live on the evening of Sunday 4 September.
10 August 2010
Added the Minutes of the AGM held on 13 May 2010.
5 August 2010
I have updated the digital clocks page. The most important change concerns the Saitek Competition Pro. Further tests have shown this clock to be fully compatible with Civil Service League time controls. At the price of £34.95, it represents best value for money if you are thinking of buying digital clocks.
11 June 2010
League and cup fixtures for 2010/11 are in this PDF document. They will be published as pages on the website when it is redeveloped later in the summer.
14 May 2010
Updated the summary of responses to the website survey to take account of a further response received.
14 May 2010
The League AGM took place on 13 May. The minutes will appear on the website in due course. Here are the main points:
• The meeting remembered Roy Greenfield (Revenue & Customs) and John Rowe (GLCC), who had both passed away since the last AGM.
• The player fixture fee was increased from £0.60 to £0.65, to reflect an increase in the Game Fee charged by the ECF.
• The GLCC proposal to deduct a match point when teams defaulted a whole match was defeated.
• Club practice in defaulting boards was clarified to the satisfaction of PHSO, who had raised the issue.
• The meeting agreed the proposed rules for the Team Blitz Grand Prix to take place in 2010/11.
• The meeting also agreed to a large number of minor improvements to the League Rules.
• A proposal to increase the fee for frivolous adjudications from £15.00 to £22.50 narrowly failed to secure the required two-thirds majority.
• All current League officers were re-elected. James Toon joined the Executive Committee as joint Blitz Tournament Organiser.
• Next season there will be four divisions, for the first time since 2002. This is possible because there will be 22 teams, in two divisions of six teams and two divisions of five teams. There will continue to be just the two cup competitions.
10 May 2010
Information Sheet 8 is on the website here.
8 May 2010
Some information, in advance of the League AGM on 13 May.
• A total of 200 players took part in League and Cup activities this season. This includes one player who was nominated for a team but did not play in any matches.
• Of these, 159 were graded and 41 were ungraded.
• A further 58 players are inactive – they are listed on club pages but were not nominated for a team and did not play in any matches.
• Of the graded players who took part, the average grade was 139.
• DHSS have the highest number of active members (33), followed by UNATS and Treasury (27 each).
• The smallest club is PHSO (8 active members).
8 May 2010
Many thanks to Nigel Blades for running the Team Blitz event on 6 May. HOJCC 1 won the event, just ahead of Metropolitan Police 1 and DHSS. HOJCC therefore retain the Barford Trophy for another year. Report and table here.
26 April 2010
Many thanks to those who took part in the survey on the website. The responses are summarised here. There's quite a lot to think about. I will implement as many of the suggestions as I can, but it won't be possible to do everything. The changes will go online in September.
24 April 2010
Congratulations to:
• UNATS 1, who won Division 1
• DHSS 1, who won Division 2
• HOJCC 2, who won Division 3
• HOJCC 1, who won the Bonar Law Trophy
• UNATS 2, who won the Post Annual Cup
12 March 2010
Information Sheet 7 is on the website here.
3 March 2010
The Executive Committee have carried out a complete review of the League and Cup Rules. They are proposing some changes to the text of the Rules. These are for discussion at the League AGM on 13 May. Clubs need an opportunity to discuss these in advance. Please see the proposed new Rules and a commentary.
15 February 2010
Information Sheet 6 is on the website here.
30 January 2010
Digital clocks again. This time, the Garde Digital Chess Clock goes under the spotlight. It scores highly on presentation but falls down on content – the clock is entirely unsuitable for use in the League. One might have hoped for more, since it's so expensive. See the review and the online manual here.
22 January 2010
Information Sheet 5 is on the website here.
8 January 2010
The Senior Recorder agrees that matches may be postponed due to the bad weather if the captains agree. Postponements should be played by the end of March 2010 if possible. Captains should inform the Senior Recorder and the webmaster of the postponement and the date of the rearranged match as soon as possible.
6 January 2010
The League's Executive Committee have drawn up plans for a Team Blitz Grand Prix for next season. Clubs are invited to consider this note and draft Rules in advance of the AGM on 13 May.
11 December 2009
Information Sheet 4 is on the website here.
28 November 2009
Back to digital clocks. Laboratory tests on the BHB Digital Chess Clock have confirmed that it is suitable for use in the Civil Service Chess League. It is particularly suitable for clubs who play in two or more leagues with different time controls. More details here.
27 November 2009
The Home Office and Justice Chess Club have entered a team in the Major section of the National Club Championships. A total of 17 teams have entered the Major this year, about half of them from the London area. This is a knockout competition, and HOJCC have been drawn against Wanstead & Woodford (who are the defending champions) in the 1st round.
Is this the first time that a club from the Civil Service Chess League has entered a team in the National Club Championships?
9 November 2009
I have added a new page on digital chess clocks. This is intended as a resource for any club thinking of investing in a set of digital clocks for use in the League.
4 November 2009
Information Sheet 3 is on the website here.
1 November 2009
The website has been updated. Some results are still outstanding.
1 October 2009
Information Sheet 2 is on the website here.
30 September 2008
Players' grades have been revised where necessary to take account of the latest ECF revision published earlier this month.
17 September 2008
A total of 14 players took part in the CSCL Individual Blitz Tournament on 17 September. Arne Eilers (Metropolitan Police) won the event with the impressive score of 9/9. Robin Haldane (UNATS) was 2nd and James Toon (Home Office & Justice) was 3rd. Arne's victory makes him the only person in recent times to win this event two years running. Many thanks to Nigel Blades for organising the tournament (and competing in it at the same time).
Pos |
Name |
Grade |
Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Eilers | 174 | 9 |
| 2 | R Haldane | 188 | 7 |
| 3 | J Toon | 179 | 6 |
| 4 | R Johnson | 155 | 5.5 |
| 5 | P Haddock | 109 | 5 |
| 6= | MG Baker | 162 | 4 |
| 6= | R Cannon | 184 | 4 |
| 6= | D Gleave | 166 | 4 |
| 9 | N Blades | 176 | 3.5 * |
| 10= | D Lacey | 129 | 3 |
| 10= | T Packham | 157 | 3 |
| 12 | J Robinson | 161 | 2 * |
| 13 | G Gibson | 136 | 1.5 |
| 14 | J McDonnell | 174 | 1 |
* did not play in all rounds
10 September 2009
The Home Office and Justice Chess Club has a new venue: Room G07, Cleland House, Page Street, London SW1P 4LN. Visitors should bring some form of ID (this does not have to be photo-ID).
6 September 2009
The CSCL Individual Bltz Tournament will take place on Thursday 17 September from 6.45pm at Chadwick Street. Details here.
17 August 2009
Information Sheet 1 is on the website here.
11 August 2009
The new ECF grades were published today. I have updated the club pages on the website.
26 July 2009
Fixtures for the 2009/10 season have been put on the website.