Reported by our Welsh correspondent Dim Parcio
Dydd Gwyl Dewi (that’s St. David’s Day to you saesnegs) was marked by a special festive round of the Alwoodley & Friends rapidplay tournament.
It was a lovely day for it, too. Cloudless skies. Warm sunshine right up till sunset and spring bursting out all round. At least it was in my little neck of the woods in Wales as I watched the proceedings on Lichess. Maybe it was different for you anhylwydd types in Yorkshire.
So what’s the scoreline? After 4 rounds it’s looking promising for Limewood. Paul Johnson tops the ranking with 6½ points from a possible 8.
Close behind is Paul May in a shared 2nd position with 6 points.
Round 5 will be on 17 March with the final round 2 weeks later.
I leave you with a topical thought for those impatient to see the end of Lockdown. As we say in Wales: Ara bach a bob yn dipyn mae sdicio bys i dîn gwybedyn.
Luke warms – it’s now cool
GM Luke McShane (reputed to be the UK’s top amateur chessplayer – he has a fulltime day job) has written an article reflecting on the current changes sweeping the chess world. You can read the full article here:
How chess got cool
The core of his argument appears to be in this passage:
“In recent years, though, the vogue is for much faster games, lasting 40 minutes, or sometimes just ten. At that pace, judicious bluffing becomes an essential skill, because an attack is only unsound when the defender has time to find the flaw. ……What the game loses in depth, it gains in the kind of transient excitement that online fans clamour for. ……The new wave of chess fans, for the most part, want their chess fast and furious, and some of them will have known nothing else.“
