On Tuesday (03/11/26), eighteen players sat down for the November Friendly Shield event at Derby Chess Club, and every one of them faced the same problem: the pieces were not where they expected them to be. This was our Chess 960 evening, the format in which the back-rank pieces are shuffled into one of 960 possible starting arrangements, so that memorised opening theory is worth nothing and everyone has to think from the first move.
Chess 960 has become a popular format at the club, and we generally try to stage two such events a season. The turnout showed why. Eighteen players came along despite a crowded week: the E team had a match on the Monday, and the A and B teams were playing on the Wednesday and Thursday respectively. On top of that, six players were separately playing club championship games in the other room, so we had quite the full house.
It was a pleasure to welcome two newcomers to the Shield, Shalini and Sreejith. Both are less experienced players, and I felt a little sorry dropping them into the deep end with a format that unsettles even seasoned club players. They were good sports about it and acquitted themselves well. Sreejith began with a win over Paul Burrows in round one and added another in the final round against Terry Johnson, finishing with 2/4. Shalini took everything the evening threw at her with good grace, and I hope she will be back.
At the top of the table, two players set the pace. George Burdell and Owen Crawford both reached the final round on a perfect 3/3, which meant the evening would be settled on board one, with Owen having the white pieces. Owen had beaten Andre Cockburn, Carl Weighill and George Micholopaulos on the way, while George had overcome Curtis Morrell, Shah Hussain and Mohammed Qamari.
Owen and George face each other in the final round.
The crux game lived up to its billing. George was in all sorts of trouble at various stages, facing pins, mate threats and time pressure. Owen could have exchanged into an easily won ending, but instead he tried to finish things quickly. In doing so he overlooked that Black had possibilities of his own - a surprising mate in two. George took full advantage, and that was that: a perfect 4/4 and the win overall.
For George, this is becoming something of a habit. He has played in three of our four previous Chess 960 events, winning two and finishing second in the other, so this looks like a format that suits him very well.
Behind George, five players finished on 3/4. Owen was one of them, alongside George Micholopaulos, Mohammed Qamari, Justin Smith and Carl Weighill. Six more players finished on 2/4: Shah Hussain, Matthew Caswell, Stephen Lamont, Paul Burrows, Sreejith Nandakumar and David Williams. Further down, Andre Cockburn, Curtis Morrell, Terry Johnson, Josh Gahonia and A. Kerr each took a point.
Thank you to everyone who played, to our two newcomers for being such good sports, and to the players who supported the evening in the middle of a busy week. Congratulations to George on another Chess 960 victory. The full results appear separately on the website.
The detailed tournament results can be found here
The Friendly Shield table is found via this link
The next Friendly Shield event is a Chess960 tournament on the 3rd November.
Kevin
The four positions used as starting positions are given below.
