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Announcements, recaps, and news from the club.

Nov42026

First setback of the season

Carmarthen 1.5 - 2.5 Pembrokeshire Our second Dyfed League match of the season saw us host a strong Pembrokeshire team who inflicted our first loss of the season, 1.5-2.5. Adam's King's Indian Defence ran into problems early on with a couple of positional errors allowing his FM opponent to build a Petrosian-style stranglehold on the position and develop a slow Kingside attack. With the clock ticking down Adam opened up the Queenside in a last desperate bid for counterplay, but the effort was repulsed leaving his Centre and King at the mercy of his opponent's raking Bishop pair, Queen and Rooks which soon forced resignation. Peter won an epic game with the Black pieces that commenced with a rare Levitsky attack (1.d4 d5 2. Bg5). His opponent seemed to be struggling to hold some weaknesses in his pawn structure but suddenly threw in a Knight advance followed by exchanges opening up the f- file and forcing Peter's uncastled King to the Queenside where he faced a pawn storm and had to give up a Knight; it seemed that the visitors were heading to go two up, however Peter sacrificed his last Kingside pawn to strip his opponent's own King of it's cover and against the odds his Queen and Rook steadily drove his opponent's Queen, Knight and Rook back on the defensive. The finish was a lesson in how perseverance with well co-ordinated pieces can completely turn a game with a material deficit around, as his pieces relentlessly probed for weaknesses and mating threats making the defence difficult, before striking as his opponent went wrong with his King caught in front of its own Rook on the f- and g-files - Peter first winning a Knight and then his opponent's Queen to win the game and bring the match level at 1-1. Robert got a good initiative out of the Ware / Meadow Hay (1.a4) opening, opening up the centre early and giving up castling rights to centralise his Queen and co-ordinate his pieces towards a Kingside attack. However his opponent found a way to dislodge Robert's King from its outpost on f2 and chased it to the Queenside, winning an Exchange with a Knight fork in the process. Robert was able to consolidate with his strong Bishop pair forcing his opponent to give back the Exchange, leading to an opposite coloured Bishop ending a pawn down where a draw seemed the most likely outcome, and Robert soon gave up his Bishop to force a stalemate keeping the match tied at 1.5 each. Ewan's game was a Closed Sicilian with Ewan accepting two Knights against his opponent's Bishop pair in search of an attack, however his opponent handled the Bishop pair well as the Centre opened up and he struck at Ewan's vulnerable Queenside Pawns, winning an Exchange before forcing the Queens and a set of Rooks off and advancing his pawns. Ewan's Knight pair tried to contain the onslaught and he fought to the end setting a final stalemate trap that his opponent sidestepped before collecting the last defender, forcing resignation to seal the match for Pembs. All in all an enjoyable evening's chess, a decent showing against stronger opponents and some lessons to take away for the next battles ahead.

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Oct272026

Clean sweep for Carmarthen

Carmarthen 5 - 0 Hydras Our home match against the Hydras from Morriston brought some memorable wins as our West Wales League campaign shifted up a gear with a 6th straight team victory and first 5-0 clean sweep! Robert captaining the side weathered early pressure from his opponent's scary looking h-and g- pawn storm against his Kings Indian Defence, using his Knights to bring the centre under control and build up an attack (where his opponent's prior jettisoning of his Kingside Pawn cover soon came back to haunt him). Robert eventually forced his opponent's capitulation with a Knight sacrifice on f3 and Queen check that forced his opponent's King out into the centre of the board where it was clear it would be at the mercy of Robert's better co-ordinated army. Jack played a Vienna Gambit and quickly caught his opponent off guard with a flurry of tactics, first winning a piece with an untouchable Bishop on f6 due to a threatened Knight fork of King and Queen, then exchanging down to a dream position with a strong pawn lodged on f6 and open g-file where he won an exposed Bishop, and now two pieces up he doubled his Rooks on that file with the imminent invasion forcing his opponent's resignation, maintaining his 100% record with his fifth straight win. Bradley was better out of the opening winning a pawn, but the game then developed into a complex unbalanced struggle when his opponent sacrificed a Knight for 2 Queenside Pawns to bring his Bishop pair to aggressive outposts - an exchange of Queens didn't relieve the pressure and the game transformed further with Bradley's Rook, Bishop and Knight working together to contain his opponent's Rooks and passed Queenside Pawns. Just as the position looked to be getting to a critical point Bradley confused his opponent with a Knight advance, a well timed tactic as his opponent took the bait allowing him to deliver checkmate on the back rank. Ewan's game was a tense manoeuvering affair in a Dutch defence with a closed centre. Ewan gained a slight positional edge, trading Knight for Bishop thereby doubling his opponent's Kingside pawns, and establishing a bind with pawns on d5 and f5 with both sides contesting the e4 square. Just as his opponent seemed to be holding on he brought his Rook in to the defence of the e-file too hastily, allowing Ewan's protected Bishop to pin his opponent's Queen to the Rook, winning the Exchange and the game. Peter faced a rare Owen's Defence where his opponent counterattacked on the Kingside and this took some careful play to neutralise. The late Middlegame became a fascinating sharp long range struggle of Queen, Rook and opposite coloured Bishops, where Peter's attack proved faster by invading with his Queen, pinning his opponent's slightly misplaced Rook to his King and setting up a discovered check and mate in 3 before his opponent's menacingly poised Bishop and Queen battery could break through. A fitting finale to a memorable evening's chess, an apt way to break in our superb new match night chess sets!

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Oct202026

Team Strengthens Title Challenge with 4-1 Win

Carmarthen 4 - 1 Senators A superb 4-1 victory was recorded against one of the team's principal championship rivals, maintaining the side's excellent form. Ewan saw his opponent successfully avoid the tactical complications available in the opening, leading instead to a closely contested rook and opposite-coloured bishop ending. After a prolonged struggle, Ewan gradually converted his advantage and secured the full point. Ian established his trademark positional control early in the game, restricting his opponent's opportunities for active play. Increasing pressure in the centre eventually proved decisive, and when his opponent launched a desperate attempt to break free, the resulting weaknesses quickly led to capitulation. Julie faced a strong and in-form opponent who appeared to gain the initiative through pressure along the a-file with a rook battery. Despite falling a piece behind, Julie continued to fight tenaciously and sought counterplay with her queen, rook and knight. However, her opponent's extra bishop and solid defensive structure ultimately proved sufficient to secure the win. Robert surprised his opponent with the unconventional opening move 1.a4. The flank strategy paid dividends as he developed exceptionally well-coordinated pieces that controlled key squares across the board. He steadily increased his advantage, with a powerful passed pawn, supported by his bishop, eventually proving decisive. Bradley seized control of the centre after his opponent chose a passive line against the Caro-Kann Defence. After exchanging queens and emerging a pawn ahead, he advanced his e-pawn all the way to promotion before his opponent could organise sufficient counterplay. The game concluded with Bradley winning a piece, and his rook, knight and bishop comfortably overpowering his opponent's rook and bishop in the ending. Overall, an impressive team performance and a significant result against a major championship rival, with four wins from the five boards demonstrating both resilience and clinical finishing when opportunities arose.

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Oct182026

Success for Carmarthen players at the HaverfordWest Rapid

The HaverfordWest Rapid chess tournament was staged on 17 October 2027 in the grounds of Pembroke Castle on a very sunny Saturday. Four Carmarthen players took part in a 7-round Swiss tournament that used the 15+10 time format. The tournament was won by FM Grzegorz Toczek, with a perfect score of 7 out of 7, one of two FM's competing in the tournament with 32 entrants. Robert, Peter, Ian and Ewan enjoying the Pembroke sun The best news for Carmarthen was Ewan Ferguson's brilliant performance of 5 wins out of 7 games gaining him 3rd place. Ian Hayes started well with 3 wins , then met FM Grzegorz in round 4 with black. Ian was pleasantly surprised by how gracious Grezegorz was in victory, offering him some useful hints on how best to strive for space when using the Pirc Defence against the Austrian attack. Final points tally: - Ewan Ferguson: 5 - Ian Hayes: 4 - Robert Narayan-Taylor: 4 - Peter Evans: 3 Full results and placings can be viewed at: https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr1514256.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=7&turdet=YES&SNode=S0

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Oct132026

Carmarthen Make All the Right Moves: Four Wins from Four

Carmarthen 4 - 1 Tribunes Another strong team performance in the West Wales League this evening gave us a 4-1 win against the Tribunes from Castell Nedd. Playing our opponents in the hotel dining area, the clinking of cutlery and sounds of libations from behind a partitition (whilst taking everyone some time to get used to to say the least) set the backdrop for a feast of chess! Jack swiftly dismantled his opponent's Scandinavian, after using a lead in development and better co-ordination to set up a discovered check against his opponent's uncastled King and win a hanging Bishop on f5. Bradley similarly spotted an early error in his opponent's handling of an Advance Caro-Kann allowing a Queen check on a5 winning his opponent's undefended Bishop, before liquidating to a Rook ending where his extra Knight helped him dominate the board. Peter turned down the prospect of an early draw but was put under pressure with his King uncastled in the centre and a Pawn down; however he retained the positional trump of a central passed Pawn, rallying his Rooks behind it to keep the balance and force his opponent to share the point. Ewan had to give up the Exhange when his opponent found a strong Kingside attack and had the difficult task of defending with a Rook and two Bishops against two Rooks and Bishop, but also held onto a long term advantage of a connected passed Pawn and his opponent was content to settle for a draw. Ian built up a gradual positional advantage, forcing his opponent to lash out in error with the Pawn advance f5 which gave up a key Pawn on e6. Ian forced the win of a piece, and although his opponent succeeded in doubling his f-pawns and bringing his h5 Knight back into play on the strong outpost f4 the result was never in serious doubt, Ian co-ordinating his Rooks, Bishop and Knight to force his opponent's King into a corner and win more material.

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