The National Liberal Club has seen many historic events over the years. One immediately thinks of George Bernard Shaw addressing the crowds from the windows of the Club on the morning of the Trafalgar Square riot of 1887, or of the Suffragette’s smashing the Club’s windows in their efforts towards votes for women. The NLC has always been at the heart of historic events, and a leader amongst London Clubs.
So it is no surprise that the NLC was the venue for an event that marked a new line being written into the annuls of the NLC (nay, of London Clubland itself) – the first ever-recorded inter-club Lightning Chess tournament.
The trophy
At stake was the fabled Ming Vase, perhaps the most sought after trophy in all of Clubland.
The players
The tournament brought together 13 players from five Clubs. It was a pleasure for the NLC Chess Circle to welcome so many players to the NLC clubhouse for the first time.
| 1 | Jay Dias (NLC) |
| 2 | David Donaghy (O&C) |
| 3 | Robert Feather (RAC) |
| 4 | John Godfrey (O&C) |
| 5 | Gordon Hamme (NLC) |
| 6 | Richard Hughes (RAC) |
| 7 | Luke King (NLC) |
| 8 | Philip Reeves (NLC) |
| 9 | David Shankland (Athenaeum) |
| 10 | Jerome Singh (NLC) |
| 11 | Naomi West (O&C) |
| 12 | Philip West (O&C) |
| 13 | Mark Woloshyn (Hurlingham) |
The players in action
Despite this being the first time playing lightning chess for many, all quickly picked it up and the games zipped along.
(Lightning chess is played to the sound of a 10 second metronome buzzer. The players make alternate moves on the sound of the buzzer).
The battles that decided the war
Round 1
The players settled in. Many were adjusting to the new format and getting used to playing with the buzzer. The random draw used in round 1 to kick off the tournament meant that there were some tough match ups, but who were to be the favourites, who the laggards?
| Name | Result | Name |
| Dias (NLC) | 0-1 | King (NLC) |
| Reeves (NLC) | 0-1 | Donaghy (O&C) |
| Feather (RAC) | 0.5-0.5 | Shankland (Ath) |
| Singh (NLC) | 0-1 | Godfrey (O&C) |
| Hamme (NLC) | 1-0 | West, N (O&C) |
| West, P (O&C) | 0-1 | Hughes (RAC) |
| Woloshyn (Hurl) | 0.5-0.5 | BYE |
Round 2
A sense of getting down to business began to pervade the room. Some were buoyed by round 1 victories, others feeling distinctly rusty. Many headed to the bar.
| Name | Result | Name |
| Godfrey (O&C) | 1-0 | Reeves (NLC) |
| Hughes (RAC) | 1-0 | Hamme (NLC) |
| King (NLC) | 1-0 | Feather (RAC) |
| Shankland (Ath) | 0.5-0.5 | Woloshyn (Hurl) |
| West, N (O&C) | 0-1 | Dias (NLC) |
| Donaghy (O&C) | 1-0 | Singh (NLC) |
| West, P (O&C) | 0.5-0.5 | BYE |
Round 3
Things were hotting up now, with the leaders beginning to fancy their chances. All round 3 games were decisive (no draws) as the leading players went for broke.
| Name | Result | Name |
| Hughes (RAC) | 1-0 | Donaghy (O&C) |
| King (NLC) | 0-1 | Godfrey (O&C) |
| Dias (NLC) | 1-0 | Shankland (Ath) |
| Woloshyn (Hurl) | 1-0 | Hamme (NLC) |
| Feather (RAC) | 1-0 | West, P (O&C) |
| Reeves (NLC) | 0-1 | Singh (NLC) |
| West, N (O&C) | 0.5-0.5 | BYE |
Round 4
The round that perhaps decided most. The big match up saw Messers Godfrey and Hughes face off on the top board. The winner of this tie would have a clear advantage going into round 5. Much was at stake. The game went on, neither player giving an inch. The arbiter had to call time on the game and NLC Club member and chess expert Mister Fritz was called in from the bar to analyse. He declared Mister Hughes the winner, being over 2 points up in Mister Fritz’s opinion.
| Name | Result | Name |
| Godfrey (O&C) | 0-1 | Hughes (RAC) |
| Woloshyn (Hurl) | 1-0 | Dias (NLC) |
| Donaghy (O&C) | 0.5-0.5 | King (NLC) |
| Hamme (NLC) | 1-0 | Feather (RAC) |
| Shankland (Ath) | 1-0 | West, N (O&C) |
| Singh (NLC) | 1-0 | West, P (O&C) |
| Reeves (NLC) | 0.5-0.5 | BYE |
Round 5
The final round. With Mister Hughes on 4 points and Messers Godfrey and Woloshyn on 3, it was all there for Mister Hughes. As Mister Godfrey came off worse with black against a strong late finish from Mister Donaghy, Mister Hughes had the better position so Mister Woloshyn agreed to split the points.
| Name | Result | Name |
| Hughes (RAC) | 0.5-0.5 | Woloshyn (Hurl) |
| Donaghy (O&C) | 1-0 | Godfrey (O&C) |
| King (NLC) | 0-1 | Shankland (Ath) |
| Dias (NLC) | 0-1 | Singh (NLC) |
| West, P (O&C) | 0-1 | Hamme (NLC) |
| West, N (O&C) | 0-1 | Reeves (NLC) |
| Feather (RAC) | 0.5-0.5 | BYE |
A winner!
And the winner was found. Mister Richard Hughes (RAC) put an excellent performance in. He took on and beat all his main challengers, and wisely split the point in the final round to secure an unassailable lead. His is the first name to be etched on the majestic Ming Vase. Thoroughly deserved.
| 1 | Hughes (RAC) | 4.5 |
| 2-3 | Woloshyn (Hurl) | 3.5 |
| Donaghy (O&C) | 3.5 | |
| 4-7 | Godfrey (O&C) | 3 |
| Shankland (Ath) | 3 | |
| Singh (NLC) | 3 | |
| Hamme (NLC) | 3 | |
| 8 | King (NLC) | 2.5 |
| 9-10 | Dias (NLC) | 5 |
| Feather (RAC) | 5 | |
| 11 | Reeves (NLC) | 1.5 |
| 12-13 | West, P (O&C) | 0.5 |
| West, N (O&C) | 0.5 |
Here’s the full cross-table of results (bold = player had white)
| Round | ||||||
| No | Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 1 | Dias (NLC) | 7:L | 11:W | 9:W | 13:L | 10:L |
| 2 | Donahue (O&C) | 8:W | 10:W | 6:L | 7:D | 4:W |
| 3 | Feather (RAC) | 9:D | 7:L | 12:W | 5:L | BYE : D |
| 4 | Godfrey (O&C) | 10:W | 8:W | 7:W | 6:L | 2:L |
| 5 | Hamme (NLC) | 11:W | 6:L | 13:L | 3:W | 12:W |
| 6 | Hughes (RAC) | 12:W | 5:W | 2:W | 4:W | 13:D |
| 7 | King (NLC) | 1:W | 3:W | 4:L | 2:D | 9:L |
| 8 | Reeves (NLC) | 2:L | 4:L | 10:L | BYE : D | 11:W |
| 9 | Shankland (Ath) | 3:D | 13:D | 1:L | 11:W | 7:W |
| 10 | Singh (NLC) | 4:L | 2:L | 8:W | 12:W | 1:W |
| 11 | West, N (O&C) | 5:L | 1:L | BYE : D | 9:L | 8:L |
| 12 | West, P (O&C) | 6:L | BYE : D | 3:L | 10:L | 5:L |
| 13 | Woloshyn (Hurl) | BYE : D | 9:D | 5:W | 1:W | 6:D |
After the battle, the feast
And then, of course, there was dinner. A sumptuous three course dinner in the NLC dining room replenished the players’ vim.
See you all again in 2018.