THE annual curtain raiser to the new season, the Alternative Chess Day, was held at York Railway Institute under the auspices of organiser Richard Hardy.

The day, as usual, consisted of three events. The singles involved white moving first followed by both sides making two moves at a time, with the added condition that loss of all a player's pawns meant loss of the game.

Each of the moves had to be with a different piece and a player had to be able to escape check on the first move of their turn otherwise it was checkmate.

The players were split into two all-play-all groups, each with eight players. Richard Hardy won the first group with 7/7 followed by Patrick Gower (6) and Herbert Lockwood (5). The second group was won by Paul Hopwood with 6 followed by Jon Griffith (5) and Neville Pearce (4).

The doubles have become a regular fixture, where players play opposite colours and pass captured pieces to their partner.

Upon a player's turn, they may make a move or place a piece on the board. The exceptions to this are putting a piece on with check, and pawns, as in normal chess, cannot be placed on the first and eighth ranks.

Finally when a player promotes a pawn, they swap it for one of the pieces that their partner's opponent is waiting to place on their board. If either player is checkmated or loses on time then the team loses the match.

Katy Smowton and Richard Hardy (6/7) were the winners after emerging victorious in an exciting final-round dual with third-placed finishers Rodney Mitchinson and Paul Hopwood (5/7). Patrick Gower and Sid Kirby took second on tiebreak after also scoring 5/7.

The final event of the day was another regular favourite. The team event comprised four teams of four players, with matches taking place over three boards. A buzzer was used to regulate the tempo of play at a quick ten seconds per move. Teams moved alternatively on the buzzer and rotated around the boards, with the first decisive result on any board deciding the match.

Three of the teams finished equal first on 2/3 and members of all the winning teams received awards at the prize-giving ceremony.

The York Junior Club has moved from the York RI to Saint Olave's School in Bootham. Anyone wanting further details can contact Peter Cloudsdale on 01904 767177.

Updated: 11:47 Thursday, September 19, 2002