There is a very useful feature on chess.com called Tablebase

There are times when you play an endgame, and you wonder whether it was possible to have changed the outcome. At the time, you will probably go over it with your opponent and the two of you will discuss the pros and cons of the position.

What you can do for positions that have up to 7 pieces remaining on the board, is re-create the position in the analysis section of chess.com, load it and then select the “Tablebase” option on the top right. It will then give you the current status of play: win, lose or draw if perfect moves were played from then on. You can then add the moves that were made at the time of your game and see if or when the status changes.

If this kind of feature interests you for your chess development then Bourne Chess Club is the place to come for your enjoyment of chess. Bourne Chess Club is playing in the Lincs and Cambs county divisions next season (2025/2026) and is continually looking for new members. For further enquiries please call Wake House on 01778 782224

Bourne Chess Club hosted their first open evening on 24/07/2025

We had two of our junior members attend, Alice and Ryan, to see how their club runs on a Thursday night and the Chess Up 2 was in full swing! Seen here are two visitors, Vlad and his son Alex who is 7 years old. Alex is being shown by Bourne Chess Club member Harrison how the Chess Up 2 helps even young players to play the correct moves by use of a traffic light display when you touch each of the pieces.

For newcomers to the game like Alex this type of hands on, experimental learning is beneficial as it facilitates active engagement, sensory learning with direct contact being made of all the chess pieces. For a beginner it gives them the chance to be involved in playing a game with another person, learning how the pieces move and all the time, playing logical, legal moves.  Alex and Harrison were having great fun together playing chess.

Bourne Chess Club welcomes people to come and play of all ages and ability. For further enquiries please call Wake House on 01778 782224

Bourne Chess Club has won the regional “4200” League Championship for chess season 2024/2025.

It was the first experience the club has had in entering competitive tournaments since the new opening of the chess club in March 2024. Bourne having a rich history of competitive chess play going back to the ’80s.

The “4200” League is run by Cambridgeshire County Chess Association and includes teams from:

Spalding, March, Peterborough, Godmanchester, St. Ives, and St. Neots

Bourne fielded no less than 12 of its members across the season, who were keen to start playing competitive chess. It was quite some achievement because the vast majority of the 12 had not experienced any competitive chess previously, so the club had to run practice sessions for using clocks, writing down moves and learning about general rules of chess for competitive matches.

The progress that members made through the season was really quite exceptional. Two members who stand out for making remarkable progress were Harrison, who managed to win on three occasions of being asked to play, at the grand age of 11, and Matt who on joining the club had to learn about notation and use of clocks. Credit also needs to go to two of the squad of 12 who were aged over 70.

The majority of the squad were not even registered with the ECF when the club was established at Wake House, Bourne in March 2024. But one of the key factors that assisted in the remarkable progress that the newcomers to chess made was their desire to learn and improve. Bourne Chess Club made use of internal communications within the club settings of chess.com and also created no less than 5 internal tournaments within the club (inter-league tournaments). These tournaments offered members a variety of different formats and time controls from rated blitz on the ECF LMS, to rapid-play on Swiss-Manager and Chess-results.com, to Classical at 50mins + 10secs.  Some of these tournaments required notation and use of clocks, and others neither. The result of this was a packed season of chess which was keenly fought out between members of the newly formed club and went a long way to recognising the expected requirements for competitive play in the external “4200” league.

Congratulations go to all Bourne Chess Club members for winning this superb trophy that now stands proudly at the club. In no particular order, well done to:

Ed Bailey, Harry Ingram, Cayden McKay, Tom Ingram, Peter Baldwin, Alan Stephenson, Matt Bailey, Sam Warner, Harrison Redhead, Aanjishnu Bhattacharyya, Ben Bennett, David Stanford.

No single player played more than 3 times in the season, an incredible team achievement that was not even nearly matched by any other club in the regional tournament. This willingness to play in the team for their club was a noticeable and very commendable attribute of the first year of competitive play for Bourne Chess Club.

Bourne Chess Club Honorary Member, Jason Dilley says:

A big “congratulations” to Tom Ingram and everyone associated with Bourne Chess Club on their first regional title. For a club that has been up and running for less than 18 months, with a group of individuals for whom the majority had never previously played rated matches, used clocks or annotated their games, this is a fantastic achievement.  Tom and the team have built a safe, friendly, welcoming environment for players of all ages and standards and, as an Honorary Member of the club with over 40 years of playing at a high level across the Midlands, I have witnessed some great junior talent emerging especially. Well done everyone – the opposition should be very wary of Bourne Chess Club in the upcoming season!”

Big congratulations to our Junior’s Chess Club members who have all passed their Level 1 exams.

Here we can see a sample of our proud juniors with their personalised certificates. The tutors involved in helping the juniors include: Sam, Cayden, Sarunas, Tom, David S and Tony. Bourne Chess Club is fortunate to have a pool of volunteer members, assisting under a Designated Safeguarding Officer who are able to present different chess ideas to the juniors. The club is also grateful to Justine who is a parent of two of the Junior members, as she has liased with the examination board, organising sourcing the exam papers, invigilation and also sending the papers off for external assessment.

Passing the test has been the result of a lot of hard work and dedicated practice by the Juniors. Key chess skills are being developed that include ideas about position, development, rules, thinking before moving, notation, tactics, and checkmates.

In no particular order, a big well done goes to:

Alice, Sasha, Sophia, Max and Ryan.

Sam who has been helping the Juniors said, “I am very proud of our junior members, they have all worked so hard and deserve their certificates. I hope they continue to make further progress in September.”

1. How long have you been playing chess?

I’ve been playing chess ever since I was 7 years old, playing against computers and against my dad

2. Who taught you how to play?

My dad had taught me to play. And was a big role for the devotion I feel now.

3. When did you get your first chess set?

I’ve been using the same chess set my dad had before I was even born.

4. Do you prefer to play as white or black?

I prefer playing as white as I get to decide how the game would play out with that one extra tempo I get.

5. How would you describe your current ability and what is your goal?

I’d say I’m quite competent but still around intermediate level. My current goal is to work on my weaknesses by practicing consistently.

6. How do you motivate yourself to practice?

My practice isn’t driven by motivation but by genuine enjoyment. I love experimenting with new openings and analyzing my games. This curiosity keeps me engaged and eager to improve.

7. How many games do you play in a typical week?

I aim for more than one game a day online to remain sharp.

8. Do you prefer to play chess online or over the board?

I prefer to play over the board as you get to ask questions after the game and understand your errors.

9. What’s the most memorable game you have had so far?

The most memorable game for me was the first one I lost after joining BCC. I came in confident, with no losses under my belt, only to realize there’s always a bigger fish.

10. Who do you most admire as a chess player?

I admire Garry Kasparov not only for him being the champion for 15 years but for his powerful writing and insights into chess and politics.

11. Do you have a favourite opening?

Most definitely the Scotch Game, even got a poster of it on my wall.

12. What advice would you give to anyone starting to play the game?

Don’t get frustrated if nothing’s going to plan, chess is for everybody, you’ll get there.