TAFCA
Online Allegro
Championship

SEASON 2024-25

The 5th TAFCA ONLINE ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2024-25
Tues 11th March 25 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 7 players taking part in the 5th & last Allegro night of the series!

Congratulations to David Findlay (Dundee) on a perfect 5 out of 5 and winning the TAFCA Online Allegro Championship by a country mile! Well played David!

Matthew Hunter finished 2nd on the night and 2nd in the overall standings after the 5 events! Nice work Matthew!

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 5 players
Dundee: 1 players
Kirkcaldy 1 player

That`s it for another season! Thank you all for taking part and once again, congratulations to David Findlay for once again winning the Online TAFCA Allegro Championship!

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The 4th TAFCA ONLINE ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2024-25
Tues 11th Feb 25 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 7 players taking part in the fourth Allegro night of the series!

Congratulations to David Findlay (Dundee) on a perfect 5 out of 5, pushing Robert Jackson (Castlehill) and Peter Selbie (Kirkcaldy) in to 2nd place.

With this result, David Findlay cannot be caught and has retained his title with one night to go! Congratulations David, well deserved!

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 3 players
Dundee: 2 players
Newport Knights 1 player
Kirkcaldy 1 player

Next one, Tues 11th March 25

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The 3rd TAFCA ONLINE ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2024-25
Tues 14th Jan 25 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 10 players taking part in the third Allegro night of the series! This was an improvement on the last time not only on numbers, but strength of players as well!

Congratulations to Ed Spencer (Dundee) on a perfect 5 out of 5, pushing David Findlay into 2nd place! David still leads the standings and is the one to catch and stop from retaining his title!

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 5 players
Dundee: 3 players
Newport Knights 1 player
Kirkcaldy 1 player

Next one, Tues 11th Feb 25

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The 2nd TAFCA ONLINE ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2024-25
Tues 26th Nov 24 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 8 players taking part in the second Allegro night of the series! This was an improvement on the last time, and made for some good games on the night! Let’s hope the next one also has more players!

It was good to have players from St Andrews and Newport Knights this time.

Congratulations to David Findlay on a perfect 5 out of 5 again! Can anybody stop David from retaining his title!

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 5 players
Dundee: 1 player
Newport Knights 1 player
St Andrews 1 player

Next one, Tues 7th Jan 25

The 1st TAFCA ONLINE ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2024-25
Tues 29th Oct 24 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had only 6 players taking part in the first Allegro night of the series! This was disappointing, but hopefully this will improve in the next one. It is a busy chess calendar and sometimes, players cannot fit it all in! Mind you, it did not spoil the night and everybody had a good night!

Congratulations to David Findlay on a perfect 5 out of 5! What a way to start the defence of his title! Well played John Robertson & Matthew Hunter!

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 3 players
Dundee: 3 players

 Next one, Tues 26th Nov 24

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DATES

• Tues 29th Oct 24: 1st TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 26th Nov 24: 2nd TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 14th Jan 25: 3rd TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 11th Feb 25: 4th TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 11th Mar 25: 5th TAFCA Allegro Championship: (last)

SEASON 23-24

The 5th TAFCA ONLINE ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2023-24
Tues 12th March 24 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 14 players taking part in the final online Allegro night of the series!

Congratulations to David Findlay (Dundee), on wining 4½ out of 5 on the night, including a last round win against junior sensation, Rishi Vijayakumar!

Rishi Vijayakumar (Castlehill) finished Runner-up on 4 points, with Joshua Crofts (Dundee) & Richard Kynoch (Castlehill) finishing equal 3rd place on 3½ points!

After all, 5 events, its also congratulations to David Findlay (Dundee) who finished on 24½ and is now the new TAFCA Online Allegro Championship Series Champion 2023-24! We played and well-deserved David!

Rishi Vijayakumar (Castlehill) finished runner-up once again (last time to Ed Spencer!), Just 2½ points behind David!

Castlehill once again had the most players on the night.

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 8 players
Dundee: 3 players
Newport: 1 player
Kirkcaldy: 1 player
Perth: 1 player

Well, that’s it for this season. We will be back in 2024-25 to see if David Findlay can defend his title. Once again congratulations to David!

Until we meet again!

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The 4th ONLINE TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2023-24
Tues 13th Feb 24

We had 17 players taking part this time! David Findlay (Dundee) reigned supreme with a perfect 5 out of 5! Joshua Crofts (Dundee) finished in 2nd place on 4 points, with Rishi Vijayakumar (Castlehill), in 3rd place on 3½ points.
David Findlay now leads the way with one event left!

ENTRIES BY CLUBS
Castlehill: 11
Dundee:     3
Perth:         1
Kirkcaldy:   1
Newport:   1

The last TAFCA Online Allegro takes place on Tues 12th March 24!

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The 3rd ONLINE TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2023-24
Tues 9th Jan 24

We had 18 players taking part in the first TAFCA event of 2024! A happy New Year start for Rishi Vijayakumar (Castlehill), as he won all 5 games to finish first on the night and puts him in pole position in the overall table! David Findlay (Dundee), was runner-up on the night, which coincidently puts him in runner-up spot in the overall table, just a ½ point behind Rishi!

Special mentions to Daniel Coleman (Castlehill) and Jonathan Kinnell (Dundee) on outstanding performances for their grades!

ENTRIES BY CLUBS
Castlehill: 12
Dundee:     3
Perth:         1
Kirkcaldy:   1

Two events left and the next one in on Tues 13th Feb 24!

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The 2nd ONLINE TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2023-24
Tues 28th Nov 23

We only had 13 players for the second one, but a good turnout none the less! But the impressive thing was the strength in depth we had, with 8 of the players graded over 2000+!
It was a minefield online and boy it at times was brutal!
Congratulations to Theodoros Vasiliadis & Stephen Hogg finishing in equal 1st place on the night on 4 points! David Findlay was in 3rd place on 3½ points, which was enough to propel him into 1st place in the overall standings after 2 events!

Three events left and the next one in on Tues 9th Jan 24!

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The 1st ONLINE TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2023-24
We had an unbelievable 17 players on the night and too top that, the quality of players was high, which is fantastic to see. It was a Spock-tacular night of chess! Our super-Junior, Rishi Vijayakumar J13, took a  bye in round one, then took the field apart to finish in top spot on 4½ points!
With a TPR of 2633 against average opponents grade of 2131, you have to take your hat off to Rishi! Well played young man!

Rishi sits top of the table after 1 event, with 4 more too come!

Next one is in November!

DATES

• Tues 31st Oct 23: 1st TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 28th Nov 23: 2nd TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 9th Jan 24: 3rd TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 13th Feb 24: 4th TAFCA Allegro Online Championship:

• Tues 12th Mar 24: 5th TAFCA Allegro Championship: (last)

The 5th TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2022-23
Tues 15th April 23 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 16 players taking part in the final Allegro night of the series.

Congratulations to first timer, David Findlay (Dundee) on winning 5 out of 5 on the night! You can never tell with these new guys, how good they are going to be! Well played David in what was a very strong field at the top end!

Well played Andre Babin (Castlehill) who finished Runner-up on 4 points, and Joshua Crofts (Dundee) who finished in 3rd place on 3½ points!

After all 5 events, its congratulations to Ed Spencer (Dundee) who finished on 21 points, a massive 9 points ahead of Rishi Vijayakumar (Castlehill) who finished runner-up, to be crowned the 1st ever TAFCA Online Allegro Championship Series Champion 2022-23! We played and well deserved Ed!

Not only that, this means Ed Spencer did the double, which of course, is a new record, by winning the OTB Allegro Championship Series (George Pyrich), and the TAFCA Online Allegro Series in the same season! What an achievement Ed, what a player!

All-round TAFCA Allegro Grandmaster!

Back to the tournament on the night: Ed finished in equal 4th place on 3 points with, Rishi Vijayakumar, Graham Mooney, Ed Walton, and Jan Barron-Majerik (all Castlehill).

Castlehill had the most players on the night, with Dundee a distant second!

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 10 players
Dundee: 4 players
Newport: 1 players
Kirkcaldy: 1 player

Well that’s it for this season. We will be back in 2023-24 to see if Ed Spencer can defend his titles. Once again congratulations to Ed for winning this inaugural online TAFCA event and the double!

Checkout the results and standings on the next tab!

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The 4th TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2022-23
Tues 14th March 23 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 14 players taking part, including two first timers!

Congratulations to Ed Spencer (Dundee) who finished in 1st place on 4 points to extend his lead at the top of the overall TAFCA Online Allegro table!

Ed lost one game and that was to Rishi Vijayakumar J11 (Castlehill), but then Rishi lost his last two matches to fall behind Ed! Talk about a merry-go-round!

Both those losses by Rishi were to Joshua Crofts (Dundee) and Graham Mooney (Castlehill) who both finished in equal 2nd place on the night! This time Rishi had to settle for equal 4th place with Andre Babin (Castlehill) and Ed Walton (Castlehill).

The shock result of the night (there’s always one!), happened in round 2, when Daniel Coleman (Castlehill -1100), beat David Findlay (Dundee – 2000+)! What a result! Daniel said, he did not see who he was playing until after the game, and then fell off his chair! I think David beat him to that one!

Talk about a David and Goliath moment, or is that now a Daniel and Goliath moment! Daniel`s TPR was 2110!

Sorry David, but here is Daniels game! “HERE”

PLAYERS/CLUBS
Castlehill: 9 players
Dundee: 3 players
Newport: 2 players

Maybe TAFCA could do with a little more support from the other clubs outside of Castlehill?

With a 9 point lead, Ed Spencer (Dundee), even if he did not take part in the last one, is untouchable and is the first ever champion of this event and is crowned, TAFCA Online Allegro Championship Series champion 2022-23! Congratulations Ed and well deserved!

Checkout the results and standings on the next tab!

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The 3rd TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2022-23
Tues 31st  Jan 23 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

We had 15 players this time, double the last one, so things improving! Rishi Vijayakumar J11 (Castlehill) was hot to trot, with a perfect 5 out of 5! Ed Spencer (Dundee) finished in 2nd place on 4 points, only losing to Rishi!

In equal 3rd place was Graham Mooney (Castlehill), Ed Walton (Castlehill), Angus Sneddon (Newport Knights) & Daniel Coleman (Castlehill) on 3 points each!

A special shout out to Daniel Coleman and Angus Sneddon who achieved TPR`s of 2129 & 1832 respectively!  Respect!

After 3 events, Ed Spencer still heads the top of the table, with Rishi Vijayakumar now breathing down his neck!

The next Online Allegro is on Tuesday 14th March 2023!

Checkout the results and standings on the next tab!

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The 2nd TAFCA ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2022-23
Tues 29th Nov 22 – 7:30pm on Lichess.org
Format: 5 Round Swiss: Time-Control: 15 minutes each player

The 2nd TAFCA Allegro Championship was hit by the Football World Cup and the England v Wales match! I also did not send out a reminder, but have no idea if that had any affect.

Only 7 players took part, and all in with a chance of making the top 5 places (points)! There were some good battles but Lichess grading proved to be correct (more or less!). Congratulations to Ed Spencer (Dundee) who matched his number one seeding by finishing 1st on the night on 4½ points! Mind you his last game against Ray Noble (Castlehill) was a humdinger with rook sacrifices by Ray causing all sorts of problems for Ed! But this is nothing new for Ed and sanity prevailed in the end as Ray lost on time!

There was a 4-way tie for 2nd place on 2½, with Andre Babin, Richard Kynoch, Euan Murray (Castlehill) and Jan Thiel (St.Andrews).

Dragging their heals at the bottom of the table (Holding everyone up!) were Judith Firth and Ray Noble, just missing out on the points (In our dreams!).

After two events with three still to play, Ed Spencer leads they way but not by much!

The next Online Allegro is on Tuesday 31st January 2023! Football should be over by then and there are still plenty points to play for!

Checkout the results and standings on the next tab!

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23/07/22

Due to the pandemic we moved most of our competitions online, including the TAFCA Allegro Championship Series (now known as the George Pyrich Memorial Allegro Championship Series). Due to the success of this and other events, TAFCA have decided to keep online tournaments going even after moving back to OTB chess.

So begins a new chapter for TAFCA as we hold the first ever official “TAFCA Allegro Online Championship Series“! Like it`s counter part OTB, it will be a 5 round event with the player finishing with the most points after the 5 events being declared the “TAFCA Allegro Online Champion!”.

Who will have the honour of being the first winner?