Alumni Summer Party 2024

At our inaugural Warwick Chess Alumni Summer Party 2024 (August 17th), we were thrilled to reunited - welcoming old and new faces, especially our Class 2024 graduates!

Early Bird Drinks began at the Red Lion (Mayfair), before we moved into St James' Square for cocktails and a handicapped blitz tournament. We ventured to an old classic, Four Seasons Wardour, for some Cantonese roasts, before culminated with drinks at the EI-DSPC, the home of the Sports' Club Est. 1893, which has championed the best of British sports for over 130 years.

All in all, it was an excellent day of great food, great drinks, & great company. We look forward to upcoming reunions, including an outing to the Global Chess League (5th October 2024), and the Alumni Christmas Dinner (7th December 2024).

Season in Pictures

 

A delight to celebrate an excellent season (2023-24), with a mix of socials, reunions, and competitive chess events for members, and partners!

Socials and Reunions:

• Chess Fest & Blitz Tournament, Trafalgar Square (July, 2024)
• Post-Rapidplay Alumni-Society Networking Dinner, Varsity (March, 2024)
• 2nd Warwick Alumni Vs. Society Football Match, Cryfield: 4-4 [5-3 Penalties] (March, 2024)
• 3rd Warwick Alumni Christmas Meal, Clerkenwell (December, 2023)

Competitive Chess:

• World Chess League: 1 team (Group E winners; qualifying for the KO Competition - July 2024)
• Warwick Alumni vs. UK Parliament Chess (June 2024, rearranged due to the General Election.)
• Warwick Alumni vs. Eton College Chess: 91⁄2 - 61⁄2 (April, 2024)
• 6th Warwick University Rapidplay (March, 2024)
• WCL Meme of the Season Award: Holden Davis, and Vincenz Bill. (Sept 2023)
• World Chess League: 3 Alumni teams (22nd, 33rd, 48th Placed - July 2023)

Annual Report: here.

Chess Fest & Blitz Tournament 2024

A delight for the Alumni to come together for our first Blitz, followed by our annual trek to ChessFest, on Traflagar Square.

Briefly avoiding the rain, we held our own Blitz Handicap Tournament by St James' Square, followed with dinner in Chinatown - with Warwick Uni Alumni stretching a decade come together. Well done to Vincenz Bill for winning the Blitz!

Next Alumni event: Summer Party, Sat 17th October, details here.

General Election Called - Parliament Match delayed.

Due to the calling of the General Election on the 30th May and the dissolution of Parliament, the 10th June match between Warwick Alumni against the UK Parliamentary Chess Club will be suspended until further notice.

A new date will be announced after the General Election.

Warwick Alumni vs. Eton College Chess Club 2024

On April 21st, Warwick Chess Alumni fielded a team against Eton College.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, with a closely fought set of matches - followed with lunch, tour of Eton, and a stroll through Windsor. Thank you to Tom Richardson for organising this expedition.

The WCAA Team: Mateusz Eggink, Arjun Pyda, Tom Richardson (Capt.), and Sid Panicker.

Well done to the players on both sides!

Congratulations to our President, Peter Batchelor, and Emma Bewley!

 

Many congratulations to our Honorary President, Peter Batchelor, and Emma Bewley, two awesome people in the Alumni, for getting married on the 23rd March. All the very best for the future!

The 6th Warwick Rapidplay and 2nd Alumni-Society Football Match

 

A delight for Warwick Chess Alumni to return for the 6th Warwick Rapidplay on the 2nd March, and play in the annual Alumni-Society Football Match. Great to bring together chess players spanning 20 generations of the University, in particular the Alumni and Society Networking Dinner.

Many thanks goes to Emilija Tamosiunaite, the Society's Publicty and Marketing Officer for organising and coordinating both the Society and Alumni.

Score: 4-4, but the Alumni won on penalties!

[Last year, we lost 7-2!]

3rd Alumni Christmas Meal

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Great to see everyone at the 2023 Christmas Dinner & Drinks! Taran is compiling the full report & photos for the Alumni Facebook Group, as we speak.

Thank you to our Treasurer, James Munns for organising, as ever. Welcome drinks at the Fellow (Kings Cross) was well-received, following by a brisk walk to the Union Tavern in Clarkenwell for Christmas Dinner. Afterwards, we all enjoyed some live music and great dancing from Jack and Sophie, at Piano Works.

Members present unanimously elected Jaspar Goodall (former Secretary and Operations Officer, Warwick Chess) an Honorary Vice President, in recognition to his services to the Warwick Chess and Alumni community. All existing Secretaries and Captains on the Committee, were reelected for the coming year.

Next Alumni event: 6th Warwick Rapidplay Weekend (Chess, Circle & Football).

Sat 2nd March:

• Rapidplay: 10.30-6pm (Science Concourse)
• Alumni-Society Networking Dinner: 6.30pm (Varsity)
• Circle / Drinks: 8pm (Engineering)

Sun 3rd: 

• Brunch :10.30 am (Leamington)
• Alumni vs Society Football Match: 1pm (Cryfield)

World Chess League: Big wins for Warwick Alumni

 

Worthy nominations for the World Chess League's Meme of the Season Award!

Overall, our three Alumni teams last season performed very well in the World Chess League, coming 22nd, 33rd, and 48th - narrowly behind the Society on 13th. A big well done to all the players, in particularly, the three Captains, Holden Davis, Vincenz Bill, and Jack Huffer. The Society did fare better still, winning the World Chess League 20-20 Rapidplay 2023 title.🏆

However, the Alumni did manage to pick up some silverware, with Holden's and Vincenz's submissions sharing the WCL Meme of the Season Award 2023 - many congratulations!🙌

For the coming 2023-24 Season, we are only entering the 2200+ Team into the WCL. The team have elected Dimiter Daskalov to be the new Captain, succeeding Holden. We are looking to enter the other teams in the near-future to OTB team tournaments, so keep your eyes peeled! In the meantime, do follow the team, and our future Twitch streams.🖥️