Suffolk Chess

A bit of light relief (you'll get that double-entendre by the end of the clip).   Well, it is Christmas and we'll all have had too much to drink.   Click on the link below:

You Tube chess game

As I'm off on holiday today, this will be the last posting for a week or so.   I'll be back on Sunday 6 January, when the Under 160s play their second round of matches (against Cambridgeshire and Norfolk).  I'll be posting the results that evening, so tune in again then!

In the meantime, I hope you all have a successful 2013.

In the following position on a 3 x 3 chessboard, what is the minimum number of plays needed to exchange the positions of the knights (placing White knights where the Black knights currently are, and vice versa)?   NB: A 'play' is not necessarily a single move; it can be successive moves by a piece, where possible.


For your answer, state the number of plays as well as the actual moves.   To do this, number the squares from left to right, top to bottom.   So the Black knights are currently on squares 1 and 3, and the White knights are on 7 and 9. Show your plays thus (for example): 3 - 8;  9 - 4 - 3 etc.

In the following diagram, the White king has been accidentally knocked off the board.  Where was it?

And yes, the diagram is correct; Black is in check.


Answer in a couple of days' time (if no one solves it in the comments below).

A Merry Christmas to all our readers!   What better day than to pose a couple of traditional Christmas tree problems?   Because of obvious design limitations such problems are never too difficult, but these may test you for a few minutes:




It's White to play and mate in two (in both problems)

It's Christmas Eve and you probably have plenty of time on your hands (assuming you're not working).   You might need it as this apparently simple mate in three is in fact quite tricky.   It's White to play, of course.  Again, don't use your computer!


These puzzles seem to be grabbing everyone's attention.   Yesterday we had a record number of page views to the website (175); the previous record was exactly 100.

Continuing with our Christmas puzzles, in this one all you have to do is place White's king and one pawn in the correct positions on the board so that with White to play it's mate in 2.  Nice easy one!


Write your answer in the 'Comments' below.

As we seem to have survived yesterday's 'scare', perhaps it's time to settle down with a glass of red wine and a chess problem or two.   Over each of the next few days there will be a problem for you to solve.  Don't give in and use your computer; try and solve them yourself (not that your computer will help you with this one...).

Here's the first.   Solutions will be provided later.

White to play in mate in 2.

As explained earlier, one match had to be postponed until January due to freezing fog conditions on 11 December. The winding road between Stowmarket and Saxmundham can be unpleasant at the best of times.

So the table below needs to be interpreted with a mind to that outstanding match:

DIVISION 2

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
Bury St Edmunds B	5	4	1	0	13½
Adastral	5	3	1	1	12
Saxmundham A	4	2	1	1	10
Bury St Edmunds C	5	2	0	3	8
Clacton A	5	0	1	4	6½
Stowmarket A	4	1	0	3	6

Saxmundham A would need to win their outstanding match 4 - 0 to overtake Bury St Edmunds B at the head of the table.   Promotion to Division 1 is the prize for the leading team at the end of the season.

Stowmarket need just half a point from their postponed match to consign Clacton A to the foot of the table.

The Player of the Season competition is led by Mark Le-Vine (Bury St Edmunds C) with four straight wins, followed by Bob Jones (Bury St Edmunds B) with 5/6 (played once for the C team).  In equal third place are Simon Riley (Adastral) and Malcolm Lightfoot (Saxmundham A), both on 75% (3/4).

Have you heard or seen the forecast for tomorrow?   If the Mayan calendar is to be believed, then here it is:


On the chess front, things are quiet but much less dire.  Whilst chess boards are being tucked away to prepare the table for Christmas fare, many Suffolk players are secretly hoping that their spouses/partners will buy them the latest sensational openings book (some hope).   There's a degree of sadness that no more competitive chess will be played until early January 2013.

The Under 160 squad is looking forward to the next round of matches on Sunday 6 January, when Suffolk should be fielding a stronger team than last time.  The first league matches take place that week, starting on 8 January.

I'm looking for some more material to fill these lonely chess-free days over Christmas, so please send me any games or interesting positions from the first half of the season.

Each team has now played six matches to reach the halfway point in Division 3.   The table stands thus:

DIVISION 3

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
Ipswich D	6	4	0	2	15
Ipswich E	6	3	2	1	14
Saxmundham B	6	3	2	1	13
Woodbridge School	6	2	3	1	13
Felixstowe	6	2	2	2	11½
Clacton B	6	1	2	3	9½
Stowmarket Rooks	6	0	1	5	7½

So there's only two points separating the top four teams; there's no runaway leader, that's for sure.  Even the top team, Ipswich D, have lost two matches.

In the Player of the Season competition, it's good to see two juniors heading the field.  Daniel Such (ECF 92) (Woodbridge School) has won all four games against an average opponents' grade of 119, whilst Silas Peck (Ipswich E) has won three and drawn one (87.5%).   In third place currently is Peter Chadwick (Saxmundham B) with 5/6 (83.3%).