Suffolk Chess

David Spence is having an interesting tournament in the 247-player Masters!   After taking a first round bye and drawing in the second round, he faced one of the lowest-rated players in the tournament, in Round 3.   And what happened?   1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 ... and David's mobile phone rang!   0  -  1.

That's how to lose nearly 14 rating points; he should've been arrested for that.

After that, he picked himself up, beat Cambridge's Ashley Stewart in Round 4, won again in Round 5 and then took another half-point bye in Round 6 (don't know why - a heavy night's drinking?)

The next two rounds have been David's best.   In Round 7 he beat a Spanish FM with Black in a French Milner-Barry Gambit (see below) and then drew with GM Womacka (Germany) in Round 8.   Today, in the penultimate round, he faces another GM, Ralf Akesson from Sweden.     Latest news (19.50 on Wednesday): David has just lost against GM Akesson.

So he's on 5 points out of 8, and one of only two untitled players in the top 72.

This was the position after Black's 26th move (Kh7).   Despite his two-pawn advantage, David's position looks distinctly shaky.   But Rybka gives Black a +1.26 advantage:


Clearly, great care still has to be taken.   Eventually, after careful manoeuvring by Black, and the first time limit being reached after 40 moves, White resigned, having failed to improve his position.

The other Suffolk player, David Brown, suffered losses in his first three games in the five-round Challengers A section, but finished strongly with two wins.

The following has been received from SCCA Competitions Secretary Mike McNaughton:

"I hope that we are now in a position to make a draw for the various cup competitions.

UNDER 125

Felixstowe will play Ipswich or Stowmarket (this match is due to be played 26 February I believe).
The final will be played on 23 April.

UNDER 145

To resolve the log-jam, Felixstowe and Saxmundham were asked if they wished to re-enter.  Irregular, but one way of finishing it.  Felixstowe have accepted the offer and, not having heard from Saxmundham, I assume they have declined.

Therefore, in what will be the semi final, Ipswich will be home to Adastral.  26 February, 12 or 19 March are possible dates for this match, but not perfect (Ipswich are involved in an u125 fixture on 26 February).

Manningtree will be at home to Felixstowe.  13 or 20 February look all right for this.  I think the 23 April will be a suitable date for the final.

LEAGUE CUP

It has become clear that there is little chance of playing the outstanding match in the B Group.  Hence Group A has Sudbury as the winners with Ipswich A runners up.

In Group B, Saxmundham are the winners and Manningtree runners up.  According to the rules the draw must be:

Sudbury v Manningtree: 26 February appears clear for both clubs.
Saxmundham v Ipswich A: 26 March appears clear for both clubs.
The final will be on 30 April.

NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK CUP

The regional (Suffolk) final will, as arranged, take place on 23 April.  As always the contestants are Ipswich v Bury St Edmunds."

OK, the snow has disappeared now, but last week Thetford's Kevin Moore built probably the best snowman you'll ever see:

Here are the 'Top Tens', showing new and old grades:

Top players

Name	Club(s)	New grade	Old grade
Adam Hunt	Woodbridge School	226	229
Alan Merry	Bury St Edmunds	214	225
Ed Player	Bury St Edmunds	214	208
Mike Harris	Bury St Edmunds	211	214
David Spence	Bury St Edmunds	206	207
Shaun Munson	Ipswich/Bury St Edmunds	206	191
Mark Le-Vine	Bury St Edmunds	193	177
Mike Cook	Ipswich	190	189
Adam Taylor	Manningtree	187	181
Graham Moore	Sudbury	186	197

Top juniors

Name	Club(s)	New grade	Old grade
Alan Merry	Bury St Edmunds	214	225
Adam Taylor	Manningtree	187	181
Silas Peck	Ipswich	154
Sam Brennan	Ipswich/Bury St Edmunds	152	157
Nikolay Lastochkin	Woodbridge School	139	136
Emilia Jewell	Bury St Edmunds	132	133
Daniel Such	Woodbridge School	117	92
Alex Sheerin	Ipswich	105	69
Artem Emelyanov	Woodbridge School	101	103
George Horan	Bury St Edmunds	98	100

Top ladies/girls

Name	Club(s)	New grade	Old grade
Anna York-Andersen	Ipswich	155	158
Emilia Jewell	Bury St Edmunds	132	133
Vicky Allen	Stowmarket	112	122
Adele Lunn	Felixstowe/Ipswich	105	100
Alba Saenz de Villaverde	Bury St Edmunds	76
Anita Somton	Bury St Edmunds	58

(Only six with grades are currently playing)

The new grades have been published today!    They can be viewed on Dave Wild's grading site.

You are reminded that these grades don't affect events in progress, such as the u125 and u145 cups, or the Suffolk u160 team; for those tournaments, the September 2012 grades still apply.   But if you enter a future event, for example the Southend Easter Congress, you would have to use these new grades to determine your eligibility for graded sections.

The new grades will also affect board order.   If, for example, you played below someone earlier in the season because you were graded 5 points lower, but now you are 15 points higher than that same person, then you must play above them.   Conversely, if someone graded 5 points below you normally plays above you, and that person's grade is now more than 10 points lower than yours, you must play ahead of them.

For players with a first-time grade, their new grade must now be used, instead of any previous estimated grade.

Only three people turned up to play chess at the Ipswich Club recently.   But that didn't put them off:


(l. to r.) - Silas Peck, Les Jones, Ken Lunn

Silas was the only person to submit a correct answer to the puzzle from a few days ago, as follows:

1. Ne3+   Ke2  2. Bxh2   Kxe3  3. Kh8   Bd5   4. g8Q   Bxg8   5. Bg1!   Now ...fxg1Q or R is stalemate.   If ...Bd5, then Bxf2+.

The eight-board Suffolk team is currently playing in the Sinclair tournament against other five other counties.   Our team is:

Ian Wallis
Bob Jones
Tim Lunn
Phil Revell
Kevin Greenacre
Jim Buis (captain)
Bob Stephens
Jacob Tulic

Everyone plays two games, as White and Black, against the same opponent.   So the final tally will be out of 16 points.

So far, five games have been completed - and Suffolk has won them all!   Two wins each for Phil Revell and Kevin Greenacre, and one for Bob Stephens.

Keep this up and we could actually win the section!

There are a number of tournaments coming up over the next few months. Click on the links for more info.

Herts Chess Association Congress - 2/3 February (in Hertford)
Open, u175, u150 and u120 sections
Website

Peterborough Rapidplay - Saturday 9 February
Separate sections for adults and juniors.
Website

Norfolk Rapidplay - Sunday 10 February (in Norwich)
Championship and Challengers sections
Website

Bury St Edmunds Junior Congress - Sunday 24 February
u8, u10, 12, u14, u18 and Parents sections.


Southend Easter Congress - 29 March - 1 April
Open, u180, u150 and u120 sections
Website

South Herts Congress - 13/14 April (in St Albans)
Open, u180, u160, u140 and u120 sections
Website

Cambridgeshire Rapidplay - Sunday 21 April (in Peterborough)
Open, u160 and u120 sections


Great Yarmouth Congress - 27/28 April
Open, u165 and u130 sections


Or contact if you need further information.

Now in its eleventh year, the Gibraltar Chess Festival goes from strength to strength.  This year an amazing 246 players have entered the Masters section, over 20% of which are Grandmasters.  Top boards include Ivanchuk, Kamsky and Adams.

The only local entrant in the Masters section is David Spence, who at 2226 is ranked about halfway down the list of entrants.

The first (of ten) rounds atarts at 15.00 today and you can watch the games here.

Also playing, in one of the two 'Challengers' sections, is David Brown (of Saxmundham and Bury St Edmunds).

Good luck guys!

There are five fixtures scheduled this week.  Will they be affected by the weather conditions?

Tuesday:
Sudbury v Ipswich B (Division 1)
Saxmundham A v Adastral (Division 2) - postponed
Clacton B v Ipswich D (Division 3)

Wednesday:
Manningtree v Bury St Edmunds A (Division 1)

Thursday:
Bury St Edmunds B v Stowmarket A (Division 2)


Team captains - please keep in contact with each other and keep the Match Secretary informed!