Suffolk Chess

This is a true story....

  Keith Woodcock

Keith's version:
On Saturday 23rd February, after returning to the Daventry Court Hotel from a superb curry and a few glasses of wine at the Asia restaurant in Daventry where all three Anglian Avengers teams met up for a catch up between rounds, Martin Fogg and I had a drink at the hotel bar then retired into the labyrinth of corridors and rooms to find our twin room 246.   Once the curtains are closed in these rooms they are particularly dark which is great for a good night’s sleep.   On the very comfortable bed I soon fell asleep.

It was around 4 a.m. when I suddenly awoke to the sound of someone moving around to the left hand side of me. In my room it was so dark I could barely make out a distant shadow (I believed at this point I was in my own bed at home where I live alone; this of course was incorrect!).   After briefly analysing the situation and reluctant to move so as not to alert an intruder that I was awake, I decided that someone had definitely broken into my home, got in my bedroom and was emptying the wardrobe of all its totally useless contents, which in fact should have been done years ago!   So I jumped up onto Martin’s bed and started punching and scratching and shouting at him “get out of my flat”!   Poor ole Martin, who didn’t deserve this in any way, startled and confused, very quickly punched me and shouted “JUST STOP”!   Immediately i recognised Martin’s voice and stopped, then went into an uncontrollable shake and a feeling of unjust remorse for my confused outburst.   Martin is a great guy with the patience of a saint!   He then sat up in bed and effectively counselled me for half an hour while I calmed down.

Marty I hope you’re not too bruised.   I do have a bit of a ‘shiner’ round me eye but I’m sure it’ll clear up in a day or so.   Ooo and if you want to press charges I’ll plead guilty as long as they’ll allow a couple of chess books and Fritz in the asylum!   lol

  Martin Fogg

Martin's version:
Me and Keith both stayed at the hotel bar for a couple of drinks after our indian meal that night.  We spectated some blitz and then left for our room around midnight in high spirits because both of us had crushed our opponents in round 5 of the 4NCL.

I slept soundly for 4 hours until Keith decided that clearly wasn't acceptable behaviour!  Still gripped in the hold of a nightmare that his home had been burgled, Keith was convinced that I had sneaked inside his apartment.

My comatose state of mind and inert body must have posed a considerable threat to him once he came to this realisation, because he then proceeded to scratch, punch and slap every piece of me that he could reach in an attempt to evict me from our hotel room.  I hollered and yelled at him to come to his senses (whilst somehow trying to defend myself only seconds after being awoken by the most extreme alarm clock I will probably ever encounter) for what seemed like an eternity before it was all over.

To say that I was paranoid for the next few hours until breakfast was rather an understatement...   Lol

This is the draw for the League Cup semi-finals:

Sudbury v Manningtree

Saxmundham v Ipswich A

The second semi-final above is a repeat of last year's final, which was won by Ipswich A by 5 points to 3.

The competition has had its problems this season, with one match in Group B not being played.  Competitions Secretary Mike McNaughton was called upon to decide which team should qualify.

The League Cup is a Rapidplay competition, with each team member playing two games as White and Black, with 30 minutes for each player.

These matches should be played by the end of March.

EDIT.    Sudbury played Manningtree yesterday.   The score was 4 - 4.   The winners are Manningtree as their aggregate grade (540) was lower than Sudbury (580) - see Rule 37  ("In the event of a tie in the knockout stages the team with the lower aggregate grade in the tied match shall win")

A total of 28 Suffolk players have been involved so far in 4NCL matches this season.   Last weekend the League held its third weekend (out of five) and things are looking good for one of the local teams, Anglian Avengers 2.   They are the only team in Division 3 (South) to have won all six matches to date.   But there are still five matches to be played, so no chickens can be counted quite yet.

If you want to look up the performances to date of your favourite team, you can do so on the 4NCL website.   As the site is a little difficult to navigate, here are some quick links:

Click here for Anglian Avengers 1 (Division 2)

Click here for Anglian Avengers 2 (Division 3 South)

Click here for Anglian Avengers 3 (Division 3 South)

Click here for Iceni (Division 3 South)

You can then view individual results by clicking on any of the scores.

The 4NCL deals solely in FIDE ratings, but the results are still graded by the ECF.   These are the individual grading records of the 28 Suffolk players who have participated so far this season.   In some cases estimated grades have had to be used, so these figures may not be totally accurate.   These data do not feature on Dave Wild's grading site, so if calculating your new grade, you will need to add these grading points to your total:

Name	Grade	Team	Division	Score	Grading points	Average
Dagne Ciuksyte	227	Guildford 2	1	1/2	452	226
Adam Hunt	226	Blackthorne Russia	1	½/2	404	202
Anna York-Andersen	155	Sambuca Sharks	1	0/2	285	143
Alan Merry	214	Anglian Avengers 1	2	1½/4	797	199
Ed Player	214	Anglian Avengers 1	2	3/4	934	234
Shaun Munson	206	Anglian Avengers 1	2	2/6	1007	168
David Spence	206	Anglian Avengers 1	2	1/2	394	197
Mark Gray	189	Anglian Avengers 1	2	3½/6	1091	182
Adam Taylor	187	Anglian Avengers 1	2	3½/4	913	228
Steve Gregory	174	Anglian Avengers 1 & 2	2 & 3	5/6	1226	204
Mike Cook	190	Anglian Avengers 2	3	3½/6	1051	175
Nick Savage	178	Iceni	3	1/1	228	228
Phil Hopkins	177	Anglian Avengers 2	3	2½/4	730	183
Tim Lunn	176	Anglian Avengers 2	3	2½/4	726	182
Ian Wallis	174	Anglian Avengers 2 & 3	3	4½/6	1211	202
Richard Lamont	171	Anglian Avengers 2 & 3	3	4½/6	1102	184
Steve Ruthen	169	Iceni	3	2½/3	619	206
John Feavyour	168	Iceni	3	3/6	985	164
Luke Hill	166	Anglian Avengers 3	3	½/2	293	147
Martin Fogg	164	Anglian Avengers 3	3	3½/6	1025	171
Paul Botham	158	Iceni	3	1½/2	326	163
Laurie Pott	157	Iceni	3	½/4	503	126
Silas Peck	154	Anglian Avengers 3	3	2/4	619	155
Bob Jones	153	Iceni	3	1½/2	328	164
Colin Roberts	141	Iceni	3	2½/4	587	147
Keith Woodcock	137	Anglian Avengers 3	3	2½/5	722	144
Steve Peck	e110	Anglian Avengers 3	3	0/1	96	96
Isaac Peck	e90	Anglian Avengers 3	3	0/1	67	67

A large contingent of Suffolk players was at the Daventry Court Hotel on Saturday and Sunday for the third weekend of the 4NCL.

There will be a detailed report of the results affecting the Suffolk-based teams (Anglian Avengers and Iceni) tomorrow, but in the meantime, here are the scores (out of 2 unless otherwise shown) of the Suffolk players.

In Division 1 the only Suffolk player was Dagne Ciuksyte.   In the first match she beat a Bulgarian GM, rated 164 points above her.  But she came a cropper against an English FM in the second match.

In Division 2 the results were:

Alan Merry   0
Ed Player   2
Shaun Munson   0
Adam Taylor   2
Mark Gray   1

And in Division 3:

Ian Wallis   2
Steve Gregory   1½
Mike Cook   0
Nick Savage   1 (out of 1)
Steve Ruthen   1 (out of 1)
John Feavyour   0
Laurie Pott   ½
Colin Roberts   1
Phil Hopkins   1
Richard Lamont   2
Silas Peck   1
Martin Fogg   1
Keith Woodcock   2 (including one default win)

If anyone else is interested in playing in the 4NCL, the team captains would certainly be interested in hearing from you.   They are Ian Wallis and John Feavyour.

A total of 84 youngsters and twelve parents played in the Congress today, held at Moreton Hall Community Centre. The children played in five age-group sections: Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 18 (ages as at 1 September 2012).


Whilst there were a number of outstanding performances at all age levels, it was sad to note that although 20 members of the Bury Knights Junior Club had entered, there were only two others from Suffolk, both from the Abbey Prep at Woodbridge School.   By far the largest contingent was from Cambridgeshire, with over half the total (43 entrants).   Others came from Essex, Hertfordshire, and one from Surrey.

The main prizewinners were: Under 18: 1st= Akito Oyama (Cambridge); Ieysaa bin-Suhayl (Wisbech) Under 14: 1st Austin See (Waterbeach) Under 12: 1st= Karthik Saravanan (Gt Yarmouth); Niall Ali (Brentwood) Under 10: 1st Anita Somton (Bury St Edmunds) Under 8: 1st Tristian See (Waterbeach) This photo shows the section winners, as well as 5-year old Maryam bint-Suhayl, the youngest member of the winning team (and the youngest entrant).

Several other excellent performances were recorded by Suffolk players, including Patrick Gembis (2nd in the Under 14s); Alex Sheerin and William Sait (joint 3rd in the Under 14s); and Mario Saenz de Villaverde (joint 4th in the Under 10s).

The two See brothers, as well as Anita, scored a maximum six points out of six in their respective sections.   A total of £520 was paid in prize money.

Twelve parents played in their own free-to-enter section, with Philip Bartram scoring 5/6 to win the trophy (there were no cash prizes for parents!)

Chess clubs come and go – and some stay for ever….

Looking back at the archives, it’s interesting to see how the number of chess clubs in the county changes over time. Here’s the data for 1938, 1963, 1988 and 2013.

The numbers indicate the number of teams in the Suffolk League for that year (where known).   How fortunes change!

(Click on the table above for a clearer view)

*   Club teams in 1938 consisted of 12 players (later changed to 8, then 6 and subsequently 4).

Other clubs have come and gone, but don’t show in the above table.   These include Willis Faber & Dumas, Aldeburgh, Bentwaters, Black Knights, Guardian, Orwell High School, Ipswich Juniors, Felixstowe Deben, Stowmarket Juniors, Ipswich YMCA, Framlingham and Cornhill.   There are probably many others (do tell me if you know of any).

It’s interesting to note that 25 years ago there were twice as many teams playing in the league as there are nowadays.

The Minutes of the Suffolk County AGM in 1934 made two significant mentions of the Ladies' Championship:
“Funds for a cup have been collected … for a lady player, Miss Lincoln of Bury St Edmunds, a player who had greatly helped the Bury Club.”


Later in the same minutes, it is recorded that,

“...the Chairman handed over the Ladies’ Championship cup to Miss Lincoln of Bury St Edmunds.   He did not know many counties, especially minor counties, who had a ladies’ cup.   This marked a real step forward, for if they could only get ladies interested in chess it means a great help to the movement.   Miss Lincoln replying said that she regarded it as a great honour to be the first winner of the cup.   If she did lose it, she hoped it would be to an Ipswich lady”

How generous!   In fact, the cup went to a lady from Framlingham in the following season, although Miss Lincoln was to win the Championship on two further occasions in 1938/39.   No ‘Ipswich lady’ was to win the cup until 1947.

The headquarters of English (British?) chess has for many years been in Battle, near Hastings in Sussex.   But it could have been Bury St Edmunds!

According to the old Minute Book, in 1937 Mr S D (Don) Ward (of the Bury and West Suffolk Club) advised the Suffolk County AGM that “a small committee had been appointed to consider looking for a suitable room as a permanent home for (the) headquarters of British chess”.

Whatever happened to that idea, I wonder?   Not sure where the BCF was based before Battle, but it certainly wasn’t Bury St Edmunds.   Anyone know?

EDIT (22 Feb).     I've just discovered that the BCF office relocated to Battle from St Leonards-on-Sea in 2001, having moved there in 1981 from... Norwich!

Most outstanding matches have now been played, providing a clearer picture of the league table.   Saxmundham A still have one postponed match to be played which, should they win 4-0, would bring them level with Adastral Park in second place.

Clacton A recorded their first victory yesterday, beating 3-man Saxmundham A by 2½-1½.   This moves them off the bottom of the table for the first time this season.

Unbeaten Bury St Edmunds B retain a narrow lead.   Their next match against Saxmundham A on 5 March could be decisive.

DIVISION 2

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
Bury St Edmunds B	7	5	2	0	18½
Adastral Park	7	4	2	1	17½
Bury St Edmunds C	7	3	1	3	14
Saxmundham A	6	2	2	2	13½
Clacton A	8	1	1	6	10½
Stowmarket A	7	2	0	5	10

The next matches in this division will be played during week commencing 4 March.

Finding something interesting to write every day can be quite a challenge.   And that's why many of the daily postings concern chess in the West (of Suffolk).   It would be good to include news from clubs other than Bury St Edmunds or Bury Knights Junior Chess Club.   So if you are reading this from the frozen East, please consider sending me something of interest.   It can be a game, a position, news about your members, results from in-house competitions; indeed anything of general interest.



Back on 4 February, you were given the challenge of solving an 'impossible' problem.   Of course, it wasn't impossible, just very difficult.   Silas Peck managed to solve it, but it took him the best part of two days!   Here is the solution (and a reminder of the starting position, with White to play and win):



1. Nf6+    Kg7   not Kg6, else Bh5+, covering f7.
2. Nh5+    Kg6   not Kh7, else Bc2+, forcing the king to the back row, with d8Q+ to follow; also, obviously not Kf7.
3. Bc2+!    Kxh5    forced.
4. d8Q!!    Nf7+    else the new queen will soon clean up.
5. Ke6    Nxd8+
6. Kf5   with the simple threat Bd1#  ...e2  forced.
7. Be4   threatening Bf3#  ...e1N  forced.
8. Bd5   heading for c4 and e2  ...c2
9. Bc4    c1N   again forced, to guard e2.
10. Bb5  threatening Be8#    ...Nc7  Black can delay things by one move by playing Nc6 first.
11. Ba4  and Black cannot prevent mate.  Knights can be interposed, but eventually White will play Bd1+ and Bxf3#.

So at the finish it's mate with K, B and P, against four(!) knights, bishop and two pawns.   Amazing.