Suffolk Chess

Adam Hunt and Justin Tan returned yesterday from Germany where they have been playing in a huge tournament at Bad Wiessee, with over 450 entrants in a single section.   The first four rounds for Adam were almost meaningless, as they were against much lower-rated opposition.   Although he won all these games, it only served to lower his rating performance for the whole event.   He scored 7 points out of 9, losing only once to a GM, with a rating performance of 2526.   He finished in 11th place, a point behind the eventual winner, GM Aleksander Delchev and six others on 7½ points.   Adam played four GMs (in rounds 5 to 8), scoring 2/4 against them.   He will certainly gain a few rating points, but unfortunately no GM norm (he needed a 2600 performance for that).

Meanwhile Justin Tan (2333) missed a couple of opportunities, losing in Round 5 to a 2064 and drawing with a 2086 in Round 8.   He still finished on 6 out of 9, although his rating performance was only 2230.

The final crosstable can be viewed here.

This, from Competitions Secretary Mike McNaughton:

There was a young man from Japan
Whose poetry just wouldn’t scan.
When told this was so,
He replied, “Yes, I know,
But I always try my best to fit as many words into the last line as I possibly can“

This rather silly limerick illustrates something that has been concerning me for some time and especially recently; namely that we seem to be trying to compress too much chess into too narrow a time frame.

Someone has to arrange the fixtures; and in Suffolk that person happens to be the Competitions Secretary.

I can remember the time, on Merseyside, when we had something called a 'fixtures meeting' (otherwise known as Pandemonium) when representatives from all clubs were present and the name of the game was to sort out all the fixtures on the night.   These meetings resembled a game of musical chairs, and experience taught me one thing - come prepared.   You needed a game plan; decide your ideal fixtures in advance, bag your opposite numbers early, and you could usually get your matches in some sort of decent order.

Realisation slowly dawned that this kind of free for all might not have been the most sensible way of dealing with fixture management, and the way forward might be to appoint an all-wise, all-knowing official whose responsibility it would be to arrange the fixtures in some sort of coherent order, in a way which would be fair to all concerned.

Problem solved.   Or was it?

It ought to be so easy.   For those who aren't aware of it, there exists something called the Hutton Pairing System.   This is mainly useful for jamboree events of the kind I used to organise in the North of England, but it can also be useful when arranging individual or team events.

So if you have, say, six teams, you allocate letters to each team, A to F.   Round 1 is A v E, B v D, F v C; Round 2 C v B, D v A, E v F and so on.  Easy-ozy.   You can access these pearls of wisdom by clicking here.

And in fact, with the second and third divisions, this system worked very well this year.   The difficulty comes with Division One.   The problem that I have (and not just me, it would be anyone who happened to fill the post of Competitions Secretary) in arranging fixtures for the Suffolk Chess Association (SCCA) is something like this.

It has been the practice that BACL fixtures are arranged first.   There are two good reasons for this; firstly, the BACL First Division is larger (7 teams as opposed to 6) and secondly, BACL have the ‘Cambridge problem‘ – namely that a University does not really get going until October.

So, for better or worse, the BACL fixtures secretary, or whatever you call him, has a blank sheet of paper to work with, and the SCCA counterpart has to fit in the fixtures in what is left over after his BACL equivalent has finished eating.   I wish to make it clear that this is no criticism of the BACL officials.   I think the problem is structural – too many fixtures and not enough time.

So the ‘problem' for me was that I was faced with a situation where quite a number of weeks were already occupied by BACL fixtures and no club, not even Bury, likes too many matches in the same week.   In addition I was asked to avoid fixtures which clashed with the BACL Roger Goldsmith Competition.   This request was subsequently modified to refer only to the higher rated of the two competitions.   However, there is a way round this difficulty; there is no overlap between the Roger Goldsmith and the SCCA League Cup, and that would suggest SCCA League Cup fixtures could, and should, be fixed for the same week as BACL Roger Goldsmith 1 fixtures.

The earliest realistic week for fixtures is the third week in September.   There are fourteen weeks between then and Christmas which are available for playing matches.   But the first of those weeks (third week in September) is the week of the Bury Jamboree.   In the period after Christmas the position is slightly better; there are 15.

To perform a draw with the Hutton system in a League with six teams you need five clear weeks, on the assumption that, say, A plays E, B plays D, F plays C in Round 1, and so on.   Where there are six or seven teams in a League, you need seven clear weeks.

So it’s a matter of simple arithmetic; if you have fourteen weeks, one of which has to be kept clear for the Bury Jamboree, two for Roger Goldsmith fixtures, and seven for BACL fixtures, there are only four for SCCA, and the figures do not stack up, although where the Cambridgeshire clubs are concerned there is no overlap.

This year we have a situation that Ipswich have three teams in Division 1, and Bury have three in Division 1 BACL.   The result of this is that, if you do a Hutton draw, it means that a Club which has three teams in the same division will have all its teams playing in the same week; and somehow, I think this is a situation which no club would welcome – not even Bury or Ipswich.

Summary

Ideally, I, as SCCA Competitions Secretary, would like to see a protocol that would require the BACL Match Secretary to leave a minimum of five weeks where there were no First Division BACL fixtures which involved Bury.

Games involving the four Cambridgeshire clubs do not interfere with SCCA, and BACL could arrange such fixtures in the five free weeks.   This would make it relatively easy for the SCCA Competitions Secretary to do a draw for SCCA Division One using the Hutton system.   The other two divisions in SCCA present little problem as there is much less scope for overlap.   It would also seem sensible that games reserved for the Roger Goldsmith Division 1 should also be allocated to the SCCA counterpart, the League Cup.

If anyone would like to comment on Mike's article, please do so by clicking on 'Post a Comment' below.

The first matches for the EACU Under 160 Championship take place at the Turner Hall, Newmarket, on Sunday 8 December.   Captain Bob Jones is hoping to be able to field a strong team.   These are the possible players, in grading order:

Michael Clapham (Ipswich)   159
Kevin Greenacre (Ipswich)   157
Andrew Shepherd (Ipswich)   157
Bob Jones (Bury St Edmunds)   157
Pete Smyth (Adastral Park)   156
Leon Burnett (Manningtree)   e154
Phil Hutchings (Manningtree/Clacton)   153
John Feavyour (Bury St Edmunds/Saxmundham)   151
Laurie Pott (Bury St Edmunds)   151
Les Jones (Ipswich)   150
Jim Buis (Manningtree)   150
Simon Riley (Adastral Park)   149
Andrew Donnelly (Bury St Edmunds)   148
Scott Taylor (Bury St Edmunds)   147
Vivien Woodward (Sudbury)   147
Colin Sneddon (Adastral Park)   147
John McAllister (Manningtree)   146
Bob Stephens (Clacton/Manningtree)   146
Harold Thomas (Sudbury)   146
Rob Harden (Unattached)   145
Rob Kelly (Manningtree) 145
Stephen Lewis (Stowmarket)   143
John Lambert (Clacton)   140

Others who have played frequently in recent seasons include:
Ed Kirkham   138
Carl Phillips   137
Colin Roberts   134
Keith Woodcock   134
Jakob Tulic   132
Mark Weidman   130
Mark Bettley   129

If any of the above are reading this, please let know if you are available on 8 December.

At the recent IM tournament in Majorca, Alan Merry (2297) played 18-year old FM Marc Sanchez (2381) in Round 5.   Here's the game:

White: Alan Merry   Black: Marc Sanchez (Spain)

1.   c4   e5
2.   g3   Nf6
3.   Bg2   c6
4.   d4   exd4
5.   Qxd4   d5
6.   Nf3   dxc4
7.   Qxc4   Nbd7
8.   O-O   Be7
9.   Qc2   O-O
10.   Nc3   Qa5
11.   Bf4   Re8
12.   e4   Nf8
13.   e5   Nh5
14.   Bd2   Ng6
15.   Rfe1   Bd7
16.   Qd1   Nf8
17.   e6!   Nxe6
18.   Re5   Bc5
19.   Ne4   Qb6
20.   Rxh5   f5
21.   Nxc5   Nxc5
22.   Be3   Rxe3
23.   fxe3   Rd8
24.   Rh4   and Black resigned.

Adam Hunt was on a roll in Bad Wiessee, on 5/5, having beaten GM Martin Krämer in Round 5.   But in Round 6 he lost to second seed GM Evgeny Romanov (2667).   Tomorrow in Round 7 (out of nine) Adam plays his third GM in a row, Robert Kempinski (2522).   A couple of good results and a GM norm may be achievable.   There are 7 players on 5½/6 and 18 players on 5 points, including Adam.   Justin Tan has now scored 4 points.

You can check the results late tomorrow evening here.

(with thanks to Michael Clapham for this article)

Three local chess-players have published chess books to my knowledge:

Tony Rubin: Chess for the Rank and File, published by Tournament Chess, Brighton 1992.

Adam Harvey: Colle Plays the Colle System, published by Chess Enterprises, Pennsylvania 2002.

Adam Hunt: Chess Strategy: Move by Move, published by Everyman Chess 2013.

Tony Rubin has now retired from chess but for many years was a leading member of Ipswich Chess Club.   This book was written in collaboration with John Emms and between them they produced a very instructive and humorous chess handbook.   Tony was not the first to use this title as W Roche and A Battersby had previously authored a chess book with the same title in 1947.

Tony takes us through his chess career as it intertwined with his personal life incorporating many amusing anecdotes, including chess on his honeymoon!   There is much of local interest with many of the games taken from Ipswich Club and Suffolk County matches.

This book is full of practical advice from Rubin and Emms and studying this would almost certainly improve your chess, and give you a laugh.

Adam Harvey carried out meticulous research to unearth and analyse all 116 games played by Edgard Colle using the opening system bearing his name.   This book is therefore not only an anthology of Colle’s games but also an openings manual on the Colle System.

Many brilliant games against the leading players of the era are included - Alekhine, Euwe, Marshall, Rubinstein, Tarrasch, Bogoljubow, Nimzowitsch etc. - enabling Adam to show all of Colle’s experiments in the variation (both successful and not so).

Adam also provided a 16-page biography and tournament record of Colle, a chronological list of the games and a bibliography which, combined with the annotated games, provides an entertaining and informative book.

Adam Hunt is an International Master and has recently brought out this brand new book with the aim of teaching chess strategy to club players and juniors.   This seemingly complex subject is presented in a step-by step easy-to-read manner covering all of the strategical principles including development, king safety, attack, defence, initiative, pawn play etc.   Adam encourages readers to answer relevant questions throughout the book thereby increasing their understanding and knowledge of the game.

In summary Adam has produced an essential guide to chess strategy in which he uses an ideal approach to chess study so that important ideas are easily absorbed.

The books by Tony Rubin and Adam Hunt are easily obtainable on the internet but Adam Harvey’s book has become quite scarce.

(Note from Bob Jones: I have one nearly new copy of Tony Rubin's book on sale at only £4.00)

Suffolk clubs playing in the Bury Area Chess League have had mixed results so far.

In Division 1, where for the first time ever Bury St Edmunds are fielding more teams (3) than Cambridge City (2), the lead is currently held by last season's champions Linton A.   After two matches Bury St Edmunds Scarabs are on five points, just half a point behind second-placed Cambridge Choristers.

In Division 2, Bury St Edmunds Vipers are third and Newmarket Stallions, having lost their only match to date, are in last place.

In Division 3, Stowmarket are just half a point behind leaders Cambridge Gowns.

John Peters (Bury St Edmunds) and Vicky Allen (Stowmarket) are the only Suffolk players on 100% from two games.

Click on the Division links to view the current league tables.

Woodbridge School chess teacher IM Adam Hunt and Woodbridge School pupil FM Justin Tan currently share the lead in the Bavarian International Open on 3/3, along with 34 others!   The huge entry of 474 players has been treated to a complex accelerated pairing system.   It seems to be working, however, as the lowest-rated player on three points is rated at 2041.   The 100% scorers include 13 Grandmasters, 7 International Masters and 12 FIDE Masters.   The latest pairings can be viewed here.   The tournament is over nine rounds, finishing on 3 November.

So far, all six of Adam's and Justin's opponents have been relatively low rated.   But the tournament proper starts now for Justin, as he faces 2522-rated GM Kempinski in Round 4. Adam has it easier as he has managed to be paired against the lowest-rated player on three points.

Since his arrival earlier this year from Australia, Justin is the highest-rated 16-year old in the UK, even higher (currently 2333) than Alan Merry.   Presumably this event is one where Justin will be hoping to obtain an IM norm.   He will need a rating performance of at least 2450, which may be difficult to obtain because the average rating of his first three opponents is only 1997.   As an example, a score of 7/9 needs an average opponents' rating of 2230 to attain a rating performance of 2450.

Alan Merry has won the IM tournament in Majorca, on tie-break, scoring 6½ points out of 9 (four wins and five draws). Sixth seed of the ten competitors, his 2459 rating performance was exceptional and has earned him a deserved second IM norm.   He now needs one more for an IM title, as well as improving his rating to 2400.   The 30 points he gained in Majorca has raised his current 'live' rating to 2327.

The full cross-table can be viewed here.

Meanwhile, in Bavaria, Adam Hunt and Justin Tan both won yesterday against moderate opposition and play their second round matches today against opponents rated 2050 and 2006.   The results can be seen here.

IM Adam Hunt and FM Justin Tan (both Woodbridge School) are playing in the huge Bavarian International Open Chess Championship in Bad Wiessee, Germany, which starts today.   There are 478 entrants in the Open, including 20 Grandmasters (and two Women's Grandmasters)!   The event is over nine rounds, finishing on 3 November.   Adam is seeded 30th and Justin 51st.   The tournament website is here; hopefully it will carry round by round updates.

Bad Wiessee sounds an idyllic location.   According to the website, "Lake Tegernsee is 6.5 km long, 1.4 km wide and fed by crystal-clear alpine brooks. Its south end is bordered by impressive Mts. Wallberg, Leonhardstein and Hirschberg.   From authentic traditions to alpine sophistication, from lively culture to unspoiled nature, this exclusive region charms its visitors with its sheer diversity and many assets in terms of pleasure, wellbeing, glamour and good fun.

As Bavaria’s first and only Gourmet Region, the Tegernsee Valley treats its guests to outstanding culinary diversity, from high quality regional produce to exquisite gourmet restaurants, cosy mountain inns and beer gardens with lake views.   At the picturesque ponds beside the Kreuth fish farm, guests can enjoy smoked vendace or buy freshly caught fish for home-cooking.   The TegernseerLand dairy delights visitors with organic speciality cheeses.   Fabulous lake vistas, Bavarian delicatessen and freshly tapped beer are on offer at Tegernsee Town’s 355-year old beer hall called Herzogliches Bräustüber."

Adam certainly knows where to go to play his chess....