Suffolk Chess

That's the by-line in an article in today's Daily Telegraph, referring to those Sisters of Notre Dame who continue teaching after retirement, compared to the ones who choose to stop.   The article goes on to extol the cryptic crossword as the 'solution' to brain-ageing.   But we chess-players know that our great game is the real answer.

Apparently, another 'huge' study (not involving nuns) has discovered that undertaking just 10 one-hour sessions of brain training over a period of five or six weeks has "the potential for delaying dementia or attenuating it".   Well, that's good news.   What about a couple of three-hour games of chess every week and several hours of preparation?   Perhaps, as the article suggests, with tongue firmly in cheek, if the nuns did the cryptic crossword as well as continuing to teach, they would probably live forever.

You only have to look around the East Anglian chess scene.   Linton's John Dawson celebrates his 90th birthday this year and those who know him will recall his sharp wit and twinkling eyes.   The long-departed Don Ward (pictured right) was Suffolk Champion on 14 occasions.   Up to the age of 89 he would turn up regularly at the Bury Knights and delight in teaching tactics to the kids.

Most clubs have members in their 70s or 80s, who continue to play regularly.   Ipswich's Roger Smith is 76 and has won six games out of seven in this season's Suffolk League.   Bury's Chas Szentmihaly won't disclose his true age, but is believed to be either 79 or 80.   And I remember, with great affection, Roy Adams, who died ten years ago at the age of 73 when his latest (BCF) grade had plummeted to 76.   He had always promised to give up chess if his age ever exceeded his grade!

This year's British Chess Championships will be held in Aberystwyth, Wales, between Saturday 19 July and Saturday 2 August.   The venue is Aberystwyth University, where reasonably-priced accommodation will also be available.   The Championships were last held in Wales in 2006, when the venue was Swansea.

As usual there will be sections to suit all tastes and abilities.   The British Championship is open only to exempted or qualified players.   'Exempted' means most titled players (GMs and IMs), whilst qualification is available by winning any of a large number of Open events around the country.   For example, the qualifier from the Bury St Edmunds Congress 2013 was Shaun Munson.

Other important events include the British Senior Championship, open to any player born in or before 1954; the Major Open; British Graded Championships (u180, u160, u140 and u120); 5-day morning and afternoon tournaments, 5-round Weekenders (three graded sections); One-day FIDE-rated Rapidplays; and Junior sections from Under 8 to Under 16.

For more details on these sections, including entry fees, go to the Championship website.

For more information about accommodation at the University, follow this link.

Suffolk League Division 1 has a crazy look about it.   Two teams have played six matches, whilst one team has played only three.   But really there's only a thin sheet of Bronco between all six teams.

Here's the current table:

Team	Played	Points
Bury St Edmunds B	6	12
Manningtree A	5	11½
Bury St Edmunds A	5	11
Ipswich A	6	10½
Ipswich B	5	9
Ipswich C	3	6

Last week, Manningtree A pulled off an amazing 3½-½ win against Ipswich A and are only half a point adrift with a match in hand over current leaders Bury St Edmunds B, who drew with Ipswich B.   Can anyone remember if Ipswich teams have ever filled the three bottom rungs of Division 1 before?   Mind you, Ipswich C need only 6½ points from their three outstanding matches to leapfrog into top spot.   They play two of these in the next eight days (14 and 22 January), by when we'll have a much better picture of how the division is panning out.

A total of 26 Suffolk players travelled to Hinckley and Daventry this weekend for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 4NCL.

Playing at Hinckley in Division 2 were Anglian Avengers 1, who consolidated their position in Pool A by winning both matches.   They now lie in second place in the league table (see below).

The other four teams (Anglian Avengers 2 and 3; Iceni 1 and 2) all played in Division 3 at Daventry.   All eight results were extremely close; often it was the final game to finish that decided the match result.

Of the Suffolk players, two won both games: Ian Wallis (Anglian Avengers 2) and Phil Hopkins (Anglian Avengers 3).   Those on 1½ points included Ed Player and Alan Merry (Anglian Avengers 1), David Brown and Alex Sheerin (Anglian Avengers 3), Bob Jones and Steve Lovell (Iceni 2).   12-year old Alex Sheerin's performance was particularly noteworthy.   A late replacement, he beat a 1610 and drew with a 1780 (Elo ratings; neither opponent has a current ECF grade).

Three other players (Adam Hunt ½, Justin Tan 2 and Dagne Ciuksyte 1) are in non-Suffolk teams in Division 1.

Full results:

(Average team rating in brackets)

Division 2
Anglian Avengers 1 (2269)    6 - 2 v KJCA Kings (2084);   5 - 3 v Wessex (2058)

Division 3
Anglian Avengers 2 (2074)    3 - 3 v West is Best (1990);   3½-2½ v Fermented Sharks (2039)
Anglian Avengers 3 (1886)    3½-2½ v Iceni 2 (1802);   3 - 3 v The Full Ponty (1904)
Iceni 1 (1987/1996)    3½-2½ v Surbiton (2072);   3½-½ v Gloucestershire Gambits (1899) - only four players
Iceni 2 (1802)    2½-3½ v Anglian Avengers 3 (1886);   3 - 3 v Celtic Tigers 2 (1751)

League tables

Division 2
1   Warwickshire Select 1    8 match points   21½ game points
2   Anglian Avengers 1    6 match points   21 game points
3   KJCA Kings    6 match points; 17 game points

Division 3
Out of 49 teams entered:
3   Anglian Avengers 2   - 7 match points   (Two teams have 8 match points)
8   Iceni 1   - 6 match points
16   Anglian Avengers 3   - 5 match points
34   Iceni 2   - 3 match points

Any other Suffolk players interested in playing in the 4NCL should contact either (Anglian Avengers) or (Iceni).

Last evening saw the first meeting of the Bury Knights Junior Chess Club.   Most existing members attended, as well as four newcomers.   In total 43 attended!

The Bury Knights is the sole remaining junior club in the county, having been started 21 years ago.

Usually the Club uses two or three classrooms at Horringer Court Middle School, but earlier in the afternoon there had been an alarm, when builders had accidentally set the roof on fire!   The fire brigade had been called and the children had been told to evacuate the school.   As they weren't allowed back in the classrooms, all their books remained on the desks, making it impossible to put out the chess sets.   So instead we were allowed to occupy the gym, which was set out for examinations.   A large enough space, certainly, but noisy and echoey.   The first two rounds of the UK Chess Challenge were played, with seven members winning both games.

This weekend sees Rounds 3 and 4 of the 4NCL, where many Suffolk players will be trekking to Hinckley and Daventry for two tough games of chess.

There will be a clash between Suffolk teams in Division 3 on Saturday, when Anglian Avengers 3 take on Iceni 2.   On paper, the Avengers team is considerably stronger, but upsets are always possible in the 4NCL, where time limits are much longer than in the evening leagues.   This season, for the first time, 30-second increments are added from the first move.   Players have 100 minutes for the first 40 moves (equivalent to 2 hours when increments are added), followed by 50 minutes for the rest of the game (plus 30-second increments).  In theory, no one should lose on time, even if they're down to the wire, provided they can make their move within 30 seconds.   The great advantage of this system is that there can be no draw claims under the 'two-minute' rule.

The results of the five Suffolk-based teams (Anglian Avengers 1, 2 & 3, Iceni 1 & 2) will be published here on Sunday evening.   Anglian Avengers 2 are currently lying in 3rd place in Division 3 and will be seeking two more wins to add to their convincing wins (6-0 and 5-1) in Rounds 1 and 2.

On 1 July 2014, new Laws of Chess come into force.   As reported previously, there are a number of significant changes.

To download the latest draft of the new rules, click here.

It would be good to hear your opinions of the changes.   Will they impact on league chess?   Should we further encourage the use of increments (10 seconds per move)?   See the new Rules G.4 and G.5, which replace the former 10.2.

On Sunday 16 February a Training Day will be held for children who were aged 10 or younger on 1 September 2013; these are 'Under 11s'.

It is expected that between 30 and 40 children will attend the event, taking place at Moreton Hall Community Centre, Bury St Edmunds.   Invitations are being sent out to those children who are possible candidates for the Suffolk Under 11 team, which will compete against other East/Midland counties a month later in Chingford, Essex, on 16 March.

The day will consist of coaching for a couple of hours in the morning (10.30 to 12.30), with a 15-minute tournament being held in the afternoon.   We are looking for a number of adults to come and assist during the morning with the coaching.   Ideally, the coaching will take place in groups of 3 or 4, so we need 10 'coaches'.   Don't worry if you've never done this sort of thing before; your experience is the main thing.

If you are able to come and assist that morning, please email me (Bob Jones).

As noted yesterday, the EACU Team Championships will take place at Whittlesford Memorial Hall on Sunday 19th January.

This popular event is organised most efficiently every year by Patrick Ribbands.   In the past, the only Suffolk club to enter has been Bury St Edmunds, who won a digital chess clock for their efforts a couple of years ago.

It would be good to see some other Suffolk clubs represented, although, as Patrick points out below, teams do not have to be all from the same club.

He says:

"Teams consist of four players from the EACU but not necessarily from the same club.   EACU players are those living in or from clubs located in or affiliated to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk or Suffolk.

The Open is for any four players.
The Team 600 is for teams with an aggregate grade of 600 or less, though for this calculation anyone with a grade under 100 will be taken as 100.
The Team 500 is a team with an aggregate grade of 500 or less, though for this calculation anyone with a grade under 75 will be taken as 75.

There will be an inscribed digital clock or a cash prize for the team with most game points in each category but the number and value of prizes will depend on the number of entries.   If there are ten entries two weeks before the event the EACU has undertaken to buy a trophy.

The event uses the county match format of two rounds but starting at 09.45 and 14.00.   The time limit is 36 moves in 90 minutes then 20 minutes to finish the game.

The exact format of the competition will depend on the number of entries.

The entry fee is £20 per team payable on the day.   Any player who is not a member of the ECF needs to pay an extra £4.   The clubs that won the top division of the six EACU county leagues (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Bury Area League) in the last season are entitled to enter a team of entirely their club players at half price into the Open.

Tea and coffee will be provided free of charge.   There is a pub or two in the village and a village shop.

Enquiries and entries should be made to or to 01223 842197.   Entries by 12th January please, though an early indication that you might raise a team would also be much appreciated.   Later entries will be at the organiser's discretion.

If you do not have the four players for a team I may be able to put you in touch with others who would like to play."

Back from holiday, but there's not a lot of chess news for you.   One of the few Suffolk players who has remained active over the festive period is Silas Peck.   He played in the CCF (Coulsdon) Christmas Tournament, winning the u1950 section with a perfect 5/5.

Then, last weekend, he travelled to Hastings to play in the Weekend Major.   He only played in three of the five rounds but, aided with a bye, scored 3½/5.

If anyone else has played in any tournaments recently, please let me know.

Some dates to note:

This coming weekend (11/12 January) sees the regular treks to Hinckley and Daventry for Suffolk players in the 4NCL.

On Sunday 19 January, the EACU Team Championships take place at Whittlesford.   Teams of four (usually from a club, but not necessarily) can play in the Open, u600 and u500 sections.   For more details, contact .

The Under 160s play at Newmarket on Sunday 26 January, whilst the First Team and the Under 100s play a week later on Sunday 2 February.

The following Sunday, 9 February, sees the Norfolk Rapidplay, at Oulton.   Contact for details.

On Sunday 16 February, there's a Training Day for Under 11s, at Moreton Hall Community Centre, Bury St Edmunds and on the following Sunday, 23 February, the Bury St Edmunds Junior Congress takes place at the same venue.

Finally, on Sunday 2 March, the First Team and Under 100s play at Newmarket, whilst the Suffolk Junior Open Championships take place on the same day at Woodbridge School.

So, it's a busy period for the next couple of months, mainly on Sundays.