Suffolk Chess

The annual Great Yarmouth Congress took place last weekend at the Town Hall.   A total of 85 people entered, across three sections - the Open, Under 165 and Under 130.

There were 11 entrants from Suffolk - and some excellent performances!

The Open section was won jointly by Suffolk players David Spence (above) and Graham Moore (right), who both scored four points.   Both were unbeaten.   In the fourth round David beat top seed Terry Chapman, graded 222.   Other Suffolk scores were: Steve Gregory 3; Ian Wallis 1½; Silas Peck ½ (all Ipswich).

See the full results here.

The Under 165 section was won jointly by Suffolk's Richard Lamont (left) and Daniel Frean from the University of East Anglia.

The only other Suffolk entrant was Keith Woodcock (Ipswich) on 2½ points.

See the results here.

In the 37-player Under 130 section, Mark Pulman (see photo) was the best Suffolk player on 3½ points, with Peter Collicott not far behind on 3. Both players are from the Saxmundham club.

Other Suffolk scores in this section were Colin Gardiner (Newmarket) and Roger Smith (Ipswich), both on 2½.

Full results are here.

All photos courtesy Brendan O'Gorman.

Seven members of the Bury St Edmunds Chess Club - all Division 1 players - enjoyed an excellent congenial meal this evening at 'Pea Porridge' in the town.   Of course, the inevitable chessboard was in evidence in between courses and also after the meal was finished.

Clockwise in the photo above are Laurie Pott, John Feavyour, Steve Ruthen, Richard Lamont and Colin Roberts.   Not in the photo are Ed Player and me (Bob Jones), who was taking the photo.

All matches have been completed in the Bury Area Chess League.   The Suffolk clubs (Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Stowmarket) have experienced mixed fortunes.

Division 3 was won by Newmarket Thoroughbreds, with Bury St Edmunds 'E' runners-up.   Stowmarket's only team in the BACL finished in mid-table, but the other two Bury St Edmunds teams ('F' and Saffrons)propped up the Division 3 league table.

In Division 2, Bury St Edmunds Vipers were runners-up for the second successive year.   Newmarket Stallions survived the drop but finished in last-but-one place.

Bury St Edmunds have three teams in Division 1.   Scorpions and Scarabs finished mid-table, but Cobras, who were promoted last season, came last on tie-break and will drop back to Division 2 next season.

Division winners were:

Division 1   -   Cambridge Examiners
Division 2   -   Cambridge Oddfellows
Division 3   -   Newmarket Thoroughbreds

Relegated were:

Division 1   -   Bury St Edmunds Cobras
Division 2   -   Cambridge Bollards

The full tables can be viewed here.

A 'Last Chance Saloon' tournament took place in Bury St Edmunds yesterday.   This was an opportunity for children who hadn't yet qualified for the Megafinal stage of the Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge.   13 children entered, from Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

Entrants' ages varied from just five years old, to fifteen.   Of the 13 entrants, eleven qualified for the Megafinals.   Of these, four qualified by achieving the required score, whilst the other seven qualified as highest scorers in their respective age-groups.

The photo opposite shows the youngest entrant, Shlok Verma from Ilford, facing the oldest, Anthony Gray from Kimbolton.

Qualifiers from Suffolk were Alba Saenz de Villaverde (u15G), Oliver Ransome (u13B), Zac Land (u12B) and Tom Roy (u9B).   They will be able to play in the Suffolk Megafinal at Woodbridge School on Sunday 11 May.

Playing Black in the photo opposite, Aditya Verma, England number four at under 10 (ECF 154), easily won the event, winning all seven games.

Stephen Lewis reports:

Following the final result of the fifth round, the Stowmarket Club Championship has been completed.   Dave Green and Stephen Lewis finished in a share of first place, with Rob Hayhurst placing third despite unfortunately needing to withdraw during round four.

Ray Firman also had an excellent tournament, finishing just half a point behind third place and above four players with a higher grade than him.   His grading performance from the tournament was 27 points above his own grade.

Although time constraints resulted in the cancellation of a planned sixth round positional playoff, the competition was enjoyed by all and looks likely to become an annual event.

A cross-table of the standings is shown here:

Note:   In case of confusion - the tournament was started before the season gradings were published, so the grades shown and used were the best to hand at the time and were used for the duration of the competition.   'Official' grading performances for the tournament can be found here.

Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the Last Chance Saloon, being held at Horringer Court Middle School in Bury St Edmunds.   This is the final opportunity for any children who haven't already qualified for the Megafinal stage of the Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge.   The Suffolk Megafinal is being held at Woodbridge School on Sunday 11 May, but other counties are holding their events on different dates.

Norfolk   -   Saturday 3 May   (Norwich)
Essex   -   Saturday 10 May (u12 and older); Sunday 11 May (u11 and younger)   (Basildon)
West Anglia (Cambs, Hunts, Beds) -   Sunday 4 May   (Ely)

To date 13 children, mainly from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, have entered tomorrow's tournament.   If anyone else wishes to enter, even at this late stage, they should email straight away.

Jim Buis (Manningtree) reports:

Following Manningtree’s disastrous result against Sudbury last night (they lost 1½ - 6½) the last match of the season now becomes the decider.   This match takes place next Tuesday when Ipswich B play Sudbury.

This is akin to an old fashioned final as the winner takes the cup.   Basically, Ipswich B need to draw or better, otherwise Sudbury will win!   (Always assuming the vagaries of the rapid play grading rules have no retrospective impact on recent results!)

Here's the current league table:

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
Ipswich A	4	2	0	2	17½
Manningtree	4	1	1	2	15
Ipswich B	3	3	0	0	14
Sudbury	3	2	0	1	13½
Clacton	4	0	1	3	12

With eight points at stake, either Ipswich B or Sudbury must overtake the current leaders.

And finally, here are Dave Wild's statistics for Division 3:

DIVISION 3	Board 1	Board 2	Board 3	Board 4

Team	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Average Grade
Bury St Edmunds D	149.2	79.2	131.8	37.5	113.4	70.8	80.8	50.0	119.6
Clacton	152.8	58.3	134.8	66.7	128.5	40.9	113.5	54.5	132.9
Felixstowe	167.0	83.3	112.3	41.7	97.6	37.5	71.3	16.7	112.1
Ipswich E	140.2	50.0	115.1	37.5	114.3	62.5	106.0	50.0	118.9
Manningtree B	146.0	37.5	134.3	62.5	114.2	33.3	99.4	58.3	123.5
Saxmundham B	129.2	12.5	115.8	50.0	96.6	36.4	101.5	75.0	111.5
Stowmarket Rooks	128.0	29.2	128.8	54.2	119.2	66.7	104.9	50.0	120.2

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points	BACL	EACU
Bury St Edmunds D	12	6	3	3	29	35	15
Clacton	12	7	2	3	27½	34½	16
Ipswich E	12	6	2	4	24	30	14
Stowmarket Rooks	12	5	1	6	24	29	11
Manningtree B	12	4	4	4	23	27	12
Felixstowe	12	2	3	7	21½	23½	7
Saxmundham B	12	4	1	7	19	23	9

Here are Dave Wild's stats for Division 2:

DIVISION 2	Board 1	Board 2	Board 3	Board 4

Team	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Average Grade
Adastral Park	151.4	15.0	146.8	60.0	138.2	75.0	115.8	55.0	138.1
Bury St Edmunds C	175.0	80.0	144.8	55.0	129.0	45.0	106.2	40.0	138.8
Ipswich D	140.4	30.0	126.5	60.0	113.1	35.0	111.3	77.8	123.1
Saxmundham A	170.0	55.0	160.5	45.0	147.7	60.0	103.6	20.0	145.4
Stowmarket A	158.0	75.0	141.4	30.0	133.3	45.0	123.0	55.0	138.9
Sudbury	169.8	45.0	146.1	50.0	134.0	40.0	109.7	55.6	140.7

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points	BACL	EACU
Bury St Edmunds C	10	5	3	2	23	28	13
Stowmarket A	10	4	3	3	20½	24½	11
Adastral Park	10	3	4	3	20½	23½	10
Ipswich D	10	4	3	3	20	24	11
Sudbury	10	2	6	2	18½	20½	10
Saxmundham A	10	1	3	6	16½	17½	5

Dave Wild, the Suffolk Grading Officer, has submitted the following statistics from the league season that has just ended.

The tables below show the average grade of the player on each board of a team and the final league positions.   The grades used are the January 2014 grades or a player's current estimated grade.

For each division two extra columns have been added to the final league table.   The columns headed BACL and EACU show the points which would have been scored if the leagues had been run using that body's rules.   In the Bury Area Chess League an extra point is given to a team which wins a match.   In the East Anglian Chess Union two points are awarded for a won match and one for a drawn match.

Division 2 was odd as the two strongest teams were in the last two places.   In Divisions 1 and 2 the top and bottom teams remain the same under the SCCA, BACL and EACU rules.   In Division 3 under the EACU rules then Clacton would be champions and Felixstowe would be awarded the wooden spoon.

Division 1 is shown below.   Divisions 2 and 3 will follow in the next couple of days.

DIVISION 1	Board 1	Board 2	Board 3	Board 4

Team	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Grade	Score	Average Grade
Bury St Edmunds A	195.6	75.0	164.3	40.0	160.5	40.0	141.8	45.0	165.6
Bury St Edmunds B	175.7	25.0	174.8	65.0	161.9	35.0	149.6	70.0	165.5
Ipswich A	189.0	60.0	175.0	55.0	161.0	40.0	131.2	35.0	164.1
Ipswich B	176.0	20.0	177.0	55.0	149.7	35.0	134.4	65.0	159.3
Ipswich C	171.3	50.0	171.7	30.0	167.8	75.0	141.3	45.0	163.0
Manningtree A	196.0	70.0	158.6	55.0	159.4	75.0	148.3	40.0	165.6

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points	BACL	EACU
Manningtree A	10	6	3	1	24	30	15
Ipswich C	10	4	3	4	20	24	11
Bury St Edmunds A	10	3	3	4	20	23	9
Bury St Edmunds B	10	2	6	2	19½	21½	10
Ipswich A	10	2	4	4	19	21	8
Ipswich B	10	2	3	5	17½	19½	7