These chess sets have been provided by the Bury Knights Junior Chess Club, who purchased 20 new sets last year and have recently taken back ownership of a further 12 sets that had been on semi-permanent loan to the Bury St Edmunds Chess Club.
Any other school in West Suffolk that is keen to establish a chess club should contact .
(Answer to yesterday's puzzle: ... Ng8)
In the position below, Black is a pawn down (knight and pawn against a rook). It's Black to play. How can Black turn the one-point deficit into a one-point advantage?
This event, which commences at 10.00, is part of an Open Day at the school.
Woodbridge School, which also has a Preparatory department based at The Abbey, has two active after-school chess clubs. On Wednesdays the senior school chess club takes place, whilst the Abbey chess club is held on Thursdays.
Both clubs are open to children who live locally but do not attend the School.
They are:
* Junior Organiser
* Under 100 team captain
* Under 120 team captain
I (Bob Jones) have been nominated and seconded as Vice-President and will be standing for President at the next AGM in June, when Colin's three-year term of office expires.
So I, too, am keen to see these positions filled, especially the first. We haven't had a Junior Organiser for several years, after Adam Hunt stood down from the role. It's particularly important, because every club in Suffolk needs a few up and coming juniors; they are after all the future of Suffolk chess.
The Junior Organiser should be able to encourage more schools to run their own chess clubs. Also, there's a glaring gap in Ipswich, where the population of over 130,000 people has no junior chess club. Two children travel all the way to Bury each week because there's no alternative.
Anyone considering any of these positions should contact , in the first instance. I can provide more information as to the level of commitment that is required.
The Apex, pictured above, is considered to be one of the best chess venues in the country.
There's a limit of 172 entries, due to space restrictions, so make sure you get your entry in soon! You can enter online here.
The Bury Knights is currently the only junior chess club in Suffolk. It's a great pity that Ipswich, with a population some three times that of Bury St Edmunds, is unable to sustain a junior club.
In addition to 34 existing members, seven children turned up for their first chess club. They were put into a special 'Novices' group, where three coaches - Suffolk Ladies Champion Emilia Jewell, 15-year of Alba Saenz, and Sam Starling (mother of William), helped to teach the children the basics of the game (see photo below).
Due to space limitations at Horringer Court Middle School, as well as supervisory concerns, the number of members will need to be limited to 50. It is envisaged that this number may well be reached in the next few weeks, as several other new members are expected.
16-year old Adam Taylor, top board for the current League Champions Manningtree A, has been selected to play for England in the forthcoming World Youth Chess Championships in Durban, South Africa. The 11-round event starts on 19 September.
Sadly, representing England at chess is not the same as in most other sports: the cost of travel and accommodation has to be borne by the parents. Adam's mother Debbie will in fact be 'Head of Delegation', responsible for the ten youngsters in the England team. The cost to the family will be in the region of £3,000.
The Suffolk County Chess Association, at its AGM in June, awarded a grant of £100 to Adam and several individuals also contributed.
If anyone else would like to make a donation, however small, it will help to offset the enormous expense that has to bear.
Click here to see the full England team and their profiles.
Competitions Secretary David Green has completed the fixtures schedule for the League and the new Cup & Plate competition. The Under 125 Cup fixtures will follow in a couple of weeks' time. It is likely that this event will not commence until December.
This hasn't been an easy task for our new Comps Sec. Some clubs have restrictions on the number of matches that can be played, and then there's the need to dovetail with the Bury Area Chess League (where Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket play) and the North Essex League (where Clacton also play).
Club Secretaries have also asked for some fixture dates to be changed, for various reasons. Hopefully the version that has now been published will be the final one (although one amended date is still awaiting confirmation).
Dave Wild's excellent website shows all the fixtures here.
Anita's current ECF grade is 128 and she has a target of 150 for the next list, to be published in January.
This trip alone will cost £2,000, and she can expected to be selected to play for her country on many future occasions. It is hoped that some local companies can be encouraged to support Anita financially in her burgeoning chess career.
It's the 1st of September and time for the Suffolk Chess website to awake from its summer slumber. From now on, there will be an article every day (except when I'm on holiday). As usual, articles, photos, news from the Clubs will be welcome.
The first EGM voted to restore the Under 125 Cup competition. This event had been dropped from the programme at the Annual General Meeting in June, but subsequently considerable opposition was expressed. The Committee therefore decided to raise the issue at an EGM. Four clubs (at least) have agreed to provide teams for the u125 Cup and Competitions Secretary David Green will soon be publishing dates for the first round.
The second EGM was held to approve the revised competition rules. Over the past couple of months the Rules Sub-Committee has been hard at work re-writing the rulebook. This was no simple task and it proved difficult for members of the sub-committee to agree on a 'final' version. Eventually, and just in time for the EGM, a version that was generally acceptable to the sub-committee was distributed to the affiliated clubs. At the EGM, following an hour's discussion on some of the more contentious rules, a vote was taken. Although there were three abstentions, everyone else present voted in favour.
The new rules can be seen here, or by clicking on the 'Rules' tab at the top of the page.
