Suffolk Chess

I have five brand new DGT 2010 digital clocks for sale at £50.00 each.   First come first served!   They come complete with batteries and instructions.   Also available are boxed sets and semi-rigid boards at £15.00 each (set and board).

Contact if you or your club would like one (or more).

The annual Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge is now underway in several Suffolk schools.   Children play seven rounds over the next few weeks, hoping to qualify for the next round, the Suffolk Megafinal, which will be held at Woodbridge School on Sunday 10 May.

The Bury Knights Junior Chess Club held their first two rounds last Friday, with over 40 children competing.   Eight members won both games, scoring six points (3 for a win, 2 for a draw, and 1 for a loss).

It is hoped soon to be able to supply a full list of all schools in Suffolk that have entered.

This annual junior tournament will take place on Sunday 8 March.

There are sections for Under 9s, Under 11s, Under 14s and Under 18s (ages as at 1 September 2014).

A new trophy has been provided by the East Anglian Chess Union and the winner of the Under 18 section will be the EACU Junior Champion (provided they qualify by residence, club, birth etc).

Entry forms are available from .

This annual event is usually held in Whittlesford, south of Cambridge.   But this year it will move to Bury St Edmunds, making it more attractive to Suffolk (and Norfolk) clubs.

The date and venue is Sunday 1 March, at Moreton Hall Community Centre (home of the Bury St Edmunds Chess Club).

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.   Also eligible are people born in the county, with five years' residence in the county at any time, or currently attending a school, college or university in the county.

There are four sections:

There is no grading limit for the Open section.

The Team 600 competition 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 competition is for teams with an aggregate grade of 500 or less, though for this calculation anyone with a grade under 75 will be taken as 75.

The Team 400 competition is for teams with an aggregate grade of 400 or less, though for this calculation anyone with a grade under 50 will be taken as 50.

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 10 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 10.00 and 14.15.   The time limit is 36 moves in 90 minutes. then 20 minutes to finish the game.   Alternatively, by agreement, a time limit of 36 moves in 80 minutes, plus 10 minutes add on after move 36, plus 15 seconds per move from move 1.

If games are played with no increment, then in the quickplay finish, the provisions in Appendix G4 of the 2014 Laws of Chess will apply.   Draw claims on the basis that an opponent cannot win by normal means and/or has been making no effort to win by normal means, will not be allowed.

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) 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 bar at the centre and a pub nearby.   The centre also provides Sunday lunches and a menu is available on request.

Enquiries and entries should be made to or to 01223 842197.   Entries by 15 February if possible, though an early indication that you might raise a team would also be much appreciated.   Later entries are at the organiser's discretion.

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

Mixed results again for the Suffolk-based teams in Round 4.   Anglian Avengers 1 lost again by the narrowest margin, whilst their second team drew 3 - 3 and the third team won 4 - 2.

Iceni 1 lost 1½ - 4½ again, but their second team reversed yesterday's score, winning 4½ - 1½.

Individually, most of those who lost yesterday, won today, and most of those who won yesterday, lost today!   Winners of both games were David Brown (AA2) and Martin Fogg (AA3).   In Division 1, 17-year old Justin Tan won both games and must now be very close to reaching a 2400 rating.

Others scoring 1½ points included Mike Cook and Anita Somton.

The next 4NCL weekend is 14/15 February.   The two team captains (Ian Wallis - Anglian Avengers and John Feavyour - Iceni) will no doubt be selecting their teams soon.

Round 3 (the second weekend) of the 4NCL took place today at Daventry and Hinckley.   The five Suffolk-based teams recorded only one win between them, with Anglian Avengers 2 winning 5½ - 0 (Their opponents defaulted on one board, hence the zero).   The other results were:

Anglian Avengers 1 (Division 2) - lost 3½ - 4½
Anglian Avengers 3 (Division 3) - lost 2 - 4
Iceni 1 (Division 3) - lost 1½ - 4½
Iceni 2 (Division 3) - lost 1½ - 4½

There were individual wins for Graham Moore, Ian Wallis, Silas Peck, David Brown, Martin Fogg (beating a 2107) and Alonso Paez.

In Division 1, Dagne Ciuksyte and Justin Tan both won for their respective teams.

A total of 27 Suffolk players are competing this weekend.

Full results will be published tomorrow (Sunday) evening.

Just after Christmas, 10-year old Anita Somton played in the Under 12 Major section of the London Junior Chess Championships.   This event always attracts many of the strongest players in the country and amongst the 72 entrants were over 40 junior internationals, and even included one WCM from India

Anita had a steady start, but finished with a flourish, beating the top seed (159 ECF) with Black in the final round.   She finished in joint second place on seven points out of nine, losing only one game.   She won £90 as well as a trophy for the best performance by a girl.

Her tournament performance was just short of 150.   When the January grades are published, her grade is expected to increase to 142.   It's worth comparing her grade to that of Nick Pert, the first Suffolk player to attain Grandmaster status.   At the same age, Nick was graded 160.

Anita will be able to play in the same section next year!


This was the position after White's 39th move in her final game against Adithya Munshi:

Anita now played 39... Rd5 and White blundered with 40. gxf7+??   This brings the Black Queen into the attack.   The game continued 40... Qxf7   41. Qf4   Qg6+!   42. Kh2   Qc2+! and White resigned.   White will lose at least a rook and the computer shows there's a forced mate in 9.

Four Suffolk-based players entered the Masters section of the Hastings International Congress, which ended on Tuesday, with mixed results.   They were amongst 102 entrants, which included 14 GMs and 9 IMs.

Adam Hunt (2437) scored 5 out of 9.   He had two good draws against GMs, but slipped up elsewhere to finish with a tournament performance (TPR) of 2416.

The best Suffolk performance was by Manningtree's Adam Taylor (2056), who also scored 5/9.   This included wins against two 2200+ opponents.   His TPR was 2253, which means he will gain an astonishing 90 points from the event. At least this means that his rating will more accurately reflect his ability, as 2056 was far too low.

Two Ipswich players, Steve Gregory and Ian Wallis scored four and three points respectively.   Whilst Steve (2056) was level in terms of rating, Ian (2009) had something of a disaster, and is likely to lose about 45 rating points, bringing his rating below 2000.

Here are the answers to puzzles 6 to 10:

#6

White to play and win.   1. Bxc3+   Kxc3   2. h7   a1Q   3. h8B+! (not Q+ as 3... Kd2!, 4. Qxa1 would be stalemate).









#7
White to play and draw.   This position looks pretty dire for White, but 1. f5! saves the game.   After the obvious 1... a3, White plays 2. fxg6!   a2,   3. Kg4   a1Q, 4. Kh5! and suddenly Black cannot prevent g4, creating stalemate.   Other first move options for Black (gxf5 or Kd7) also fail.







#8
White to play and mate in 4.   This was a tough one, but Ian found the answer: 1. c8B!   The remaining Black moves are forced:   1... b3,   2. Bg4   b2,   3. Bd1!   Kxb1,   4. Bb3#.








#9
White to play and mate in 3.   Another under-promotion is needed here:   1. Qa3   Kb1,   2. c8B   Kc2,   3. Bf5#.









#10
White to play and mate in 3.   A very difficult puzzle to solve without the use of a computer.   It certainly stumped Ian Wallis (although Chris Davison got it right).   1. Rh7 (no immediate threat).   But now there's a mate in 2 (or 1), regardless of what Black plays.   Try it - you may need to use your computer!

Only two sets of answers were received, from Ian Wallis and Chris Davison.   I hope a lot of other people had a stab at the puzzles, but perhaps felt they hadn't managed to solve enough of them to submit their answers.   Anyway, the winner, with a score of 9 correct out of 10, is Ian Wallis, who will receive a prize of a brand new chess book, 'Sabotage the Grünfeld'.

Here are the answers:

#1

Black to play and win.   1... Rc4!   The threat is 2... Bc5, which needs to be played immediately after 2. bxc4.   The required follow-up after 2. Rc1 is more complex, but with accurate play Black should still win.








#2 Black to play and force checkmate.   Ian correctly pointed out that there is no forced mate!   The setter of the puzzle obviously expected the re-capture of the queen after 1... Qxe5.








#3 White to play and mate in 2.   1. Ra3, with either Ra5# or Rxe3# to follow, depending on Black's only replies.









#4
White to play and mate in 5.   1. Rb1.   If Black replies ... Kf8, the solution is straightforward (Rb7 etc).   But ... Kd8 is more complex.   The second move is critical - 2. d4!, when the game might continue: 2... Kc7,   3. Ke7!   Kc6,   4. Kd8   Kd6   5. Rb6#.







#5
White to play and mate in 3.   After White plays 1. d7, Black's king has six possible moves.   If Kf6, Ke7 or Kf7, d8Q leads to quick mates.   But for the other three moves, different promotions are required.   For Kd6, d8N; for exf4, d8B; and for exd4, d8R.   A clever problem, with all four types of promotion being required.







The answers to the remaining five problems will be given tomorrow.