Suffolk Chess

The FIDE World Chess Cup started on 11 September in Baku, Azerbaijan, with 64 competitors.   After six rounds of knockout chess, this number has been whittled down to just two Russians, Peter Svidler and Sergei Karjakin, who will compete tomorrow in the first game (of four) in the Final of the tournament.

England's sole competitor, Michael Adams, managed to reach the last 16, but he was eliminated by pre-event favourite Hikaru Namamura (who in turn lost in the quarter-finals).

A complex system of tie-breaks will follow if the scores are level after the first four games (Thursday to Sunday).   If tie-breaks are needed, these will take place next Monday, 5 October, after which the Closing Ceremony will be held.

The games in the Final can be watched online from 11am tomorrow (Thursday).   There are a number of sites, including the official one.   The ChessBomb site is another useful resource, where you can see the Stockfish evaluation of the main variations.

Last season Suffolk emerged as EACU Champions in all four sections: Open, Under 160, Under 120 and Under 100.

It is hoped to enter the same sections this season in an attempt to retain the respective trophies.   However, with Under 100 captain Daniel Yarnton now graded 104, we are looking for a new Under 100 captain.   A list of players graded under 100 can be viewed here.   It is likely that there will only be one fixture, against Cambridgeshire, where the team will play two matches on a Sunday in either December, January or February (date to be decided).   Please contact if you would like to take on this role.

The dates for the Open (First Team) and the Under 160s have already been fixed, as follows:

First Team   -   18 October; 29 November; 7 February; 13 March

Under 160s   -   6 December; 31 January; 21 February

Ian Wallis (First Team captain) will be in contact with his squad soon, as the first match is only a couple of weeks away.   Suffolk will be facing Norfolk and Bedfordshire.

Justin Tan, now aged 18, has completed his studies at Woodbridge School and is taking a 'gap' year to try and achieve some GM norms.   Recently, he played in the US Masters and the Illinois Open.   They were some of his best performances to date. In the Masters he scored 6/9 with a 2573 performance and at Illinois he finished with 5/6 for 2486 (winning $649).

At the end of July he played in the Politiken Cup in Denmark which was "very average" and in August the Vienna Open which was "horrendous" (his words).   But in the Blitz tournament in Vienna he finished second to Matthew Sadler, ahead of Simon Agdestein and seven other GMs, scoring 9/11.   Before that he played in Spain, where he beat a 2571 GM.

Next up (3 - 11 October), Justin is playing in the Isle of Man (alongside Alan Merry, Dagne Ciuksyte and Ed Player), and then from 24 October the prestigious World Youth Championships in Halkidiki, Greece, where he expects to be seeded about sixth or seventh.   Manningtree's Adam Taylor is also playing in the same Under 18 Open section.

To date, Justin has achieved no GM norms but has been very close on three or four occasions.   He is targetting a rating of 2500 by the end of his gap year (his 'live' rating is 2445).

With most teams having played one match, there have been some 36 games played in the Suffolk League so far this season.   If you have enjoyed a good game, or had an interesting position during a game, please send them in to , ideally with some annotations.

The only teams not to have played yet are Ipswich C (Div 1), Bury St Edmunds A (Div 2) and Bury St Edmunds D (Div 3).   This is because there is an odd number of teams in each division, so one team has a 'bye' week.   Ipswich C and Bury D will play their first match this coming week, but Bury A will need to wait until 8 October before they play for the first time.

As of today, there are exactly four weeks to go before the start of the 33rd Bury St Edmunds Congress.   19 years ago, some people looked a lot younger.   Do you recognise anyone in the photo (you can click on the photo to enlarge it)?

So far, 63 people have entered this year's Congress.   Of these, only 17 are from Suffolk-based clubs.   Clearly, Suffolk's top players prefer to wait to the last minute before entering, because both the Open and Major sections have just one Suffolk entrant.

There is a ceiling of 172 entrants in the Apex (the number of entrants in 2010).   Last year there were 162 entrants, the second-highest in recent years.

Members of the Bury St Edmunds club have been asked to assist with setting up, from 07.30 on Saturday morning (24 October).

To view the list of current entrants, click here.

We all know that chess clubs need juniors if they are to flourish in the longer term.   A club consisting entirely of elderly gentlemen will invariably fold.   So it's good to know that several Suffolk players are visiting schools in their locality, helping to run their chess clubs.

The following list may not exhaustive, or even wholly accurate.   Please let me know if there are any errors, or omissions.

David Green (Stowmarket) - Chilton Primary (Stowmarket) and Creeting St Mary Primary
Mike Usher (Saxmundham) - Ranelagh Road Primary and The Oaks Community Primary (both Ipswich)
Vicky Allen (Stowmarket) and Alex Sheerin (Ipswich) - Meadows Montessori (Ipswich)
Steve Gregory (Ipswich) - Whitton Primary (Ipswich)
Andrew Shephard (Ipswich) - Ipswich Prep.
Kevin Marrable - Handford Hall Primary (Ipswich)
and down in deepest Essex, John Lambert and Melvin Steele (Clacton) - Engaines Primary

There are several other chess clubs operating in Suffolk schools, most of which would be delighted to receive help from an adult player.   So if you have the time and energy (schools usually hold their clubs at lunchtime or after school), please contact .

Following a number of amendments to the Rules which were agreed at the Suffolk AGM back in June, this website has now been updated to reflect these changes.

The 'Rules' tab at the top of the page will take you to this page.

The following rules have either been changed, or are new:

3.2 is new (with subsequent rules re-numbered)
5.2 has been amended
Appendix 1   -   1.5 has been amended.   1.8 is new.

Any errors (or typos) should be notified to and .

The other league that features Suffolk-based clubs, the Bury Area Chess League, got under way yesterday, one week after the start of the Suffolk League.

Two matches in Division 3 took place, one of which was between teams from the two participating Suffolk clubs - Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds.   This match was unusual in that the teams included only one adult male between them!

Most matches played in Suffolk are between teams of four men, but in this match there were five juniors and two women.   Stowmarket is the only local club to count three females amongst its members, whilst Bury St Edmunds has a dozen or more juniors to call on.

The Board 1 match was between two old Bury Knights adversaries, Alex Sheerin and Alan John who, incidentally, played out a draw last week at Ipswich when they played each other in a Suffolk League match.   The game was again drawn, with Alex turning out for his 'second' club Stowmarket.

The two women in Stowmarket's team, Vicky Allen and Chris Hargan, on Boards 2 and 3, lost respectively to youngsters Adam John (aged 9) and Tom Roy (11).   It was left to Stowmarket's Ray Firmin to salvage some pride for the men by beating Bury's Board 4, 12-year old Alwin Jose.

So the result of the match (the winning team gaining a bonus point in this league) was 3½ - 1½ to Bury St Edmunds.

There are four vacancies currently on the SCCA Committee.  In order to ensure the smooth running of the League and other events, it is essential that these posts are filled.   Please give them your full consideration, as well as asking colleagues if they are prepared to volunteer.

With the previous Admin Secretary being 'promoted' to President, we need a replacement.   This is a relatively straightforward role, involving preparation of agendas for Committee and Annual meetings, as well as taking minutes at both.   The Secretary works closely with the President and such matters as producing an agenda are usually undertaken together.

The Correspondence Captain maintains communication with an 8-board team, which plays by email against other counties.   This season Suffolk has been promoted to Division 1.   Ideally, this role should be taken on by one of the existing team.   Provided all team members are willing to represent their county again, there should be little for the incumbent to do.

The Junior Organiser has no defined role; no one has occupied this position for several years.   It needs someone with an interest in junior chess, either as a parent or as a player who is involved with schools' chess in some way.   The level of input depends entirely on the time and energy available.   This can be an extremely rewarding role, especially when teams are selected to represent the county.

Finally, every President needs a Vice-President.   Perhaps not immediately, but certainly well before the current three-year term expires in June 2018.   The VP is expected to take over from the President.

Please contact if you, or anyone else you know, is interested in any of these positions.

For some time, Sudbury Chess Club has met at the Quay Theatre for club nights, but until now has used the local church hall for matches.   The problem with the theatre was that it was very noisy, situated adjacent to the bar, and therefore unsuitable for match play.

By moving to Mondays for matches, an upstairs room at the theatre has become available.   The Geoff Kisby Room (named after the person who opened the Quay Theatre in 1981) is much quieter and is ideal for a four-board match.

The venue was in use this evening, when Sudbury entertained Stowmarket in Division 2.   The result was a 2 - 2 draw.

In the photo are (left to right) Stephen Lewis, Richard Lamont, Harold Thomas, Rob Sanders, Alex Sheerin, John Kent, Jakob Tulic.   Hiding in the background is Alex's Mum Jane.