As previously reported, Alan Merry gained his IM title by beating a GM in Round 2. He played six Grandmasters, scoring 2/6. Overall, Alan gained 7 rating points.
Adam Taylor faced six titled players. He beat an IM, as well as drawing with a GM and another IM. He lost 3 rating points.
Ed Player's best win was against Scotland's Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, who is a GM although her rating is now only 2376. Ed lost 5 rating points.
The full results can be seen here.
The Suffolk Under 160 team played two matches today at the Turner Hall in Newmarket, against Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. The Suffolk team was not as strong as had been hoped, and this was further weakened by the absence of one team member.
In the morning Suffolk lost heavily 5 - 11 to Cambridgeshire, but in the afternoon beat Norfolk 10 - 5 (there was a 'mutual default' on one board, hence the score was only over 15 boards).
No Suffolk player won both games, but Ed Kirkham, John McAllister and David Green scored 1½/2. Also unbeaten were Laurie Pott and Harold Thomas (two draws).
Top board Phil Hutchings (159) won an interesting game in the afternoon with Black against Andrew Donnelly (159) (who lives and plays in Suffolk but was born in Norfolk!):
The other results today saw two wins for Hertfordshire (11 - 5 against Norfolk and 8½-7½ against Cambridgeshire).
The next matches for the Under 160s will be on 5 February 2017, against Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
In Division 1, the three matches that have taken place to date have resulted in 2½-1½ scorelines. With Ipswich sharing their strength across their four teams, the season promises to be a close one.
In Division 2, five teams have played twice, with the other two teams having one match each. Both Bury St Edmunds A and Felixstowe A have won both matches.
In Division 3, all eight teams have played one match. Both Manningtree teams (B & C) won 3½ - ½. The only other winning team was Ipswich F.
To view the latest league tables, click on the division name.
The photo above shows the new Division 4, with Adam Leigh in charge. This evening the Club used four classrooms, with Laurie Pott coaching the top division, and Mario Saenz de Villaverde helping out with the Novices.
Four clubs have entered this year: the same three as in 2013/14, plus Bury St Edmunds.
It was originally planned for the Suffolk Cup & Plate tournament to replace the two graded cup competitions, but the clubs in Suffolk seem to enjoy the u125 and u145 events and they are both being played this season, alongside the Cup & Plate.
The first match took place this evening, with Manningtree scraping home against Bury St Edmunds by 2½-1½. On paper the Manningtree team was very strong, averaging 136 grade, whilst Bury St Edmunds could only average 120.
The other two clubs, Ipswich and Felixstowe, play their first match on 8 November.
As pointed out in this excellent BBC article, chess was banned in Iran for much of the 1980s, largely because of its pre-revolutionary association with gambling. So hosting a women's chess championship is already a significant step forward.
What do Suffolk women players think about these dress regulations?
Both Adam and Ed Player are on one point.
Although there are 130+ entrants, there is only one player, GM Alexei Shiorov, on maxcimum four points. He will be taking a bye tomorrow, so there is likely to be a bunch of players on 4½/5.
Results can be seen here and live games here.
So for a start, here are a couple of new members of the Bury St Edmunds club:
Isuru (known as 'Sean') Wickrama (left) and Anthony Taylor. Both have estimated grades of 140.
Please send photos to me, so that they can appear on this website.
Alan's two wins in this tournament take his 'live' rating to 2404. Even if his rating subsequently drops below 2400, Alan's achievement will still stand.
Alan (now aged 19) is the third 'home-grown' Suffolk player to achieve International Master status. Nicholas and Richard Pert, now aged 35, became IMs at 19 and 21 respectively, with Nick gaining the GM title a year later.
The photograph was taken a year ago at the same event.
This was the position after Black's 45th move, with Alan (White) to play:
The game continued: 46. b6! Ka5 47. Nd5 Ka6 48. f4! 1 - 0
For his efforts, Alan gets to play Black against second seed Wesley So (2794) in Round 3! There are 15 players on maximum points - 14 GMs and Alan Merry.
Manningtree's Adam Taylor enjoyed a splendid win. He was re-paired against floater IM Jack Rudd, whose erratic play has caused his rating to plummet in recent years. Adam plays Roumanian GM and chess author Marin (2569) tomorrow.
Ed Player had a tough match, losing to GM Brunello. Tomorrow he faces the second-lowest player in the draw.
