Suffolk Chess

Pictured below is the team that won the National Under 18 Minor Counties Championship in April 1990. There are one or two that can't be identified. Can anyone recognise them? You probably won't be able to guess one at the back right, as he's almost completely hidden (but it might be Darren Porter!). Click on the photo to enlarge it.

(left to right): (Vicky Allen); Steve Jones. Alan Watkins, Jonathan Green, Jonathan Wright, Paula Allen, Simon McDougall, Simon Lunn, Emily Porter, Darren Boone, Rob Harden, Haran Jogeesvaran, Jogeesvaran Kris, Terry Arnold, ???, Nick Kirby, Julie Nicholas, ???, Frances Hardinge, Louisa Orton.

Seven years later, in 1997, with the likes of Nick and Richard Pert, Ed Player and David Spence in the team, Suffolk Under 18s won the main Counties Championship. Those were the days!

This may upset a few people, but having consulted with SCCA President Colin Roberts, I've decided not to continue with the Suffolk Chess Journal. In fact, it hasn't been produced for well over a year, and has been superseded by more modern technology in the form of this website.

The problem with anything in written form, is that it will always be out-of-date by the time it is published. Results of events, tournaments, leagues etc may be a few months old; information about clubs will already have been circulated by email. Nowadays it's possible to publish games by Suffolk players almost as soon as they have been played!

So, I'm sorry to disappoint the few, but I hope that most readers will agree that this daily news update is a much better way of keeping everyone aware of what's happening in Suffolk Chess. There will also be occasional flashbacks to times gone by, especially when current news is lacking, and articles written by others will appear (Mike McNaughton wrote a splendid article for the Journal which was never published; it will appear here soon).

Of course, if anyone else feels inspired to produce the SCJ, then Colin Roberts will be delighted to hear from you...

The 12th Woodbridge Junior Chess Open Tournament takes place in just under two weeks' time, on Sunday 25th November. This is a Rapidplay event over six rounds.

Organiser Adam Hunt would like entries to be received by next Tuesday, 20 November.

As well as sections for Juniors at u8, u10, u12, u14, u16 and u18 levels, there is also an Open section in which adults can play. Additionally, a free to enter Parents section is available.

To download an entry form, click here.

Bury St Edmunds' Ed Player travelled to Brighton for the e2e4 Brighton Open this weekend. He finished in equal fourth place on 3½/5, behind the joint winners, GM Peter Wells and GM Keith Arkell, who both scored 4½ points. Ed's only loss was to Arkell. His 2304 rating performance will earn him 12 Elo points.

At the end of October both Ed and Alan Merry played in the five-day, nine-round Basingstoke Masters, also part of the e2e4 circuit. Both did remarkably well, against strong opposition. The winner was IM Ameet Ghasi on 6½ points, whilst Ed was the only untitled person (2 GMs, 4 IMs, 1 FM) in joint second place on 5½ points. This included a win over IM Jack Rudd and a draw with GM Bogdan Lalic. Ed's rating performance was 2348, which will see him gain a further 32 rating points.

Alan won his first round against a GM from Uzbekistan (see below), then drew in Round 2 with GM Bogdan Lalic. From this tough but promising start, results did not all go to plan, but he still finished with a rating performance of 2349, which included a win over IM James Cobb. This will mean an improvement of 29 points.

See the full results from both Basingstoke and Brighton.

Here's Alan Merry's win over a GM. Black's poor 32nd move allowed a strong attack:

In recent years the level of support for the Suffolk Ladies' Championship has been poor. There were four entrants in 2010-11 but last season the event did not take place. The current champion (from 2011) is Vicky Allen, who is also the organiser of the Championship.

This season there has been an excellent response and there will be seven entrants, five of whom are juniors. This augurs well for the future of Women's Chess in Suffolk.

The Championship will be an All-plays-All, with each entrant playing six matches over the next six months. Those entering (in grading order) are:

Emilia Jewell - 133 (age 14) - Bury St Edmunds Vicky Allen - 122 - Stowmarket Adèle Lunn - 100 - Ipswich Alba Saenz de Villaverde - 70R (age 13) - Bury St Edmunds Anita Somton - e60 (age 8) - Bury St Edmunds Liya Baby - e30 (age 9) - Bury Knights JCC Bethany Young - e25 (age 10) - Stowmarket
The last four named above are all regular attendees of the Bury Knights Junior Chess Club.

Good luck to all entrants!

Many times Suffolk Ladies' Champion Vicky Allen and her daughter Paula have been running a successful chess club at the Meadows Montessori School, in North Ipswich. Pictured below today, just before a 13-board simul was about to begin, the club is divided into two age-groups. The younger ones (7 - 8 year olds) meet for 45 minutes at lunchtime on Fridays, followed by an hour (during curriculum time) for the older children (9 - 10 year olds).


Vicky and Paula are to be congratulated for this initiative, which has introduced chess to more than 25 youngsters. Many other schools, in both the public and private sectors, are crying out for similar support. If you have the time, the rewards are fantastic. Not financial of course, but it's sufficient just to see the pleasure that these children get out of playing the game. We all know that feeling, of course, so let's pass some of it on to the next generation!

Alan Merry (225 ECF), 16 years old today (8 November).

Those two words strike fear and dread into most people. But volunteering, as discovered by the Gamesmakers at the Olympics and Paralympics, can be incredibly satisfying and rewarding. But unless you try, you'll never experience the 'kick'.

Back in September, at the Suffolk AGM, two posts were unfilled. And so they remain today. Both are important, in different ways.

The Vice-President supports the President and stands in for him at meetings if he is unable to attend. Colin Roberts has just taken over as President and all things being equal, will serve three years in this post. In September 2015 a new President needs to be elected; the incumbent Vice-President is usually the one. That gives the best part of three years to 'learn the ropes'. Ideally, the Vice-President needs to have reasonable organisational abilities, as well as knowing how to run a meeting.

The other vacancy is for Junior Organiser. It can't be stressed how important this role is, because without youngsters coming into the game, the county will decline in strength in years to come. Somne support is probably needed for one junior club that is struggling to survive, and good communication needs to be established with primary and secondary schools in the county. Many of Suffolk's juniors have gone on to become strong adult players, at county and in some cases, national and international levels. This can be an incredibly satisfying role, but the commitment needed shouldn't be under-estimated.

Canddates for either post should contact either me (Bob Jones) or the President (Colin Roberts). See Contacts page for details.

If you have read this, and can think of someone else who could potentially fill either of these posts, please talk to them about it.

With a full month of league chess behind us, perhaps it's time to review the state of affairs. Can we start making any predictions yet?

In Division 1, Ipswich B head the table with 7½ points. But they lost to second-placed Ipswich A, who have 7 points. Both Ipswich C and Bury St Edmunds A have a game in hand and 4 points in the bag. Manningtree split these teams with 5½ points. Only Sudbury have lost all three games, but have still scored 4 points.

So really, just like Obama-Romney, it's too close to call. A big win by Sudbury next week over Ipswich A could turn the table on its head. And tonight sees Bury St Edmunds A facing Ipswich C.

In Division 2, Saxmundham A have established a clear early lead. They have won both matches convincingly (4-0 and 3-1) and hold a 1½ point advantage over Bury St Edmunds C and Stowmarket A, who have both played an extra match.

Division 3 is incredibly close. Just 1½ points separate the top four teams, with Woodbridge School a further point behind but with a match in hand.

Predictions? Too difficult at such an early stage of the season. So let's leave that until the New Year!

After regular daily updates, this column has suddenly gone quiet for the best part of a week. Sorry, but I've been laid low with what I would normally call 'flu, had I not received the annual jab a few weeks ago.

Last weekend saw the first two rounds of the flagship 4NCL team competition. This event started from modest beginnings in 1993 with the participation of only six teams. It has grown from strength to strength, and now boasts three divisions in which no fewer than 79 teams compete.

The league's format has changed on a number of occasions, but for the last few years seems to have settled down to a stable format. The top two divisions comprise 16 teams of eight players, divided into two pools of eight teams of roughly equal strength for the first seven rounds; after seven rounds the top four teams in each pool combine to fight it out for the top places, while the bottom four teams in each pool do likewise - but this time to battle against relegation! The third division, played with six players per team according to a Swiss tournament format and currently comprising 47 teams in total, is split regionally between north and south for the first six rounds; all the teams then join together for the final five rounds in the quest for promotion to the second division.

The first two rounds were played last weekend and featured many Suffolk players. The indivdual outstanding results were Alan Merry's win over IM Colin Crouch, for Anglian Avengers 1, and Martin Fogg's win for Anglian Avengers 3 over a 2165-rated opponent (223 points highjer than Martin). Other Suffolk players competing included (scores out of two in brackets) David Spence (1), Shaun Munson (½), Mark Gray (1), Steve Gregory (1½), Richard Lamont (½), Ian Wallis (1). Mike Cook (1½), Tim Lunn (1½), Martin Fogg (1), Luke Hill (½), Keith Woodcock (1), John Feavyour (1) and Laurie Pott (0). Alan Merry scored 1½ and Martin Fogg 1. Several other Suffolk players are registered for the four Suffolk-based teams, and will doubtless get their opportunity to play in subsequent rounds.

Anglian Avengers 1 lost both matches by the narrowest of margins, whilst Anglian Avengers 2 won both theirs by similar margins. Both Anglian Avengers 3 and Iceni lost both their matches.

See the teams' individual results:

Anglian Avengers 1 (Div 2)
Anglian Avengers 2 (Div 3s)
Anglian Avengers 3 (Div 3s)
Iceni (Div 3s)