|
Latest News
The Web Editor highlights recent results, news or other amendments to the site. |
|
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 5th February 2012
Hastings & St Leonards: Howard Tebbs and Bernard Cafferty are nominated for the 1st team from 26th January 2012, while Alfredo Luaces is nominated for the 2nd team from 2nd February
Results 5th February 2012
One that slipped through a crack.
Div. 1: Hastings & St Leonards 1 3 - 2 Crowborough.
This result puts Hastings & St Leonards 1 at the top of the table on game points, although 2nd place Brighton & Hove 1 have a match in hand.
Results 4th February 2012
Please note that I'm continuing to show grades as published last summer, unless a player was ungraded then, but has a grade in the latest (January) list. It was the view of the AGM that we would observe this principle for the KO handicapping and is in line with the position being adopted for County matches. However, I recognise this will cause some confusion. I need to think about re-jigging the results presentations, perhaps, to show the latest 2 grades now that 6-monthly lists are established.
Div. 1: (Update) Eastbourne 1 2½ - 2½ Horsham 1. A draw has been agreed on board 5. Uckfield 1 3½ - 1½ St Francis & Haywards Heath 1. St Francis & Haywards Heath fielded an under-strength team, but all credit to Uckfield for inflicting on them their first defeat in nearly 2 years. (Sorry St F & HH. My comments on the 23rd January entry clearly tempted fate!) Horsham 1 2 - 2 Knoll Knights. Despite being without their regular board 1 player, Knoll Knights held Horsham all square at the end of play, with the final result depending upon adjourned board 3. Ron Nicholas ignored a 36 points deficit to gain a win for Knoll Knights on board 5. St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 2½ - 2½ Hastings & St Leonards 2. The pain continues for St F & HH. A full strength home team held to a draw by a significantly lower graded second team from Hastings.
St Francis & Haywards Heath 1, Eastbourne 1 and Uckfield 1 each move up one place. With St Francis & Haywards Heath's winning streak coming to an end, Brighton & Hove 1 are now the only team (in any division) to have won all their matches so far. Although they still have a couple of their closest rivals to play, Brighton & Hove 1 certainly seem the team to beat at the moment.
Div. 2: (Update) St Francis & Haywards Heath 2 2 - 3 Horsham 3. The adjourned games have been agreed as a draw on board 1 and a win for Horsham on board 5. Lewes 1 4 - 1 Eastbourne 2. With the home team enjoying an average grading advantage of 40 points, an upset was hardly on the cards. However, honour was maintained for the visitors with a win on top board by Hugh Osborne despite being out-graded by 42 points.
Div. 3: Horsham 4 2 - 3 Uckfield 2. The home team were humbled by a vastly lower-graded team from Uckfield who notched up their first win of the season.
Results 30th January 2012
Div. 1: (Update) Horsham 2 1½ - 3½ Brighton & Hove 1. Draw agreed on board 5.
Div. 2: (Update) East Grinstead 1 2 - 3 Lewes 1. Draw agreed on board 4.
January Grading List 28th January 2012
The new grading list is now published on the ECF website . As an additional feature, you can check full details of the games that have been taken into account to calculate the grading.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 27th January 2012
Brighton & Hove: Robin Jones is nominated for the 3rd team from 25th January 2012.
Eastbourne: Mick Reddie is nominated for the 1st team from 20th January 2012.
Lewes: Barry West is nominated for the 1st team from 24th January 2012.
Results 27th January 2012
Div. 1: Knoll Knights 2 - 3 Hastings & St Leonards 1. Just a win on board 1 for Hastings separated the teams amongst a sea of draws. Eastbourne 1 2 - 2 Horsham 1. Board 5 is adjourned. Horsham 2 1 - 3 Brighton & Hove 1. The home team were substantially out-graded, but a degree of honour was secured by Paul Taylor, overturning a 26 points deficit, to win on board 3. Board 5 is adjourned.
Brighton & Hove 1 now lead the Division 1 table, While Hastings & St Leonards 1 rise 2 places to 3rd.
Div. 2: East Grinstead 1 1½ - 2½ Lewes 1. Board 4 is adjourned. I'm advised that East Grinstead anticipate nothing better than a draw, so Lewes will win the match. However, pending confirmation, just ½ MP has been allocated to Lewes. Woodpushers 2 1 - 4 Brighton & Hove 3. Good to see Neil Tasker's return to League matches - and in winning form too, assisting Brighton & Hove 3 to their first win of the season. St Francis & Haywards Heath 2 1½ - 1½ Horsham 3. Boards 1 and 5 are adjourned.
Lewes 1 now lead Division 2. East Grinstead 1 move level with Woodpushers 2 in 4th place, while Brighton & Hove 3 gain 2 places to 9th.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 23rd January 2012
Brighton & Hove: Brian Izzard and Duncan Badham are each nominated for the 2nd team from 19th January 2012.
Horsham: Roger Waddingham, Ron Fletcher and Richard Barrowclough are all nominated for the 4th team from 17th January 2012.
St Francis & Haywards Heath: Jeff Boardman is nominated for the 1st team from 19th January 2012.
Results 23rd January 2012
Div. 1: Woodpushers 1 2 - 3 Hastings & St Leonards 2. St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 3½ - 1½ Worthing 1. St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 continue their winning ways. They haven't lost, or even drawn, a match since March 2010.
St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 gain 3 places to 2nd and have a match in hand compared to top-placed Horsham 1. Worthing 1 leap-frog Hastings & St Leonards 1, but remain in 4th place due to St Francis & Haywards Heath 1's progress. Woodpushers gain 1 place to 10th.
Div. 2: Lewes 2 ½ - 4½ East Grinstead 1. Brighton & Hove 2 4½ - ½ St Francis & Haywards Heath 2
Brighton & Hove 2 climb 3 places to 3rd, while East Grinstead 1 climb from 8th to 5th.
Div. 3: Horsham 4 2½ - 2½ Brighton & Hove 5. A good result for Brighton & Hove who were significantly out-graded by their hosts. Brighton & Hove 5 4 - 1 Worthing 3
Horsham 4 gain 3 places to 2nd, while Brighton & Hove 5 rise from bottom place to 8th.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 17th January 2012
Horsham: Ian Comley is nominated for the 2nd team from 11th January 2012. John Cannon is nominated for the 3rd team from 11th January 2012.
Results 17th January 2012
Div. 1: Uckfield 1 1½ - 3½ Horsham 2.
Div. 3: Uckfield 2 2 - 3 St Francis & Haywards Heath 3
St Francis & Haywards Heath 3 gain 2 places to 6th.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 14th January 2012
Brighton & Hove: Paul Batchelor is nominated for the 1st team from 12th January 2012.
Results 14th January 2012
Div. 1: Hastings & St Leonards 2 2 - 2 Knoll Knights. Board 5 is adjourned. Brighton & Hove 1 3½ - 1½ Crowborough 1.
Brighton & Hove 1 retain their perfect record with 4 wins from 4 matches. They move into 2nd place, with a match in hand compared to leaders, Horsham 1.
Div. 3: East Grinstead 2 2½ - 2½ Horsham 5.
Horsham 5 move up from 5th equal to 3rd, but have played at least 1 more match than any other team in Division 3.
County U180 Team Needs Players 13th January 2012
The Captain of the County U180 team (Paul Batchelor) is still trying to fill 2 places for their match against Surrey at Ashtead on Saturday 21st January, starting at 2pm. If you might be interested, please contact Paul directly.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 11th January 2012
Worthing: Terry Edmondson is nominated for the 1st team from 10th January 2012.
Lewes: Barry Maufe is nominated for the 1st team from 10th January 2012.
Results 11th January 2012
Div. 1: Horsham 1 2 - 3 Worthing 1.
Horsham 1 remain in top position, but have now lost their unbeaten record. (St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 and Brighton & Hove 1, lying 4th and 5th due to fewer matches played, are the only 1st division teams that retain a perfect MP score so far.) Worthing 1 move up from 6th to 3rd.
Div. 2: Lewes 1 3 - 2 Brighton & Hove 3. With an average grade of 166 for Lewes, against 132 for Brighton & Hove (over 4 boards, currently ungraded player on board 3), this was hardly an even match. However, a sterling performance by the visitors on the lower 3 boards made the bottom line rather more respectable than might have been expected.
Lewes 1 move up from 4th equal to 2nd.
Worthing Venue Problem 7th January 2012
Worthing Chess Club has been notified that their venue is temporarily out of use due to work to remove asbestos. This is expected to last up to 2 weeks, precluding the club from hosting scheduled matches against Crowborough 2 on 9th January and Eastbourne 2 on 16th January. Worthing will contact the opposing team captains to arrange new dates, but if you were expecting to play in either of these matches please be advised not to attend Worthing CC on these nights.
Results (Updated) 6th January 2012
Div. 1: (Update) Hastings & St Leonards 1 4 - 1 Uckfield 1. Board 2 has been adjudicated as a win for Uckfield. (Update) Horsham 1 3½ - 1½ Woodpushers. Board 1 agreed as a win for Horsham.
K.O.: Woodpushers 3½ - 1½ Uckfield. Uckfield defaulted board 5. The Rules do not specifically address this in terms of assumed grade to determine the team handicapping. However, even assuming the highest default grade of 150 for a player who has played in Division 1 gave Woodpushers an aggregate grading of 128 points higher than Uckfield, necessitating a result of at least 4 - 1 to them for victory. Consequently, Uckfield progress to the semi-final, where they are away to Horsham 1.
Results 16th December 2011
Div. 1: (Update) St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 4 - 1 Eastbourne 1. Boards 1 and 3 have been agreed as draws.
St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 move up to 3rd place. Along with Brighton & Hove 1 (½ GP behind) they are the only teams in Division 1 to enter the holiday break with all match points to date intact.
Results 11th December 2011
Div. 1: (Update) St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 3 - 0 Eastbourne 1. Eastbourne have resigned on board 2.
St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 move up to 4th place.
Div. 2: (Update) Worthing 2 2½ - 2½ Lewes 2. Board 4 has been agreed as a draw.
Lewes 2 gain 1 place, at the expense of their 1st team compatriots, into 3rd, while Worthing 2 move up from 6th to 4th equal.
Christmas Break and Grading 11th December 2011
The pre-Christmas programme of matches is now complete, other than a few outstanding games that are being analysed or adjudicated, so season's greetings to all.
Please get the missing results to me as soon as possible as I need to submit the results to date for the newly-instigated mid-season standardplay grading list. This also goes for all clubs that would like to have internal results submitted at this stage. This is not compulsory. Results since 1st June 2011 can still be submitted for next summer's grading list if they have not been included in the January list. My deadline for submitting results is around the middle of January, so I would appreciate having them sent to me by the end of December where ever possible.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 11th December 2011
Brighton & Hove: Arthur de Silver is nominated for the 3rd team from 8th December Robin Jones is nominated for the 4th team from 2nd December.
Horsham: Mick Harris, John Marshall and Melusi Nkomo are nominated for the 3rd team from 8th December.
Results (Updated) 11th December 2011
Div. 1: St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 2 - 0 Eastbourne 1. The top 3 boards are all adjourned. The visitors were outgraded on all but board 2 and by an average of 20 points.
Div. 2: Eastbourne 2 2 - 3 Brighton & Hove 2 Brighton & Hove 3 2 - 3 Horsham 3. Worthing 2 2 - 2 Lewes 2. Board 4 is adjourned.
Horsham 3 return to top of Division 2 having so far dropped just ½ MP from 4 matches, while Brighton & Hove 2 move up from 9th to 5th.
Div. 3: Crowborough 2 2½ - 2½ Hastings & St Leonards 3. Board 3 has been adjudicated as a draw. Hastings & St Leonards 3 3½ - 1½ Brighton & Hove 5.
Hastings & St Leonards 3 move up to 2nd place, while Crowborough 2 move up to 3rd.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 8th December 2011
Horsham: Peter Harbott is nominated for the 1st team from 6th December.
Results 8th December 2011
Div. 1: (Update) Horsham 1 4 - 1 Hastings & St Leonards 2. Board 4 has been agreed as a draw. Horsham 1 2½ - 1½ Woodpushers 1. Board 1 adjourned. Horsham substantially out-graded their visitors, but Murali Ramachandran scored a win on board 3 for the Woodpushers against a grading disadvantage of 41 points. ½ MP allocated to Horsham pending outcome of the adjourned game.
Horsham 1 move back up to joint top of Division 1, and would be in sole 1st place on current results if they obtain at least a draw in their adjourned game. However, both Horsham 1 and Hastings & St Leonards 1 have dropped at least ½ MP from 4 matches, whereas Brighton & Hove 1 still have a perfect record from 3 matches.
Crowborough 1 have notified the League that they are unable to raise a team to play Knoll Knights this week, and so are penalised 1MP under Rule 6.2.
Div. 2: Woodpushers 2 2½ - 2½ Argumentatives. The Args had substantial grading advantages on the top 3 boards, but a win by Gary Charles for Woodpushers on board 1, overcoming a 55 points deficit, helped secure a draw for them.
Woodpushers 2 move to top of Division 2, but have played at least 2 more matches than their nearest rivals, while The Args move up from 7th to 5th.
Results 6th December 2011
Div. 1: (Update) Woodpushers 1 ½ - 4½ St Francis & Haywards Heath 1. Board 2 awarded to St Francis & Haywards Heath in the absence of an adjudication claim from Woodpushers. Hastings & St Leonards 1 4 - 0 Uckfield 1. Board 2 is adjourned.
Hastings & St Leonards 1 move to top position
Div. 2: St Francis & Haywards Heath 2 1½ - 3½ Woodpushers 2.
Woodpushers 2 move up from 8th to 3rd place.
Div. 3: (Update) Horsham 4 3½ - 1½ St Francis & Haywards Heath 3. Draw agreed on board 4 and a win to Horsham on board 5. (Update) Crowborough 2 2 - 2 Hastings & St Leonards 3. Board 2 has been agreed as a draw, while board 3 is being adjudicated.
Horsham 4 gain 4 places to 2nd.
Results 5th December 2011
Div. 1: Brighton & Hove 1 3 - 2 Hastings & St Leonards 1. James Wheeler overcame a grading disadvantage of 20 points to win for Hastings on board 5 in what, I understand, was a rather eventful game.
Brighton & Hove 1 take over top slot in Division 1, while Hastings & St Leonards 1 move clear of Eastbourne 1, with whom they had shared 5th place. (I understand that Hastings & St Leonards 1 have also beaten Uckfield 1, which will lift them to the top, but I await detailed results.)
Div. 2: (Update) Lewes 1 3½ - 1½ Woodpushers 2. Board 3 has been agreed as a draw.
Div. 3: St Francis & Haywards Heath 3 3 - 2 Worthing 3.
St Francis & Haywards Heath 3 jump from 8th to 2nd in the table, while Worthing 3 move up slightly from 4th to equal 3rd.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 1st December 2011
Horsham: Paul Taylor is nominated for the 2nd team from 28th November.
Results 1st December 2011
Div. 1: Worthing 1 3½ - 1½ Horsham 2. The visitors were out-graded on every board and by an average of 19 points.
Worthing climb from 7th to 3rd, although it's still only game points that separate teams 2 to 7.
Div. 2: Lewes 1 3 - 1 Woodpushers 2. Board 3 is adjourned. A very unequal match, but a notable win for Robert Davidson on board 4 against a grading deficit of 31 points.
Lewes 1 move up to 2nd place.
Div. 3: Crowborough 2 1½ - 1½ Hastings & St Leonards 3. Boards 2 and 3 are adjourned. Horsham 5 1 - 4 Crowborough 2. Hastings & St Leonards 3 3 - 2 Uckfield 2. Hastings & St Leonards enjoyed grading advantage on every board, but notable wins for Peter Weston and Simon McDonald on the top 2 boards for the visitors. Brighton & Hove 4 3½ - 1½ Horsham 4. Teams very evenly matched on paper. Travel problems resulted in the very late arrival of Horsham's board 2 and 3 players, with consequent time penalties (but thanks to Brighton & Hove for delaying the start as far as possible.)
Brighton & Hove 4 move into a clear lead in Division 3, while Crowborough 2 gain 4 places to 3rd.
K.O. Horsham 2 3 - 2 Lewes. A late substitution by Horsham due to travel delays raised their aggregate grading advantage to 75 points, just sufficient to require them to win by at least 3½ points to go through. Hence Lewes go through to the semi-finals on handicap, where they play St Francis & Haywards Heath. (Lewes at home.)
Results 26th November 2011
Div. 1: Woodpushers 1 ½ - 3½ St Francis & Haywards Heath 1. Board 2 is adjourned. Board 1 apart, the teams did not appear as mis-matched as the results so far suggest. Brighton & Hove 1 4½ - ½ Uckfield 1. With just 1½ game points from their first 3 matches, Uckfield 1 are finding life tough in Division 1. In this match, their opponents bottom board player out-graded Uckfield's board 1 player.
Brighton & Hove 1 gain 3 places to 3rd, while St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 go up 1 to 6th. However, at this early stage in the season, it remains very tight with 5 of the top 6 teams having a perfect score (in match points) from their matches so far.
Results 25th November 2011
Div. 2: (Update) Horsham 3 2½ - 2½ Worthing 2. Board 5 has been agreed as a draw. Worthing 2 gain one place to 3rd.
Nominated Players (Rule 4.2.2) 23rd November 2011
Rule 4.2.2 claims its first scalp of the season. Arghhh..
Horsham: Julie Denning is nominated for the 4th team from 22nd November.
Results 23rd November 2011
Div. 1: (Update) Uckfield 1 ½ - 4½ Knoll Knights. Only Knoll Knights submitted adjudication claims within the time limit, so the results on board 1 ( draw) and board 3 (win to Knoll Knights) awarded in accordance with their claims. (Update) Horsham 2 1 - 4 Hastings & St Leonards 1. Horsham have resigned on board 5. Eastbourne 1 3 - 2 Knoll Knights. A good result for Eastbourne who were significantly out-graded. Horsham 1 3½ - ½ Hastings & St Leonards 2. Board 4 is adjourned. Horsham enjoyed grading advantage on every board and by an average of 19 points.
Horsham 1 take over top slot, while Eastbourne 1 gain 2 places to 3rd equal, alongside Hastings & St Leonards 1.
Div. 2: Brighton & Hove 2 ½ - 4½ Lewes 1. With an average grading advantage of 10 points to Lewes (exc. board 2 where B&H fielded an ungraded player), this wasn't the greatest mis-match, but the visitors went home with a good win. Argumentatives 3 - 2 Brighton & Hove 3. With their upper boards strength The Args appeared substantially stronger, but good results for Brighton & Hove on the lower boards made this a close match. Horsham 3 2 - 2 Worthing 2. Board 5 is adjourned. Teams pretty evenly matched, as reflected in the bottom line.
Lewes 1 move off bottom of the table to a rather more respectable 5th place.
Results 16th November 2011
Div. 1: Crowborough 1 1½ - 3½ Horsham 1. The home team were out-graded by an average of 28 points, but Jon Lawrance scored a win on board 3 against a 53 points deficit. Horsham 2 1 - 3 Hastings & St Leonards 1. Board 5 is adjourned.
Div. 3: Uckfield 2 1½ - 3½ Worthing 3. Worthing 3 2½ - 2½ East Grinstead 2. Worthing put up a team made up entirely of juniors. Horsham 4 2 - 1 St Francis & Haywards Heath 3. With the visitors fielding 3 ungraded players, Horsham were clearly the stronger team on paper. David Everitt, however, overturned a 30 points deficit to win on board 1. Boards 4 and 5 are adjourned.
Results 14th November 2011
Div. 1: Uckfield 1 0 - 3 Knoll Knights. Boards 1 and 3 are adjourned in this far-from-equal match in grading terms.
Knoll Knights take over top position in Division 1.
Div. 2: (Update) Lewes 2 3 - 2 Argumentatives. Lewes have resigned board 3. Worthing 2 5 - 0 St Francis & Haywards Heath 2. The visitors were a little out-graded on boards 1 to 3, but fielded a couple of new, ungraded players on boards 4 and 5. Brighton & Hove 3 2 - 3 Eastbourne 2.
Results 10th November 2011
A Reminder to Clubs and Team Captains: A number of teams are fielding players who are new to the MSCL. Some clubs / captains are very good at advising me of this (thank you), but others wait for me to try to sort out whether they are existing graded players from elsewhere, or entirely new players with no ECF grading history. It's a great help if you could advise me in advance of such players. The ECF grading database can be checked online via their website, including players who may have been inactive for some time. League Rule 4.3 is relevant. Your assistance would be much appreciated.
Div. 1: (Update) Uckfield 1 ½ - 4½ Worthing 1. Board 3 has been adjudicated as a draw.
Div. 2: Lewes 2 3 - 1 Argumentatives. Board 3 is adjourned, while The Args defaulted on board 5 due to a misunderstanding with the intended player.
Div. 3: Horsham 5 2½ - 2½ Brighton & Hove 4. A good result for the home team who appeared to be the underdogs in grading terms.
Results 9th November 2011
Horsham 3 get off to a good start with their second strong win.
Div. 2: East Grinstead 1 1 - 4 Horsham 3. Perhaps not the home team's strongest line up, with Horsham taking advantage of higher grades. Horsham 3 move to the top of Division 2 with this, their 2nd 4 -1 win from 2 matches. East Grinstead 1 are in 2nd place, but with an extra match under their belts.
County U140 Team: Call for Players 7th November 2011
The following message is from Keith Osborne, Captain of Susssex Under 140 county team:-
"Do you want to play for Sussex County U-140 team this Saturday, November 12? There is a home match (Horsham) against Surrey, and there are still a couple of vacancies in the team. If you would like to play contact Keith Osborne on 01323-492158 or keithcosborne@aol.com immediately. The match will start at 1400". Please support your county, and Keith's efforts on our behalf, if you possibly can.
Results 4th November 2011
The Knock Out tournament is now well underway, with the first 2 results in.
Div. 1: Uckfield 1 0 - 4 Worthing 1. A further win for Worthing has been agreed for board 2. Board 3 remains to be resolved.
Div. 3: East Grinstead 2 2½ - 2½ Crowborough 2.
K.O: Horsham 1 4½ - ½ Crowborough. With an aggregate grading advantage of 128 points, Horsham needed at least 4 points to win on handicap. They just squeezed home when a blitz finish on board 3 went their way. St Francis & Haywards Heath 3½ - 1½ Argumentatives. St Francis & Haywards Heath win on handicap, but perhaps a slightly odd result. Under the KO Rules, if a player does not have a published grade they are given an assumed grade, based on their playing record in the regular League matches, in order to determine the handicapping between teams (KO Rule 7 refers). In this instance, The Args board 5 player does not have a current published grade, but has played in a Division 2 League match, so was given an assumed grade of 135. This was undoubtedly penalising as the player's highest recorded grade (from the 2010 grading list) is just 109. This difference between 109 and 135 was sufficient to bring the home team's overall grading advantage below the level at which they would have needed 4 points to win the match on handicap, rather than 3½.
Horsham 1 go on to play the winners of the Uckfield v Woodpushers match, while St Francis & Haywards Heath will next play the winners from the Horsham 2 v Lewes match.
Results 1st November 2011
The first draw of the season, while all goes according to plan in the second Brighton & Hove intra-club match
Div. 2: St Francis & Haywards Heath 2 2½ - 2½ East Grinstead 1. The team were well matched on grades and the top 3 boards all produced draws.
Div. 3: Brighton & Hove 5 ½ - 4½ Brighton & Hove 4. Only a draw on board 2 dented the 4th team's dominance.
Results 29th October 2011
Knoll Knights open their 2011 / 12 account with a resounding win.
Div. 1: Knoll Knights 4 - 1 Horsham 2. The visitors were well out-graded, but came home with a couple of draws.
Results 27th October 2011
Mixed fortunes for Woodpushers and Worthing, while both Uckfield teams find themselves on the wrong side of grading mis-matches.
Div. 1: Uckfield 1 0 - 3 Worthing 1. Boards 2 and 3 are adjourned. Out-graded on every board, and by an average of 41 points, the home team were little match for a full strength Worthing side.
Worthing 1, the only Division 1 team with 2 results in so far, go top of the table.
Div. 2: Eastbourne 2 2 - 3 Woodpushers 2. One new player in each team. Oliver Andrew overturned a 25 points grading deficit to score a win for Woodpushers. Horsham 3 4 - 1 Woodpushers 2. The home side enjoyed grading advantage on every board and by an average of 16 points.
Horsham 3 and Woodpushers 2 join Brighton & Hove 2 at the top of the table, although Woodpushers have used up one more fixture.
Div 3: Worthing 3 1 - 4 Hastings & St Leonards 3. The teams appeared pretty evenly matched, but the visitors triumphed on the night. The Worthing side included 3 younger members of the Graham family, including newcomer to the League, Cassie. Uckfield 2 1 - 4 Horsham 5. Not quite the mis-match that their peers were experiencing upstairs, but the lower Uckfield team was also noticeably out-graded and their opponents took full advantage. Just Liam Backler, a newcomer to the Uckfield club, notched up a point for the home side.
With the benefit of one extra result so far, Horsham 5 go top of Division 3.
Forum: Divisions for Future Seasons 25th October 2011
As we were preparing for this season towards the end of September there was some discussion about the prospect of returning to 4 divisions in the future if we continued to recover from the loss of teams that occurred for the 2010 / 11 season. In particular, how this might be brought about as it would involve splitting current divisions in some way. At the time of circulating the proposed fixture schedule for this season, we thought we were looking at a net increase of 2 teams over last season. This subsequently fell back to just 1 team due to the late withdrawal of Eastbourne 3. The ideas so far have been posted as a new Forum thread here. Bearing in mind that this may all remain academic if team entries remain at around the level of the last couple of seasons, but others may care to add their thoughts.
Results 25th October 2011
A good start for St Francis & Haywards Heath 1 on their return to Division 1, while the victory for Lewes 2 over Lewes 1 is confirmed.
Div. 1: Crowborough 1 2 - 3 St Francis & Haywards Heath 1. The visitors were out-graded on all boards except board 1, and by an average of 17 points overall. The Fitzgerald brothers took 1½ points between them against significant grading deficits.
Div. 2: Lewes 2 3 - 2 Lewes 1. Board 2 has been agreed as a draw.
Results 22nd October 2011
A close shave for the reigning champions, baptism by fire for Division 1 entrants Woodpushers 1 but a good start in Division 2 for East Grinstead 1, while almost all according to plan at Brighton.
Div. 1: Woodpushers 1 1 - 4 Eastbourne 1. The teams were pretty evenly matched on grade, but victories on all 3 top boards sealed a good win for the visitors. Hastings & St Leonards 1 3 - 2 Hastings & St Leonards 2. With an average grading advantage of 38 points for the 1st team what could possibly go wrong? Well, just take a look at those results on boards 4 and 5. Congratulations to Ollie Willson and Mark Finch, while Luaces Alfredo on board 1 for the 2nd team probably didn't consider it a bad night's work, securing a draw against a 25 points grading deficit.
Eastbourne 1 head the table on game points.
Div. 2: East Grinstead 1 3 - 2 Argumentatives. With an average grading advantage of 20 points on boards 1 - 4 (ungraded player on board 5), The Args should have been home and dry, but a draw for Adrian Waldock (-27 points) and a win for Robert Fisher (-12 points) helped set up an upset. Brighton & Hove 3 1 - 4 Brighton & Hove 2. With an average grading advantage of 26 Points, the 2nd were taking few chances. Only Kevin Gee on board 4 for the 3rd team seems not to have read the script.
Brighton & Hove 2 move to the top of the table, followed by East Grinstead 1.
Results 19th October 2011
After all the effort to get the season up and running, it's always a relief to see the first results flowing in. So here we go. Bit of an upset at Lewes, while Horsham 1 just squeak through in the start-of-season intra-club matches. First blood in inter-club matches goes to Brighton 1.
Div. 1: Horsham 2 2 - 3 Horsham 1. Only a win on board 4 for the 1st team separated them. Worthing 1 1½ - 3½ Brighton & Hove 1.
Div. 2: Lewes 2 2½ - 1½ Lewes 1. Board 2 is adjourned and I'm advised it looks drawn, which will give the 2nd team victory over the 1st.
Div. 3: Horsham 5 1½ - 3½ Horsham 5. No real upset here, but a win for Dick Newman on board 4 overcoming a 46 points grading deficit.
Pre-Season Changes 12th October 2011
I believe I have now caught up with all the agreed changes to match dates and nominated players. As always, if you know differently, give me a prod.
Eastbourne 3 Withdraw 5th October 2011
Due to the unexpected non-availability of a number of players, for various reasons, over the coming season, Eastbourne Chess Club has had to take the decision to withdraw its 3rd team. Will other teams in Division 3 please take note of this and delete the relevant fixtures from their programme.
I have been notified of a number of agreed changes to fixture dates, particularly involving Brighton and Hastings offer to arrange matches on Saturdays. An updated list will be circulated early next week when all such changes should be finalised.
SCCA Competitions 5th October 2011
As mentioned in the item dated 29th September below, the SCCA Tournament Controller is doing his best to revitalise the various County competitions. As a final effort for this season, he has announced a one week extension, till 8th October, for accepting entries.
Knock-Out Competition 4th October 2011
The K.O. fixtures have been posted. Please note that these have been amended from the details originally circulated by post, to take account of the round completion dates agreed at the AGM, and that for this season the team size is reduced to 5, not 6 as stated on the postal circulation.
The New Season Approaches 29th September 2011
As we approach the start of the 2011 / 12 the website is being progressively up-dated. Information from the 2010 / 11 season is being archived. The fixtures have been posted for each division, but be aware that some agreed changes are coming in and the lists will be up-dated further over the next couple of weeks.
There are still some multi-team clubs who need to notify their nominated players. Please get these in quickly.
With 34 teams (2 more than last year) in 3 divisions, we're in for a busy season involving a total of 176 matches.
A rather late reminder, but tomorrow (30th September) is the closing date for entries for the various Sussex County Chess Association individual and team competitions. The Tournament Controller has put a lot of effort into trying to re-vitalise these competitions and hopes for greater interest than has been apparent in recent years. I know that Horsham are planning to enter some of the team events, so please give them some competition! Details and entry forms are available from the SCCA website.
Crowborough Rapidplay Congress: Sunday 18th September 2011 12th September 2011
A reminder that this year's Crowborough Rapidplay Congress is taking place on this coming Sunday (18th September). Entries are still being accepted for this popular event. Full details and an entry form can be found on the Crowborough Chess Club website.
Missing SCCA Trophies 1st August 2011
Two of the Sussex County Chess Association trophies appear to have gone walkabout and the Tournament Controller (PaulBuswellChess@aol.com) is seeking help in tracking them down. Paul has discovered the following on their last known whereabouts:-
(1) The Montrose Cup was the original trophy for the Sussex Veterans' Championship. Last known as having been awarded to Mr F W Brown of the Hassocks Chess Club in 1996. (2) The Sexton Cup was last heard of in the last decades of the last century, when it had been translated into the trophy for the Sussex (individual) Lightning Championship, last known to have been contested in 1993. If anyone can help to locate either of these trophies, please get in touch with Paul Buswell.
2011 Grading List 24th July 2011
The 2011 grading list is now available on the ECF website.
Crowborough Rapidplay Congress: Sunday 18th September 2011 20th July 2011
This year's Crowborough Rapidplay Congress is taking place on Sunday 18th September. Full details and an entry form can be found on the Crowborough Chess Club website.
Dr Douglas Opie 12th July 2011
Further to the announcement of the death of Dr Opie, anyone wishing to make a donation in his memory should make one to Tudor Care Homes, via messrs A J Lloyd, 38 Wallace Road, Keresley, Coventry CV6 2LX.
Dr Douglas Opie 7th July 2011
News has reached me of the death on 5th July of Dr Douglas Opie at the age of 87. Dr Opie was an Honorary Life Member of the Sussex County Chess Association. Despite moving away from Sussex some years ago, he had continued to organise SCCA competitions until deteriorating health forced him to stand down at last summer's AGM. His funeral is to be held in Nuneaton next Thursday, 14th July.
AGM Minutes and Champions - v- The Rest 15th June 2011
Ian Comley has produced draft Minutes for the AGM that was held on 14th June. They can be read here.
Ian has also noted that one of his responsibilities as the new League Secretary is to arrange a Champions (Hastings & St Leonards) vs The Rest match. This hasn't attracted much support in recent years, but would anyone interested in being part of "The Rest" please contact Ian. It could be a good opportunity for anyone who hasn't been there yet to visit the Hastings & St Leonards venue now that it has been agreed that their home matches will be hosted there in future.
AGM Summary 15th June 2011
The formal minutes of last night's AGM will become available in due course. However, significant points included:
|