Welcome to Manningtree Chess Club.

Manningtree can look back over the past season with a certain degree of pride. After some 18 months of restrictions, lockdowns, relaxations, more lockdowns, new restrictions etc, the regulations were relaxed sufficiently for the league to operate. We entered teams in five of the eight competitions run, and we won three of them:
Division One Champions
Division Three Champions
Division Three Rapid Play Champions
That's a better record than any other club - only Woodbridge managed more than one trophy. A group of us gathered at the Red Lion in South Street for a final ´Club Night´ to celebrate and to ponder our chances for next season.

Manningtree Chess Club is now closed for the summer break. We will reopen our doors in September, a week or two before the 2022-23 season begins.

Please familiarise yourself with both the
SCCA Covid Related Rules
and those of the club (see below) that
apply while the pandemic continues.

Last Updated: 13th June 2022

Manningtree Chess Club meets at the
Methodist Hall, South Street, Manningtree, CO11 1BQ
Wednesday evenings from September to April at 7.30pm (depending on the fixture list).
The Club currently fields two teams in the Suffolk League,
but we do not limit our activities to match play only.

If you are interested in playing chess,
please come along and enjoy a game or two with a friendly club.
Chess players of any age and any standard are always welcome.

Further details of the club can be obtained from;
Club Secretary: Jim Buis - jim.buis@btinternet.com

Our Playing Room.

Spacious and comfortable. Although being an old church hall, the floorboards do creak a little.

Our Squad.

A TEAM NOMINEES B TEAM NOMINEES REMAINING SQUAD

Andrew P Lewis (2243) Jim Buis (1797) Simon Webber (1637)

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos (2161) Bob Stephens (1785) Carl Phillips (1578)

Philip J Hutchings (1899) Graeme Jones (1771) David Welsh (1541)

Rowland Kerr (1833) John McAllister (1754) John Price (1540)

Adrian Sanderson (1503)

Nick Margerum (1446)

Bradley Bush (1356)

Jaco Neethling (1068)

Our Record of Achievements:


Division One Champions:	2013-2014, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2021-2022
Division Two Champions:	2006-2007, 2009-2010, 2011-2012
Division Three Champions:	2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2018-2019, 2021-2022
Division Three Rapidplay Champions:	2021-2022
League Cup Champions:	2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2018-2019
League Plate Champions:	2016-2017
U145 Cup Champions:	2016-2017

COVID 19 GUIDANCE (From 8th Sept. 2021)

Until the current national guidance changes the guidance below refers to club evenings and internal club matches only. League matches must adhere to the S.C.C.A. guidance.

1. Members who feel unwell, have at least one of the Covid 19 symptoms, are awaiting the results of a test for Covid 19, or have been advised to self-isolate by a competent person, must NOT attend the club under any circumstances.

2. Members who have at least one of the Covid 19 symptoms or have tested positive following a club evening must inform all other members of the club immediately.

3. Members are expected to act responsibly in matters of personal hygiene with hand sanitising gel, disposable gloves and anti-bacterial wipes made available for members to use throughout their playing session.

4. Members are expected to respect social distancing when setting up boards and spectating games.

5. Members are free to decide whether to wear a face mask or not whilst playing. However, should a member insist that his or her opponent wears a mask this must be agreed before the commencement of a game.

Finally, once other groups start using the building all members are expected to follow the Covid 19 rules for the premises when moving around the building.

September 4, 2019

You might think that three minutes, plus a 2 second increment per move, is a ridiculously fast time control for a game of chess. The counter to that is that you get more time with this time control than you do with a five minute blitz game that goes beyond sixty moves. To which you will probably say, "that's all very well but my five minute blitz games never go beyond sixty moves! Come to think of it, nor do my standard rate games either".

But in spite of a little scepticism in some quarters, Manningtree Chess Club opened its doors to a new season with a Blitz Tournament using the aforementioned time controls in accordance with the latest FIDE rules. And as if chess wasn't hard enough, adjusting the clock to add any penalty time for illegal moves meant that most of us didn't bother and just played on (after correcting the illegal move of course - well, correcting those that were actually seen).

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts
1	Andrew P Lewis (218)	x	1	1	1	1	1	1	-	1	-	-	1	8
2	Jim Buis (155)	0	x	1	1	1	1	1	-	½	-	1	-	6½
3	Bob Stephens (144)	0	0	x	1	0	-	-	1	1	1	-	1	5
4=	Philip J Hutchings (162)	0	0	0	x	1	1	0	-	1	-	-	1	4
	Rowland Kerr (130)	0	0	1	0	x	0	1	1	-	-	1	-	4
	John McAllister (125)	0	0	-	0	1	x	-	1	0	1	-	1	4
	Simon Webber (117)	0	0	1	-	0	-	x	1	-	1	1	0	4
8=	Alan Story (74)	-	-	0	-	0	0	0	x	1	1	½	1	3½
	Carl Phillips (120)	0	½	0	0	-	1	-	0	x	1	1	-	3½
10	John Price (107)	-	-	0	-	-	0	0	0	0	x	1	1	2
11	Adrian Sanderson (110)	-	0	-	-	0	-	0	½	0	0	x	1	1½
12	David Welsh (112)	0	-	0	0	-	0	1	0	-	0	0	x	1

Tonight's field included almost every member of the club, and is the largest internal tournament we have run. Andrew was never in any danger in any of his games and swept all before him to finish comfortably ahead of the pack. Meanwhile Jim had already secured second place as he entered the final round against Carl, and while his position was clearly lost, and his time was about to expire, a draw was agreed because a problem with setting the clock meant that while Jim's clock had run down, Carl's had refused to budge.

In the final round Bob managed to finish outright third by beating Alan, as Phil slipped up against Simon. And talking of Alan, once again he confounded the odds (see news item immediately below this one) by finishing joint eighth, comfortably ahead of the bottom three.

And in case you're wondering, there is no error in the above table, John P and Adrian decided to skip the last round, which meant they also missed the ninth round, which was played down at the Red Lion.

April 24, 2019

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	W	D	L	Pts
1	Philip J Hutchings (153)	x	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	5	2	0	6
2=	Rowland Kerr (112)	½	x	1	1	0	½	0	1	3	2	2	4
	Simon Webber (100)	½	0	x	0	1	1	½	1	3	2	2	4
	Alan Story (78)	0	0	1	x	0	1	1	1	4	0	3	4
5	John McAllister (138)	0	1	0	1	x	0	1	½	3	1	3	3½
6=	David Welsh (117)	0	½	0	0	1	x	½	½	1	3	3	2½
	Adrian Sanderson (111)	0	1	½	0	0	½	x	½	1	3	3	2½
8	John Price (106)	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	x	0	3	4	1½

Our final Club Night for the 2019/20 season took place this evening with eight members appearing, and all taking part in a seven round, eight minutes each, lightning tournament. Congratulations to Phil, who won the tournament unbeaten. Special mention should be made of Alan's performance, who in spite of being the lowest graded player, finished joint second. And if truth be told, he should have finished a clear second on five points but for an unfortunate slip up that saw him lose his clearly won game (a rook up) against John M.

December 19, 2018

It was a tightly packed field, with everyone suffering their fair share of missed opportunities, blunders and panic - all that you would expect when the time allocation can be as wide as 16:4. The actual handicap was as follows;

Grade difference	Time allowed
< 10	10	10
10-19	11	9
20-29	12	8
30-39	13	7
40-49	14	6
50-59	15	5
> 60	16	4

The field would have been larger had illness not taken its toll, but for the third time running it was the highest graded player that topped the table in spite of being at a time disadvantage with all but one of his opponents. As in previous tournaments, this one was not without its anomalies. Take Adrian for example, he wasn't beaten by any of the players that finished above him, but by all of those that finished below him. Only six rounds were played this time, that was to allow sufficient time for a couple of festive drinks in the Red Lion afterwards before heading home.

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Points
1	Leon P Burnett (165)	x	0	1	1	1	½	1	-	4½
2=	Rowland Kerr (110)	1	x	0	1	0	½	-	1	3½
	Simon Webber (100)	0	1	x	-	0	½	1	1	3½
4=	Philip J Hutchings (158)	0	0	-	x	1	0	1	1	3
	John McAllister (137)	0	1	1	0	x	-	1	0	3
6	Adrian Sanderson (109)	½	½	½	1	-	x	0	0	2½
7=	Bob Stephens (135)	0	-	0	0	0	1	x	1	2
	Alan Story (80)	-	0	0	0	1	1	0	x	2

November 7, 2018

In spite of having only one quarter the time of most of his opponents, Andy managed to show a clean pair of heels to the whole field. But it clearly wasn't Jim's night tonight, for in spite of being the only person to take anything from Adam six months ago (see below) the time differentials took their toll.
It is not only the time difference that is designed to level the playing field a little, the draw for anything over eight players is designed to do the same. The highest graded player plays the seven players graded immediately below him, and the lowest graded player plays the seven players immediately above him. Those in the middle are pro-rata around them, see the matrix below for an example. Also, the highest graded player will have three whites and four blacks, it being the other way round for the lowest graded player. That clearly helped Alan.

The final table was;

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Points
1	Andrew P Lewis (213)	x	1	1	1	1	1	-	1	-	1	7
2=	Philip J Hutchings (158)	0	x	0	1	1	1	-	-	1	1	5
	Bob Stephens (135)	0	1	x	-	1	-	0	1	1	1	5
	Mark Webley (123)	0	0	-	x	-	1	1	1	1	1	5
5=	John McAllister (137)	0	0	0	-	x	0	1	-	1	1	3
	David Welsh (116)	0	0	-	0	1	x	1	0	1	-	3
	Alan Story (80)	-	-	1	0	0	0	x	0	1	1	3
8	Adrian Sanderson (109)	0	-	0	0	-	1	1	x	0	½	2½
9	Simon Webber (100)	-	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	x	-	1
10	Jim Buis (153)	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	½	-	x	½

May 8, 2018

Manningtree's final home meeting of the 2017/18 season concluded with a Time Handicap Tournament - 20 minutes games in which a two minute advantage was given to the weaker player for every ten grading point difference. Only seven players took part after some had to withdraw at the last minute. The final table was;

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Points
1	Adam C Taylor (209)	x	1	1	½	1	1	1	5½
2	Leon P Burnett (166)	0	x	1	0	1	1	1	4
3	Adrian Sanderson (114)	0	0	x	1	1	1	1	4
4	Jim Buis (155)	½	1	0	x	0	1	0	2½
5	Mark Webley (117)	0	0	0	1	x	½	1	2½
6	John McAllister (133)	0	0	0	0	½	x	1	1½
7	John Price (117)	0	0	0	1	0	0	x	1

The previous week a similar event was staged, but with only four players they all played each other twice. This event was won by Mark Webley.

		1	2	3	4	Points
1	Mark Webley (117)	x	2	0	1½	3½
2	Rowland Kerr (115)	0	x	2	1	3
3	John McAllister (133)	2	0	x	1	3
4	Adrian Sanderson (114)	½	1	1	x	2½

July 12, 2017

Manningtree Chess Club held its 2017 "AGM" on Wednesday 12th July at the Red Lion in South Street Manningtree. It was the ideal venue to celebrate the club's most successful season ever, and an opportunity to show off our six trophies. After the "meeting" the members retired to the Pump Room for another beer, and to plot next season's campaign.

April 12, 2017

Manningtree A, after their 4-0 victory over Ipswich B that put them an unreachable six points clear of their nearest rivals, and current Champions, Ipswich C. For the second time in four seasons Manningtree top the Suffolk League, and with a points haul that has not often been beaten. Prior to the 2012/13 season Manningtree had only spent two seasons in Division One of the Suffolk League, and finished bottom on both occasions. But since then, Manningtree have grown to running three teams, and haven't been out of the top three positions in Division One since 2013. And speaking of Manningtree's other teams, playing alongside our A-Team tonight, were our B-Team, who secured the top spot in Division Three, giving Manningtree a team in all three Suffolk Divisions next season for the first time in their 40 year history.

November 30, 2016

The Norfolk/Suffolk Cup is a six board knockout competition that pits the best of Suffolk against the best of Norfolk. Separate knockouts are arranged in each county, and the winners of each face each other in the final. In earlier years virtually all clubs in the League took part, but of recent times the Suffolk half has been contested between only Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. But this season, for the first time in many years, Manningtree have entered the fray. The last time we have evidence of a Manningtree presence in this competition was in the 1981/82 season when we were beaten 4-2 in the first round by Felixstowe. Below we see Manningtree on the left, prepare to take on the current holders Bury St Edmunds.

October 19, 2016

Manningtree Chess Club has been bucking the trend of many clubs of late, and has grown from one of the smallest clubs in the region to a Championship winning club, now running three teams for the first time in its forty odd year history. And tonight we reached another milestone by hosting two matches on the same evening. Our A-Team took on Ipswich D, while the C-Team played host to a team from Saxmundham. The increased number of boards meant that most players had to forego the luxury of a table to themselves, and share one with their adjacent player.

September 9, 2016

Andrew Lewis beat the 'Rest' of the Manningtree Club 8½-½ in a simultaneous match to kick off the new season. The match was held at the club venue on Wednesday 7th September and was by no means a wholly one-sided affair. Several games required Andrew to dig deep to turn, what us mere mortals would consider drawn positions, into wins. Congratulations Andy, and congratulations to Phil Hutchings, the only player from the 'Rest' not to be beaten. The full score was;

Andrew Lewis (216)	½-½	Phil Hutchings (159)
	1 - 0	Jim Buis (142)
	1 - 0	John McAllister (134)
	2 - 0	Josh Kirwan (e124)
	1 - 0	John Price (122)
	1 - 0	Adrian Sanderson (111)
	2 - 0	Alan Story (71)
	8½ - ½