Welcome to Manningtree Chess Club. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Please familiarise yourself with both the Last Updated: 13th June 2022 Manningtree Chess Club meets at theMethodist 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, |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our Playing Room.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our Squad.
Our Record of Achievements:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
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).
|
April 24, 2019
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;
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.
|
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;
|
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;
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.
|
July 12, 2017 |
April 12, 2017 |
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;
|