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WHAT’S NEW on the site?
(Archive 2000-2001)

Only the major additions are noted here. Minor roadworks go on all the time.

10 Sep 2001
28 Aug 2001
  • 37th Berks & Bucks Congress 25-27 August
  • Coulsdon (10 minute) Blitz 27.8.01
  • Next year's Fixtures page now includes some notes about venues, from the County Match Controller. We hope all Counties will take them on board. Match captains will be hearing direct from the Controller very soon, but what you've read in these pages is from him and official.
27 Aug 2001
  • Fixtures page now includes fully updated list of match captains 2001-2, with contact details. Captains are invited to check it for accuracy. One already has, and has corrected an out-of-date postcode.
26 Aug 2001
  • County matches 2001-2: Fixtures are now on the site. Match captains: check for problems, and if you change any dates please tell the Tournament Controller and Website promptly.
24 Aug 2001
23 Aug 2001
  • Open Forum: Joe Conlon, Cambridge UCC Match Secretary, joins in on Eligibility.
21 Aug 2001
20 Aug 2001
  • Open Forum: Gary Kenworthy writes about grading and Eligibility.
19 Aug 2001
  • SCCU SGM 7th September in London. DON'T forget to come. We've been inquorate once already. Notice has gone to County Secretaries as required, but not to the two reps from each County. We don't know who they'll be. Their County Secretaries will pass things on. The complete papers of the meeting, for others who may be interested, are not a secret. They can be downloaded by clicking here. Zipped rtf, 22K.
15 Aug 2001
  • BCF (formerly Times) Schools Championship 2001-2: we've put an entry form on the site. Or you can download the official form by clicking here (zipped rtf, 5K).
06 Aug 2001
  • An Essex update: results 2000-1. See the Club & County page.
  • Open Forum. No new letters, but a footnote to David Kierman 2.7.01 on board order. How higgledy-piggledy was that Greater Manchester team? Not very, as it turns out. You'll have to scroll down to the letter.
04 Aug 2001
  • New categories of BCF Membership. ChessMoves (on paper) for July/August contains the first clear statement we've seen of the benefits of Standard Membership (as compared with Full Members and Joe Public). This has been rumbling on since the April Council meeting, and even now we don't think it's right. But it's important, and we reproduce it in the BCF page. Yes, we've said why we don't think it's right.
  • Links page has a couple of Sussex sites added today. We don't always mention new additions in "What's New?", and there have been three or five these last few weeks. Have a browse.
02 Aug 2001
  • Open Forum: Bernard Cafferty adds a new dimension to the Eligibility theme. We closed the Central Venues one, but Eligibility has far more meat to it and we're not closing it any time soon.
01 Aug 2001
  • Open Forum: John Saunders takes up the Eligibility theme.
  • We've added modestly to the History section by writing in the Henlen Shield results from the sixties and seventies. See Adult Teams. Did you think Annual Team Jamboree meant the Under 180? Sir George will be turning in his grave.
  • National Club U125. Not that there were any SCCU teams in it, but we've tracked down the result of the Plate Final. Semi finals have remained elusive, though we've guessed who won them.
  • Herts Centenary Year concludes on Saturday 10th November 2001 with a simul and a Do. You are asked not to arrange things that clash with it. For information, contact Alan Brewis AlanLBrewis@aol.com. (It's been an extended year. There was a Centenary Match on the 30th September 2000.)
  • Andersen London Junior Championships (see their site at www.ljcc.co.uk) are 16-17 and 28-30 December 2001. SCCU Junior titles go with them. Entry forms now available at Scarborough.
  • On the Barnet Knights site: 26th BK Tournament 26.7.01
31 Jul 2001
  • Open Forum: Nick Butland seeks clarification of the new proposal for Counties Championship eligibility (we've tried to provide it). He also makes some remarks on the Wanstead Finals in the National Club.
28 Jul 2001
  • BCF Counties Teams Rapidplay 30th September at Stevenage: Entry form for download (zipped rtf, 2K)
27 Jul 2001
  • Open Forum: Jeff Goldberg weighs in again on Eligibility.
24 Jul 2001
  • National Club. We now have detailed results for the U125 Final 15.7.01 (Whitstable* 2½ 2½ Pontefract). The U125 Plate results have not yet leaked out of their black hole.
  • Kent have a new U100 match captain. See the Fixtures page (or Notices).
22 Jul 2001
  • Counties Teams Rapidplay is confirmed for Sunday 30th September 2001 at Stevenage. Entry forms "will be available shortly, provided people stop asking me questions on grading." - CEM
  • SCCU History: Howard Grist has supplied some new names from the seventies. See Adult Team Champions, Individual Champions (both "Boys" and Girls), and Who was Who?.
  • On the Bucks CCA site: Bucks results 2000-1. Also, further down the page, the complete Chiltern fixture list 2001-2. This may be the only place you'll find the Chiltern fixtures.
18 Jul 2001
  • Open Forum: Cyril Johnson, Home Director, makes some comments on the Counties Championships. He mentions Uppingham, among other things, and we said the subject was closed, but his point is new.
  • On other sites: 36th Richmond Rapidplay 15.7.01 is on the Richmond Junior site, and the ongoing Smith & Williamson Young Masters tournament is on the, well, Smith & Williamson Young Masters site.
         We often get results from someone who's put them on a site already, and our usual reaction has been to ignore them because they're on a site already. This was wrong. In future, as a service to readers, we will try always to give them a cross-reference in "What's New?". Only for events on the SCCU patch, and only if the organisers tell us about them.
17 Jul 2001
  • BCF Grading List to be on time! Yes, it should be. See update in the Grading page.
  • Open Forum: Nathan Alfred says what we didn't know (see Jeff Goldberg yesterday) wasn't true.
16 Jul 2001
  • National Club: Steve Chick supplies the results of two more Finals, and John Philpott sends detailed scores for all the Wanstead ones.
  • Open Forum: Jeff Goldberg (on Cambridgeshire eligibility, again!) tells us something we didn't know, and suggests changing the rules for the SCCU stage.
15 Jul 2001
  • National Club Finals. Five results, for the Finals played today at Wanstead. Nothing yet for the U150 Championship or the U125 (both competitions, including the Plate semi finals).
  • We are not alone. Remember that inquorate AGM a couple of weeks ago? The MCCU had one on the 24th June. The most interesting thing about their meeting, by the sound of it, was not so much how many weren't there as who wasn't.
         You have, of course, remembered that the replacement SCCU AGM is on FRIDAY 7th SEPTEMBER.
14 Jul 2001
  • Coulsdon CF Chess Challenge 2001
  • National Club: an unfortunate default in the U100 Final. No SCCU involvement. Finals in the U100 Plate and the Handicap Rapidplay have already been reported. The other Finals ought to be tomorrow, and we hope to be soon complete.
10 Jul 2001
  • Kent Juniors: GP Final Congress at Maidstone 7.7.01
  • National Club: Guildford win Handicap Rapidplay Championship. That makes two SCCU winners out of two. Elsewhere we have all the Finalists, except in the U125 Plate where the semi final results are not known to us. There aren't any SCCU teams in them.
09 Jul 2001
  • Open Forum: Bernard Cafferty on central venues and Uppingham. This subject is now closed, unless you can find an aspect of it that no one's mentioned.
08 Jul 2001
  • Yesterday's County Finals are now on the site in detail. The U175 result was Warwicks 10 6 Essex, which is not what we said last night.
  • Open Forum: With Cambridgeshire home and dry, Jeff Goldberg returns doggedly to the Eligibility question. Carl Tillotson (our second Northerner in seven days!) adds to the Venues debate.
07 Jul 2001
  • In haste: Counties Finals 7.7.01 at Uppingham. Open Cambs 8½ 7½ Sussex; Minor Herts 11½ 4½ Norfolk; U175 Warwicks 10½ 5½ Essex; U150 Gtr Manchester 10½ 5½ Essex; U125 Lancs 9½ 6½ Hants; U100 Cleveland 6½ 5½ Lancs. Details tomorrow.
06 Jul 2001
  • Open Forum again: John Philpott, Kevin Clark and Tim Spanton respond to Ken Norman on central venues. John also has things to say about playing order (see David Kierman 2nd July).
05 Jul 2001
  • Open Forum: Ken Norman of Sussex, with Saturday in mind, argues against the use of a central venue for the Counties Finals.
03 Jul 2001
02 Jul 2001
01 Jul 2001
  • Hope you saw the shock-horror headline on the front page. It's not quite come to that, but it deserves to. The SCCU AGM 30.6.01 was INQUORATE. A report of the non-meeting will appear shortly. An SGM to replace it has been arranged for the 7th September.
  • Times Champions (see full report) are Oakham School.
29 Jun 2001
  • Times Semi Finals are played, and we give the results in detail, and the showdown (Oakham v Manchester Grammar) is tomorrow.
  • BCF-Stage County matches: Cyril Johnson updates us with the results we didn't have. We are now primed and waiting for the Finals.
28 Jun 2001
  • Times Plate Final 28.6.01: Greenwood Academy 0 6 Hampton School
26 Jun 2001
  • Cowley Blitz 25.6.01
  • Second semi final in the Times Plate Championship was played today. The Final (Hampton School v Greenwood Academy Irvine) is the day after tomorrow.
25 Jun 2001
  • A brief Grading update, based on the Director's latest progress report. There are things in it of general interest.
22 Jun 2001
  • Ian Thompson tells us (see Controls & Finishes) that Fischer modes are coming in in the Border League. This has to be a first, in a local league.
21 Jun 2001
  • We have to report the death, on Monday 18th June, of George Smith. George's services to Southend and Essex and the BCF go back a very long way indeed. An appreciation of his work appears in the Club & County page.
20 Jun 2001
  • National Club: Mike McNaughton sends details of the U100 Plate Final reported yesterday. (Yesterday's howler is now corrected.)
19 Jun 2001
  • National Club U100 Plate Final. Cowley overwhelm MCCU to take the first of this season's titles.
17 Jun 2001
  • Things are quiet. But we have an opponent for Essex in the U175 Final, and a new entry in the Links page. Also a silly problem in the Games page which you'll do instantly but your Webmaster didn't.
12 Jun 2001
  • Open SF 9.6.01 Sussex 8½ 7½ Warwicks
10 Jun 2001
  • Open SF 9.6.01 Cambs* 8 8 Essex. Also (bare match score) Sussex 8½ 7½ Warwicks
  • Minor Counties SF 9.6.01 Oxon 7 9 Herts
  • U175 SF 10.6.01 Cambs 6 10 Essex
  • U150 SF 9.6.01 Greater Manchester 9 7 Sussex; Essex* 8 8 Norfolk
  • There were only three draws in the Sussex-Warwicks Open match. Our (unofficial) correspondent sends us a brevity from the other thirteen.
09 Jun 2001
  • U150 SF 9.6.01 (bare match score) Essex* 8 8 Norfolk. Details when we have them. Essex's U175 match is tomorrow. The Cambs-Essex clash in the Open is today; no news yet.
  • Coulsdon Rapidplay 9.6.01
06 Jun 2001
  • U175 QF 19.5.01 Warwicks 11 5 Sussex. We are now up to date with detailed SCCU results. Surviving match captains: please keep us that way!
  • National Club Open and U175: three more semi final results, all involving SCCU teams
  • Open Forum's been busy. John Philpott asks what sort of National Club we want, and Jeff Goldberg responds. On the Cambs Eligibility front, Howard Grist picks up Jeff Goldberg (see yesterday) on a minor point, Jeff replies, and Nathan Alfred puts the Cambridgeshire point of view.
  • Note that Nathan Alfred, Cambridgeshire match captain, will have a new email address from 26th June: nathetc@hotmail.com. (You are advised to look in the Notices page from time to time for announcements like this. They may not always get into "What's New?".)
05 Jun 2001
  • Jeff Goldberg disagrees with Steve Giddins on eligibility, and Cambridgeshire, and the National Club. See Open Forum.
03 Jun 2001
02 Jun 2001
  • Got one. U100 QF 20.5.01 Cleveland 7½ 4½ Essex.
  • British Chess Solving Championship: Starter Problem 2001-2. Give it a try. We've put it in the Games Page, which gets little use enough. The Games Page is still open for business if you play a brilliancy, especially in a County or local game.
01 Jun 2001
31 May 2001
  • BCF-Stage page is now complete, for Prelims and Quarter Finals. In bare match scores, that is. We're still hoping for those missing SCCU details.
30 May 2001
  • U175 QF (bare match score) Warwicks 11 5 Sussex. The BCF-Stage page has a few more results in. There are still three-and-a-half we've not heard. We've got bare scores, at least, for all the SCCU teams but await match details for three of them.
29 May 2001
28 May 2001
  • Ilford Congress (with SCCU Individual Championship) 26-28 May 2001
  • Better late than never: Southend Easter Congress 13-16 April 2001
  • National Club U150 & U100 semi finals: SCCU teams lose to foreigners
  • We weren't sure which Letters Page to put this in, but it's gone in Controls & Finishes. Paul Dupré has views on QPF and other things, and would radically change the current setup in club league chess.
27 May 2001
  • Open Forum: Paul Buswell writes about emoluments for BCF officials, and about County match venues. Quazi Latif writes about recruiting players.
  • Minor Counties QF 27.5.01 (bare match score): Surrey 7½ 8½ Norfolk
  • U125 20.5.01: revised score. Lancs 9½ 6½ Surrey, after arbiter's decisions.
26 May 2001
  • National Club Handicap Rapidplay. Guildford and Mushrooms reach Final; Plate will go to a foreigner.
24 May 2001
23 May 2001
22 May 2001
  • Open QF 19.5.01 Dorset 4 12 Sussex
  • U150 QF 19.5.01 Devon 6½ 9½ Sussex
21 May 2001
  • Minor Counties QF 20.5.01 Worcestershire 3½ 12½ Herts
  • U125 QF 19(20?).5.01 Lancs 8½ 5½ Surrey, with two Lancs draw claims. (Is two in one match a record?) Also (bare match score, found on a Merseyside website) Herts 5½ 10½ Merseyside.
  • BCF-Stage page also has a few non-SCCU results, for which we thank John Philpott who's been on the trawl.
  • National Club U100: Cowley reach Plate Final
  • Kevin Thurlow adds to the Controls & Finishes page.
20 May 2001
19 May 2001
  • Quarter Finals 19.5.01: bare match scores. Minor Counties Wilts 6 10 Oxon; U150 Cambs 5 11 Essex
  • Open Forum: Neville Belinfante on County match venues
18 May 2001
  • Bruce Birchall (see Open Forum) responds to the Website's Comment of yesterday.
  • Revolution. Essex League embraces Quickplay Finishes! It will be Sussex next. Just an update to the Controls & Finishes page, courtesy Jeff Goldberg.
17 May 2001
  • National Club: a Discussion Paper from the Home Director. You may have seen, in our Executive Report of three days ago, that the Director is thinking of changes for next year. The discussion paper gives more (and more authoritative) detail. Please respond to it.
  • The Nat Club has a Situation Vacant. See the discussion paper.
  • County eligibility rules. You may also have seen, in the Executive report, that the Director has thoughts about these as well. Steve Giddins comments in Open Forum.
  • Your Webmaster is stirred, by a BCF announcement of today, to make his second entry of this season in the Comment page.
16 May 2001
  • Just heard. BCF U150 Prelim 28.4.01: Notts defaulted against Sussex, at rather short notice. SCCU opponents are melting away this year. That's three Preliminaries out of four we haven't had to play, not to mention a sudden Bye in the Quarter Finals.
15 May 2001
  • Richard Joyce on County matches in general and U125 in particular. See Open Forum.
14 May 2001
  • SCCU Executive meeting 11.5.01: a report
  • Times is down to the last four, in the Championship proper. Three old hands and a young dark horse.
10 May 2001
  • East Anglian successes in the National Club U175 Plate. Well, they weren't at SCCU expense. The Nat Club nears its Final stage.
  • Another Times result: Hampton School reach Plate Final.
09 May 2001
  • BCF Preliminary Round U100: Essex 8 4 Beds 21.4.01 (just arrived). We have also just heard that Lincs defaulted to Surrey in the U125. No word of U150 Notts-Sussex.
  • National Club U175: Aylesbury join Wanstead in the Final.
08 May 2001
07 May 2001
06 May 2001
03 May 2001
  • The Times progresses, and semi-finals loom.
  • Other Junior results have been numerous this last couple of weeks, mostly going on websites here and there, and we can't hope to signal them all. You could do worse than look at the LPSCA site, or Neville Belinfante's junior one.
  • National Club progresses also. One new result.
30 Apr 2001
29 Apr 2001
27 Apr 2001
  • Some Essex results 2000-1, and a Chiltern update. See Club & County page.
24 Apr 2001
  • National Club Open. An SCCU setback (loss, sorry) in the semi-finals.
  • Still on the National Club: proposals for change are afoot. Some are needed, considering recent entries. See BCF page.
23 Apr 2001
22 Apr 2001
  • SCCU U180 Jamboree at Wanstead 22.4.01 was won by Herts. Details when we have them. Your Webmaster was going to play in this, but realised just in time that
  • he was already booked. National Club U175 and U150. Two SCCU successes and a failure in the semi-finals. We must also report a default in an U100 semi-final which, as far as we know, had nothing to do with the SCCU.
  • BCF Stage U100: Essex won their Preliminary match v Bedfordshire. Again, details when we have them.
  • Our Junior page links to a couple of recent results. One is in the new Oxon Junior Congress site.
20 Apr 2001
  • Lucky old Essex? Jeff Goldberg has his own view of the matter. See Open Forum.
19 Apr 2001
  • National Club U125 reaches semi-finals. Three new results and a default. SCCU dominates the semi-finals proper, other Unions share out the Plate between them.
17 Apr 2001
  • Coulsdon Easter Congress 13-14 April 2001
  • SCCU success in National Club U125. Aylesbury beat Wales. "Careful planning by the captains ensured that a neutral venue (Walsall) on FA Cup semi-final day maximized the chances of travelling difficulties."
  • BCF Site now carries the promised list of revised (1999-2000) grades. Our own brief update on grading appears in our Grading page.
  • The Southend Congress (sorry, no results yet) is a bastion of Standard play. The Game finish page reports some unattributable opinions from this year's Congress.
14 Apr 2001
  • The Game Finish theme won't go away. Gary Cook contributes. Those who have expressed opinions, so far, are heavily in favour of play-to-a-finish in one form or another. Some Counties allow nothing else in their internal leagues. The ones that don't allow it at all, even by agreement, have not said why.
13 Apr 2001
  • Surrey politics rears its head in the SCCU's Open Forum. Scott Freeman joins in the Game Finish debate. This topic has come a long way since Trevor introduced it eight days ago.
12 Apr 2001
  • The Game Finishes theme continues, with extracts from Tim Dickinson and Ian Thompson and info from others.
  • National Club U150 and Handicap Rapidplay make progress. Only one new default.
11 Apr 2001
  • Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell and Roger de Coverly take up the theme of Game Finishes (and rates of play, and initial time checks) from the letters of 5th and 6th April. This topic now has a page of its own.
10 Apr 2001
08 Apr 2001
  • Counties Championship: Essex reach Open quarter-finals with a default v Leics in the Preliminary round. Lucky old Essex. Seem to remember they've found a similar route into the U175 semi-finals. BCF-Stage draw now shows who all the qualifiers are; no (actual) results received yet.
  • Roger de Coverly in Open Forum writes about BCF Membership schemes.
06 Apr 2001
  • Open Forum: Mike Gunn and Tim Spanton respond to Trevor Jones (see yesterday)
  • BCF Council papers came this morning. We've put a quick summary of proposals in the BCF page.
  • National Club progresses, and we have some more SCCU results in the U150 and U100.
05 Apr 2001
  • U14/90 Final Jamboree 31.3.01: full results
  • Open Forum: Trevor Jones on QPF/Adjournment/Adjudication, and how to choose.
  • SCCU U180 Jamboree at Wanstead House, Sunday 22nd April 2001. Entries sought! Only five so far: Bucks, Essex, Middx, Oxon, Surrey. If your County isn't in and you think it ought to be, it's not too late to do something about it. But it soon will be. Contact the County Match Controller.
04 Apr 2001
  • Times is down to the last eight in the Plate as well now. Quarter-final pairings posted.
01 Apr 2001
  • No, it doesn't. It makes Surrey the second SCCU nominee in the U125. That, at least, is our revised opinion. The SCCU League tables are now updated and complete.
  • BCF Finals have moved to a new date. See note on BCF-Stage page.
31 Mar 2001
  • U125 31.3.01 Essex 8 8 Surrey and we have not yet updated the League Table. It concludes the SCCU season, and we think it makes Sussex the second SCCU nominee in the U125.
  • SCCU U14/90 Finals 31.3.01 1 Sussex 14½/24; 2 Oxon 13; 3 Essex 8½. Full details when we have them.
  • BCF U18 Team Championships 31.3.01 1 Essex 19/24; 2 Warwicks 15½; 3 Herts 14½ (Minor Champions); 4 Kent 12; 5 Surrey 11; 6 Cambs 8; 7 Suffolk 4. Full details doubtless on BCF Website. OK then, Essex Junior one.
  • Times is down to the last eight in the Championship. Quarter-final pairings posted.
27 Mar 2001
  • U100 24.3.01 Middx 2 10 Surrey
  • The BCF-Stage pairings have just had a substantial update to reflect who's in it. There are still nine or ten qualifiers that haven't emerged yet, including our own second nominee in the U125.
26 Mar 2001
  • Surrey win two BCF Girls Championships: brief results in the Junior page. It turned out to be a Southern Counties event.
25 Mar 2001
  • Coulsdon Rapidplay 24.3.01
  • The Open league table now looks to be final, and we agree with Essex (see yesterday). It's the Website's league table and has not yet been confirmed by the Tournament Controller. If you spot errors in it, please say.
24 Mar 2001
  • Open 24.3.01 Kent 13½ 2½ Oxon. This completes the Open programme. Full match details inserted, but we have them only from Essex, who just happened to have someone passing by Charlton at the time. We have no doubt that Essex's claim to be 3rd on tie-break is right. It is getting a bit late at night, though. Our League table is sort of updated, and we'll try to finalise it in the morning.
22 Mar 2001
  • National Club U175 is down to the semi-finals. U150 Plate is in some danger of reaching the semi-finals wihout any matches being played.
  • Times is down to the last sixteen, and a couple of eighth-final results are just in as well.
  • Note: odd results in the National Club and Times will not always be mentioned here. See note at head of page.
19 Mar 2001
  • Open Forum: Bruce Birchall on venues and the disabled
  • A few SCCU-relevant National Club results have gone in in the last day or three. Times ditto.
18 Mar 2001
  • U125 17.3.01 Essex 7½ 8½ Herts. Herts win U125; second place is between Surrey and Sussex.
  • BCF U18 Girls Teams Championships 25.3.01 (see below in about twelve places) is at the International Student House, 229 Great Portland Street London WC1. Play is from 1.30 to 5.30: two games at 55 minutes per player. Details from Bruce Birchall on 0207 792 8031.
15 Mar 2001
  • U14/90 10.3.01 Essex 15 9 Herts. Essex join Sussex and Oxon in the Final.
  • Open Forum: David Moskovic responds to Bernard Cafferty (19.2.01) on County match venues.
14 Mar 2001
  • BCF Management Board meeting 10.3.01: a report by David Smith, SCCU Representative
13 Mar 2001
  • U100 10.3.01 Essex 10½ 1½ Middx; Kent 6 6 Surrey
  • BCF U18 Girls Teams Championships 25.3.01 will not now be at Great Warley. This is not thought to be anything to do with foot-and-mouth. The date is unchanged, a London venue is being sought, and the organisation has passed to Bruce Birchall Bruce.Birchall@btinternet.com. The "Boys" event is still 31st March at Brentwood under the management of Peter Walker.
  • We've got our new corrected "August 2000" grading list. There's a few figures in the Grading page.
11 Mar 2001
  • Open 10.3.01 Surrey 8½ 7½ Herts; Sussex 8½ 7½ Oxon; Kent 16 0 Middx by default (notified previous evening)
  • Open 17.2.01 Cambs-Sussex. The Cambs draw claim has been upheld: result 11½-4½
  • U125 10.3.01 Surrey 4 12 Herts
  • By our reckoning Cambs are 1st in the Open with 6/8, with Sussex 2nd on tie-break. Any of three teams can finish 3rd, depending on the outcome of the one remaining match (Kent-Oxon 24.3.01). After Cambs and Sussex there is currently a three-way tie on 4 points headed by Essex. Oxon can leapfrog this tie to finish 3rd. Or they can join it, in which case it's headed by Bucks and Bucks are 3rd. Or they can remain below it, leaving Essex undisturbed in 3rd place. We think. In the Minor Counties Surrey and Herts are assured of nomination, and so are Oxon if they don't disqualify themselves by taking a Major one. Middx are bottom and cannot qualify.
10 Mar 2001
  • Open 10.3.01 Essex 7 9 Cambs. Cambs are Champions.
  • SCCU Executive meeting 9.3.01: an account
  • SCCU now has a Junior Organiser: Graham Snow, 3 Ravensworth Court, 570 Fulham Road, London SW6 5NN 020 7736 5693 grahamsnow@supanet.com
  • The County Match Controller now has an email address: davidandjanesmith@cwcom.net
  • Applications are invited from Southern Counties Congresses wishing a British Championship qualifying place for 2001-2. The SCCU has two places to offer. Applications by 20.4.01 to the Union Secretary, Richard Haddrell, at rjh@sccu.ndo.co.uk
  • Counties Championships: Preliminary round. Don't shoot the messenger, but it's the 28th April again. Fresh from BCF, correct as of yesterday morning.
  • Open 10.3.01. We hear from a third party that Sussex beat Oxon narrowly, and if that's so we think Sussex are 2nd. See you in the morning.
07 Mar 2001
  • We have fresh results in the Times Schools Championship. The Times has a page to itself now. We give results nationally. This is partly because no one else seems to, and partly because your Webmaster runs it. At least we should be up to date. But fresh results may not always be signalled in "What's New?".
06 Mar 2001
  • U14/90 3.2.01 Essex 16½ 7½ Middx. Scroll down one match for it.
  • Southern Counties schools take first two places in Solihull U14 teams event 3.3.01
04 Mar 2001
  • Counties Championships: draw for BCF Stage. We've written in a few of the EACU qualifiers, and another Northern one. Not to mention some SCCU ones. Thanks to John Philpott for the Foreign input. If anyone else knows any Foreign qualifiers, would they please let us know. We'll insert them as they come in.
  • Match captains may also like to note the final date for the Preliminary round: 21st April, not 28th as we originally said. (Rules say 28th!)
  • National Club U125: Round 1 results and round 2 pairings, just in.
28 Feb 2001
  • Friends of Chess. The SCCU, as a Patron of the FoC, is pleased to make their Spring newsletter available. Zipped rtf, 7K.
  • Kent Primary Championships 24.2.01
  • SCCU Grading Secretary has a new email address: Howard.Grist@btinternet.com
  • Speaking of which, we've revived the long-dormant Notices page. It's only meant as a quick reference for people who didn't note things in their diaries when they first appeared in "What's New?".
26 Feb 2001
  • David Millward (see Open Forum) queries a County-match claim, and corrects an error.
25 Feb 2001
  • Open 24.2.01 Herts 11½ 4½ Cambs
  • U175 24.2.01 Sussex 6 10 Essex. Essex win U175 (again); table is complete.
  • U125 24.2.01 Sussex 9½ 6½ Essex
24 Feb 2001
  • U175 24.2.01 Surrey 9 7 Kent
  • BCF U18 Team Championships (see 13th Feb, 21st Feb...). We knew it couldn't be that easy. Current email topic is foot-and-mouth exclusion zones. There's an outbreak locally. This Website has no idea how real the problems are, for chess competitions.
23 Feb 2001
  • To keep you updated: the U125 match Surrey-Herts (see 16th and 20th February below) is now on the 10th March.
22 Feb 2001
21 Feb 2001
  • BCF U18 Team Championships. The details are finally final. The "Boys" event is Saturday 31st March, as it always was, at Brentwood School, Brentwood, Essex. The Girls event is Sunday 25th March at Woodlands Prep School, Great Warley, Upminster, Essex. Full details, and an online entry form, are on the Essex Junior site at http://www.ejca.org.uk/bcfu18.html
20 Feb 2001
  • U100 17.2.01 Surrey 5 7 Essex
  • Times British Schools Championship: all the Zone Winners and Runners-up, with pairings for the national stage.
  • National Club U150: just one (SCCU) result
  • U125 24.2.01 Surrey-Herts. We reported four days ago that Herts were claiming a win by default. Our understanding is that the County Match Controller has not accepted this claim.
19 Feb 2001
  • Bernard Cafferty writes in Open Forum about County match venues.
18 Feb 2001
  • Open 17.2.01 Cambs 11 4 Sussex (with one QPF claim)
  • U150 17.2.01 Essex 13½ 2½ Herts with NINE Herts defaults. Essex take U150 title.
  • U14/90 17.2.01 Oxon 15½ 8½ Berks. Oxon qualify for the Final 31st March.
17 Feb 2001
  • Open 17.2.01 Herts 6½ 9½ Kent; Oxon 9 6 Surrey (with one double default)
  • BCF-Stage County matches: the Draw has been published.
16 Feb 2001
  • Open 17.2.01 Middx 0 16 Bucks by default. Notice just received from Bucks. We understand that Middx could not get a team together. This is their third default of the season.
  • U125 24.2.01 Surrey-Herts. Herts claim win by default due to "the failure of the Surrey Captain to comply with the requirements under rule 10(d)". This may be subject to a ruling by the County Match Controller. You know more than we do if you know what's going on in Surrey, but their Secretary and Treasurer and Grader have resigned. We'll let you know when we have a new Secretary for them.
15 Feb 2001
  • U14/90 18.11.00 Bucks 13½ 10½ Hants. Yes, it is long in the tooth. You'll have to scroll down for it.
14 Feb 2001
13 Feb 2001
  • Open Bucks 10 6 Kent
  • Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell in Open Forum replies to Neil Clifton's letter of 4.2.01
  • BCF U18 Team Championships: update. The "Boys" events are still on the 31st March in Essex. The Girls events will now be on a different date, probably the previous weekend, also in Essex.
11 Feb 2001
  • Open 10.2.01 Bucks 10 6 Kent: details to follow.
  • BCF Grading. Chris Majer's February Progress Statement. Addressed to graders, but reproduced here for general interest.
10 Feb 2001
  • U175 10.2.01 Kent 8 8 Sussex; Essex 10½ 5½ Surrey. Essex and Sussex must be first and second, one way round or the other, and both believe they have qualified for the BCF Stage. It ain't necessarily so.
  • Stewart Reuben in Open Forum makes some remarks on grading.
07 Feb 2001
  • U14/90 3.2.01 Sussex 13½ 10½ Surrey. Sussex qualify for Finals.
06 Feb 2001
  • SCCU U180 Jamboree 2000-2001 will be at Wanstead House on Sunday 22nd April. Details should be with County secretaries shortly.
  • U125 3.2.01 Kent 6 8 Surrey (with two double defaults)
  • U100 3.2.01 Middx-Kent: not played. Everyone arrived, and the venue turned out to be booked for something else. We hear the home team offered to play in the bar downstairs, but the away team voted against and are claiming a win by default.
  • National Club Handicap details are in (Rd 1 results plus Rd 2 pairings). Also an odd U125 result, and some pairings in the U100.
05 Feb 2001
04 Feb 2001
  • Open 3.2.01 Surrey 8½ 6½ Cambs (plus one QPF claim in which Cambs seek a draw)
  • U125 3.2.01 Herts 7 9 Sussex; also (bare match score) Kent 6 8 Surrey with 2 double defaults
  • Neil Clifton (in Open Forum) writes about dates, and other things, in SCCU and BCF U18 events.
  • SCCU Individual Championship 2000/2001 will be incorporated in the Open section of the Ilford Congress 26-28 May. In addition, a (paid for) British Championship place now goes with this event. Update your diary at once! (The SCCU Championship, originally assigned to the Surrey Congress, had been on hold for some time because of doubts about that event. Ilford is now confirmed.)
03 Feb 2001
  • Open 3.2.01 Essex 9½ 6½ Bucks. (Also, we fear, Herts 16d 0d Middx.)
  • NDO site. If you saw the notice that was briefly posted here during the late evening, please forget it. The problem has gone away.
01 Feb 2001
  • Important announcement. BCF U18 team Championships (open to all Counties) will be hosted by Essex on Saturday 31st March. Venue to be announced shortly.
         The Finals of the SCCU U14/90 team Championship will take place simultaneously alongside the BCF events.
31 Jan 2001
  • Surrey U125 have a new match captain: Mike Gunn. See the Fixtures page for details.
30 Jan 2001
  • National Club is still coming in. All of round 1 in the U175, plus round-2 pairings; and the one outstanding result in the U100. Thank you Mike McNaughton, Jeff Goldberg, John Philpott.
29 Jan 2001
28 Jan 2001
  • National Club round 1: all the Open results, and one SCCU result in the U175
27 Jan 2001
  • U100 20.1.01 Essex 4 8 Kent
  • Two new developments, for anyone who's interested in County results from the other Unions. A limited number of detailed results now appears on the BCF site, and the new EACU site carries full league tables.
25 Jan 2001
  • U14/90 13.1.01 Oxon 11 13 Hants; 20.1.01 Bucks 8 16 Oxon
24 Jan 2001
  • U100 20.1.01 Surrey 6½ 5½ Middx
23 Jan 2001
  • U150 20.1.01 Herts 7½ 8½ Sussex
  • U100 20.1.01 bare match score: Essex 4 8 Kent
  • Query on Bucks-Sussex (Open 20.1.01) is resolved. It was 5½-10½.
  • Langley Park Junior 20.1.01 (with Kent U18/16/14 Championships)
21 Jan 2001
  • Open 20.1.01 Middx 7 9 Essex; Oxon 8 8 Herts
  • U150 20.1.01 Essex 11 5 Kent
  • SCCU U18 Jamborees 28th January: a brief update. Entries are low. (There may also be a question mark over the BCF Finals.)
20 Jan 2001
  • Open 20.1.01 Cambs 12 4 Kent; Bucks 5½ 10½ (or it may be 6½ 9½) Sussex. Plus bare match scores (details imminent): Middx 7 9 Essex; Oxon 8 8 Herts
  • U150 20.1.01 bare match score: Essex 11 5 Kent. We think Essex have retained the U150 Championship with a match to spare.
18 Jan 2001
  • U125 13.1.01 Herts 11½ 4½ Kent
17 Jan 2001
  • U175 13.1.01 Sussex 11½ 4½ Surrey
  • U14/90 13.1.01 Middx 15½ 7½ Herts
15 Jan 2001
  • National Club: two SCCU results. Open Ilford 4 2 Hastings & St Leonards; U100 Coulsdon & Purley 2 3 Ashtead
14 Jan 2001
  • U125 13.1.01 Essex-Surrey is postponed, if it isn't a Surrey default. See note in League Tables page.
13 Jan 2001
  • U175 13.1.01 Kent 3 13 Essex
  • Coulsdon Blitz 13.1.01
  • National Club U150: the last result, which was a non-result, of Round 1; plus pairings for Championship and Plate
11 Jan 2001
  • Grading. Chris Majer, Acting Director of Grading, issues a progress statement. It is addressed mainly to graders, but others may find it of interest.
08 Jan 2001
  • National Club U150: two SCCU results. Hammersmith 2 3 Chislehurst; Wood Green II 5 0 Basildon. The round-1 deadlines are approaching. We have nearly all of the U150 results, and no others.
07 Jan 2001
01 Jan 2001
  • Open Forum: Chris Majer responds to our grading Comment of two days ago.
  • Chris steps down as SCCU Delegate to the BCF Management Board, in view of his appointment as Acting Director of Grading. He is replaced by David Smith (County Match Controller).
31 Dec 2000
  • SCCU U18 Jamborees at St Albans (not Sandringham as previously announced), 28th January 2001. A few more details.
30 Dec 2000
  • SCCU Champions from the London Junior 28-30 December 2000: U18 Lorin D'Costa 5/6 on tie-break from Murugan Thiruchelvam (1st= London U21). No eligible SCCU U18 Girls. SCCU U11 Boys (incorporated in U12) Peter Poobalasingam (Finchley) 6/9; SCCU U11 Girls Poppy Aarons (Hampstead) 5. Results (breathlessly) from John Philpott, with Neville Belinfante in the background.
  • We've resurrected the Comment page. It's about grading, so ignore it if you will.
25 Dec 2000
  • U14/U90. We've just caught up with some missing results. 21.10.00 Bucks 20 4 Berks; 4.11.00 Hants 14½ 9½ Berks; 2.12.00 Berks 6 18 Bucks. You'll have to scroll a good way down for two of them.
22 Dec 2000
  • Postman's been busy today. Three letters. Stewart Reuben on grading systems, Mike McNaughton on the National Club Championship, and Trevor Jones on County matches. See Open Forum.
21 Dec 2000
  • National Club U125. No results, but we now have the first-round pairings. Only four SCCU entries! Only 13 altogether, and the NC decline continues.
19 Dec 2000
  • Open 16.12.00 Essex 12 4 Herts
17 Dec 2000
16 Dec 2000
  • Open 16.12.00 (bare match score) Essex 12 4 Herts. Details expected shortly.
  • National Club U150: a new result, and we'll mention it because they were SCCU teams. You'll have to go there to find out which they were.
15 Dec 2000
  • U125 9.12.00 Surrey 8½ 7½ Sussex
14 Dec 2000
  • U100 9.12.00 Surrey 5½ 6½ Kent
  • Another National Club result went in yesterday. Odd NC results will not always be mentioned in "What's New?" if they don't involve SCCU teams.
12 Dec 2000
  • U125 9.12.00 Kent 8½ 7½ Essex
  • SCCU Champions from the London Junior 9-10 December are confirmed as: Under 14 Tim Woodward; Girls Sarah Hegarty. Under 9 Callum Kilpatrick; Girls Katherine Hale.
         More details in the Junior page. U18 and U11 Championships are incorporated in the London Junior at the end of this month.
  • A brief grading update, to let you know things are still happening.
11 Dec 2000
  • U175 9.12.00 Kent 8 8 Surrey
  • London Junior U14 and U10 results are on the London Junior site. We think we can work out who the SCCU U14 and U9 Champions are, but we're waiting for confirmation.
10 Dec 2000
  • U175 9.12.00 Essex 7½ 8½ Sussex
  • National Club: two results in. You'll forgive us if we don't quote them in "What's New?", but they're in red in the NC page. We await info on U125 and Handicap.
  • SCCU U18 Jamborees are Sunday 28th January 2001 at Sandringham School in Herts. We hope to publish details shortly.
09 Dec 2000
  • Got your new Yearbook? Ours came today, and we've reviewed it in the BCF page.
08 Dec 2000
  • Open 2.12.00 Surrey 7 9 Bucks
  • The Website is Two. Someone's remembered, and it's had a birthday card.
07 Dec 2000
06 Dec 2000
  • Open 2.12.00 Sussex 9 7 Essex
  • U100 2.12.00 Middx 5 7 Essex
  • U14/U90 2.12.00 Surrey 11½ 12½ Sussex
05 Dec 2000
04 Dec 2000
  • U150 25.11.00 Herts 7 9 Surrey
  • Hitchin LJCC 3.12.00
  • We have been unable to resist some brief remarks on the revised FIDE Laws which come into effect in July.
03 Dec 2000
30 Nov 2000
28 Nov 2000
27 Nov 2000
26 Nov 2000
  • Hitchin Congress 2-3 December 2000 (British Championship qualifier): entry form (zipped rtf, 8K). Note 3.12.00. Not that you would, but don't look for it now. It's gone.
23 Nov 2000
  • U100 18.11.00 Essex 6½ 5½ Surrey
22 Nov 2000
  • U100 18.11.00 Kent 8 4 Middx
21 Nov 2000
  • Open 18.11.00 Middx 9½ 6½ Sussex
  • BCF Management Board meeting 18.11.00: a report by Chris Majer
  • To supplement the above, we've attempted a summary of what's happening in BCF Grading at the moment.
20 Nov 2000
  • Open 18.11.00 Essex 7½ 8½ Surrey
  • BCF Management Board meeting 18.11.00. Full report expected shortly. All we've heard so far is that Chris Majer has been appointed acting Director of Grading (Game Fee is Finance now), and will be establishing a team to assist him. A grading role remains for the outgoing Director.
19 Nov 2000
  • Open 18.11.00 Cambs 11½ 4½ Oxon. Bucks-Kent postponed.
17 Nov 2000
15 Nov 2000
  • U150 4.11.00 Kent 9½ 6½ Herts
  • Open Forum: Mike Gunn responds to Paul Dupré (see yesterday) on both grading and regional splits.
14 Nov 2000
  • U125 11.11.00 Sussex 7½ 7½ Kent (with one double default)
  • Paul Dupré writes about regional splits and grading. See Open Forum.
  • More National Club pairings are in (Intermediate and Under 100).
12 Nov 2000
  • U175 11.11.00 Surrey 5½ 10½ Essex
  • John Denton, Herts CA President, replies to recent correspondence about the St Albans venue. See Open Forum.
11 Nov 2000
  • U175 11.11.00 Sussex 7½ 8½ Kent
  • National Club 2000-2001: first pairings are in (Open and Major).
09 Nov 2000
  • David Smith, County Match Controller, responds to recent letters about Herts venues and other things. See Open Forum.
08 Nov 2000
  • Open 4.11.00 Sussex 14 2 Surrey; Bucks 5½ 10½ Herts
  • U14/90 4.11.00 Herts 14 10 Middx
07 Nov 2000
  • Stephen Hart of Cambs agrees with Ken Norman 5.11.00 and raises all sorts of other County Match issues. See Open Forum
  • And Nathan Alfred responds on one of them.
05 Nov 2000
  • U14/90 4.11.00 Oxon 14 10 Bucks
  • We're going back a fortnight now, but Ken Norman (see Open Forum) supports Bernard Cafferty on the Herts-Sussex match venue. No response yet from Herts.
04 Nov 2000
  • Open 4.11.00 Kent 6½ 9½ Essex; Middx 7 9 Cambs
02 Nov 2000
  • Match captains please note: Essex U100 have a new captain (details in Fixtures page), and the County Match Controller has shed his work and fax numbers. There are also one or two more fixture changes: hope we're now up to date.
29 Oct 2000
25 Oct 2000
  • U100 21.10.00 Kent 6 6 Essex
24 Oct 2000
  • Open 21.10.00 Kent 8½ 7½ Surrey; Herts 7 9 Sussex
  • Ivor (BN) Smith owns up to a couple of earlier Essex defeats by Oxon. This arises out of Oxon's famous victory on Saturday.
  • Bernard Cafferty writes about County match venues, or one of them.
23 Oct 2000
  • The National Club is a little short of entries this year. (We hear it's a little short of Controllers as well.) Entry deadline is now 5th November. A message from Cyril Johnson appears in the National Club page.
22 Oct 2000
  • Open 21.10.00 Cambs 13 3 Bucks
  • U150 21.10.00 Surrey 5 11 Sussex (probably)
  • Also some corrections to U175 14.10.00 Surrey - Sussex
21 Oct 2000
  • Open 21.10.00 Oxon 10 6 Essex
  • Times update. Entries are 239 and the closing date was yesterday. The entry form is still on the site, but not for much longer. You might get written in by hand if you get your skates on.
17 Oct 2000
  • Counties Championship dates: BCF Stage 2000-2001. Dates, just received from Cyril Johnson, are at the bottom of the SCCU Fixtures page. We couldn't think of a more sensible place to put them.
15 Oct 2000
  • U175 14.10.00 Surrey 7½ 8½ Sussex
14 Oct 2000
10 Oct 2000
  • U150 7.10.00 Sussex 11½ 4½ Kent
  • Howard Grist, in answer to Bernard Cafferty (see 8th October), mentions some SCCU inaccuracies in the event list that came with the new GL.
09 Oct 2000
08 Oct 2000
  • Braintree Congress 16-17 September. Three weeks old, so you'll have to scroll down when you get there.
  • Bernard Cafferty writes about the new grading list
  • Open 7.10.00: bare match score Sussex 9 7 Kent. Also, we fear, a default: Sy 16 0 Middx
  • There are more changed dates in the Fixture List, and the League Tables page is now re-activated. (Only three matches in it, but it was sitting there wanting to be used.)
  • We also give some fixtures, and other details, of the U14/U90 league.
07 Oct 2000
  • U150 7.10.00 Surrey 7 9 Essex
  • Some match dates are already changed or postponed: see the Fixtures page
05 Oct 2000
  • Howard Grist answers Stewart Reuben (29 September) on grading
  • And Louise Sinclair answers Neil Clifton (2 October) on defaults in the 4NCL.
  • Our new printed Grading List has arrived. If you're expecting yours by post and haven't had it yet, chase the BCF. The Grading page has an update, longer on comment than substance.
  • Since you've been dying to know, we've found out what the handicap system was in Sunday's Team Rapidplay (see 2 October). It's appended to the report already published.
02 Oct 2000
  • Counties Team Rapidplay 1.10.00
  • SCCU Fixtures: One change just agreed in the U125 (K v Sy), and there's a couple of other changes we may or may not have signalled earlier. All changes are asterisked in red.
  • Neil Clifton writes about defaults in the 4NCL
01 Oct 2000
29 Sep 2000
  • Times Schools Championship. The event is having temporary difficulty getting off the ground this year, but will run. Is your school in? An important message from Peter Turner, BCF Junior Director.
  • Stewart Reuben writes about grading systems, and Seniors
28 Sep 2000
  • Ignore yesterday's note. The BCF Office denies all knowledge of the address we gave yesterday. Our informant, who was actually a BCF Director, had misunderstood something. The address is still office@bcf.org.uk. It is out of action, but that's temporary.
27 Sep 2000
  • BCF Office has a new address: office@bcf.cablenet.co.uk. They haven't told us, and it's not on the BCF site. We've heard the new address from a BCF Officer. We can only say that we'd been trying the old address for a couple of days and it doesn't seem to work any more, and the new one does.
24 Sep 2000
23 Sep 2000
21 Sep 2000
20 Sep 2000
15 Sep 2000
  • BCF Grading List. The graders, or some of them, yesterday received their electronic preview of the new definitive List. The printed version, replacing the one that appeared at the British, is due next week. Some brief observations on the new list appear in the Grading page.
12 Sep 2000
11 Sep 2000
  • Centenary Match Herts v SCCU: a reminder. It's on the 30th September in Hertford. Contact Chris Majer CEMAJER@aol.com if available, for either side.
  • SCCU U180 Jamboree is on the 28th October at Coulsdon. It's open to all SCCU Counties. Entries to David Smith, County Match Controller, 21 Chigwell Rd, London E18 1LR 020 8530 2118.
  • County matches: regional splits (see the SCCU page, Executive 8.9.00, item 7). We've been asked to invite readers' opinions for Open Forum. Any views? Send them to rjh@sccu.ndo.co.uk.
09 Sep 2000
08 Sep 2000
  • Mike Gunn joins in the Goldberg/Grist correspondence
  • There is now a Surrey CCA website. That makes FOUR adult County websites in the Union. (This just about catches up with the juniors.)
06 Sep 2000
05 Sep 2000
04 Sep 2000
  • Coulsdon Congress 2-3 September 2000
  • Jeff Goldberg asks some questions about the arithmetic of grading. (No, nothing whatever to do with the new list.)
01 Sep 2000

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