Home

News 2022-23

Thanet Congress, incorporating SCCU Individual Championship

Thanet Congress, run by Thanet & East Kent Chess, returns after an absence of four years. It will take place over the weekend Friday 18th to Sunday 20th August 2023 at Sandwich Technology School, Deal Road, Sandwich, CT13 0FA.

In the Open, the highest placed eligible SCCU player will be awarded the title of SCCU Champion and presented with the Glenroy Trophy which will be held for one year.

The SCCU Champion also receives £100 cash prize and a place in the British Chess Championsip 2024. In the event of the Champion having already qualified, the British Championship place will be awarded to the next highest placed eligible player.

For further details and Online Entry see: https://congress.org.uk/congress/215/home

The website of Thanet and East Kent Chess is https://www.eastkentchess.org.uk/congress

Results
  • SCCU Individual Championship
    • SCCU Champion (2023-2024): IM Conor E Murphy (Charlton)
    • SCCU nomination for place in British Chess Championship 2024: Robert Starley (Sandwich)
  • Open
  • Challengers
    • 1st Trefor H Owens (4/6),
    • 2nd= David E Clear, John B Atherton, Richard M George, Chris PJ Bernard, Rezin C Catabay (3.5/6)
    • Final ranking crosstable
  • Minor

ECF County Team Championships 2023

Photos: Philip Staniland.

Left Photo: Mark Murrell (centre), ECF County Controller,  and Shohreh Bayat (left), ECF Events Director, presenting Anthony Fulton, Middlesex captain,with the Championship Open trophy to .

Right Photo: Middlesex's championship winning team.

The Finals of the ECF County Championship took place on Saturday 1st July 2023.

Matches were played at the three regional venues chosen by the ECF Home Director: Hythe Centre, Staines; Guildhall, Thetford and Syston Community Centre.

Each match comprised 16 boards apart from the U1450, which was 12 boards.

  • Open:   Surrey v Middlesex*, score 8-8  (Hythe Centre, Staines)
  • Minor Counties:   Norfolk v Cambridgeshire*, score 8-8  (The Guildhall, Thetford)
  • U2050:  Essex v Warwickshire (conceded), score 16-0
  • U1850:  Yorkshire v Middlesex, score 6-10 (Syston Community Centre)
  • U1650:  Yorkshire v Warwickshire, score 9-7  (Syston Community Centre)
  • U1450:  Greater Manchester v Essex, score 8.5-3.5  (Syston Community Centre)

Winners are shown in bold and asterisk* indicates win on tiebreak.

See County Championship on ECF website

2nd SCCU/London Club Championships

Saturday, 24th June 2023

St Luke’s Church, Kidderpore Avenue, London NW3 7SU

FULL - Our maximum capacity is 40 teams.

This competition is a one day 6-round rapidplay team event, open to all chess clubs in the Southern Counties Chess Union.

Teams, which comprise four players, may compete in one of three sections:

  • Major, average rating not exceeding 2100 ECF
  • Inter, average rating not exceeding 1850 ECF
  • Minor, average rating not exceeding 1600 ECF

Entry is limited to 40 teams.

Tournament Controller:  Lance Leslie-Smith

Refreshments will be available.

Download Entry Form: SCCU-team-rapidplay-2023.pdf

Eligibility

Open to all Clubs in the SCCU/London area.

Players must have played at least two games for their Club during the 2022/23 season.

All players must be at least Bronze level ECF members.

SCCU County Team Championships

The winners of the 2022/23 County Championships are:

  • Open - Shannon Trophy: Middlesex
  • Open Runners Up - Stevenson Trophy: Surrey
  • u2050 - Montague Jones Trophy: Essex
  • u1850 - Aboyna Trophy: Middlesex
  • u1650 - Ebony Trophy: Essex
  • u1450 - Harry Woolverton Trophy: Surrey

Final League Tables are available at: 2023 SCCU Final League Tables

 Nominations to the ECF County Championships are:

  • Open: 1 Middlesex, 2 Surrey
  • Minor Counties: 1 Sussex, 2. Essex
  • u2050: 1 Essex, 2 Surrey
  • u1850: 1 Middlesex, 2 Essex
  • u1650: 1 Essex, 2 Middlesex
  • u1450: 1 Surrey, 2 Essex

Playing schedules and ECF County Championships Rules are available at: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/counties-championship-2023/

SCCU Under-18 & Under-14 Jamboree

Date: Sunday 26th March 2023

Venue: Bishop Douglass School, Hamilton Road, London N2 0SQ

Entries are invited for this event which is open to County, Club, and Schools.

The competition comprises teams of 6 players in four sections: u18 Open, u18 Minor, u14 Open, u14 Minor.

See: Full Details & Online Entry

SCCU Individual Championship

Once again, the SCCU Individual Championship will be decided at Southend Easter Congress, which takes place at Southend Adult Community College, Ambleside Drive, Southend SS1 2UN, during 7th to 10th April 2023.

The SCCU Champion title, trophy and £100 prize will be awarded in the FIDE rated Open to the highest scoring SCCU player or shared in the event of a tie.

A qualification place to British Chess Championships 2023 will be also be awarded, subject to tie-break, to the highest scoring SCCU player not already qualified. The British Championship will take place at De Montford University, Leicester during 21st to 30th July.

The Southend Easter Festival, organised by Giant Chess, begins with a FIDE rated rapid tournament on Thursday 6th April, followed by the 7-round Congress which runs over the next 4 days.

Entries received before 4 February may claim a 10% discount on the entry fee.

For more information and Online Entry visit southendchesscongress.org

Also, see Qualification Regulations for British Chess Championships 2023

London Junior Championship (LJCC)

LJCC Finals took place at University of Westminster Harrow Campus, Northwick Park, during 17th-18th and 28th-30th December 2022.

14th Northwick Park Congress (an event with adults) ran alongside the LJCC u10 & u14 events during 17th-18th December.

 

London Christmas Congress (an event with adults) ran alongside the LJCC u8, u14, u16 events and the LJCC u18/21 which was incorporated into the Open during 28th-30th December.

 

Full pairings, results and cross-tables are available on chess-results.com through the links:

In due course, the full list of winners will appear on the LJCC website https://www.ljcc.co.uk/results.html.

SCCU History

A book on the history of the SCCU is now published and can be ordered from Amazon through this link: The Southern Counties Chess Union - a retrospective

Written by SCCU Archivist, Anthony Fulton, the book covers key details about the Union's first 125years including, why and how Union formed, a summary of the formation of all of the Associations currently or previously affiliated to the Union, details about each of the OTB competitions overseen by the SCCU from 1893 to 2018 and OTB match statistics for each competition.

The book retails for £15.99 (physical) and £3.99 (ebook). Anthony can be contacted directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SCCU Under-18 & Under-14 Jamboree: Results

25th October 2022

This year the number of entries was low which resulted in all sections having to be combined into a single three round jamboree.

U18 Open

  • 1st Richmond, 14.5 points (top scorers: Henry Shard, Bohdan Terler, Brian Tang, 3 points apiece)
  • 2nd Surrey, 12.5 points (top scorer: Rohan McCauley)

U18 Minor

  • 1st equal: Maidenhead, Richmond
  • 3rd: Surrey

U14 Open

  • 1st Richmond (top scorer: Liam Clery 3 points)

 Jamboree result sheets are available at:  https://www.oxfordfusion.com/epsca/TeamsOverall.cfm?EventID=160

SCCU Under-18 & Under-14 Jamboree

6th September 2022

Details of the SCCU Junior Jamboree are now confirmed. The competition will take place on Sunday, 25th September.

Venue
Orleans Park School, Richmond Road, TWICKENHAM TW1 3BB

Teams
A team comprises 6 players.

Time Control
All games will be played to the time control of 50 minutes per player per game plus 10 seconds
added per move from the start of the game.

Timetable
Submission of team lists by 18:00 Saturday 24th September by preference

  • Arrival from 09:15
  • Latest permissible submission of team lists by 10:15
  • Round 1 10:45 – 12:45
  • Round 2 13:00 – 15:00
  • Round 3 15:15 – 17:15
  • Prize-giving 17:30

See: SCCU Jamboree Entry Form

County Championship Fixtures 2022-23

15th July 2022 (updated 30th October 2022)

Counties should notify the County Match Controller which divisions they wish to enter teams by 15th August 2023.

Fixtures will then be published here and on ECF LMS website by 31st August 2022.

Available match dates, avoiding 4NCL weekends and Hastings Congress, are shown below.

Open, U1850 & U1450 matches will be scheduled to occur on one date (x) and U2050 & U1650 matches on another date (xx). This will allow captains to call on players from their county team in the adjacent lower division.

Any queries should be forwarded to County Match Controller at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Month Date  Open   U2050    U1850     U1650    U1450    Other Events
Oct Sat 1st   E.Sy M.K   E.Sy M.K    
  Sat 8th free1   free1   free1  
  Sat 15th   M.E, K.Sy   M.E, K.Sy    
  Sat 22nd            4NCL WE 1 Div 3, 4
  Sat 29th M.Sx, K.Sy   E.M, Sy.K   E.M, Sy.K  
Nov Sat 5th            4NCL WE 1 Div 1, 2, 3
  Sat 12th   E.K, Sy.M   E.K, Sy.M    
  Sat 19th Sx.Sy, M.K   Sy.E, K.M   Sy.E, K.M  
  Sat 26th   Sy.E, K.M   Sy.E, K.M    
Dec Sat 3rd K.Sx, M.Sy, Sy.M2   E.K, M.Sy   E.K, M.Sy  
  Sat 10th  Sx.Sy3  free1    free1    
  Sat 17th  free1    free1   free1  
  Sat 24th            
  Sat 31st            Hastings Congress
Jan Sat 7th            4NCL WE 2 Div 3, 4
  Sat 14th            4NCL WE 2 Div 1, 2, 3
  Sat 21st   E.M, Sy.K   E.M, Sy.K    
  Sat 28th Sy.Sx, K.M   E.Sy, M.K   E.Sy, M.K  
Feb Sat 4th            4NCL WE 3 Div 3, 4
  Sat 11th            4NCL WE 3 Div 1, 2, 3
  Sat 18th   K.E, M.Sy   K.E, M.Sy    
  Sat 25th Sx.M, Sy.K   M.E, K.Sy   M.E, K.Sy  
Mar Sat 4th   M.K4   M.K4    
  Sat 11th Sx.K, Sy.M, M.Sy2   K.E, Sy.M   K.E, Sy.M  
  Sat 18th            4NCL WE 4 Div 1, 2, 3
  Sat 25th            4NCL WE 4 Div 3, 4

Notes:

1. Dates that had previously been reserved for fixtures and are unused are shown as 'free'.

2. Open 03 Dec, 11 Mar M.Sy home & away fixtures swapped (applied on 4-10-2022)

3. Open Sy.Sx moved from 19 Nov to 10 Dec (applied on 7-10-2022)

4. U2050 M.K & U1650 M.K rescheduled from 1st Oct to 4th Mar (applied 30-10-2022)

 

64th Southend Easter Congress & SCCU Individual Championship

19th April 2022

SCCU Champion David Maycock (Kingston) accepting Glenroy Cup from President Mark Murrell

The 64th Southend Easter Congress, which hosted the 2021-22 SCCU Individual Championship, took place at Amberside Community College over the four days of Easter weekend (15th-18th April 2022). The Congress  was preceded on Thursday 13th by the 2nd Southend FIDE Rapidplay.

As the highest scoring eligible player David Maycock (Kingston) becomes the SCCU Individual Champion. In addition to being presented with the Glenroy Cup, the SCCU Champion receives £100 cash prize and a qualification place to the 2022 British Championship, which will be held at the Riviera International Centre, Torquay, in August.

Congratulations also to Arbiters John Bowley, Rob Hammond and Lance Leslie-Smith who were each awarded a FIDE Arbiter norm.

Winners

  • Southend Open - 1st Joakin Nilsson (6.5/7), 2nd David Maycock (6/7), 3rd= Tom Villiers, Alfie Onslow (5.5/7) (76 players)
  • Leigh-on-Sea u1900 - 1st= Alisha Vyas, Luoke Wang (5.5/7), 3rd= Peter Laundy, Julian Llewellyn, Kushal Jakharia, Sean Colliety (4.5/7) (41 players)
  • Westcliff u1750 - 1st Li Jiping (5.5/7), 2nd= Ryan Colclough, David Smith (4/7) (7 players)
  • Southchurch u1600 - 1st He Gokul, 2nd= Simon Morris, Rezin Catabay, Qixuan Han, Stephen Stimpson (4.5/7) (15 players)
  • Thorpe Bay u1450 - 1st= Jushua Davis, James Black (5.5/7), 3rd= Keven Lamb, Sujan Nargund, Viet Le Q, Taylor Duke (4.5/7) (20 players)

Links to tournament results

County Championship Fixtures 2021-22

30th October 2021 (updated 8th Nov 2021)

The fixtures are now confirmed with matches starting on 6th November.

These fixtures are now available on ECF LMS, see: https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/63543/ofixtures

Captains have the option of entering results through the ECF LMS, or emailing the County Match Controller as in previous seasons using the Match Report Card or similar spreadsheet.

A player's eligibility to play in a particular section is determined by the 1st September 2021 ECF Rating list. Reliability of grades is show by the letter A-E as in previous years. F-ratings are dubious and other evidence (eg club captains estimate) may be acceptable, if presented to the Controller before playing in a rating limited section.

Download 1st Sept 2021 ECF Ratng List: https://sccu-chess.com/docs/rating_list_2021-09-01.csv

Covid-19 guidance: https://sccu-chess.com/docs/COVID-plans-SCCU-County-Chess.docx

Any queries, that cannot be resolved by consulting the opposing captain, should be forwarded to the Match Controller at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Month Date  Open   U2050    U1850     U1650    U1450    Other Events
Nov Sat 6th  Sx.Sy, M.K   Sy.E, K.M   E.Sy, M.K  
  Sat 13th   E.M, Sy.K   M.E, E.M2, K.Sy    
  Sat 20th            4NCL WE 1 Div 3
  Sat 27th   Sy.K1        4NCL WE 1 Div 1 & 2
Dec Sat 4th M.Sx, K.Sy   E.M, Sy.K   M.E, K.Sy  
  Sat 11th   Sy.E, K.M   E.Sy, M.K    
  Sat 18th            
  Sat 25th            Christmas
Jan Sat 1st            Hastings Congress
  Sat 8th            Hastings Congress
  Sat 15th         Sy.M3  4NCL WE 2 Div 1,2 &3
  Sat 22nd Sx.K, Sy.M   K.E, M.Sy   E.K, Sy.M  
  Sat 29th   E.K, M.Sy   K.E, Sy.M    
Feb Sat 5th Sy.Sx, K.M   E.Sy M.K   Sy.E , K.M  
  Sat 12th            4NCL WE 3 Div 1, 2 & 3
  Sat 19th   M.E, K.Sy   E.M, M.E2, Sy.K    
  Sat 26th Sx.M, Sy.K   M.E, K.Sy   E.M, Sy.K  
Mar Sat 5th   E.Sy, M.K    Sy.E, K.M    
  Sat 12th K.Sx, M.Sy    E.K, Sy.M   K.E, M.Sy  
  Sat 19th   K.E, Sy.M   E.K, M.Sy    
  Sat 26th            4NCL WE 4 Div 1,2 & 3

Notes:

1. U2050 Sy.K moved to 27 Nov. (updated on 20/10/21)

2. U1650 M.E & E.M (13 Nov, 19 Feb) home & away fixtures swapped. (updated on 08/11/21

3. U1450 Sy.Mx moved to 15 Jan. (updated on 19/11/21)

 

County Championships 2021-22 - Teams Entered

10th October 2021

The table below indicates the latest information regarding team entries.

All entries to be be received by Monday 11th October, when provisional fixtures will be generated.

County  Open   U2050   U1850   U1650   U1450 
Berkshire          
Essex    ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓
Hertfordshire          
Kent  ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓
Middlesex   ✓   ✓   ✓   ✓   ✓
Surrey ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓
Sussex  ✓        

County Championships 2021-22 - Provisional Match Dates

28th September 2021

Covid-19 guidance: https://sccu-chess.com/docs/COVID-plans-SCCU-County-Chess.docx

Entries to SCCU County Championships should be sent by email to SCCU Controller, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., by Monday 11th October 2021

Nominations to ECF Finals will be submitted to National Controller by Tuesday 29th March 2022

The actual number of rounds in the Open and each of the rated sections will be dependent on number of entries received.

Month Date  Open   U2050    U1850     U1650    U1450    Other Events
November Sat 6th  R1   R1   R1  
  Sat 13th   R1   R1    
  Sat 20th            4NCL WE 1 Div 3
  Sat 27th            4NCL WE 1 Div 1 & 2
December  Sat 4th R2   R2   R2  
  Sat 11th   R2   R2    
  Sat 18th            
  Sat 25th            Christmas
January Sat 1st            Hastings Congress
  Sat 8th            Hastings Congress
  Sat 15th            4NCL WE 2 Div 1,2 &3
  Sat 22nd  R3   R3   R3  
  Sat 29th    R3   R3    
February Sat 5th  R4   R4   R4  
  Sat 12th            4NCL WE 3 Div 1, 2 & 3
  Sat 19th    R4    R4    
  Sat 26th  R5    R5   R5  
March Sat 5th    R5    R5    
  Sat 12th  R6    R6   R6  
  Sat 19th    R6   R6    
  Sat 26th            4NCL WE 4 Div 1,2 & 3

ECF Ratings

10th July 2021

The ECF have introduced Elo ratings in place of the earlier ECF Grades.

  • Rating Lists are published monthly on the 1st day of each month,
  • The database contains 'live data' (ie results of games are available as soon as they are added to the database),
  • Revised ratings are calculated each night to include all available results.

See ECF grading database: https://www.ecfrating.org.uk/v2/new/list_players.php

The conversion between Grades and Ratings is given by:      ECF Grade = ( ECF Rating - 700 ) / 7.5

 801300 1802050

     Grade Rating      Grade Rating
  100 1450   200 2200
  120 1600   220 2350
  140 1750   240 2500
  160 1900   260 2650

 

The Return of Over-The-Board County Chess

1st July 2021

The ECF website is providing details of the return to Over-The-Board County Chess see: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/counties-championship-2021/

Pre-Season Regional County Challenge August/September 2021

Leading the way out of lockdown to open up over-the-board chess whilst clubs begin the task of re-establishing themselves within their communities, a summer county regional competition has been launched for teams of eight in an innovative mini format for players of all abilities, with rounds on Saturdays 14th August, 4th and 18th September.

The Major is for teams with an average team rating not exceeding 2000, with players rated below 1600 deemed to be 1600 for the purposes of averaging.

The Minor is for teams with players rated below 2000 and with an average team rating not exceeding 1600 with players rated below 1200 deemed to be 1200 for the purposes of averaging.

Counties may enter more than one team in any one section but a player can only play for one team and for one county. Usual county eligibility rules apply. Click here for a synopsis of the event (link to be confirmed) as we await the playing conditions for indoor chess in Stage 4 of the Spring 2021 Road Map, with tournament regulations to follow.

ECF bronze membership is required (see: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-membership-rates-and-joining-details/). ECF memberships taken out now will be valid for the rest of the summer and for all of the 2021/22 season (ending 31st August 2022)

The ECF OTB County Championships Finals return for 2021-22

Between October 2021 and March 2022, the five Unions of the Federation have the opportunity to conduct qualifying competitions for the new look County Championship under ECF ELO ratings and monthly official rating lists for the first time (the FIDE-rated Open has been using FIDE monthly lists for a while now).

The national stages will be held on their traditional dates between late April and early July with qualification by Union nomination in the traditional way for the following Championships —

Open – FIDE & ECF rated (no rating limit) Gold ECF membership required for more than 1 game

Minor Counties – for teams with a maximum team average ECF rating of 2050 Bronze ECF membership required

ECF rating limited sections – for teams with players rated U2050, U1850, U1650 and U1450 Bronze ECF membership required.

County Championship Rules 2021-22, see: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/OTB-County-Championship-Rules-2021-22.pdf

Online Junior Jamboree 2021 - Results

6th June 2021, Angela Eyton reports:

46 teams of 6 participated in the first Online Junior Jamboree on Saturday 5 June 2021 on lichess.org

Link to teams: https://lichess.org/team/sccu-junior-jamboree-2021

Three sections competed in individual board swiss tournaments with 5 rounds of 10 mins +5 seconds:

U18 Open - 10 teams competed

1st Place - Oxford 21 points 2nd Place - Welsh Dragons 20.5 points 3rd Place - Surrey 19.5 points

Winners of each board tournament:

Board 1 - Victorstoyanov 5/5 Board 2 - Dangerous Kid 4/5 on tiebreak (Macd04 4/5) Board 3 - Twickenham2014 3.5/5 on tiebreak (I_am_17LangF 3.5/5) Board 4 - Pawmur 4/5
Board 5 - Caspar678 4/5 on tiebreak (Ben_Turner 4/5) Board 6 - Chesschamp005 4/5

U14 Open - 15 teams competed

1st Place - Welsh Dragons 20 points
2nd Place - Sussex 1 19.5 points 3rd Place - Muswell Hill 19 points

Winners of each board tournament:

Board 1 - Sohammhd 5/5 Board 2 - Shiningstar 4/5 on tiebreak (slowsloth26 4) Board 3 - Edenhazard 4/5 on tiebreak (Chaduranga09 4) Board 4 - gadams13 4/5 on tiebreak (meha123 4) Board 5 - thunderguy 4/5 on tiebreak (widetoghlint 4) Board 6 - Yeeto 4.5

U14 Minor - 21 teams competed

1st Place - Welsh Dragons 26 points =2nd Place - Leicestershire 19 points =2nd place - Merseyside A 19 points

Winners of each board tournament:

Board 1 - Ringo01 4/5 on tiebreak (Shourya28, Super1412, WSCC7c21 4/5)
Board 2 - Sivan 007 4/5 on tiebreak (mgriva, param11m 4/5) Board 3 - Austcliff22 5/5 Board 4 - Toughcookie25 5/5 Board 5 - Arnavk36 5/5 Board 6 - chazgould1 5/5

Reserves tournament - 14 competed

1st Place - cedrikpundik 5/5 2nd Place - branson-rizzo 4/5 3rd Place - harshbreak 3/5 on tiebreak (Karunjsuresh, lucienhorton-dewing 3/5)

Full results are on this shared Google doc:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QgXkQt7ahRkftpBCg3oZX7jFN0yTqMXHg0de5-fJbH4/edit?usp=sharing<

Invitation to SCCU Online Junior Jamboree 2021

The SCCU invites all Under 18 and Under 14 teams from counties, schools and clubs in England to join our Junior Jamboree on Saturday 5th June from 11.00am to 1.30pm.

Results will be sent for ECF online rating. Membership of the SCCU is not necessary, but ECF membership will be required (remember – free Junior Silver membership is available for all new members and will last until August 2022). Prizes will be sent to the winners of each section.

A teams comprises 6 players with no limit on number of teams per county or club. 5 round Board Swiss with time control of 10 mins + 5 seconds (each board will have its own Swiss tournament). Reserves are welcome to join a reserve tournament. Sections – Under 18 Open; Under 14 Open; Under 14 Minor (U1800 Lichess rating) – U14 will be merged if numbers are low.

Please complete the form (see link below) to sign up and then please supply a team list with ECF membership numbers, real name and Lichess user names no later than 10.00pm Friday 4 June. The results will be shared on a Google doc and only usernames will be published. Lichess team joining details will be sent to the email address of the manager to share with each team.

Link to entry form: https://forms.gle/s5u3EKd3eueViNEN6

Link to tournament details on Lichess: https://lichess.org/team/sccu-junior-jamboree-2021

Any questions, please, contact SCCU Junior Officer Angela Eyton Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SCCU Online - Members' Team Championships (17th Jan)

Essex Philpott win the Inter Championship in a dramatic afternoon

The omens were looking good for Surrey, who had led throughout the competition requiring just a draw to secure a Surrey double irrespective of results elsewhere, as they opened up an early two point lead over Kent Haddrell whilst Kent Steele were threatening to torpedo the late challenge from Essex Philpott, trying to push on from their fourth round win over Surrey. Kent Steele took first blood against the ratings up the order and were threatening on three of the lower boards too. However, resilience paid dividends as Kent failed to convert promising positions and a marauding pawn was finally blockaded on the 7th rank as time ran out. A potential 4-0 deficit converted to 2-2. Thereafter the Essex rating advantage held sway save for board 1, the last game to finish and the match long won.

Having done what was required to move above Surrey, Essex Philpott were now in the hands of Kent Haddrell, who were also showing signs of on a late run of form as they brought the scores level. With two more Kent wins from Terfor Owens and Stefan Sainiuc, both undefeated in the Inter, the outcome of the division hinged on the last game, of Surrey skipper, Trevor Jones. A valiant rear guard action secured the draw from an inferior position and by such small margin, Essex Philpott took the division.

Elsewhere, Essex Pascoe and Berkshire were trying to make up for lost ground. Here it was Berkshire with the early lead, three points ahead at one stage. The Essex top order pulled the match back but only just as Berkshire held top board to earn a well deserved tied match. Not an afternoon for taking an early lead !

An excellent hard fought competition this, with every team having their moment. Special mention to Stefan Sainiuc of Kent Haddrell top scoring with 4½ out of 5 (with a fellow man of Kent taking the ½ point off him).

League Table | Cross Table | Player Stats

Minor – This week Essex’ U1451 team were on the receiving end from The Rest. Berkshire U1451s contributed half of the 8 board team for The Rest and set up the early lead which was not relinquished.

County Challenge  – Including on the top 9 boards, Outer Essex v The Rest. A scratch team from the county but excluding players from the London Boroughs. Outer Essex were white on odds and colours alternated down the pairing card. A comfortable 5.5-3.5 win including a B+N v K checkmate on top board.

SCCU Online - Members' Team Championships (17th Jan)

Surrey win the Major Championship

Essex took their revenge over Surrey but only just, with the match hinging on the last game to finish. However, Surrey take the Championship on tie break by virtue of their comprehensive first leg victory.

Elsewhere on the penultimate Saturday

Inter - Drama all round with all three matches decided by a single game point. Both Kent teams secured their first wins including a magnificent swindle for team Steele (see board 4 in the game viewer) to all but extinguish team Pascoe’s shot at the Inter championship. Surrey suffered their first defeat, allowing team Philpott to close the gap. All to play for in the final round of matches next Saturday.

Minor - Berkshire’s U1450 team narrowly defeated by The Rest.

County Challenge – A 5 board mini-match with The Rest holding an Essex contingent to a tie.

SCCU Online - Members' Team Championships (9th Jan)

A full itinerary is in store on Saturday 16 January (week 4) of the Members' Team Championships as Surrey look to maintain their grip on both the the Major and Inter sections.

In week 3 (9th Jan), Berkshire rallied in their second match against Essex in the Minor and defeated Kent Steele in the Inter. There, Surrey were supreme in the top of the table clash with Essex Pascoe. Their eponyms were the best of friends but there was nothing friendly about the Essex Philpott and Kent Haddrell encounter.

League standings (1675 Inter) can be found at https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/63547/table.

The County Challenge, for those missing out on a team place, continues to be well supported and will run on the final two Saturdays of competition (16 & 23 Jan).

SCCU Online - Members' Team Championships (5th Dec)

Surrey top the Major & Inter trees as the competition makes way for the Online British Chess Championships.

2050 Major. In the first of the head to head matches against Essex, Surrey drew first blood and notched up a commanding game points difference too. Essex has some ground to make up in the return fixture on 16th January.

1675 Inter. Surrey and Essex Pascoe share the spoils after two rounds, each undefeated whilst the remaining four teams have opened their accounts with a draw a piece. The leaders are scheduled to meet in round 3 when competition resumes on 9th January.

The County Challenge will be back in January too and the control team hope to add a 1450 Minor competition over the three remaining consecutive Saturdays in January (9, 16 & 23). Players rated under 1450 (ECF OTB Aug Standard) who wish to participate in the Minor section should contact their county organiser listed on the SCCU Online page.

SCCU ONLINE – MEMBERS’ TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP 2020/21

The SCCU members' team competition starts on Saturday 28 November at 2pm. 

Fixtures have been published on the ECF LMS at https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/63543/home

Further details appear on this sites dedicated page, accessible through the top menu: SCCU Online

SCCU ONLINE – MEMBERS’ TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP 2020/21

This event is open to all SCCU county and non-county members. It is ECF online standard rated and runs over five rounds. SCCU members can enter as many 8-board teams as they wish in each of the 2050 and 1675 team average-rated sections.

A player can play only for one member organisation throughout the competition and for only one team for that organisation in each section. All players must be current ECF members or Supporters and use the same lichess.org playing account and username for the event’s duration.

Match schedules and results are displayed on the ECF LMS at https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/63543/home

Further details will appear this sites dedicated page, accessible through the top menu: SCCU Online

ECF Events: North v South - The Oldest Challenge

In 1893 & 1894 the historic counties of England contested a match to determine where chess was the strongest. The South won both encounters the 2nd comfortably due to the existence of the first and oldest chess Union the SCCU who were able to aid in the co-ordination and communication of the southern counties.

After a 126 years a much delayed 3rd match is to take place on Saturday 5th September on chess.com. The match is open to all ECF members or supporters see link for more details. https://www.englishchess.org.uk/online-north-v-south-challenge-2020/

In the tradition of the first two encounters it is hoped that match will be contested over a minimum of 100 boards if possible more.

If you are interested in playing what will be an historic events register at https://www.chess.com/club/ecf-south

Anthony Fulton
The South Team Captain

ECF Online English Counties Championships

The 2019/2020 season commenced on  6th June with the Semi-Finals and Finals scheduled 8th August and 22nd August, respectively.

Matches are played on Saturday evenings starting at 6.30pm with a move rate of 60 minutes plus 15 seconds per move (G60/15).

Fixtures and results are posted on the ECF League Management System website:

See also:

ECF National 100 Online Competition - Appeal For Players

The ECF has successfully launched the Online Counties Championship (allowing for one or two teething problems!) and the group stages are about to come to a close (1st August).

Although Championship has been a success the Controller recognised that players graded u100 were poorly served consequently a regional u100 competition has been devised. I write to ask that you inform clubs in your areas of the event so that those graded u100 can sign up for the event. I know that it is relatively short notice however in this digital age if we use all avenues available, webpages, social media and email, we should be able to spread the word to every outpost in the country to get maximum exposure.

As the name suggests there are 4 regional teams (East, Midlands, North and South) who will participate in an All-Play-All competition over 3 consecutive Saturdays (8th August, 15th August and 22nd August).

The South comprises of the following counties:
Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire.

Brief details are:
Matches will be played on chess.com with a time control of 1hr + 15s per move (60/15) and start at 6:30pm. Players ideally would have a grade of u100 on January 2020 either standard or rapidplay if no standard grade. July 2020 grade will only be considered if there is no other grade available

The following link will allow any interested part to get more details about the competition, rules, etc.:
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/online-english-counties-championships-2020/

For those interested they should either register directly via https://www.chess.com/club/the-south

If anyone needs more information they can also contact me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Anthony Fulton
The South Team Captain

League Tables 2019-20

To view County Championship league tables, click on one of these buttons. Then click on the scores in the table to display a match score card.

Open - Shannon u180 - Montague Jones u160 - Amboyna u140 - Ebony

u120 - Harry Woolverton u100 - David Smith

Code of Conduct for all players in Online Chess

SCCU adopts Safeguarding Policy for playing chess online

Following the updating of the ECF's safeguarding policy on the 18th June to include chess online (see today's ECF announcement), there is now a Code of Conduct applicable to all players taking part in ECF or SCCU online events. This is part of the online safeguarding policy the ECF has introduced.   The policy can be found at new section 11 of the ECF Safeguarding Policy and the code at Appendix 10.

Please note that it is a condition of the current ECF block insurance policy that insured chess organisations adopt and follow the ECF Safeguarding Policy.

SCCU County Championships 2019-20

The winners of the SCCU County Team Championship are:

SCCU Division Grade Winner
Shannon Open Middlesex
Montague Jones u180 Essex
Amboyna u160 Middlesex
Ebony u140 Kent
Harry Woolverton u120 Kent
David Smith u100 no contest
     

Provisional nominations for the ECF County Championship are shown below. While the current COVID-19 alert remains in effect, there is great uncertainty as to whether it will be possible to run the ECF County Championships.  

ECF Division Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
Open Middlesex Surrey  Kent
Minor Counties Sussex -  -
u180 Essex Middlesex  -
u160 Middlesex Surrey  -
u140 Kent Surrey  Essex
u120 Kent Surrey  Middlesex
u100 Essex    

SCCU County Championship 2019/20

Preliminary Fixtures

This is the 'first-cut' for the fixtures (published 23 August 2019). Where captains have difficulty in booking venues on the specified dates, it is permissible to change dates with the agreement of the opposing captain.

In the u180 section, two matches (Kent vs Essex, Surrey vs Middlesex) unfortunately clash with the first weekend of the London Chess Classic. The controller hasn't been able to identify another date without playing on two consecutive weekends, and has left to the captains to agree a more suitable date.

Please, keep the County Match Controller informed of any changes.

Key: B= Berkshire, E= Essex, H=Hertfordshire, K=Kent, M=Middlesex, Sx=Sussex, Sy=Surrey

Date Other Events Open u180 u160 u140 u120 u100
28 Sep 2019   Sy.SX, K.M    K.Sy, M.E      
05 Oct 2019  J4NCL wk1 & Surrey Congress      M.E[2]      
12 Oct 2019  ECF AGM (London)            
19 Oct 2019     M.E, K.Sy    E.M, K.Sy    E.B    
26 Oct 2019              
02 Nov 2019   M.Sy, Sx.E    E.Sy, K.M    M.H, E.K  
09 Nov 2019  4NCL wk1a (div 3 & 4) Sx.E[8]          
16 Nov 2019     E.Sy, M.K    Sy.E, M.H    
23 Nov 2019   E.M, Sy.K    Sy.M, E.K    H.E, Sy.M  
30 Nov 2019  London Chess Classic   K.E, Sy.M        
07 Dec 2019  London Chess Classic      Sy.M[5]      
14 Dec 2019              
21 Dec 2019              
28 Dec 2019  Caplin Hastings International            
04 Jan 2020  Caplin Hastings International            
11 Jan 2020  4NCL wk2          Sy.M[1], H.E[7]  
18 Jan 2020  J4NCL wk2      M.K[3], Sy.E[5]      
25 Jan 2020     E.M, Sy.K    K.H, Sy.M    B.E
01 Feb 2020   K.E, M.Sx    Sy.E, M.K    Sy.K, M.E  
08 Feb 2020  4NCL wk3            
15 Feb 2020  J4NCL wk3 Sx.K, E.Sy    Sy.K, E.M    E.Sy, K.H  
22 Feb 2020     Sy.E, K.M    M.K, H.E    
29 Feb 2020  4NCL wk1b (div 1 & 2)      M.Sy, K.E    K.M, H.Sy  
07 Mar 2020        M.Sy[3]    H.Sy[6]  
14 Mar 2020     E.K, M.Sy    H.Sy, E.K     
21 Mar 2020  SCCU nominations to ECF            
28 Mar 2020  4NCL wk4            

Amendments

  1. 30-08-2019. u120 Sy.M moved to 11-01-2020 (was 23-11-2019).
    2. 31-08-2019. u160 M.E moved to 05-10-2019 (was 28-09-2019).
    3. 10-09-2019. u160 M.K moved to 18-01-2020 (was 01-02-2020).
    4. 10-09-2019. u160 M.Sy moved to 07-02-2020 (was 29-01-2020).
    5. 14-09-2019. u160 Sy.M moved to 07-12-2019 (was 23-11-2019)
     u160 Sy.E moved to 18-01-2020 (was 01-02-2020)
    6. 14-09-2019. u120 H.Sy moved to 07-03-2020 (was 29-02-2020) - confirmed 30-09-219
    7. 30-09-2019. u120 H.E moved to 11-01-2020 (was 23-11-2020)
    8. 01.10.2019. Open Sx.E moved to 09.11.2019 (was 02.11.2019 - venue became unavailable)

SCCU County Championship 2019/20

Closing Date for Entries

The closing date for entry to the County Championship is 15th August. Fixtures are expected to be released soon after 18th August.

Please, send all entries and related equiries to The County Match Controller (email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) so that fixtures can be made.

The SCCU competition rules can be found at County Match Rules. Rules and information on the ECF national stages are available at ECF National Stages (2019).

Provisional Match Dates

Provisional match dates are shown below:

  • Dates have been selected to avoid clashing with 4NCL, J4NCL (except 15th Feb), Surrey Congress, London Chess Classic, and Caplin Hastings International Congress,
  • Open and u180 play on different days.
Division Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6
Open, u160, u120 28th Sep[1] 2nd Nov 23rd Nov 1st Feb 15th Feb[1] 29th Feb[7]
u180, u140, u100 19th Oct 16th Nov 30th Nov 25th Jan 22nd Feb 14th Mar

Teams Entered

  Key:
  Yes - confirmed
  ? - expected, based on last season.
  tba - to be advised

County Open u180 u160 u140 u120 u100
Berkshire           Yes
Essex Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hertfordshire       Yes Yes  
Kent Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  
Middlesex Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  
Surrey Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Sussex Yes          


Revisions

[1] 30 Jul 19. Open - dates revised.  (28th Sept, 15th Feb added; 5th Oct, 7th Dec deletedl).
[2] 31 Jul 19. Teams Entered - table updated
[3] 06 Aug 19. Teams Entered - table updated
[4] 08 Aug 19. Closing date of 15th August and links to rules added.
[5] 08 Aug 19. Teams Entered - table updated.
[6] 10 Aug 19. Teams Entered - table updated. Fixtures expected to be released soon after 18th August.
[7] 17 Aug 19. Date corrected 29th Feb (Sat) was 2nd Mar (Mon).

Addition to Online Archive: SCCU News Bulletin

First published in October 1958, the Bulletin provides a digest of chess related activities occurring in the Union over a span of 41 years. Averaging 6 issues each season, it ran to a total of 248 issues, plus annual grading lists and occasional supplements.

The late Richard Haddrell was the Bulletin's editor for its final 21 years and he developed and operated the website which took over from it.

He had wanted to digitise the Bulletin and make it available online, but the demands of his many other duties (SCCU Secretary, ECF Grading Administrator, Kent Juniors) contributed to the project not being completed.

The digitisation has now been accomplished, thanks to Anthony Fulton, SCCU Archivist, who arranged for the cache of paper copies left by Richard to be catalogued and digitised by the British Library.

The collection can be found on the following pages:

The digitisation project was funded from Richard Haddrell's bequest to the SCCU.

ECF County Championship Centenary Finals Day

This year's County Championship held its 100th event on Saturday, 13th July at Kettering Conference Centre.

All seven matches being played fitted comfortably into a single playing room  on the first floor. There would have been space for Minor competition had that been played too. There was a separate analysis room and refreshments (drinks, sanwiches and snacks) were available from a kiosk in the foyer.  

Proceedings began with an introduction by Adrian Elwin, Director of Home Chess, and Sean Hewitt, Chief Arbiter.

ECF County Open Champions: Yorkshire

Play began following the one minute silence to remember Marcus Mission (Cambridgeshire) and Bryan Fewell (Hertfordshire), two well known players who had past away earlier this year. In his time as BCF Home Director Bryan did much to support and enhance the County Championships, including the creation of the separate grade limited sections in 1992.  

The ECF website hosted Live Boards (Open section), which were managed by Matt Carr. Mark Murrell also posted a Blog commenting on the matches.

The match results given below contain hyperlinks to the match cards maintained on the ECF League Management Results website.

Congratulations to the four SCCU teams that made the Final:

  • Surrey Open - Runners up
  • Essex u180 - Winners
  • Middlesex u160 - Winners
  • Essex u120 - Winners

Trophies were awarded by Adrian Elwin, ECF Director of Home Chess. All players that took part on the day received individual trophies.

SCCU / London Club Championships

The inaugural SCCU/London Club Championships took place on Saturday, 29 June 2019 at St Lukes Church, Kidderpore Avenue, London NW3 7SU.

  • Major (180 ECF) - 7 teams entered
  • Intermediate (150 ECF) - 9 teams entered
  • Minor (120 ECF) - 10 teams entered

Although it had been intended to run all sections as Swiss tournaments, on the day some adjustments were made to the pairing of Major and Intermediate.

  • In the Major a seventh round was squeezed in so that it ran as an all-play-all.
  • In the Intermediate teams were grouped together in one of three triangular matches (played over two rounds with jamboree pairings) to avoid giving a bye to any team in the conventional Swiss. An unfortunate weakness of the hybrid pairing was that the two highest scoring teams (Hatch End and Pimlico) never got to play each other. The two teams finished equal on match points (11/12) with Hatch End prevailing on tiebreak by a single game point.

The winning teams (left to right) are:

Clicking on names of the winning teams will link to the respective tournament results.

SCCU County Championships

With all matches, apart from u120 Hertfordshire v Kent (to be played Saturday 23rd March), the winners of each division can now be announced.

SCCU Division Grade Winner
Shannon Open Surrey
Montague Jones u180 Middlesex
(on tie-break with Essex)
Amboyna u160 Middlesex
Ebony u140 Kent
Harry Woolverton u120 Essex
David Smith u100 Essex
     

The provisional nominations, subject to completion of the u120 division, and confirmation of acceptance by county secretaries are given below; these nominations need to be confirmed by the SCCU to the ECF National Controller by Sunday 24th March.

ECF Division Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
Open Surrey Middlesex  Sussex
Minor Counties Essex -  -
u180 Middlesex Essex  -
u160 Middlesex Essex  -
u140 Kent Hertfordshire  Essex
u120 Essex Kent  Hertfordshire
u100 Essex Berkshire  -
       

 Note:  Teams that have accepted ECF nomination are shown in BOLD.

SCCU Junior Jamboree 2019

Stop Press. See Junior Jamboree Results

 

The Southern Counties Chess Union Junior Jamboree will take place on 17 March 2019, 10.30am - 5.30pm, at Bishop Douglass School, Hamilton Road, East Finchley, London N2 0SQ.

 

It is open to teams of 6 players from Counties, Clubs and Schools and comprises four sections:

  • Under 18 Major
  • Under 18 Minor (restricted to ECF grade u130)
  • Under 14 Major
  • Under 14 Minor (restricted to ECF grade u110)

Entry fee is £40 per team from SCCU county and non-county members (£45 per team from Non members)

 

Individual organisations may enter two teams per section and 4 teams in total.

Additional teams may be permitted, provided there is sufficient space.

 

For further details, please, download: Entry Form

 

Please, direct any enquiries to Angela Eyton (email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

 

This event is being organised by Middlesex County Chess Association in association with the SCCU.

FM Steve Berry - An Appreciation

posted: 19th January 2019

At today's county championship encounter between Surrey and Essex Open teams, the Surrey match captain reports:

"The Match started with fine words said by Russell (Granat) about our recently deceased friend, FM Steve Berry. The much appreciated Words were followed by a well observed minute of silence. Steve will be much missed by all who knew him."

Surrey Congress, Incorporating SCCU Individual Championship

updated: 2nd December 2018

Surrey Congress took place at Kingston University on Friday 26th to Sunday 28th October.

The Surrey Prizes were sponsored by Kingston Chess Club.

Frank Winter FIDE OPEN (42 players)

1st= IM Richard Bates, FM Adam Taylor, Ben Ogunshola (4/5)

Grading prize (U1980): Nasir Rizvi (3.5/5)

Surrey Prize: Jovica Radovanovic (3.5/5)

SCCU Individual Championship

SCCU Champion (joint): IM Richard Bates, FM Adam Taylor, Ben Ogunshola

Congratulations to all three winners, each of whom has qualified for the British Championships to be held at the International Centre in Torquay, 26th July to the 4th August 2019. This is Richard's record-breaking fourth consecutive SCCU title!

Eric Weimann FIDE Major (35 players)

1st= Nick Grey, Oliver Finnegan (4.5/5); 3rd Alexandros Pappas (4/5)

Grading Prize (U1600): Boris Stoyanov (3/5)

Surrey Prize: Graham Alcock (3.5/5)

Bill Waterton Minor (19 players)

1st Soham Kumar (4.5/5); 2nd James McKenna (4/5); Tim Cutter (3.5/5)

Grading Prize (U100): Diego Cordova (3/5)

Surrey Prize: Tom Usharovsky (3/5)

Full Results

These are available on chess-results.com through the following links:

ECF County Team Championship

updated: 31st October 2018

This is the 100th contest for the title of National County Champions, providing good cause for celebration.

Please, note the following dates in your diary:

    Saturday, 27th April 2019  Preliminary Round
  Saturday, 11th May 2019 Quarter Finals (Open, Minor, Under 160, Under 120)
  Saturday, 18th May 2019 Quarter Finals (Under 180, Under 140, Under 100)
  Saturday, 8th June 2019 Semi-Finals
  Saturday, 13th July 2019 Finals
     

Nominations by the Unions need to be submitted to the National Controller by 24th March so that the draw can be published on or before 1st April.