Last Saturday, the Suffolk U11 chess team travelled to Aldgate in London for the Eastern Region Inter County Match.  As we are located in the strongest chess region in the country, this was always going to be a very tough event.  Our team played extremely well against very strong opposition and achieved some very good results.

I would like to thank all of the team for their performances.  We have some very tough opponents and all the players should feel very proud to have represented their county at this level and should remember that some of the very top players in the country were there.  Two of our players did the impossible and won 2 of their 3 matches - Amy John and Georgia Pommier.  To win 2/3 at this level is a performance that they should be very proud of.

I would also like to thank the team for their approach to the day.  They worked hard and concentrated, but above all enjoyed themselves - well done.

I would like to thank the following who represented their county so well: Alex Bujnowski, Amy John, Arthur Dannatt, Beatrice Boreham, Edison Lorejo, Freddie Dannatt, Georgia Pommier, Isaac Kim, Joe Ferdinand, Lade Laguda, Lanfranco Lawson, Luke Holmes, Matteo Barberini , Max Lewis, Mevin Biju, Raf Calumpiano, Rowan Kent, Ryan John, Theo Pommier, Tia Martin, William Davison, Zikora Varner.

The overall results can be found here.
Suffolk's results can be found here.
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Please note that there is an error on Round 3 boards 17 and 18, in which Beatrice Boreham and Alex Bujnowski actually played - I have asked for this error to be corrected.

The image below shows where we were playing - a very different environment to Suffolk's Schools!

Over the last few weeks, Suffolk's Junior players have represented the county at U9, U11, and U18 levels.  The teams have had varying levels of success, but should all be very proud of their efforts in their matches and also of the way they have represented the county.

Before we get to the important business of the teams, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the clubs and schools who have provided players to the Suffolk teams.  The 2 main chess clubs, Bury Knights and Ipswich Junior Chess Club provided the teams with many players and sincere thanks go to Bob Jones and Martin Tomes for the very significant time and effort they put into providing opportunities for young Suffolk players.  Thanks also go to the schools with Woodbridge School, St Edmunds Catholic Primary School and Handford Hall being among the schools providing players.  Without these clubs and schools, there would be no Junior Chess in Suffolk, so thank you to them all.
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In all 3 of the Suffolk teams, the spirit and good natured behaviour was noticeable and I would like to thank the players and their parents for the commitment to travel to the various venues, none of which were close to Suffolk and to spend all day with the team.  The players cheerful approach to the game and the team spirit were very noticeable - thank you to all.

​Thank you to Ground Control for supporting the team and helping to make the event possible for the players.


U18 Report

​On 25th February, the U18 team competed against 5 other counties in the major section in Grantham.  While the team struggled against the tough opposition, the games were generally hard fought.  Suffolk sent a team of 12 juniors who had an overall average grade of 122 - an impressive achievement in itself.  However when competing against counties with average grades of 151, 154 & 161, it was always going to be a tall order.

​Well played to the whole team: Alex Sheerin, Jaden Jermy, Adam John, Gavith Dharmasena, Kian Dharmasena, Alan John, Rowland Kerr, Tom Roy, William Moody, Rowan Kent, Mario Saenz de Villaverde, and Amy John.

​Thank you also to Bob Jones for organising the team.

​The report on the English Chess website can be seen here.


U9 Report

On Saturday 10th March, Suffolk's U9 team gathered in Richmond for the regional inter county event.  Against some really strong teams we travelled in hope of strong results, but also prepared for a tough event with many of our players at the start of their chess careers.

​In this 12 board event, we had a tough first round, winning only 3.5 points from a possible 12.  A stronger 2nd round was needed, and the team delivered, winning 5 points and they followed that up with a further 5 points in the final round.

​The team needed to finish in the top 6 to qualify for the national finals, and managed in the final round to overhaul Cambridgeshire to finish 5th - a truly fantastic result which bodes well for the future.

​The stand-out performance of the day was undoubtedly by Edison Lorejo.  Edison, who has a grade of 24, was asked to play opponents of grades 86, 63 and 26.  In winning all three games, he managed a grading performance of 101.  Surely his best performance to date.

Another notable performance was by Freddie Dannatt in securing 2.5 points from a possible 3 points which were crucial to secure qualification for the next round - well done Freddie.

​The future of the U9 team will also be strengthened by our young new recruit Lade Laguda, who is only just 8.  In winning 3 games out of 3, he will strengthen the team next year when the bulk of the players become too old for the U9s.

​Not everyone wins all their games, and in these events, the way the matches are arranged, some players have a tougher draw than others.  It was fantastic to see that all the players took their defeats and kept smiling and all enjoyed themselves, which is by far the most important thing.

Very well done to the ENTIRE team of: Rowan Kent, Raf Calumpiano​, Edison Lorejo, Isaac Kim, Tania Roy, Luke Holmes, Mevin Biju, Freddie Dannatt, Hamilton Lowdell​, Karthik Kamatham​, Indula Dedigama​, Tyler Whalen, Lade Laguda, Kara Whalen​, Max Lewis, and Gabriel Kim.

The Suffolk results can be found here.
​The full results can be found here.


U11 Report

​Yesterday, 17th March, it was the turn of the U11s to represent Suffolk in a snowy Bromley.  With 20 players per team, and 10 counties represented in the south-east zone, this was a big event with 200 players in the playing hall as well as reserve players.

​After a tough first round in which the team scored 6/20, the team scored a good 8.5/20 to go into the final round needing plenty of wins to qualify for the national finals.  Unfortunately, with some tough pairings, the team just failed to qualify.

​The most notable performance was probably that of Milan Biju (Grade 53) who scored a win, a draw and a loss to score 1.5/3 against 3 players who were all graded over 100 to finish with a grading performance of 93 - very well played.

​Other notable performances were by Raf Calumpiano, Eniko Stuller, Luke Holmes (all 2/3) and Marina Pommier (1.5/3).

​The full Suffolk results can be found here.

As with the other teams, ​ALL​the players should be very proud of their performance.  In these events, depending on the draw, some players can have a much tougher draw than others.  Well played to EVERYONE​.

Following the conclusion of the chess, it was time to travel home on a distinctly snowy and dark evening.  One thing that will live long in the memory is the exceptional and ruthless aim of some of the players with snowballs, particularly at yours truly!  You know who you are...


​Spot the Chess Piece
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Seen below is the Under 11 chess team in Bromley - can you find the Knight hiding in the photo???

Recently, to the astonishment of the players, a fight broke out at Ipswich Junior Chess Club between Martin and Jane.  Eventually order was restored when it turned out that it was all a clever plan to demonstrate the importance of developing pieces.  It finished all square, although Jane very nearly delivered a knock out finish.  It is a great video - click on the image below for a link to the YouTube video.

Last Saturday (14th October) the Ipswich Junior Chess Club met as usual between 9.45 and 11.45am in the lecture hall at Ipswich County Library.  Numbers were slightly down, but 8 keen juniors met up to play chess and learn from Martin Tomes.

​They began with an hour or so of friendly chess games, and then as a group started looking at their 2 correspondence chess matches against Martlesham Junior Chess Club.  The Ipswich and Martlesham junior chess clubs have been playing correspondence chess for the last few weeks.  In these games, the clubs each make one move per game every week.  This move is then sent to the other club, who then plan and play their move when they next meet.  This is a great way for the players to discuss their match and plan their moves - and have a lot of fun. 

In one of the matches, the position is as shown below.  Ipswich are playing the white pieces, while Martlesham are playing the black pieces.

The game record is as follows:  e4, d5, e5, Nc6, d4, Bf5, f4, e6, Nf3.  Black to play - what would you play next?​

Martin and the club planning their next move against Martlesham.