County Chess Fixtures - 13th November: u2050 vs. Essex (A); u1650 vs. Essex (H)

Middlesex's opening matches in the SCCU County Championships for the remaining teams are upcoming a double header against Essex. Match reports to come.

For those interested in representing a county team either complete form Play for a Middlesex County Team above or contact the relevant Match Captain via the Officers page.

County Championship 1st Round - Open/u1850/u1450

The resumption of County chess as one format of OTB play was welcomed. However, to be honest the current climate saw a heavy focus on resumption of leagues so overshadowed it as all 3 Middlesex teams playing in the opening round of the Open/u1850/u1450 had difficulties raising teams as proven by the reduction to 12boards for Open and u1850 and the plethora of juniors dragooned into representing the u1450. The difficulty for the Open understandably meant fielding an understrength team against a virtually full strength Kent. The team would have done well in a Minor or u2050 competition but as expected struggled against a genuine Open team.

There is not much too write home about as all 3 teams suffered a reverse:

Open lost 3.5-8.5

u1850 lost 4.5-7.5

u1450 lost 5.5-6.5

Rather than give respective reports as nothing great to report your author will focus on the fact that for a long time a significant number of juniors represented a Middlesex Senior Team. Granted it was for the u1450 team but if this talent is nurtured we ought to find in short order they will accelerate through the divisions and become a permanent presence in the Open or at least u2050.

The 13th November sees the opening round of the u2050 and u1650 campaigns who have a double-header against Essex. It is hoped that the results favour Middlesex!

The 2nd Round for Open/u1850/u1450 is 4th December when it is hoped that all 3 teams will fare better.

13th Richmond Blitz - The Rik Thomas Memorial

This will take place on Saturday 18th December 2021, from 12:00 to 18:00, at Orleans Park School, Richmond Road, TWICKENHAM TW1 3BB.

This will be held in memory of “Rik Thomas” a chess teacher at Richmond Junior Chess Club and a popular organiser at King’s Head Chess Club, who passed away last year during the lockdown. Two Richmond Juniors’ parents, Suman Chatterjee and Jatinder Sian will also be remembered, who also passed away during the lockdown. A donation box will be left at the event for contributions for the families concerned.

There will be an exceptional prize fund of £3,000 to mark this special event. 1st £500, 2nd £375, 3rd £275, 4th £200, 5th £150. 1st female £375, 2nd £275. U2000 1st £100, 2nd £60. U1500 1st £100, 2nd £60. Richmond Junior 1st £100, 2nd £60, 1st girl £60. Former Richmond Junior (including staff) 1st £100, 2nd £60. King’s Head or former King’s Head £100, 2nd £60

Details and download the entry form from: http://rjcc.org.uk/richmond-blitz.

Middlesex Club vs. Rest of Middlesex

Middlesex's Senior Match Captain, (i.e., longest serving Match Captain, Venue Organiser, Equipment Manager, Captain's Guide and current Captain of Open and u2050 teams!) and unofficial MCCA Archivist, Anthony Fulton, advises the recent Hendon vs. Rest of Middlesex is not the first time that an event of this kind has taken place in MCCA history. He writes,

"There was at least one occasion when a match of this kind took place at the outset of the 1928-29 cycle when Hampstead played the Rest of Middlesex. In this case Rest of Middlesex succumbed 17.5-12.5."

He advised more research will need to be done to determine issues such as date, venue, respective teams and individual board score for above encounter. He goes on to state if readers of the website express an interest in this piece of history he will even review MCCA's archived documents in the London Metropolitan Archives to see if other matches of this kind took place and if so over what timescale then forward his research so can be published on website. Traditionally comments on website posts are not allowed but in this case they are being allowed so that Tony can gauge level of interest in his offer.

County Chess Matches - 6th November 2021: Open vs. Kent (H); u1450 vs. Kent (H); u1850 vs. Kent (A)

Middlesex's opening matches of the resumed SCCU County Championships begins with a triple-header against Kent. Match reports to come.

For those interested in representing a county team either complete form Play for a Middlesex County Team above or contact the relevant Match Captain via the Officers page.

Resumption of County Championship

After a break of 20months or so the County Championship is due to resume.

Middlesex have entered teams in all sections with the fixture dates being:

Open & u1850 & u1450

6/11/2021; 4/12/2021; 22/1/2022; 5/2/2022; 26/2/2022; 12/3/2022

u2050 & u1650

13/11/2021; 11/12/2021; 29/1/2022; 19/2/2022; 5/3/2022; 19/3/2022

The timetable is rough especially in the new year but this is due to the truncated nature of the cycle i.e. the month of October has not been able to be used to host matches.

The last Championship (2019-20) saw Middlesex lift the Open and u160 titles and finish 2nd in the u180, so all told a good return!

It goes without saying that the Open and u160 teams as defending Champions will want to retain their titles however as the fixtures list shows for the u160 (u1850) it will be under very different circumstances. In their wisdom the ECF have decided to adopt 4-digit grades (a move that many in the past have argued would help the Open as it would attract more players) and revise the grading boundaries. In 2009 it was decided to narrow the grading bands from 25 to 20 points which allowed the introduction of a 6th band. The move was welcomed by some, especially the SCCU, as it meant that more players could represent their county. Others though resented the change as it meant a reduction in the pool of players that could be selected from. The ECF decision is to effectively return to pre-2009 conditions. Thus under the new system the grading bands as indicated above are Open, u2050, u1850, u1650 and u1450. Middlesex would argue that that the banding grades are incorrect and that each should be at least 50pts higher. and that with only 5 bands it is probable that some dedicated county players may now not get a game.

Notwithstanding the changes this years county rules are stringent as they have an eye on the COVID world we currently live in. The rules do follow Government guidance regarding masks, sanitising and cleaning but does put a financial pressure on counties, namely, each county team is to have their own playing space, i.e. a bubble. Consequently, counties will have to either have a venue that is able to supply 2 rooms or alternatively use 2 venues. The outcome for Middlesex is that on the assumption we are able to continue using the Child's Hill venue another one will have to be found!

It is hoped that those who have previously represented the county in OTB play pre-COVID and those who joined the Online county teams in the successful 2020 Online County Championship campaigns are able and willing to represent the county in this and future cycles.

Hendon vs. Rest of Middlesex match report

An enjoyable time was had by all when a Rest of Middlesex team descended on The Holly Bush to play Hendon. The match was arranged to celebrate the change of venue for the latter and to show the MCCA’s commitment to resuming OTB play after a difficult 18months for this format of chess.

With the entirety of the county to call upon, The Rest of Middlesex team could be significantly stronger than that of Hendon but for the sake of fair play it was suggested that the teams for this maiden match should fall between 1800 to 2300. The suggestion was a good one as it transpired that both teams were well matched, although Hendon were slightly stronger towards the tail.

Bd	Hendon	Grade	Result	Rest of Mx	Grade	Score
1	J. Richardson (B)	2365	0 - 1	D. Foord (W)	2365	(2) ½ - ½
2	R. Willmoth	2220	½ - ½	B. Eames	2268	(7) 1 - 1
3	G. Senior	2215	0 - 1	M. Gallana	2223	(6) 1½ - 1½
4	S. Marin Stoica	2120	½ - ½	F. Chin	2077	(4) 2 - 2
5	G. Jain	2020	½ - ½	I. Calvert	1993	(1) 2 -3
6	D. Levy	2013	½ - ½	L. Fincham	1900	(3) 2 - 4
7	D. Amoir	1900	½ - ½	P. Conway	1855	(5) 2½ - 4½
8	J-C. Sartenaer	1810	1 - 0	J. Oh (Jr)	1580	(8) 3½ - 4½
	Hendon Ave.	2083	3½ - 4½	Rest of Mx Ave.	2033

The match was played in good spirits even if glory was sought with the bragging rights being claimed by Rest of Middlesex; Marco’s game (Bd3) proved to be decisive difference.

The venture was a novel one for the MCCA as, at least in their recent past, they had never organised or participated in a match of this kind. MCCA used to play against a combined London League team for the Ralph Barnett Trophy on an annual basis but that ceased decades ago and no other format of allowing a combined MCCA to play was formulated. The occasion clearly allows players to socialise and warm-up for the respective County and League campaigns; this benefit cannot be overlooked. It is hoped that matches of this kind will be a permanent one on the MCCA calendar, if so in time both the D1 Champions and Rest of Middlesex teams will show their ‘true’ strength and provide spectacles as entertaining as this initial match.

For a Hendon view of the match see here

County Chess

County Chess has had a challenging and transformative 18months.

The SCCU’s 2019-20 cycle finished just before lockdown began; its’ end saw a successful one for Middlesex as they won both the u180 and u160 divisions; were placed 2^nd in Open and gave creditable performances in u140 and u120 divisions. In lifting the u160 title Keith Jones became the first Middlesex Captain in this division to win a hat-trick. Lockdown of course prevented the three teams from participating at the National Stage where all would have been harbouring hopes of lifting their respective titles.

Although the National Stage did not go ahead the ECF ran an online competition during the Summer – ECF Online County Championship – and Middlesex proved they could be successful in this format also. They were the only team to enter three teams in the Online County Championships – two in Open Division and one in u1825 The Open Division 2 were the only team to be crowned Champions when defeating Oxfordshire but, the other teams performed equally as both were knocked out in the semi-finals (Open Division 1 by Northumberland and u1825 by Lincolnshire.) A team was not entered for the 2021 version but, entries overall were down compared to 2020 – only 10 teams total in both Open divisions in 20201 as opposed to 23 in 2020. The final online competition of 2020 was the National 100 in which Middlesex provided significant numbers for The South Team. This proved to be the difference as The South went onto lift the title with a 100%. This team comprised of u100 players bodes well for Middlesex’s u100 and junior teams when OTB resumes. All told a successful online campaign!

With OTB play resuming we await to hear what happens with County Chess. Notwithstanding when it does resume you will note there is a change in divisions. The ECF has adopted the 4-digit grading system so naturally the grading bands had to be revised. The divisions are now:

We shall see if the effective return to the pre-2009 grading boundaries will make a significant difference to participation. With respect to Middlesex, it is hoped that those who have represented the teams prior and during lockdown irrespective of format will be willing and able to do so once again. If so, Middlesex will look to sweep titles at both Regional and National Stages as they used to doon regular basis in the past. The Open team for example can look to break their hoodoo of finals losses (x in y years!) and finally extend record of the most National Titles won (Middlesex hold current record of 29 titles). News will be circulated on both the website and through MCCA Captains once the position of County Chess is finalised. Watch this space!

Hendon vs. Rest of Middlesex

In order to celebrate the resumption of OTB play Hendon, the only recognised Middlesex League Champions for 2019-20, have agreed to play an 8board match against the Rest of Middlesex on 30^th September 2021. The match not only celebrates the intention to return to OTB play but is also one to congratulate Hendon moving to a new venue – The Holly Bush in Hampstead. It has been sometime since a Club has been based in Hampstead, the Hampstead Community Centre was the home of Hampstead Chess Club before their dissolution.

One criterion for the respective teams is that the grades cover 1800-2300 range so that Rest of Middlesex do not have an unfair advantage! For this cycle at least the Rest of Middlesex also need to consider the following: Members of the team are comprised of –

a)       Individuals whose Club is affiliated to MCCA who are committed to playing OTB

b)      Individuals whose Club is not affiliated to MCCA but is in Middlesex catchment area and they are committed to playing OTB, e.g., Hillingdon League, London League, Thames Valley League, etc.

c)       Individuals who are unaffiliated to any Club but satisfy County Championship Eligibility rules

The idea of the League Champions playing the Rest is something other sports and Chess Associations have regularly engaged in but is new to Middlesex. It is hoped that the idea will be an ongoing one and matches will be played annually. If so, it can potentially replace some of the defunct competitions once run by the MCCA, e.g., Winter’s and Ralph Barnett Trophies – Middlesex Team Competition and MCCA match against London League.

MCCA OTB Resumption Plan

At MCCA AGM (28th July 2021) the Council were of one voice and hoped that some form of OTB play could take place for 2021-22. The commitment to this hope was fully demonstrated when the General and League Secretaries formulated the following plan:

1) Determine how many clubs would be willing to participate in OTB play

2) Depending on numbers decide whether League proper or Formula League would be enacted

3) Aim to get OTB playing up and running sometime in October

The plan was circulated just before the now rearranged fixture meeting; it was delayed in part due to the extended deadline of the London League (LL). It was felt that fixtures could not be feasibly scheduled until the position of the LL was known, and their fixture dates entered into club calendars. 

Anecdotal conversations with Club Secretaries and Captains intimate they are happy with the proposals. It seems therefore as though both the League proper, and Formula League will be up and running for the current cycle, thus ‘Business as usual!’ 

Date of fixture meeting to be confirmed