Summary Updated 18/03/21

The following is an edited version of a document circulated on 14th March 2021 by Mark Murrell, ECF Controller, Counties Championship.

Patrick Ribbands, who died suddenly at the end of January, was a stalwart of Cambridgeshire chess for as long as anyone can remember. He played and captained teams for Linton in the Bury League for the past decade, and played a similar role for Royston in the Cambs and Herts Leagues. Before that he played for Cambridge City and was club president. He was a regular at local Congresses and also in the supporting events at the British Championships.

11/11/20 Mark Murrell writes – “The Southern Counties Chess Union has launched an 8 board team event on Lichess.org for its County and Non-County member organisations, covering a catchment area for chess players interested in slower chess online (G60/15) from the Isle of Wight to the Chilterns and eastwards through London to the Essex, Kent and Sussex coasts.

Final round now complete. Season 3 is under consideration.

13/05/20 The ECF are planning to organise the above competition over summer 2020, starting in June and running for 3 months. It will be played on the chess.com platform. Full details of the proposal have been circulated to club secretaries. Any player interested in participating is invited to contact the County Secretary, Alan Brewis - alanl.brewis@ntlworld.com.

Hertford, St Albans and Watford are amongst the 170 plus teams that have entered 4NCL's latest competition. Matches, on four boards, are played on Tuesday evenings . The rate of play is 45 minutes + 10 seconds per player. The HCA have three teams entered all under the squad name 'Broken Herts'. All their players are graded u120 although the competition is open to all standards of play. The huge popularity of this event is inevitably due to club chess players seeking an alternative to over the board chess whilst everyone is in lockdown due to Covid-19.

16/03/2020 The HCA have decided to suspend all their competitions, except Correspondence Chess, until further notice. It is to be hoped there will be time to reinstate them in an extended season but the situation is too uncertain to give a view of this now. We will be in touch when we have a plan to move forward again.

EAST ANGLIAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS 2020

4 sections: Open, Team 600, Team 500 and Team 400.
Sunday 15th. March 2020
Turner Hall, Church Lane, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 0HL
You can see a map at https://www.list.co.uk/place/20035178-turner-hall/
Tea and coffee will be provided free of charge.

Photo: Brendan O'Gorman
It is with sadness that I note Keith Woodhouse’s death from cancer. Keith was a member of Royston Chess Club and a good friend. We connected due to our both being members of a correspondence chess network who happened to live in the same village. Keith originally introduced me to Royston Chess Club.

03/11/19 We have three teams once again in county competitions this season. If any Herts players would like to play, please contact the appropriate team captain

The U160 team, with 16 boards, plays in the East Anglian Chess Union (EACU) County Championships.
All matches (two per day) are held on a Sunday at Turners Hall in the centre of Newmarket.
The captain is Corinne Mountford of Hertford Chess Club.