Teams Index

This section of the site presents match results and player statistics for the County's teams in inter-county competitions. Board-by-board results of each match can be found on the SCCU Website, to which appropriate links can be found on each team page.

Criteria for inclusion in these statistics: All games played by Essex teams in the SCCU Counties' competitions, and the ECF stages, and SCCU Jamboree(s) are included.

Players' tables are sorted in descending order of points totals; within each score group, records are sorted according to average.

Grading performance: In each table the end column, headed "Perf.", gives the player's grading performance for the results shown where three or more gradeable results are entered (eg: defaulted games not graded). Note that a player who has played for more than one team may not have a grading performance shown in the individual team record(s), but may have one shown on the Aggregate table if he has achieved a minimum of three gradeable results overall. The Grading Performance figures shown are given for information only and have no official status.

2009-10 Teams Blog

(most recent items at the top.)

Congratulations to Malcolm Crane and the U100 team who reached the ECF final with a convincing 7�-4� victory over Lancashire. They won the match over the top seven boards where they allowed just two draws.

The U100 team are therefore the first of the Essex quartet to reach the County Championship Finals on 10th July, where they will play the winners of Warwicks against Yorks.

Essex U180 defeated the 2009 U175 Champions, Yorkshire, 8�-7� in the ECF quarter-final at Syston. Yorkshire gifted Essex a point's start by the non-appearance of their Board 8 and that, of course, was the margin of victory. In the semi-final Essex will meet Notts who beat Beds 8�-7�. Details...

There was more good news for the County in the U160 section, where Essex beat Staffs 9�-6� and progress to a semi-final encounter with Yorkshire. Details...

As the Open team were successful in their QF on 9 May and the U100 team did not have a quarter-final pairing (only one QF, Kent v Yorks, Essex play Lancs in the semi-final), this means Essex have all four qualified teams through to the national semis.

Added Games and pictures, both supplied by John Philpott, to Norfolk v Essex Open.

Having successfully progressed from the Preliminary Round, the Essex Open team booked their place in the semi-finals with a regulation 9�-6� win against a modest Norfolk side at Great Shelford. Details...

Essex now await the winners of Lancashire v Kent which is not due to be played until 22nd May.

With the success of the Open team in making it through to the quarter-finals, it is now apposite to take stock of the national stages of the ECF County Championships.

Essex have four teams in the ECF QF draw: Open, U180, U160, U100 - a rich season! The QF draw gives these pairings for the Essex teams:

Matches are nominally to be played on 22 May, but with qualifiers in three adjacent sections we will doubtless seek to play one of these on 23 May.

The Essex Open team came through its ECF Preliminary Round "starter for 10" against Greater Manchester, to go into the main ECF Counties' Championship draw.

On arrival at Syston, Essex found their opponents below full strength and, after some early hiccups, came through with a 11�-4� victory.

Correct error in U140 Player Stats for Steve Woodall and Chris Phillips. In the Sussex match a win by Steve and a loss for Chris were entered the wrong way round. The match table for that match is correctly shown. U140 Stats

Essex U160 availed themselves of the luxury of defeat in their last match of the SCCU campaign, going down 5�-10� at home to Herts. Fortunately, they had already assured themselves of the U160 Championship in their previous match. However, no-one wants to lose just because you can afford to; captain David Payne swallowed his pride, describing the result as "very disappointing". Details...

Needing to win by a large margin in their last match against Herts, the Essex Open team rose to the occasion with a resounding 13-3 victory, to secure qualification to the national stages of the ECF County Championship. Acting Captain, Ivor Smith, and his squad deserve every praise for this supreme effort. They now have to contest a Preliminary round against the 3rd placed/nominated team in the Midlands.

The Essex U100 team, already SCCU Champions, completed the season with a 100% record, with a home win against Surrey.

The SCCU competition for the U180s finished with a home win against the Champions, Surrey, by 9-7. Since the qualifying places were already decided, Essex qualify 2nd, nothing hung on this fixture, other than bragging rights. More...

With their third straight win, a thumping 9-3 victory away to Kent, the Essex U100 team has emulated the U160 side by winning its SCCU Division with a match to spare. Many congratulations to Malcolm Crane and his merry band on this success in the first U100 season (played as U075 in last year's inaugural season).

Essex therefore qualify for the first ECF U100 competition, where they get a bye to the semi-final and await the winners/nominees from the Northern Counties. More...

Meanwhile, the U140 team "produced its best result of the season by losing only by 6�-9�" in the words of team captain, Simon Moth. More...

The Essex U160 team wrapped up the SCCU U160 Championship with a round to spare, when securing a 9-7 victory away to Surrey at Coulsdon. Many congratulations to David Payne and his squad, who maintained their 100% record, now 4/4.

The U180 team, meanwhile, secured qualification to the national stages with a 9-7 away win to bottom team Middlesex. Surrey are Champions with a round to spare. Essex's only challengers, Sussex, are one point back but, even though in the final fixtures Essex play Champions Surrey while Sussex play bottom team Middlesex, Essex's favourable Game Points total against Sussex gives Essex 2nd spot no matter what the results in the final round.

The third result on a busy weekend, was a loss for the U120 team away to Kent, by 7-5. This confirmed Kent as U120 Champions; Essex have failed to qualify.

With an unusually high proportion of our 180+ players unavailable, Essex failed to make any impression on their visit to Hassocks, losing this Open fixture away to Sussex by 11-5.

The U140 team fared only marginally better against the same opposition, losing 10-6 at home to Sussex.

There was better news for the U100 team, who won away to Surrey by 6-5, although they had to thank their hosts for no fewer than four defaulted boards.

A narrow home win over Middlesex, by 8�-7�, kept Essex flying high at the top of the U160 division, now with 3/3. In the other games, Kent 8-8 Surrey and Sussex 9-7 Herts (three defaults by the visitors due to train delays), left Essex's nearest rivals, Surrey and Middlesex, each with 1�/3. Surrey, away, are the next opponents for the U160 team, on 13th Feb.

Both of the Essex fixtures on 23rd January saw the County suffer defeat. The U180 match away to Sussex ended in a narrow loss by 8�-7�, pegging Essex back to 50% after four matches. The U120s, meanwhile, lost 8-4 at home to Herts.

The New Year for Essex U140 started badly. The Exmouth Arms were not welcoming as Essex crashed 10�-5� against Middlesex, a result forged over the top five boards where Essex lost all despite the grades being almost identical. A freak result, surely. Details...

The U120 fixture, also against Surrey, 9th January, was played over nine boards, this being all the opposition could raise. Playing at the same time and in the same venue as the Open team (below), Essex U120 also won by a single point, in this case, 5-4, completing a Surrey double. Details...

A glance at the previous item (below) will show that we listed the encounter with Surrey in the Open as a "stern test". In the event, this was met with fortitude, Essex gaining a valuable narrow victory, by 8�-7�. Details...

With completion of the pre-Christmas fixtures, we draw breath and take stock. All teams are adjusting to the new grading bands, except the Open team.

Open: 0/2, out-gunned by Kent and Middlesex. We were harbouring no illusions, we knew this section was going to be tough. Herts and Sussex, if we can mobilise our forces, are within range, but Surrey will be another stern test.

U180 (old U175): 2/3, second behind Surrey, who seem to have benefited best out of the new grading bands. Our accustomed Championship position will therefore receive a strong challenge and we must be at our best in the second cycle of the double-round section.

U140 (old U125): Least easy to assess having played only one fixture (loss to Kent) our of the five match programme.

U120 (old U100): Opened brightly with a narrow win away to Surrey, but failed to add to this in the two subsequent fixtures. On the evidence of the first half, the teams are closely matched, so all to play for.

U100 (old U075): This embryonic team having waited all last season for their first win opened their second season with a win in their only fixture to date. Three teams double round. This team now has a national stages qualifying place to aim for.

David Brock has found himself under too much pressure from other commitments to be able to act as captain of the Essex U180 team for the time being, and I have agreed to resume responsibility for organising matches and selecting the team, although I will have to rely on others to perform captaincy duties on match days.

The fixtures have changed from those originally published on the SCCU website, which had been predicated on a five team single round competition. Kent have withdrawn as a result of the lack of a match captain and the competition has reverted to its traditional four team double round format. An unfortunate by-product is that the SCCU loses its entitlement to a third qualifying place from this competition.

October 31 - Middlesex (home)
November 21 - Sussex (home)
December 5 - Surrey (away - confirmed as Ashtead)
January 2 - Middlesex (away)
January 23 - Sussex (away)
February 27 - Surrey (home)

However, Middlesex have sought to rearrange the match scheduled for 2 January, and it is extremely likely that this (and the Surrey v Sussex match scheduled for the same date) will be moved.

National stage dates have not yet been officially announced. Under the competition rules, unless the Director of Home Chess decides otherwise by the 14th of this month, the quarter final will be on 15 May, the semi-final on 12 June and the final on 3 July.

The squad will have a different look this season, as the increase in the competition grading limit from U175 to U180 has proved insufficient to prevent several players rendering themselves ineligible. This season Tim Hebbes, Ivor Smith, Kevin White, Jeff Goldberg, Chris Fegan and David Spearman will be able to represent Essex only as members of the Open team.

Home matches will continue to take place at Wanstead House with a 2.00 p.m. start. Please note that board fees have been increased to �2.50 for adults and �1.25 for juniors.

The default rate of play for games conducted using DGTs becomes 35 moves in 100 moves plus an extra 20 minutes to complete the game and a time increment of 10 seconds per move from move 1. I will be asking opposing captains whether they are comfortable with this rate: Middlesex have already confirmed that they are.