Teams 2026-27

Essex County Chess

Essex teams play in the County Championships for chess players of a wide range of standards to compete against opponents of similar playing strengths, initially from other Southern Counties and, if a qualifying place is secured, nationally. Any player who does not have a published rating can be allocated a tournament rating by the respective championships controllers on the submission of an indication of playing strength. Matches for teams of 12 or 16 players are usually played with a 4½ or 5 hour playing session on a Saturday afternoon.

Eligibility conditions for representing Essex are any one of:

(i) Birth in the County;
(ii) Five years’ residence in the County at any time;
(iii) Two months immediate previous and present membership of a club either in or affiliated to the County;
(iv) One month’s immediately previous and present residence in the County;
(v) Present attendance as a student at a school, college or university in the County.

The boundaries of Essex are defined in the west by the River Lea, in the north by the River Stour and in the south by the River Thames.

Players who would like to represent Essex in the County Championships, but who are not yet involved in the County Match Programme, are invited to contact the appropriate Captains as listed below to indicate their availability.

For 2026-27 Essex has once more entered four teams in the SCCU Counties Championships, under each of the rating-limited sections: U2050, U1850, U1650 and U1450. The SCCU Championship is a qualifier for the ECF national stage.

Once again,there was insufficient support to run an Open team, so only the rating-limited sections have been entered.

Essex County Match Officials

ECA Match Captain

Vacant

ECA Assistant Match Captain

Mark Murrell

Essex team captains for 2026-27

U2050 – Michael Spurr; Deputy Captain James Robinson

U1850 – Alan Riddoch

U1650 – Mark Murrell Acting Captain

U1450 – Ben Harte

To contact any of these captains, use the Contact Form under the Directory menu above (sub item ECA Officials/Contact ECA Officials) and select from the dropdown the appropriate team captain as the official to contact. For ease of access, follow the link below. Or to contact all the team captains in one hit, use the ‘Essex Team Captains’ email link.

ECA Contact Form | Essex Team Captains

Match details and player statistics

There is a page for each team. These carry all fixtures, match cards, reports and games, etc., together with player stats. The Aggregate Stats (Website Trophy) are given on this page, below.

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2026-27 Team navigation: U2050 | U1850 | U1650 | U1450 | County Classical | SCCU on ECF LMS

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Essex Overall Fixture List 2026-27

Each column of the fixture list below is repeated on the relevant team’s page linked above.

This is the latest fixture list, dated 18 August. It is the fifth iteration, so still possibility of changes.

Date	U2050	U1850	U1650	U1450
03-Oct-2026		Essex v Surrey
10-Oct-2026
17-Oct-2026	Surrey v Essex		Kent v Essex
24-Oct-2026		Middx v Essex		Essex v Kent
14-Nov-2026	Essex v Kent
05-Dec-2026				Essex v Middx
09-Jan-2027	Kent v Essex		Essex v Middx
16-Jan-2027		Essex v Middx
23-Jan-2027
30-Jan-2027	Essex v Middx		Surrey v Essex
06-Feb-2027		Surrey v Essex		Essex v Surrey
13-Feb-2027	Middx v Essex
20-Feb-2027		Essex v Kent
27-Feb-2027				Herts v Essex
06-Mar-2027	Essex v Surrey		Essex v Herts
13-Mar-2027		Kent v Essex

Full SCCU Fixtures list with notes

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Aggregate statistics – Website Trophy

The Website Trophy is awarded to the player with the highest score from matches for the County, embracing all matches played in the Season.

The winner of the Website Trophy for 2025-26 was your Webmaster Ian Hunnable of Wanstead. Many congratulations to yours truly! 16 games, 6 wins 7 draws and 3 losses for 9½/16.

Website Trophy conditions: The Website Trophy shall be awarded to the player with the highest aggregate score in matches for the County and is open for annual competition. All games played for the County, from the first SCCU match to the last ECF stage match, count towards the trophy. Points gained by default during a match count as if gained by play over-the-board, provided that the player travelled to and was present at the match . Default points conceded by the opposition in advance, including whole match concessions, for which the player(s) were not required to travel, do not count towards the trophy. In the event that two or more players tie for the same highest total at the end of the season, the player with the higher percentage performance (i.e. having gained his/her points from fewer appearances) will be awarded the trophy. Should two or more players have the same highest score and identical performance percentage, the trophy shall be shared.

Aggregate Player Stats for 2026-27

The latest aggregate player stats for the season will appear here.