Team Captain: Malcom Crane
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Team fixtures
| Home Team | Result | Away Team | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex | 11-1 | Middlesex | Sat 29th Oct 2022 | 13:30 |
| Surrey | 7½-4½ | Essex | Sat 19th Nov 2022 | 14:00 |
| Essex | 7-5 | Kent | Sat 3rd Dec 2022 | 13:30 |
| Essex | 8½-3½ | Surrey | Sat 28th Jan 2023 | 13:30 |
| Middlesex | 6½-5½ | Essex | Sat 25th Feb 2023 | 14:00 |
| Kent | 6½-5½ | Essex | Sat 11th Mar 2023 | 12:15 |
| Yorks | 4½-7½ | Essex |
Sat 10th Jun 2023 | 13:30 |
| Gtr Manch | 8½-3½ | Essex | Sat 1 Jul 2023 |
Match cards
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U1450 player stats
U1450 @ 01 Jul 2023 P W D L Pts % Taylor Duke 1348 7 6 0 1 6 85.71 Kenneth Jardine 1440 8 4 3 1 5½ 68.75 Peter Kukiewicz 1227 6 5 0 1 5 83.33 Russell Fisher 1438 6 3 3 0 4½ 75.00 David Battiscombe 1264 8 3 3 2 4½ 56.25 Michael Harrison 1282 3 3 0 0 3 100.00 Howard Berlin 1428 5 3 0 2 3 60.00 Matt Garwood 1312 7 3 0 4 3 42.86 Cennydd Bowles 1509 4 2 1 1 2½ 62.50 Nigel White 1418 4 2 1 1 2½ 62.50 Richard Ball 1418 6 2 1 3 2½ 41.67 Tony Saunois 1151 2 2 0 0 2 100.00 David D’Cruz 1398 5 1 2 2 2 40.00 Dhanyadha Bharathi Mugilan Chitra 1439 3 1 1 1 1½ 50.00 Ralph Goodliffe 1397 3 1 1 1 1½ 50.00 Leslie Sargent 1351 4 1 1 2 1½ 37.50 Mark Le Gassicke 1364 5 1 1 3 1½ 30.00 Mariusz Waszkielewicz 1420 1 1 0 0 1 100.00 Ashwin Anjulan 1330 1 1 0 0 1 100.00 Grace Wilde 1256 2 1 0 1 1 50.00 Oscar Waszkielewicz 1205 2 1 0 1 1 50.00 Len Whittaker 1398 2 0 2 0 1 50.00 Christopher Wray 1269 3 1 0 2 1 33.33 John Chapman 1282 4 1 0 3 1 25.00 Silviu Sandu 1411 1 0 1 0 ½ 50.00 Abijan Sureshkumar 1350 2 0 1 1 ½ 25.00 David Hooper 1188 1 0 0 1 0 0.00 Joshua Emdon 1232 1 0 0 1 0 0.00 Pharrell Galloway 1341 1 0 0 1 0 0.00 Default 1 0 0 1 0 – 29 players 108 49 22 37 60 55.56% -
Middx - H
Played 29 October 2022
Board Essex v Middx 1 Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1496) (W) 1-0 Humphry, Phil S 1423 (1404) (B) 2 Fisher, Russell 1438 (1446) 1-0 Miraghaie, John 1419 (1425) 3 Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1157) 0-1 Bates, Hubert 1358 (1543) 4 Ball, Richard 1418 (1419) 1-0 Horwood, Alexander 1169 (1183) 5 White, Nigel 1418 (1442) 1-0 Veeturi, Madhurima 1048 (1015) 6 Duke, Taylor 1348 (1398) 1-0 Santosh Kumar, Darsh 0940 (990) 7 Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1366) 1-0 Veeturi, Abi 0000 (1382) 8 Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1358) 1-0 Bates, Matthew 0000 (1383) 9 Chapman, John R 1282 (1267) 1-0 Default 10 Battiscombe, David 1264 (1265) 1-0 Default 11 Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1257) 1-0 Default 12 Saunois, Tony 1151 (1157) 1-0 Default 11-1 -
Surrey - A
Played Sat 19 November 2022 at Cheam
Board Surrey v Essex 1 Buckley, Emma 1443 (1458) (B) ½-½ Bharathi Mugilan Chitra, Dhanyadha 1439 (1466) (W) 2 Widdicombe, Ben 1441 (1460) ½-½ Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1494) 3 Selim, Omar 1422 (1440) 0-1 Waszkielewicz, Mariusz 1420 (1405) 4 Smyth, Sandy A 1382 (1390) 0-1 Garwood, Matt 1312 (1357) 5 Weedon, Oscar 1387 (1387) 1-0 Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1368) 6 Kumar, Sachin 1368 (1420) 1-0 Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1355) 7 Hedges, Trevor 1358 (1358) 1-0 Chapman, John R 1282 (1288) 8 Lialiovici, Nicas 1329 (1350) 1-0 Wray, Christopher 1269 (1274) 9 Ali, Ziyad 1269 (1269) ½-½ Battiscombe, David 1264 (1265) 10 Boozorginia, Zoya 1260 (1282) 1-0 Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1257) 11 Keen, Maya 1273 (1312) 1-0 Hooper, David 1188 (1169) 12 Hedges, Sammy 1218 (1225) 0-1 Waszkielewicz, Oscar 1205 (1207) Average: 1346 7½-4½ Averag: 1314 -
Kent - H
Played Sat 3rd December 2022 at Wanstead House
Board Essex v Kent 1 Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1498) (W) 0-1 Twigg, Robert 1420 (1411) (B) 2 Fisher, Russell 1438 (1449) ½-½ Lang, Neil 1375 (1390) 3 Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1157) 1-0 Oluwole, Isaac 1389 (1354) 4 Ball, Richard 1418 (1395) 0-1 Hunt, Iain 1348 (1367) 5 D’Cruz, David 1398 (1392) 0-1 Cheeseman, Chris 1338 (1338) 6 Garwood, Matt 1312 (1394) 1-0 Loasby, Paul 1294 (1295) 7 Duke, Taylor 1348 (1398) 1-0 Sizmur, Daniel 1251 (1499) 8 Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1353) ½-½ Patience, Dean 1218 (1211) 9 Battiscombe, David 1264 (1266) 1-0 Gaekwad, Satish 1294 (1267) 10 Wray, Christopher 1269 (1260) 1-0 Wise, Christopher MW 1196 (1219) 11 Emdon, Joshua 1232 (1230) 0-1 Avery, David 1082 (1104) 12 Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1275) 1-0 Burgess, Rose 1070 (994) Average: 1345 7-5 Average: 1273 -
Surrey - H
Played 28 January 2023, at Wanstead
Board Essex v Surrey 1 Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1484) ½-½ Widdicombe, Ben 1441 (1476) 2 Fisher, Russell 1438 (1447) ½-½ Selim, Omar 1422 (1439) 3 Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1391) 1-0 Smyth, Sandy A 1382 (1406) 4 White, Nigel 1418 (1462) 1-0 Sussex, Sean 1341 (1430) 5 Ball, Richard 1418 (1377) 0-1 Hedges, Trevor 1358 (1354) 6 Garwood, Matt 1312 (1427) 1-0 Lialiovici, Nicas 1329 (1380) 7 Duke, Taylor 1348 (1470) 1-0 Boozorginia, Zoya 1260 (1352) 8 Anjulan, Ashwin 1330 (1132) 1-0 Dale, H Martin 1249 (1253) 9 Battiscombe, David 1264 (1321) ½-½ Hedges, Sammy 1218 (1212) 10 Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1278) 1-0 Sood, Kamaljit 1158 (1127) 11 Waszkielewicz, Oscar 1262 (1249) 0-1 Kalinowski, Patrick 0865 (1056) 12 Saunois, Tony 1151 (1203) 1-0 De Monchy, Alexander 1050 () 13 Average: 1337 8½-3½ Average: 1257 Report by ECA Match Captain, Mark Murrell
Richard Ball and Matt Garwood shared the captaincy duties in the absence of skipper Malcolm Crane. Unfortunately for Richard he was first to fall early on but parity was swiftly restored by Tony Saunois on bottom board, a late introduction to the team after the loss of Essex’s intended top board. Surrey once again took the lead from a sharp battle of the juniors on board 15 with Oscar leaving his back rank vulnerable as he sought to capitalise on a rampant passed pawn. Wanstead junior, Ashwin, countered almost immediately with an expansive decisive king side attack.
After the early fireworks both teams settled down for the long haul. Peter Kukiewicz took Essex into the lead for the first time the start of a match winning sequence of an Essex win followed by a draw. Howard Belin and Matt Garwood contributed the other wins taking the team to the cusp of victory and the following draw by Russell Fisher on board 2 secured the win with two games in hand, both of which were converted by Nigel White and Taylor Duke to give a five point winning margin. That said, the match was closer than that, with Essex having the rub of the green in a number of games.
The final win may yet prove to be a golden ticket as it gave Essex a greater winning margin than their loss to Surrey earlier in the competition. Should Surrey and Essex finish equal on match points, Essex will take the higher place (provided on other teams are involved in the tie). Grinding out the two extra wins may prove critical as the qualification race for the nationals tightens. Kent’s loss to Middlesex leaves these teams four points adrift of Essex and Surrey, who can be caught. Qualification and the Championship is in our own hands in what will be two difficult away games against first Middlesex (at yet another new venue, this time at Wembley) on 25 February and then Kent at St Mary’s Cray on 11 March.
As it happened:
To play Board Result E-S 12 5 L 0-1 11 12 W 1-1 10 11 L 1-2 9 8 W 2-2 8 10 W 3-2 7 9 D 3½-2½ 6 3 W 4½-2½ 5 1 D 5-3 4 6 W 6-3 3 5 D 6½-3½ 2 4 W 7½-3½ 1 7 W 8½-3½ -
Middx - A
Played Sat 25 February 2023 at Wembley
Board Middx v Essex 1 Miraghaie, John 1419 (1446) 0-1 Bharathi Mugilan Chitra, Dhanyadha 1439 (1461) 2 Barbier-Ramaiah, Riya Aude 1422 (1417) 0-1 Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1484) 3 Humphry, Phil S 1423 (1396) 0-1 Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1464) 4 Dilukshan, Manoharan 1425 (1409) 0-1 Bowles, Cennydd 1441 (1421) 5 Walia, Michael Kanishk 1390 (1385) 1-0 Garwood, Matt 1312 (1422) 6 Tierney, John 1301 (1301) 0-1 Duke, Taylor 1348 (1497) 7 Smith, Michael J 1251 (1260) ½-½ Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1344) 8 Horwood, Alexander 1169 (1316) 1-0 Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1355) 9 Salussolia, Louis 1252 (1272) 1-0 Battiscombe, David 1264 (1318) 10 Barbier-Ramaiah, Rohan Theo 1255 (1255) 1-0 Chapman, John R 1282 (1264) 11 Santosh Kumar, Darsh 0940 (1181) 1-0 Wray, Christopher 1269 (1319) 12 Veeturi, Madhurima 1048 (1015) 1d0 Default Average: 1275 6½-5½ Average: 1245 As it happened
By Mark Murrell
To Play Board Middx Essex Result 12 12 1 0 L(def) 11 10 2 0 L 10 9 3 0 L 9 8 4 0 L 8 5 5 0 L 7 4 5 1 W 6 1 5 2 W 5 7 5½ 2½ D 4 3 5½ 3½ W 3 6 5½ 4½ E 2 2 5½ 5½ W 1 11 6½ 5½ L -
Kent - A
Played Sat 11 March 2023 at St Mary Cray
Board Kent v Essex 1 Sanka, Amit Aryan 1433 (1430) 1-0 Bharathi Mugilan Chitra, Dhanyadha 1439 (1464) 2 Gray, Arthur 1388 (1993) 1-0 Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1522) 3 Martin, Tye 1378 (1445) 0-1 Fisher, Russell 1438 (1444) 4 Twigg, Robert 1420 (1412) 0-1 Bowles, Cennydd 1441 (1452) 5 Lang, Neil 1375 (1430) 0-1 Duke, Taylor 1348 (1528) 6 Hunt, Iain 1348 (1439) ½-½ Ball, Richard 1418 (1358) 7 Oluwole, Isaac 1389 (1334) ½-½ D’Cruz, David 1398 (1387) 8 Manikandan, Gaurav 1297 (1395) 1-0 Garwood, Matt 1312 (1403) 9 Yuan, Ryan 1356 (1317) 1-0 Galloway, Pharrell 1341 (1376) 10 Radford, Danny 1200 (1146) 1-0 Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1342) 11 McBride, Timothy 1112 (1265) ½-½ Battiscombe, David 1264 (1307) 12 Avery, David 1082 (1139) 0-1 Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1312) Average: 1315 6½-5½ Average: 1368 How it happened
By Mark Murrell
To Play Board Kent Essex Result 12 8 1 0 L 11 9 2 0 L 10 2 3 0 L 9 3 3 1 W 8 7 3½ 1½ D 7 5 3½ 2½ W 6 10 4½ 2½ L 5 1 5½ 2½ L 4 6 6 3 D 3 4 6 4 W 2 11 6½ 4½ D 1 12 6½ 5½ W -
ECF QF v Staffs
Played 13 May 2023
Boards Staffordshire v Essex 1 Lloyd, Mick J 1400 (1433) 0-1 Duke, Taylor 1348 (1586) 2 Evans, Peter FK 1352 (1400) ½-½ Sandu, Silviu 1411 (1483) 3 Stuart, David J 1349 (1383) ½-½ Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1476) 4 Smithson, Stephen 1331 (1338) 0-1 Fisher, Russell 1438 (1481) 5 Boddington, Ian 1331 (1314) 0-1 Goodliffe, Ralph 1397 (1419) 6 Chadwick, Martin J 1297 (1322) ½-½ D’Cruz, David 1398 (1385) 7 Ward, Elliot 1300 (1188) 0-1 Harrison, Michael 1282 (1388) 8 Buckley, David I 1257 (1265) ½-½ Whittaker, Len SC 1398 (1360) 9 Coleman, Roger 1268 (1257) 1-0 Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1338) 10 Chacko, Albert 1175 (1144) 0-1 Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1349) 11 Perry, Robert 1108 (1159) 1-0 Garwood, Matt 1312 (1302) 12 Baravalle, Maurizio 1003 (1115) 1-0 Chapman, John R 1282 (1186) Average: 1265 5-7 Average: 1359 Comments from the skippers: Malcolm Crane (Essex) – “It was a well fought match with good games had by all.” Steve Smithson (Staffs) – “Malcolm put it very well. It appeared to me that every game was conducted well, with a really good effort by both players. I found the atmosphere to be excellent. Well done everybody!”
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ECF SF v Yorks
Played 10 June 2023, at Syston, Leics.
Board Yorks v Essex 1 Ganti, Shriaansh 1406 (1655) (B) 1-0 Duke, Taylor 1348 (1586) (W) 2 Wainwright, Charlie 1406 (1523) ½-½ Bowles, Cennydd 1427 (1531) 3 Gitay, Awen 1436 (1455) ½-½ Fisher, Russell 1438 (1481) 4 Westmoreland, Jacob A 1307 (1454) 0-1 Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1476) 5 Madzia, Nathan 1443 (1468) 1-0 White, Nigel 1418 (1441) 6 Taylor, Kai 1400 (1426) 1-0 Goodliffe, Ralph 1397 (1419) 7 Sharp, Stuart 1384 (1387) 0-1 Harrison, Michael 1282 (1388) 8 Attwater, Luke 1389 (1386) 0-1 D’Cruz, David 1398 (1385) 9 Atkin, David 1387 (1339) 0-1 Ball, Richard 1418 (1382) 10 Czerniuch, Daniel 1327 (1327) ½-½ Sureshkumar, Abijan 1350 (1346) 11 Collins, Steve 1283 (1320) 0-1 Wilde, Grace 1256 (1334) 12 Townsend, Harley 1298 (1314) 0-1 Battiscombe, David 1264 (1289) Average: 1373 4½-7½ Average: 1370 Another close encounter on paper, but with Essex grit doing the damage in the bottom half by 5½-½ nullifying Yorks 4-2 advantage in the upper order, which saw Taylor Duke’s 100% record 6/6 ended. Nice wins by Ken Jardine and Michael Harrison, to name but two.
Essex meet Greater Manchester in the final on 1 July.
The Games
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ECF F v Gtr Manch
Played 1 July 2023, at Syston Community Centre
Board Greater Manchester v Essex 1 Fung, Marcus 1440 (1750) 1-0 Bowles, Cennydd 1427 (1527) 2 Chu, Edward 1247 (1550) 0-1 Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1537) 3 Fairclough, William 1428 (1479) ½-½ White, Nigel 1418 (1434) 4 Kilmartin, David 1420 (1451) ½-½ Goodliffe, Ralph 1397 (1409) 5 Wilson, Jeff 1378 (1492) 0-1 Harrison, Michael 1282 (1398) 6 Kerton, Becky 1413 (1475) 1-0 D’Cruz, David 1398 (1393) 7 Lysons, Chris 1409 (1453) 1-0 Ball, Richard 1418 (1402) 8 Chu, Yin 1448 (1462) ½-½ Whittaker, Len SC 1398 (1362) 9 Coupe, J 1364 (1488) 1-0 Sureshkumar, Abijan 1350 (1321) 10 Sheehy, Lewis 1361 (1397) 1-0 Wilde, Grace 1256 (1353) 11 Kerton, Claire 1283 (1379) 1-0 Garwood, Matt 1312 (1296) 12 Ogilvie, Leo 1300 (1549) 1-0 Battiscombe, David 1264 (1300) Average: 1375 8½-3½ Average: 1364
| U1450 @ 01 Jul 2023 | P | W | D | L | Pts | % |
| Taylor Duke 1348 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 85.71 |
| Kenneth Jardine 1440 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5½ | 68.75 |
| Peter Kukiewicz 1227 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 83.33 |
| Russell Fisher 1438 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4½ | 75.00 |
| David Battiscombe 1264 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4½ | 56.25 |
| Michael Harrison 1282 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 100.00 |
| Howard Berlin 1428 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 60.00 |
| Matt Garwood 1312 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 42.86 |
| Cennydd Bowles 1509 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 62.50 |
| Nigel White 1418 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 62.50 |
| Richard Ball 1418 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2½ | 41.67 |
| Tony Saunois 1151 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100.00 |
| David D’Cruz 1398 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 40.00 |
| Dhanyadha Bharathi Mugilan Chitra 1439 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1½ | 50.00 |
| Ralph Goodliffe 1397 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1½ | 50.00 |
| Leslie Sargent 1351 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 37.50 |
| Mark Le Gassicke 1364 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1½ | 30.00 |
| Mariusz Waszkielewicz 1420 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Ashwin Anjulan 1330 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Grace Wilde 1256 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Oscar Waszkielewicz 1205 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Len Whittaker 1398 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Christopher Wray 1269 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33.33 |
| John Chapman 1282 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 25.00 |
| Silviu Sandu 1411 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Abijan Sureshkumar 1350 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 25.00 |
| David Hooper 1188 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Joshua Emdon 1232 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Pharrell Galloway 1341 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Default | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – |
| 29 players | 108 | 49 | 22 | 37 | 60 | 55.56% |
Played 29 October 2022
| Board | Essex | v | Middx |
| 1 | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1496) (W) | 1-0 | Humphry, Phil S 1423 (1404) (B) |
| 2 | Fisher, Russell 1438 (1446) | 1-0 | Miraghaie, John 1419 (1425) |
| 3 | Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1157) | 0-1 | Bates, Hubert 1358 (1543) |
| 4 | Ball, Richard 1418 (1419) | 1-0 | Horwood, Alexander 1169 (1183) |
| 5 | White, Nigel 1418 (1442) | 1-0 | Veeturi, Madhurima 1048 (1015) |
| 6 | Duke, Taylor 1348 (1398) | 1-0 | Santosh Kumar, Darsh 0940 (990) |
| 7 | Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1366) | 1-0 | Veeturi, Abi 0000 (1382) |
| 8 | Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1358) | 1-0 | Bates, Matthew 0000 (1383) |
| 9 | Chapman, John R 1282 (1267) | 1-0 | Default |
| 10 | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1265) | 1-0 | Default |
| 11 | Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1257) | 1-0 | Default |
| 12 | Saunois, Tony 1151 (1157) | 1-0 | Default |
| 11-1 |
Played Sat 19 November 2022 at Cheam
| Board | Surrey | v | Essex |
| 1 | Buckley, Emma 1443 (1458) (B) | ½-½ | Bharathi Mugilan Chitra, Dhanyadha 1439 (1466) (W) |
| 2 | Widdicombe, Ben 1441 (1460) | ½-½ | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1494) |
| 3 | Selim, Omar 1422 (1440) | 0-1 | Waszkielewicz, Mariusz 1420 (1405) |
| 4 | Smyth, Sandy A 1382 (1390) | 0-1 | Garwood, Matt 1312 (1357) |
| 5 | Weedon, Oscar 1387 (1387) | 1-0 | Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1368) |
| 6 | Kumar, Sachin 1368 (1420) | 1-0 | Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1355) |
| 7 | Hedges, Trevor 1358 (1358) | 1-0 | Chapman, John R 1282 (1288) |
| 8 | Lialiovici, Nicas 1329 (1350) | 1-0 | Wray, Christopher 1269 (1274) |
| 9 | Ali, Ziyad 1269 (1269) | ½-½ | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1265) |
| 10 | Boozorginia, Zoya 1260 (1282) | 1-0 | Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1257) |
| 11 | Keen, Maya 1273 (1312) | 1-0 | Hooper, David 1188 (1169) |
| 12 | Hedges, Sammy 1218 (1225) | 0-1 | Waszkielewicz, Oscar 1205 (1207) |
| Average: 1346 | 7½-4½ | Averag: 1314 |
Played Sat 3rd December 2022 at Wanstead House
| Board | Essex | v | Kent |
| 1 | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1498) (W) | 0-1 | Twigg, Robert 1420 (1411) (B) |
| 2 | Fisher, Russell 1438 (1449) | ½-½ | Lang, Neil 1375 (1390) |
| 3 | Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1157) | 1-0 | Oluwole, Isaac 1389 (1354) |
| 4 | Ball, Richard 1418 (1395) | 0-1 | Hunt, Iain 1348 (1367) |
| 5 | D’Cruz, David 1398 (1392) | 0-1 | Cheeseman, Chris 1338 (1338) |
| 6 | Garwood, Matt 1312 (1394) | 1-0 | Loasby, Paul 1294 (1295) |
| 7 | Duke, Taylor 1348 (1398) | 1-0 | Sizmur, Daniel 1251 (1499) |
| 8 | Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1353) | ½-½ | Patience, Dean 1218 (1211) |
| 9 | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1266) | 1-0 | Gaekwad, Satish 1294 (1267) |
| 10 | Wray, Christopher 1269 (1260) | 1-0 | Wise, Christopher MW 1196 (1219) |
| 11 | Emdon, Joshua 1232 (1230) | 0-1 | Avery, David 1082 (1104) |
| 12 | Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1275) | 1-0 | Burgess, Rose 1070 (994) |
| Average: 1345 | 7-5 | Average: 1273 |
Played 28 January 2023, at Wanstead
| Board | Essex | v | Surrey |
| 1 | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1484) | ½-½ | Widdicombe, Ben 1441 (1476) |
| 2 | Fisher, Russell 1438 (1447) | ½-½ | Selim, Omar 1422 (1439) |
| 3 | Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1391) | 1-0 | Smyth, Sandy A 1382 (1406) |
| 4 | White, Nigel 1418 (1462) | 1-0 | Sussex, Sean 1341 (1430) |
| 5 | Ball, Richard 1418 (1377) | 0-1 | Hedges, Trevor 1358 (1354) |
| 6 | Garwood, Matt 1312 (1427) | 1-0 | Lialiovici, Nicas 1329 (1380) |
| 7 | Duke, Taylor 1348 (1470) | 1-0 | Boozorginia, Zoya 1260 (1352) |
| 8 | Anjulan, Ashwin 1330 (1132) | 1-0 | Dale, H Martin 1249 (1253) |
| 9 | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1321) | ½-½ | Hedges, Sammy 1218 (1212) |
| 10 | Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1278) | 1-0 | Sood, Kamaljit 1158 (1127) |
| 11 | Waszkielewicz, Oscar 1262 (1249) | 0-1 | Kalinowski, Patrick 0865 (1056) |
| 12 | Saunois, Tony 1151 (1203) | 1-0 | De Monchy, Alexander 1050 () |
| 13 | Average: 1337 | 8½-3½ | Average: 1257 |
Report by ECA Match Captain, Mark Murrell
Richard Ball and Matt Garwood shared the captaincy duties in the absence of skipper Malcolm Crane. Unfortunately for Richard he was first to fall early on but parity was swiftly restored by Tony Saunois on bottom board, a late introduction to the team after the loss of Essex’s intended top board. Surrey once again took the lead from a sharp battle of the juniors on board 15 with Oscar leaving his back rank vulnerable as he sought to capitalise on a rampant passed pawn. Wanstead junior, Ashwin, countered almost immediately with an expansive decisive king side attack.
After the early fireworks both teams settled down for the long haul. Peter Kukiewicz took Essex into the lead for the first time the start of a match winning sequence of an Essex win followed by a draw. Howard Belin and Matt Garwood contributed the other wins taking the team to the cusp of victory and the following draw by Russell Fisher on board 2 secured the win with two games in hand, both of which were converted by Nigel White and Taylor Duke to give a five point winning margin. That said, the match was closer than that, with Essex having the rub of the green in a number of games.
The final win may yet prove to be a golden ticket as it gave Essex a greater winning margin than their loss to Surrey earlier in the competition. Should Surrey and Essex finish equal on match points, Essex will take the higher place (provided on other teams are involved in the tie). Grinding out the two extra wins may prove critical as the qualification race for the nationals tightens. Kent’s loss to Middlesex leaves these teams four points adrift of Essex and Surrey, who can be caught. Qualification and the Championship is in our own hands in what will be two difficult away games against first Middlesex (at yet another new venue, this time at Wembley) on 25 February and then Kent at St Mary’s Cray on 11 March.
As it happened:
| To play | Board | Result | E-S |
| 12 | 5 | L | 0-1 |
| 11 | 12 | W | 1-1 |
| 10 | 11 | L | 1-2 |
| 9 | 8 | W | 2-2 |
| 8 | 10 | W | 3-2 |
| 7 | 9 | D | 3½-2½ |
| 6 | 3 | W | 4½-2½ |
| 5 | 1 | D | 5-3 |
| 4 | 6 | W | 6-3 |
| 3 | 5 | D | 6½-3½ |
| 2 | 4 | W | 7½-3½ |
| 1 | 7 | W | 8½-3½ |
Played Sat 25 February 2023 at Wembley
| Board | Middx | v | Essex |
| 1 | Miraghaie, John 1419 (1446) | 0-1 | Bharathi Mugilan Chitra, Dhanyadha 1439 (1461) |
| 2 | Barbier-Ramaiah, Riya Aude 1422 (1417) | 0-1 | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1484) |
| 3 | Humphry, Phil S 1423 (1396) | 0-1 | Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1464) |
| 4 | Dilukshan, Manoharan 1425 (1409) | 0-1 | Bowles, Cennydd 1441 (1421) |
| 5 | Walia, Michael Kanishk 1390 (1385) | 1-0 | Garwood, Matt 1312 (1422) |
| 6 | Tierney, John 1301 (1301) | 0-1 | Duke, Taylor 1348 (1497) |
| 7 | Smith, Michael J 1251 (1260) | ½-½ | Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1344) |
| 8 | Horwood, Alexander 1169 (1316) | 1-0 | Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1355) |
| 9 | Salussolia, Louis 1252 (1272) | 1-0 | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1318) |
| 10 | Barbier-Ramaiah, Rohan Theo 1255 (1255) | 1-0 | Chapman, John R 1282 (1264) |
| 11 | Santosh Kumar, Darsh 0940 (1181) | 1-0 | Wray, Christopher 1269 (1319) |
| 12 | Veeturi, Madhurima 1048 (1015) | 1d0 | Default |
| Average: 1275 | 6½-5½ | Average: 1245 |
As it happened
By Mark Murrell
| To Play | Board | Middx | Essex | Result |
| 12 | 12 | 1 | 0 | L(def) |
| 11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | L |
| 10 | 9 | 3 | 0 | L |
| 9 | 8 | 4 | 0 | L |
| 8 | 5 | 5 | 0 | L |
| 7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | W |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | W |
| 5 | 7 | 5½ | 2½ | D |
| 4 | 3 | 5½ | 3½ | W |
| 3 | 6 | 5½ | 4½ | E |
| 2 | 2 | 5½ | 5½ | W |
| 1 | 11 | 6½ | 5½ | L |
Played Sat 11 March 2023 at St Mary Cray
| Board | Kent | v | Essex |
| 1 | Sanka, Amit Aryan 1433 (1430) | 1-0 | Bharathi Mugilan Chitra, Dhanyadha 1439 (1464) |
| 2 | Gray, Arthur 1388 (1993) | 1-0 | Berlin, Howard J 1428 (1522) |
| 3 | Martin, Tye 1378 (1445) | 0-1 | Fisher, Russell 1438 (1444) |
| 4 | Twigg, Robert 1420 (1412) | 0-1 | Bowles, Cennydd 1441 (1452) |
| 5 | Lang, Neil 1375 (1430) | 0-1 | Duke, Taylor 1348 (1528) |
| 6 | Hunt, Iain 1348 (1439) | ½-½ | Ball, Richard 1418 (1358) |
| 7 | Oluwole, Isaac 1389 (1334) | ½-½ | D’Cruz, David 1398 (1387) |
| 8 | Manikandan, Gaurav 1297 (1395) | 1-0 | Garwood, Matt 1312 (1403) |
| 9 | Yuan, Ryan 1356 (1317) | 1-0 | Galloway, Pharrell 1341 (1376) |
| 10 | Radford, Danny 1200 (1146) | 1-0 | Sargent, Leslie J 1351 (1342) |
| 11 | McBride, Timothy 1112 (1265) | ½-½ | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1307) |
| 12 | Avery, David 1082 (1139) | 0-1 | Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1312) |
| Average: 1315 | 6½-5½ | Average: 1368 |
How it happened
By Mark Murrell
| To Play | Board | Kent | Essex | Result |
| 12 | 8 | 1 | 0 | L |
| 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | L |
| 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | L |
| 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | W |
| 8 | 7 | 3½ | 1½ | D |
| 7 | 5 | 3½ | 2½ | W |
| 6 | 10 | 4½ | 2½ | L |
| 5 | 1 | 5½ | 2½ | L |
| 4 | 6 | 6 | 3 | D |
| 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | W |
| 2 | 11 | 6½ | 4½ | D |
| 1 | 12 | 6½ | 5½ | W |
Played 13 May 2023
| Boards | Staffordshire | v | Essex |
| 1 | Lloyd, Mick J 1400 (1433) | 0-1 | Duke, Taylor 1348 (1586) |
| 2 | Evans, Peter FK 1352 (1400) | ½-½ | Sandu, Silviu 1411 (1483) |
| 3 | Stuart, David J 1349 (1383) | ½-½ | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1476) |
| 4 | Smithson, Stephen 1331 (1338) | 0-1 | Fisher, Russell 1438 (1481) |
| 5 | Boddington, Ian 1331 (1314) | 0-1 | Goodliffe, Ralph 1397 (1419) |
| 6 | Chadwick, Martin J 1297 (1322) | ½-½ | D’Cruz, David 1398 (1385) |
| 7 | Ward, Elliot 1300 (1188) | 0-1 | Harrison, Michael 1282 (1388) |
| 8 | Buckley, David I 1257 (1265) | ½-½ | Whittaker, Len SC 1398 (1360) |
| 9 | Coleman, Roger 1268 (1257) | 1-0 | Le Gassicke, Mark 1364 (1338) |
| 10 | Chacko, Albert 1175 (1144) | 0-1 | Kukiewicz, Peter 1227 (1349) |
| 11 | Perry, Robert 1108 (1159) | 1-0 | Garwood, Matt 1312 (1302) |
| 12 | Baravalle, Maurizio 1003 (1115) | 1-0 | Chapman, John R 1282 (1186) |
| Average: 1265 | 5-7 | Average: 1359 |
Comments from the skippers: Malcolm Crane (Essex) – “It was a well fought match with good games had by all.” Steve Smithson (Staffs) – “Malcolm put it very well. It appeared to me that every game was conducted well, with a really good effort by both players. I found the atmosphere to be excellent. Well done everybody!”
Played 10 June 2023, at Syston, Leics.
| Board | Yorks | v | Essex |
| 1 | Ganti, Shriaansh 1406 (1655) (B) | 1-0 | Duke, Taylor 1348 (1586) (W) |
| 2 | Wainwright, Charlie 1406 (1523) | ½-½ | Bowles, Cennydd 1427 (1531) |
| 3 | Gitay, Awen 1436 (1455) | ½-½ | Fisher, Russell 1438 (1481) |
| 4 | Westmoreland, Jacob A 1307 (1454) | 0-1 | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1476) |
| 5 | Madzia, Nathan 1443 (1468) | 1-0 | White, Nigel 1418 (1441) |
| 6 | Taylor, Kai 1400 (1426) | 1-0 | Goodliffe, Ralph 1397 (1419) |
| 7 | Sharp, Stuart 1384 (1387) | 0-1 | Harrison, Michael 1282 (1388) |
| 8 | Attwater, Luke 1389 (1386) | 0-1 | D’Cruz, David 1398 (1385) |
| 9 | Atkin, David 1387 (1339) | 0-1 | Ball, Richard 1418 (1382) |
| 10 | Czerniuch, Daniel 1327 (1327) | ½-½ | Sureshkumar, Abijan 1350 (1346) |
| 11 | Collins, Steve 1283 (1320) | 0-1 | Wilde, Grace 1256 (1334) |
| 12 | Townsend, Harley 1298 (1314) | 0-1 | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1289) |
| Average: 1373 | 4½-7½ | Average: 1370 |
Another close encounter on paper, but with Essex grit doing the damage in the bottom half by 5½-½ nullifying Yorks 4-2 advantage in the upper order, which saw Taylor Duke’s 100% record 6/6 ended. Nice wins by Ken Jardine and Michael Harrison, to name but two.
Essex meet Greater Manchester in the final on 1 July.
The Games
Played 1 July 2023, at Syston Community Centre
| Board | Greater Manchester | v | Essex |
| 1 | Fung, Marcus 1440 (1750) | 1-0 | Bowles, Cennydd 1427 (1527) |
| 2 | Chu, Edward 1247 (1550) | 0-1 | Jardine, Kenneth 1440 (1537) |
| 3 | Fairclough, William 1428 (1479) | ½-½ | White, Nigel 1418 (1434) |
| 4 | Kilmartin, David 1420 (1451) | ½-½ | Goodliffe, Ralph 1397 (1409) |
| 5 | Wilson, Jeff 1378 (1492) | 0-1 | Harrison, Michael 1282 (1398) |
| 6 | Kerton, Becky 1413 (1475) | 1-0 | D’Cruz, David 1398 (1393) |
| 7 | Lysons, Chris 1409 (1453) | 1-0 | Ball, Richard 1418 (1402) |
| 8 | Chu, Yin 1448 (1462) | ½-½ | Whittaker, Len SC 1398 (1362) |
| 9 | Coupe, J 1364 (1488) | 1-0 | Sureshkumar, Abijan 1350 (1321) |
| 10 | Sheehy, Lewis 1361 (1397) | 1-0 | Wilde, Grace 1256 (1353) |
| 11 | Kerton, Claire 1283 (1379) | 1-0 | Garwood, Matt 1312 (1296) |
| 12 | Ogilvie, Leo 1300 (1549) | 1-0 | Battiscombe, David 1264 (1300) |
| Average: 1375 | 8½-3½ | Average: 1364 |