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 2024-25 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
Essex team captains for 2024-25
U2050 – Michael Spurr; Deputy Captain James Robinson
U1850 – Alan Riddoch
U1650 – Puzant Merdinian
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.
2024-25 Team navigation: U2050 | U1850 | U1650 | U1450 | SCCU on ECF LMS
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 2024-25 is Mridul Sharma of Thurrock. Many congratulations Mridul! 6 games, 4 wins 2 draws and no defeats for 5/6.
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 2024-25
| Aggregate stats @ 05 Jul 2025 | P | W | D | L | Pts | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mridul Sharma 1298 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 83.33 |
| Voldi Gailans 1326 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4½ | 90.00 |
| Paul Kenning 1800 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4½ | 75.00 |
| Anthony Whitaker 1403 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4½ | 64.29 |
| Sunil Vasistha 1401 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 66.67 |
| Colin Li 1645 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3½ | 87.50 |
| Mary Cawdery 1133 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 70.00 |
| Peter Jaszkiwskyj 1956 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 70.00 |
| Edgar Wilson 1945 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3½ | 70.00 |
| Philip Staniland 1879 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3½ | 58.33 |
| Steve Rix 2019 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3½ | 58.33 |
| Ian Hunnable 1927 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3½ | 50.00 |
| James Walsh 1418 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3½ | 43.75 |
| Vladimir Chtym 1471 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 75.00 |
| Kestutis Gudovijus 1288 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 75.00 |
| Mae Catabay 1804 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 75.00 |
| Lalitranjan Vigneswaran 1302 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 75.00 |
| Gavin Hughes 1949 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 60.00 |
| Pete Meadows 1660 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 60.00 |
| Michael Spurr 1881 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 60.00 |
| Ashwin GopiKrishna 1569 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 50.00 |
| Paul Williamson 1974 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 50.00 |
| Maadesh Manikandan 864 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 62.50 |
| Rezin Catabay 1844 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 62.50 |
| Martin McCall 1926 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2½ | 50.00 |
| Sarwayogan Karlmarx 1218 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2½ | 50.00 |
| Grace Wilde 1587 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2½ | 41.67 |
| Peter Burgoyne 1639 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2½ | 35.71 |
| Zebedee Jones 1604 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2½ | 35.71 |
| Taylor Duke 1705 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100.00 |
| Adrian Billingsley 1768 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100.00 |
| Karan Doshi 1760 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100.00 |
| Mark Murrell 1857 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Byon Meyer 1580 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Shrishti Shiva 1530 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Stephen Berkley 1779 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Albert Merdinian 1411 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Puzant AA (Jr) Merdinian 1603 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Ben Harte 1674 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Neville Twitchell 1868 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Ian Morgan 1762 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Robert Stern 1953 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Aaryan Patnam 1402 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Ted Nicholson 1193 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Colin Ramage 1931 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 40.00 |
| John Hodgson 2040 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 40.00 |
| Alan Riddoch 1781 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 28.57 |
| Jeffrey Page 1685 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1½ | 50.00 |
| Trevor Dickerson 1685 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1½ | 50.00 |
| Puzant Merdinian 1467 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1½ | 50.00 |
| Noel Milburn 1382 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1½ | 50.00 |
| John Jestico 1405 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 37.50 |
| Malcolm Kingsley 1875 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 37.50 |
| Salim Kriman 1984 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 37.50 |
| Reyaansh Narula 1251 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1½ | 30.00 |
| Ian Woodward 1781 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1½ | 30.00 |
| Ivan Myall 1986 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1½ | 25.00 |
| Richard Ball 1402 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Alex Collyer 1780 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| George Horan 1912 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Nigel White 1472 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Matthew Jiggins 1588 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Kenneth Jardine 1521 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| John Moore 1994 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Srikar Gunda 885 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Toby Pang 1342 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Jamie McPhee 1235 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Chenthuran Narasimman 1411 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Ibrahim Ali 1281 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| David Smith 1506 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33.33 |
| David Battiscombe 1296 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Howard Berlin 1519 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Ian Reynolds 1898 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Finbar McLoughlin 1850 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Mark Rivlin 1724 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Robert Killeen 1951 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Dan Mugridge 1400 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 20.00 |
| Peter Nickals 1705 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 20.00 |
| Adhar Jaiswal 1794 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Andrew Willoughby 1752 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Rajyeshwar Ramesh Mathompat 1836 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Jake Maguire 1610 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Davi Diniz Afonso 1898 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Charlton Siddo 1746 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Nilesh Upadhye 1945 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Rayyan Asif 1687 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| John Cawdery 2103 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Keith Cook 1628 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 25.00 |
| Almas Dohon 1581 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 25.00 |
| Simon Moth 1802 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 25.00 |
| Madison Bowden 1947 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 25.00 |
| Russell Terry 1604 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ½ | 16.67 |
| Ryan Colclough 1714 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ½ | 12.50 |
| Tony Saunois 1186 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| David D’Cruz 1397 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Raul Ghose 1993 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Colin Newton 1662 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Eitan Eisen 1252 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Walkover | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 100.00 |
| Default | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 100 Players | 366 | 141 | 105 | 120 | 193½ | 52.87% |