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Sudbury Chess Club started off the season by gaining 10.5 points out of 12 in the first three rounds of the Suffolk League, division 2. Whilst they could not keep up this pace, they maintained sufficient momentum throughout the season to win with a final score of 27.0 out of a possible 36.0 points. They also acquitted themselves well in the Swiss competition and just managed to win a tightly fought competition with 14.5 points out of a possible 20.0 - just ahead of Bury Cannons with 14 points. Sudbury was awarded the Division 2 cup - see opposite - on 3rd May at the annual match between Suffolk League and Bury League which Suffolk won.

Sudbury did not field a division 1 team this season.

Kenn Butcher organised the "Braintree International Chess Competition", and on 9th April European Union teams from Belgium, France and Germany joined various local teams from the UK at 'Bures Mount' Village Hall. Sudbury Chess Club co-opted Tim Lunn from Ipswich Chess Club to join our team of Robert Sanders, Graham Griffiths, and Harold Thomas to form a Suffolk Team. Past member, Peter Sonnenburg, graciously stepped in for two games as Robert was unable to participate at the start. This was an extremely enjoyable event with superb food and a very friendly atmosphere. We were pleased with our performance, coming third.
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Sudbury Chess Club held their annual chess congress on Sunday 28th March at Sudbury Town Hall. Run in association with Suffolk Junior Chess, the tournament attracted 60 players from across the region, competing for a prize fund of £290 plus £30 of book tokens donated by Peter Keffler.

David Spence from Ipswich won the Open section for the 3rd year on the trot, with Everlyn Dale (St Albuns, Ipswich) U14, Luke Barron (Cambridge Juniors) U12 and Douglas Mcguire (Cockfield) Novices, being the other major winners, The closest competition was in the UI0s where Thomas Clarke and Patrick Stevens from Ipswich Juniors and Gordon Scott and Ben Shreeve from Norwich Juniors, all finished with 4.5/6.

Thanks to the hard work of Rob Sanders and Peter Sonnenburg of Sudbury Chess Club, the tournament was a complete success, with a high standard of sportsmanship and ability shown at all times. Thanks also to Chris Franklin for the loan of his laptop computer to keep track of the results, etc.

Finally, many thanks to Sudbury Town Council for its kind support in allowing use of the Town Hall, a superb venue for an event of this kind.

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Our secretary, Graham Griffiths, was interviewed today by Rachel Sloane on Radio Suffolk. Sudbury Chess Club website, chosen as Radio Suffolk's website of the day, was praised by Rachel for its depth of content and attractive design. She also cited the large number of hits and guest book entries from as far away as USA.

Graham described how the website came about and what it was intended for. Also, that people could use the extensive training and tutorial facilities for learning the finer points of chess.

This was a good opportunity for the club to attract more members.

The A Team Captain's son, James, is definitely a chip off the old block. He scored 4.5/6 in the Novices section of the Ipswich Junior Chess Congress, finishing =2nd, in only his 2nd tournament.

It certainly looks like the Chess Gene has been passed to the next generation.

Well done James.

After many happy years at The Sudbury Institute, Sudbury Chess Club has decided to move to a new venue in order to keep costs down. From 1st October, the beginning of the chess season, we will be meeting at The Sudbury Conservative Club, 39 New Street, Sudbury, CO10 1JB, Tel: 01787 379047.

Sudbury Chess Club members would like to thank The Sudbury Institute for their kind hospitality during the past years.

At the Suffolk County Chess Association AGM, held on 10th July, it was confirmed that Rob Sanders was once again  Player of the Year. Rob, who captains Sudbury Chess Club 'A' Team, receives the trophy for his undefeated performance in First Team county matches, scoring 5½ from a possible 7 - a fantastic achievement, especially considering the array of talent he had to contend with over the year.

Congratulations to Rob on another great year!

The 2003 Sudbury Junior Chess Tournament was another resounding success thanks to the hard work of Rob Sanders and Peter Sonnenburg of Sudbury Chess Club. Numbers were up by 10% to 70 from 63 last year.

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Well done again to Peter Sonnenburg for his performance at the 20th Bury St Edmund's Congress, which this year was held at The Corn Exchange, Bury St Edmund's. The Congress was played over two days

Peter took first place in the intermediate section (U130) with a score of 4.5/5. He won his first four games and tied the last.

Well done to Peter Sonnenburg for his performance in the Essex Open Junior Rapidplay Championships, which this year were held at Highwoods Recreation Centre, Gilberd School, Colchester.

Peter tied with John Bradley(Dunmow), John Lambert (Clacton) and Alan Riddoch (Brentwood) for first place in the Open Section U120 grading prize.

Congratulations to the captain of our A-Team, Rob Sanders, on his fine performance in the British Championships. He came second in the Smith & Williamson 2002 - Harry Baines Week One event, which consisted of 9 rounds played am and pm. He scored 7½ out of 9 with a grading performance of 180 (2040 Elo), and without losing a match.  View an example game.

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The UK Chess Challenge began in 1996 and was an immediate success, with 700 schools entering, involving approximately 23,000 youngsters. This year entries were in excess of 54,000.

It started off with a seven round swiss competition in schools all across the UK.  and James won all 7 of his games. Qualifiers from this entered the area Megafinals, and ours was held in Norwich. The national Gigafinal was held this year in Sheffield, and a score of 4/6 was needed in the Megafinals to qualify. James reached his target, finishing equal 3rd of 24 entrants in his age group section with 4/6. He only lost one game, and this was in the last round against the section winner, Christopher Russell.

In the Gigafinal there were 108 entrants in the Boys under 13 section, so this was divided into two sections. Playing against some of the best of his age in the UK, James scored a creditable 3.5/6. And this was the best performance by a Suffolk player in either of the two sections. So, all in all, a good effort and a creditable performance.

Full details can be found at www.ukchesschallenge.com, which lists all the area Megafinal qualifiers and the final standings in the National Gigafinal.

The 2002 Sudbury Junior Chess Tournament went according to clockwork thanks to the hard work of Peter Sonnenburg and Rob Sanders of Sudbury Chess Club.

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