17 Curries

A great Curry Knight at the Indian Chef in Walmley! Many thanks to Golam Ali for making it possible. Seventeen of us sang songs — Happy Birthday to Mircea-Marius Mesesan, had selfies with Grandmaster Mark Hebden, reminisced about chess games that should have been won, and of course ate really good food like Marek Soszynski’s Garlic Salmon Jalfrezi.

Grand Curry Knight 12th May

Members are invited to an extra-special Curry Knight to be held 8pm Thursday 12th May (postponed from 3rd May) at the Indian Chef, 2 Berkeley House, Walmley Road B76 1NR https://www.indianchefsutton.com/. The evening will be special for several reasons including the welcoming of two very strong chessplayers who will be joining our Club to strengthen our top teams. One is a Grandmaster, the other has Grandmasters among his victims!

No Chess on Bank Holidays

A quick reminder that as usual the Chess Club does not meet on Bank Holidays — such as 18th April (Easter Monday) and 2nd May — though our venue the Minworth Club stays open.

Well-earned Promotion

Congratulations to our 3rd Team, captained by Rob Marks, who have come runners-up in Birmingham League Division 3 and thus earned themselves promotion. And a special mention to the only player of ours who played in every match, Larry Hayden, who scored 61%.

Our Best Gamer

Congratulations to Marek Soszynski on winning the BH Wood Best Game Trophy 2021-2022. The award by the Birmingham League comprises a trophy, certificate and £30. This is the second time Marek has won the award.

Triple First Again!

Monday 21st March we hosted another three home matches that we won:

• Division 1: Sutton Coldfield 4 Warley Quinborne 2
• Division 3: Sutton Coldfield 4 University of Birmingham 2
• Division 5: Sutton Coldfield A 3½ Mutual Circle ½

Noise Abatement

On match nights…

• Mobile phones and devices should be off.
• Drinks should be ordered at the main bar (though can be brought to the lounge bar counter by the staff).
• The lounge radio/PA should be turned off (by the bar staff) and the TV sound, at least, should also be off.
• Over-talkative players should be requested to reduce their noise or advised to take a plastic and vinyl set into the bar.

At the start of matches Captains should echo/respect the above as well as point out the location of the main bar and the toilets (so no one needs to ask).

Triple First

Monday 31st January we hosted three home matches for the first time since our venue was renovated. Not only that, but we won all three:

• Division 1: Sutton Coldfield 3½ South Birmingham C 2½
• Division 3: Sutton Coldfield 5 Oscott B 1
• Division 5: Sutton Coldfield A 3 Kynoch A 1

Cannock League Division 1 Fixtures Spring 2022 Season

Division 1 is for 4-board teams rated U7200 (January 2022 list). Time control 80 minutes each.

• Monday 25th April: Lichfield A v Sutton Coldfield
• Monday 9th May: Sutton Coldfield v Tamworth
• Monday 16th May: Sutton Coldfield v Lichfield B
• Thursday 19th May: Wolverhampton v Sutton Coldfield
• Monday 23rd May: Rushall v Sutton Coldfield

Cannock League website: https://cannockleaguechess.webs.com/

ECF Ratings January 2022

The new ECF ratings for January 2022 are out!

Here are our top ten team-players who have played for one of our league teams in Q4 2021. (We have other, highly rated, current members who happen not to have played in one of our teams yet this quarter.)

1. Henrik Stepanyan 2293
2. Mircea-Marius Mesesan 2042
3. John Mildenhall 1976
4. Golam Ali 1915
5. Keith Escott 1908
6. Edward Ng 1900
7. Roy Lawrence 1868
8. Marek Soszynski 1855
9. Arjun Pyda 1763
10. Noel Brown 1744

For the full ECF list of Sutton Coldfield ratings visit
https://www.ecfrating.org.uk/v2/new/list_players.php?club_code=2SCD