The local chess season started in September with the first tournament in the East Anglian Chess Union Grand Prix: the Cambridgeshire Rapidplay. Woodbridge were represented by Sam Gaffney and Bernie Ross who were both playing in the U1650 section. With a standardplay rating north of 1800, there were suggestions Sam might be a bit of a ringer in this section. He, however confounded his critics, losing to a strong junior from Peterborough and only finishing joint second. Bernie continued to demonstrate his aggressive playing style is suited to fast chess, outperforming his ~1200 standardplay rating and finishing on 2/5.
Following swiftly on heels of the tournament, newly promoted Woodbridge had their first outing in Division 1, of the Suffolk League, losing to Manningtree A. Although we could celebrate Simon Wilks’ draw with FIDE Master Andy Lewis, everyone else lost so Club Social Secretary, Chris Skirrow took us all out to a nearby curry house to commiserate.
This season sees the return of Woodbridge B in Division 3 with an all new line-up. They currently stand 4th in the Division with a win over Felixstowe B and a loss to Bury St Edmunds C. There was controversy in Felixstowe match when Woodbridge Club Chairman Mark Weidman was found to be moonlighting for the opposing team! In the unexpected Woodbridge-on-Woodbridge clash, Woodbridge B came out better with Dan Such beating Mark. Congratulations too to Nathan for his debut appearance win at Felixstowe.
Woodbridge Chess Club meets for fun and competitive games at 7pm, on Wednesdays, in the Cherry Tree Inn. We are keen to welcome new players and help them improve.
Puzzle taken from S. Gaffney (1833) – J. McAvoy (1849), Norfolk Championships 2022, 5th October 2022. White to play and win.
