Theo Todman's Chess Page
(Text as at 05/04/2019 10:36:29)
*** THIS IS NOT THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS NOTE ***
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Introduction
- For years I’d been thinking of returning to chess after a very long lay-off; effectively since my school days. Now, it seems, I’ve actually done so.
- For my background as a chess-player at school and early adulthood – when I showed some aptitude – see Theo Todman's Chess Background1.
- An incentive to return to the game has always been that my brother-in-law2 runs the Albany Club in the Middlesex and London Leagues and he’s keen for me to play, though doing so would involve rather a slog in travelling back and forth.
- Also, one of my former Bridge partners might be thinking of returning to Chess now that he’s retired, having been of a similar standard to me, though having played more recently3.
- I have to admit that the chess scene in Billericay initially seemed somewhat unexciting4. However, I’ve now joined the Billericay Chess Club, which I’ve found very welcoming, and also the ECF, so I can get graded5.
- I intend to play – as and when selected – for the Billericay B Team in the North Essex Chess League Division 3 and for the A Team in Division 2. Also for the Billericay I Team in Southend & District Chess League and in the Billericay Chess Club Championship.
- Follow This Link6 for my most recent Status Report. I produce them Quarterly.
- Follow these links for various websites associated with the national & local chess scene:-
→ ECF: English Chess Federation,
→ Essex Chess,
→ Southend Chess Congress (Defunct),
→ North Essex Chess League,
→ Southend & District Chess League and
→ Billericay Chess Club.
Summary of Progress to Date (since October 2018)
- I had intended to provide statistics similar to those for my Bridge7 activities, but will wait to see what comes “free” with The ECF Grading Database. There are plans to update this monthly from the beginning of 2020 - see ECF Monthly Grading Proposal.
- Enough for now to say that in 18Q4 I played 7 gradable games – 2 in the Southend League Division 1, 1 in the NECL Division 3, and 4 in the Billericay Club Championship, winning 4 and drawing 3 for an average rating of 151 which was confirmed by the ECF by the end of January 2019.
- These results are viewable by following the link above and searching on my name. Then click on the Ref and then - at the bottom of the page - on the pink-coloured bar8.
- Since then, results have nose-dived somewhat, and my rating is trending towards 132. In 19Q1 I played 12 gradable games – 5 in the Southend League Division 1, 4 in the NECL Division 3, 2 in the NECL Division 3, and 1 in the Billericay Club Championship, winning 3, drawing 5 and losing 4.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 2: Footnote 3:
- Though not sufficiently recently to appear on the ECF database (unless he should be the Colin Scott who played for Thurrock between 1994 and 2002, rated 124 dropping to 106, which isn’t what he told me!).
Footnote 4:
- I visited Billericay Chess Club on 6th April 2011. There was a club match, so I couldn’t play any of the better players, but played a rather sad young man who hadn’t make the cut. It was interesting to see how rusty I was, though I won all four games. I had a chat with one of the committee-members afterwards, and left my email address. I didn’t hear back. However, I’ve recently (July 2018) made contact again and am now a fully signed-up and enthusiastic member.
- The Billericay Club has an excellent website: see Billericay Chess Club. It went into a hiatus November 2017 as its webmaster was busy, but now seems to have revived.
- The club meets on Wednesdays at 19:30, now at Anisha Grange, though not in the summer months.
- The website describes the club as having 11 active members with teams in the North Essex and Southend & District Leagues.
- The club is not very strong: see the link on the NECL site (NECL: Billericay - 2017).
- At one time there was an IM (Richard Pert – BCF: Richard Pert, FIDE: Richard Pert; twin brother of GM Nick Pert (Wikipedia: Nick Pert); main club Wood Green) rather loosely connected to the club by the look of things – but he’s no longer listed. The NECL site for 2017/8 listed a couple of Junior Perts; a family connection – as is confirmed by the BCF link above. However, they’ve shift allegiance to get more games.
Footnote 5:
- But I don’t intend to get obsessed with gradings, but just want to play well and enjoy the game.
Footnote 8:
- There appears to be a bug, as it currently (3rd April 2019) says 'No result details this year'. But if you then click on the previous year (for which there really are no results) and THEN on the current year, they will pop up.
- I've raised this with the ECF! They hope to fix this along with the next revision, sometime later in April 2019.
Live Version of this Archived Note
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| 05/04/2019 10:36:29 |
1285 (Theo Todman's Chess Page) |
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Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025