Petts Wood and Orpington is a very competitive club. We have teams playing in all the KCCA tournaments, the Croydon League, London League, and Four Nations League.
KCCA Tournaments
We enter teams in all of the Kent County Chess Association tournaments. Provided members are of suitable strength, we aim to give opportunities to play in matches against other clubs. Where appropriate, members can play in more than one competition. A condition of playing in these matches is that you are or become a member of the ECF and have an official rating.
We especially seek to let juniors gain match experience by running two team in each of the Intro, Tom Fuller and Harvey Cups. The junior team plays all their matches at home on Friday nights, while the adult team plays all their matches at other clubs on other midweek nights.
In the preliminary round, the Cups are contested by teams from the Bromley and Beckenham, Charlton, Dartford, Gravesend, Lewisham, and Sidcup clubs. The two clubs with the best results in each Cup play semi-finals against clubs from the mid-Kent area. Finals day is usually held in early June in St Mary Cray or Tunbridge Wells.
The current Match Fixtures appear here
- County Cup – 6 boards (unlimited ratings)
- Stevenson Cup – 6 boards (average rating 1850)
- En Passant Cup – 6 boards (average rating 1750)
- Harvey Cup – 6 boards (average rating 1600)
- Tom Fuller Cup – 4 boards (average rating 1500, individual maximum 1750)
- Intro Cup – 4 boards (average rating 1400, individual maximum 1600)
Matches are played against other clubs both at home and away. Players’ ratings are provisionally estimated by club officers, and officially calculated by the English Chess Federation on the basis of match performance and published in their Rating database.
For details of the captains, contact the secretary.
Information on league fixtures dates, venues and results is available on the ECF League Management System.
The venues page lists the addresses and meeting times of the clubs we play against.
Information about tournament rules and rules of play can be found on the KCCA’s rules page.
This is a local competition contested by teams of four boards, so that teams can if they wish travel to matches in just one car. The clubs represented meet in Catford, Coulsdon, Croydon, Orpington, Streatham, Sydenham Thornton Heath and Wallington. The time control is 35 moves in 75 minutes plus a 15-minute quickplay finish unless either 7 moves per extra 15 minutes or else adjudication after the 35th move has been agreed at the start of the game. There are four divisions. Division 1: open. Division 2: ECF ratings to total a maximum of 7800. Division 3: ECF ratings to total a maximum of 6600. Division 4: ECF ratings to total a maximum of 5800.
Rapidplay: four boards each playing one game as white, one as black, to a time control of 25 minutes.
This competition is contested by teams of four boards, so that teams can if they wish travel to matches in just one car. The time control is 45 minutes plus a 15 second increment per move. Matches are played on Mondays.
There are two divisions: major (average team ratings of up to 1850) and minor (average team ratings of up to 1650)
Four Nations Chess League (4NCL)
This competition is contested by teams of six boards in seven divisions on alternate Tuesday evenings throughout the year. The time control is 45 minutes plus a 15 second increment per move. The teams are selected and organised by the Chairman of the Kent Junior Chess League. In 2020 most matches were played online.
Club competition and matches for juniors
In 2019-20 the club’s junior tournament had 62 participants before it had to be closed due to the pandemic.
The juniors also played OTB friendly matches against Tunbridge Wells and Eynsford.