LMS - Counties Championship

Welcome to the ECF Counties Championship Results Service.

Championship website: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/counties-championship-2024/
Championship rules: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/County-Champi...
Results for competitions held from 2018 can be found in the Previous Seasons archive above: https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/36/previous
First 100 years: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/100-Years-of-...

2024 Finals

Congratulations to Surrey the 103rd Counties Champions
An 8th Championship for Surrey, who were runners up in 2023 on tie break and last won the Championship in 2013.
Scorecard: https://lms.englishchess.org.uk/lms/league_fixture/215772
Replay the games at:
Livechess: https://view.livechesscloud.com/#a146de3b-7629-4faf-adac-1096e93a6aa7
Lichess: https://lichess.org/broadcast/counties-open-2024/round-1/tOCcfkni
Revisit the commentary provided by WIM Natasha Regan and GM Peter Wells on Natasha’s Twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/wim_natasharegan

Congratulations too to the 2024 Champions of the rating limited events:
Minor Counties – Sussex on 1st tie-break, last won in 1996. See all the games at
https://lichess.org/broadcast/ecf-county-championship-minor-counties/rou...
U2050 – Greater Manchester (also NCCU Champions), last won in 1993 (U175)
U1850 – Greater Manchester on 1st tie-break (also NCCU Champions). last won in 2012 (U160)
U1650 – Yorkshire (also NCCU Champions), retain their title.
U1450 – Middlesex (also SCCU Champions), a first in this section.

2024 Finals Control/Arbiting Team
Controller: Mark Murrell; Chief Arbiters: IA Lara Barnes (rated limited events); IA Adrian Elwin (Open)
Match Arbiters: Richard Buxton (Open); Rob Hammond (Minor); Peter Ackley (U2050); Chun Chui (U1850); Harrison Marriott (U1650) and Francis Bowers (U1450)

Navigation
The participating counties in the 2023-24 Counties Championships ECF finals stage are listed in the right hand side panel.
The Championship (Open) and the five other championships that comprise the ECF Counties Championship appear in the left hand side panel.
Fixtures and the draw/results table for each championship can be found within these Events. All fixtures and results tables can also be accessed from the top banner menu.

Match card standard rating display
Championship...FIDE latest for board order (ECF Monthly)
Minor Counties..ECF 1 Sep for eligibility and team average (ECF Monthly for board order)
Rating Limited...ECF 1 Sep for eligibility (ECF Monthly for board order)

Championships schedule
24 March – Close of nominations from the Union stage
08 April - Due by date for publication of the draws following the meeting of the Draw committee - DRAWS ARE PUBLISHED
27 April – Preliminary Round where required
11 May – Open, Minor Counties, U1850 & U1450 Quarter Finals
18 May – U2050 & U1650 Quarter Finals
08 June – Semi Finals of all championships
06 July – Finals of all championships
With the exception of the Finals, matches can be made on the immediately following Sunday or on an earlier weekend by agreement.

Union nominations for 2024 championships
Event EACU1..EACU2..MCCU1..MCCU2..NCCU1..NCCU2..SSCU1..SCCU2..WECU1..WECU2
Open ..........................................................Nland....Yorks......Surrey..Kent...................................
Minor Nfolk....Beds.....Lincs......Worcs....................................Sussex.................Somerset..Devon
U2050 ........................................................G Manc..Cleve'd...Essex...Surrey.................................
U1850 Sfolk....Herts....Lincs.......Staffs.....G Manc..Yorks......Kent.....Msex........Hampshire..........
U1650 ..........................Lincs......Worcs.....Yorks....G Manc....Kent.....Surrey.................................
U1450 ..........................Staffs..... Worcs....Yorks....G Manc....Msex... Essex...................................
Wildcard additional 2024 nominations:
U1450 S3 Kent

Eligibility ratings

Player eligibility for rating limited Championships and calculation of a team's mean rating is determined by the 1 September 2023 Official Original Standard rating list (the blue list), categories A and K only.

Players without a published 1 September 2023 Official Original standard (category K or A) rating will be assigned a competition rating according to their first published category K or A rating in subsequent Official Original standard lists (blue).

Any other player must be registered with the National Controller 7 days in advance of playing with evidence of playing strength so that the National Controller can assign a competition rating for the national stages of the championships, whether or not they were assigned an estimate by their Union Controller.

NB Players with a published partial (category P) rating are deemed to be unrated. Estimates assigned by a Union Controller do NOT carry over into the ECF stage.

Board order ratings

Board orders in all sections save for the Open are determined by the later 1 April (PR) or 1 May (QF) or 1 June (SF & F) Official Original Standard Rating lists according to the match being played.
In the Open the FIDE rating lists apply. By agreement the equivalent ECF rating list may also be used.

Qualifying competitions of the Unions
East - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/121006/home
Midlands - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/75914/home
North - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/88432/home
South - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/63543/home
West - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/116497/home

Summary of recent previous Championships
For the results and matchcards select Previous Seasons from the top banner menu above.

2023 National Champions
Middlesex, 102nd Counties Champions to add to their SCCU title. Its 30 titles for Middlesex, extending their record further.
Cambridgeshire, Minor Counties Champions to add to their EACU title. Last won the Minor in 1988.
Essex, Under 2050 Champions, retaining their title, as well as their SCCU title; a hat-trick of championships.
Middlesex, Under 1850 Champions, retaining their title and a hat-trick if the 2019 U160 title equates, to add to their SCCU title.
Yorkshire, Under 1650 Champions to add to their NCCU title; Yorkshire's first U1650/U120
Greater Manchester , Under 1450 Champions. Greater Manchester's first U1450/U100

Finals Day 2023 played on 1st July.
There was online coverage of the Open and top 5 boards of the Minor Counties Championships Finals as follows:
Open (all) – DGT Livechess iCloud – https://view.livechesscloud.com#b1efd519-d723-4bb6-8e91-1557822f78b5
Open (all) – Lichess.org – https://lichess.org/broadcast/ecf-counties-championship-open-final-2023/...
Open (all) – Chess.com – https://www.chess.com/events/2023-ecf-counties-open-championship-final
Open CommentaryProvided by WIM Natasha Regan and Ben Purton on the ECF Twitch Commentary Channel: https://www.twitch.tv/ecf_commentary
Minor Counties (1-5) – DGT Livechess iCloud – https://view.livechesscloud.com/#8885abd8-7360-408d-9e6d-5fec827784fd
Minor Counties (1-5) – Lichess.org – https://lichess.org/broadcast/ecf-counties-championship-minor-counties-f...

2022 National Champions
Northumberland, 101st Counties Champions to add to their online & NCCU titles.
Devon, Minor Counties Champions, the first WECU county to do so.
Essex, Under 2050 Champions, retaining their title, as well as SCCU.
Middlesex, Under 1850 Champions, having started in the Preliminary round.
Surrey, Under 1650 Champions as well as SCCU.
Essex, Under 1450 Champions, having played in all 3 rounds.

Finals Day 2022 played on 2nd July.
There was online coverage of the top three sections of the Championships Finals as follows:
The Counties Championship: Northumberland  v Yorkshire in Darlington starting at 2.00pm. Top boards will be broadcast live on Lichess: https://lichess.org/broadcast/ecf-county-championships-finals-open/round...
Also on LiveChessCloud:  https://view.livechesscloud.com/#db57e803-5e71-4c28-a4f7-2e4271f32f40
Minor Counties: Devon v Norfolk at Knapshill, Woking - Top boards will be broadcast live on Lichess: https://lichess.org/broadcast/ecf-minor-counties-championships-knaphill-...
Also on LiveChessCloud – https://view.livechesscloud.com/#99024a76-ff89-40c4-b275-92be669a590a
U2050 Essex v Surrey at Wanstead House  - Top boards will be broadcast live on Lichess: https://lichess.org/broadcast/ecf-u2050-counties-championship-final-esse...
Also on LiveChessCloud – https://view.livechesscloud.com/#6bdc39ed-009c-41e1-8182-71be6d8b2cff