We’re running a ladder designed to provide competitive play, particularly for those relatively new to competitive chess.
If you haven’t played competitively before and would like to see what it’s like before playing in club matches this would be a great place to start.
If you’d like to take part contact Mike and he’ll add you to the ladder.
Overview
Ladder games are played at Cambridge Park Bowls Club on Thursday evenings.
Participants arrange their own matches – usually via the group WhatsApp chat – either before-hand or on the night.
Any two players in the Ladder can play each other.
It is not compulsory to play a Ladder game at every opportunity – you can play as often or as little as you like.
ECF membership is not a requirement to participate in the Ladder but if both players have ECF Memberships (Bronze or higher), their match result will be submitted to the rating system to contribute towards their official rating.
Details of ECF Memberships are available here: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-membership-rates-and-joining-details
Match Rules
First encounter between two players: coin toss determines colours
Rematch: reversed colours from the first encounter
Time control: 65 minutes with 10 second increments per player
Ladder points: Between 2 and 20 points are awarded to each player for each match they play in a 12-month period against unique opponents – the exact allocation is calculated and based upon the match result, the players starting Ladder positions and the number of overall participants in the Ladder at the time.
Standings (8th May 2026)
| Pos | Name | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Karl Stand | 17 | 105 |
| 2 | Oscar Rounding | 11 | 93 |
| 3 | Michael Speer | 9 | 89 |
| 4 | Abhay Patil | 15 | 86 |
| 5 | Mike Robinson-Chui | 10 | 78 |
| 6 | Peter Kasprowicz | 13 | 74 |
| 7 | Aditya Patil (J) | 13 | 72 |
| 8 | Genc Tasbasi | 9 | 71 |
| 9 | Alex Corlett | 6 | 66 |
| 10 | David Heaton | 6 | 57 |
| 11 | Viorel Scobioala | 7 | 53 |
| 12 | Anthon Fynn-Williams | 3 | 46 |
| = | George Milligan | 7 | 46 |
| 14 | Peter Marler | 6 | 43 |
| 15 | Julian Bedale | 9 | 34 |
| 16 | Ted Fraser | 5 | 27 |
| 17 | Arash Sanaiha | 2 | 22 |
| 18 | Mark Jessett | 2 | 20 |
| = | Michael Larby | 7 | 20 |
| 20 | Tom Brand | 1 | 18 |
| 21 | Tom Lloyd | 1 | 14 |
| 22 | Harry Mithun | 3 | 12 |
| = | Michael Sweeney | 1 | 12 |
| 24 | Danilo D’Auria | 4 | 8 |
| = | Charlie Weeks | 3 | 8 |
| 26 | Jordan Baker | 1 | 2 |
| = | Katy Cooke | 1 | 2 |
| = | Andreas Maroulis | 1 | 2 |
| = | Keelan Thomas (J) | 1 | 2 |
| 30 | Kay Paris | 0 | 0 |
| = | Doruk Tuncel (J) | 0 | 0 |
Scoring
The Ladder positions reflect the number of Ladder Points accumulated over the past 12 months against unique opponents.
If a game between the same two opponents, playing with the same colour pieces is played within 12 months of their last encounter with these pieces, only the Ladder Points scored in their latest match will count towards the Ladder standings.
Between 2 and 20 Ladder Points are awarded to each player in a single match. The exact allocation is calculated as follows:
Expected Result (ER) =
(Rounded to 1 decimal point)
Po is the starting Ladder position of defeated player.
Pw is the starting Ladder position of the match winner.
Pt is the total number of active participants currently in the Ladder.
Win points
The winning player will receive 2 + 20(1 – ER) points for their victory.
Draw points
Both players will receive half the number of points they would have each been awarded for a victory.
Loss points
The defeated players will receive 2 points.