I have just renewed my membership of the English Chess Federation (ECF), online through the ECF website and my Gold membership cost me £27 for the season.

Tournament players, who play in Fide rated events such as the popular 4NCL leagues, are used to this expense as a prerequisite to participation; but from this season club players face a similar, and to them new, expense.

To have their games graded, they’ll need to pay for direct ECF membership — at either £12, £18 or £27 per season if paid online and depending on level — or £2 per game played.

At the AGM of the Oxfordshire Chess Association (OCA) last week it was decided that individual clubs be responsible for collection of the game fee.

However, it’s expected that most, if not all, local players will take out ECF membership and save clubs from having to request — and account for — £2 for each game played by non-members. The new OCA chairman, Simon King King – who took over from Alan Kennedy at the AGM – is certainly hoping so.

Matthew Sadler was one of Europe’s best young players and an England regular when in 2000 he suddenly quit professional chess.

He made a successful return to chess in 2010 and his new book for Everyman Chess Study Chess with Matthew Sadler is the story of the lessons learned during his comeback. Matthew writes with honesty and clarity and I’ve both enjoyed and been inspired by this little book.

The material on the psychology of chess — including chapters with titles Types of Thinking in the Middlegame and Thinking in the Endgame — are particularly interesting. The following is one of Matthew’s best ever games and shows what the England team have been missing.

White: Darius Zagorskis Black: Matthew Sadler

1.c4 b6 Unusual — but this game is in the chapter titled ‘Play Unorthodox Openings’.

2.d4 Bb7 3.Bg5!? Nf6 4.Bxf6 exf6 5.e3 f5 6.Nf3 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.Be2 Here Sadler comments that ‘Mickey Adams and Jon Speelman both thought that it was crucial for White to exchange off the light square bishops’ To that end 8.g3 was the way to go.

8...d6 9.0–0 Nd7 10.Qc2 0–0 11.Rfd1 Re8 12.Rac1 a6 13.b4 Nf6 14.Nd2?! Ng4! 15.h3? This is really asking for it. No better was 15.Bf3? Qh4!; but 15.Nf3 was OK.

15...Nxf2! 16.Kxf2 Qh4+ 17.Kf1 Rxe3 18.Nf3 Qf4! 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.cxd5 Rae8 21.Bxa6 Rxf3+! 22.gxf3 Re3!! 23.Be2 Qh2! 24.Qd2 Playing 24.Rd3 forces Black to find 24…Bf6!! after which 25.Rxe3 Qh1+ 26.Kf2 Bh4 is mate.

24...Bh6?! Here Matthew misses 24...Bxd4! 25.Qxd4 Qxe2+ 26.Kg1 Rxf3 27.Qh4 f4!

25.Qe1? 25.Rc3 might have held.

25...Qh1+ 26.Kf2 Qh2+ 27.Kf1 Qxh3+ 28.Kg1 Re4!! A fantastic way to switch the rook over to h4 while introducing the of 29...Be3+.

29.Rc3 Rh4 30.f4 Qh1+ 31.Kf2 Rh2+ 32.Ke3 Qe4+ 0–1