History of the Junior Squad
I first wrote the history of the squad five years ago when Ian Cowen was alive and he helped me a lot. This was lost during a computer crash in 2006 and, tragically, Ian died in 2005. Therefore you must bear with me if I get some facts wrong. My early memories of the squad were of it being run by Peter Morrish, the original owner of Tournament Chess Supplies, who put much time and money in to organising events for the squad – especially the annual championships at Easter. The first foreign trips I recall were taken by Dr. John Hennigan and were to Hungary and France (and I’m sure other places). Tony Corfe also assisted Peter in many of the squad activities and took foreign trips, especially to the Guernsey Tournament. I first became involved as an arbiter and later started helping with foreign trips before being voted in as chairman. There has been a publication for many years and I can remember Steve Walton editing early editions of Squad News. Alec Webster then became involved, soon becoming treasurer and his astute handling of the funds ensured the financial well being of the squad. Alec worked for Smith & Williamson and was instrumental in getting sponsorship for a Young Masters event held at a boarding school in July. This started in 1990 and has helped get IM norms for many of our young players. Smith & Williamson sponsored the event for 13 years and Specsavers for a year. The event still runs but only as a FIDE rated event. If we were to get further sponsorship we would try to get a norm event up and running again. Fortunately the foreign trips go from strength to strength. There is an annual match against Flanders, we usually visit tournaments in both Poland and the Czech Republic and the U12 age group always have a trip abroad. We have visited Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway and Finland, in Europe and also South Africa and Florida. Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man have been visited for tournaments. Incoming trips are rarer although one year we hosted a very strong tournament with teams from South Africa, USA and Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, the cost of this has precluded a repeat. Cost is also a factor which mitigates against visits to England by foreign teams although we have had groups from Denmark, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Poland visiting us. We also run an English Closed Championship in February at U12, U14 and U16 and I think this is probably the strongest weekend junior event in the country.
The squad would not exist without the hard work and dedication of many people from its founding fathers to its current committee. Alec Webster guided us to gain charitable status whilst many have helped with trips and even more with home events. At present, despite the stultifying effect of the current system of “education” in England, the squad still flourishes. Long may it continue to do so.
Peter Purland May 2007
I first wrote the history of the squad five years ago when Ian Cowen was alive and he helped me a lot. This was lost during a computer crash in 2006 and, tragically, Ian died in 2005. Therefore you must bear with me if I get some facts wrong. My early memories of the squad were of it being run by Peter Morrish, the original owner of Tournament Chess Supplies, who put much time and money in to organising events for the squad – especially the annual championships at Easter. The first foreign trips I recall were taken by Dr. John Hennigan and were to Hungary and France (and I’m sure other places). Tony Corfe also assisted Peter in many of the squad activities and took foreign trips, especially to the Guernsey Tournament. I first became involved as an arbiter and later started helping with foreign trips before being voted in as chairman. There has been a publication for many years and I can remember Steve Walton editing early editions of Squad News. Alec Webster then became involved, soon becoming treasurer and his astute handling of the funds ensured the financial well being of the squad. Alec worked for Smith & Williamson and was instrumental in getting sponsorship for a Young Masters event held at a boarding school in July. This started in 1990 and has helped get IM norms for many of our young players. Smith & Williamson sponsored the event for 13 years and Specsavers for a year. The event still runs but only as a FIDE rated event. If we were to get further sponsorship we would try to get a norm event up and running again. Fortunately the foreign trips go from strength to strength. There is an annual match against Flanders, we usually visit tournaments in both Poland and the Czech Republic and the U12 age group always have a trip abroad. We have visited Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway and Finland, in Europe and also South Africa and Florida. Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man have been visited for tournaments. Incoming trips are rarer although one year we hosted a very strong tournament with teams from South Africa, USA and Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, the cost of this has precluded a repeat. Cost is also a factor which mitigates against visits to England by foreign teams although we have had groups from Denmark, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Poland visiting us. We also run an English Closed Championship in February at U12, U14 and U16 and I think this is probably the strongest weekend junior event in the country.
The squad would not exist without the hard work and dedication of many people from its founding fathers to its current committee. Alec Webster guided us to gain charitable status whilst many have helped with trips and even more with home events. At present, despite the stultifying effect of the current system of “education” in England, the squad still flourishes. Long may it continue to do so.
Peter Purland May 2007