EPSCA England team and National Chess Junior Squad vs Flanders September 2023
This is always a hybrid match as many players transition from the EPSCA England team (1) into the National Chess Junior squad (2) as they move up from their year 6 to their year 7. This year it was even more hybrid – with a couple of older players invited who missed the chance last year to play in this trip due to the usual covid fallout, and a few year 5 players invited who will still be at Primary school in their year 6 this year. With our Eurostar departing from St Pancras at 11.04 on Saturday, this year the rail unions increased the difficulty of arriving on time with a complete strike the previous day, and the earliest trains cancelled on the Saturday. We also were notified of a last minute dropout on the Friday, and had to find a reserve the day before we travelled. A special thankyou therefore to Siddanth who stepped up to the squad and prevented us defaulting a board. Fortunately the whole team pulled out all the stops – and we all managed to get through the gates the recommended hour before departure. We were very pleasantly surprised to find our hosts already waiting on the platform as we left the train, and then had the reassurance of 4 adults escorting our team through the Metro to Heysel and then onward by car to the club venue which doubles as the local library and theatre at Grimbergen. The team itself consisted of twelve boards this year Emre Balsari, Aidan Burnside, Resin Catabay, Druha Chandrashakhar, Alex Horwood, Felix Johnson, Jai Kathari, Andy Nguyen, Siddanth Praveen, Nayan Rastogi, Yue Yue Sui, Adithya Vaidyanathan. and there were strong performances from the whole team. Particularly impressive was the determination and focus in round 1 where our team achieved a clean sweep despite many of the positions being very close earlier in the games.In round 2 there were for two wins for the Flanders team, though they should have scored more based on some good play earlier by several others in the Flanders team. The overall match result was therefore a win for England 22-2. Overnight the English team retired to the various hosting families that had kindly agreed to look after us in various groups of twos and threes that carefully catered for both food requirements and any known allergies. They had an evening meal to look forward to – accommodation in the spirit of a foreign exchange trip – and a breakfast with their hosts before they returned for the chess on Sunday. Sunday was a blitz event and was used as the tie-break between those players who had achieved a perfect score on the Saturday, to determine the winners of the individual trophy for each of the two teams. After a convincing performance it was Jai who won the blitz – but with Jai scoring one out of two on the Saturday it was Andy for the English and Pacôme for the Flemish that won the individual prizes.
After the prizegiving the hosts also treated us to lunch on the Sunday and provided refreshments to take back with us on board the Eurostar. From a personal point of view, since we were covering the trip for the first time this year due to various illnesses within our normal organization – we were very impressed by the Flanders chess club and their entire organization. They were very well prepared for all the activities and ensured that both the hosting, the chess and the transportation of our 12 players included great attention to detail to make this both fun and safe. At St Pancras all the parents arrived in good time and all our players were collected safely. The children were still very enthusiastic about the weekend. Hopefully they will have fond memories of this trip for many years to come.
Mike Forster and Debbie
This is always a hybrid match as many players transition from the EPSCA England team (1) into the National Chess Junior squad (2) as they move up from their year 6 to their year 7. This year it was even more hybrid – with a couple of older players invited who missed the chance last year to play in this trip due to the usual covid fallout, and a few year 5 players invited who will still be at Primary school in their year 6 this year. With our Eurostar departing from St Pancras at 11.04 on Saturday, this year the rail unions increased the difficulty of arriving on time with a complete strike the previous day, and the earliest trains cancelled on the Saturday. We also were notified of a last minute dropout on the Friday, and had to find a reserve the day before we travelled. A special thankyou therefore to Siddanth who stepped up to the squad and prevented us defaulting a board. Fortunately the whole team pulled out all the stops – and we all managed to get through the gates the recommended hour before departure. We were very pleasantly surprised to find our hosts already waiting on the platform as we left the train, and then had the reassurance of 4 adults escorting our team through the Metro to Heysel and then onward by car to the club venue which doubles as the local library and theatre at Grimbergen. The team itself consisted of twelve boards this year Emre Balsari, Aidan Burnside, Resin Catabay, Druha Chandrashakhar, Alex Horwood, Felix Johnson, Jai Kathari, Andy Nguyen, Siddanth Praveen, Nayan Rastogi, Yue Yue Sui, Adithya Vaidyanathan. and there were strong performances from the whole team. Particularly impressive was the determination and focus in round 1 where our team achieved a clean sweep despite many of the positions being very close earlier in the games.In round 2 there were for two wins for the Flanders team, though they should have scored more based on some good play earlier by several others in the Flanders team. The overall match result was therefore a win for England 22-2. Overnight the English team retired to the various hosting families that had kindly agreed to look after us in various groups of twos and threes that carefully catered for both food requirements and any known allergies. They had an evening meal to look forward to – accommodation in the spirit of a foreign exchange trip – and a breakfast with their hosts before they returned for the chess on Sunday. Sunday was a blitz event and was used as the tie-break between those players who had achieved a perfect score on the Saturday, to determine the winners of the individual trophy for each of the two teams. After a convincing performance it was Jai who won the blitz – but with Jai scoring one out of two on the Saturday it was Andy for the English and Pacôme for the Flemish that won the individual prizes.
After the prizegiving the hosts also treated us to lunch on the Sunday and provided refreshments to take back with us on board the Eurostar. From a personal point of view, since we were covering the trip for the first time this year due to various illnesses within our normal organization – we were very impressed by the Flanders chess club and their entire organization. They were very well prepared for all the activities and ensured that both the hosting, the chess and the transportation of our 12 players included great attention to detail to make this both fun and safe. At St Pancras all the parents arrived in good time and all our players were collected safely. The children were still very enthusiastic about the weekend. Hopefully they will have fond memories of this trip for many years to come.
Mike Forster and Debbie
- Click here for our Latest News
- , Ben Raine NEW MEMBERS
We are coming to the time of year when qualifying tournaments are being played. The first one is the British Rapidplay which is held in November in Leeds. This is the only one where players can qualify by beating adults and a surprising number actually attain the necessary 6.5 points.
This year Bobby Doherty, Zac Potel and Param Vyas all gained second norms whilst Ben Cox, Toby Cox Ben Raine and Aditya Tangirala gained their first norms. -
- Three images of the group in
Group eating! Susie receiving team trophy from Rudi Amardip receiving individual trophy from Rudi - FLANDERS 2017
The annual Flanders Match took place over the first weekend of September when a group of 19 players (Amardip Ahluwalia. Jonathan Britnell, Giovanni Currah, Dhruv Easwar, Elias Gelain-Sohn, Armaan Gogia, Aman and Avi Gogna, Ben Headlong, Alec Hedger, Chirag Hosdurga, Xavier Laurillard, Oliver, Manchester, Thomas Ng, Remy Rushbrooke, Noah Shapiro, Fedor Turetskiy, Nicholas Vallis and Susie Wang) met Balvinder Ahluwalia and Peter Purland at St Pancras International. The outward journey was only 10 minutes late and we were met by Jan and taken by Metro to Heysel where cars took us to the club house. The long play match was its usual exciting event. Flanders led 10.5-9.5 at the break but Balvinder must have invoked the "Churchill Spirit" as we won the second round 11.5-8.5 and thus the match by 21-19. Poor Rudi was shell shocked! It is always harder for our top players and Remy was the only top 10 player to get two. Also on two were Noah, Oliver, Xavier and Giovanni,.We then went off to our billets and met again at 1000 in the morning when, I am pleased to say, glowing reports were received about the kids. Sunday saw the usual Blitz and this year we got 5 rounds in. The winner was Sterre on 5 and Daria on 4.5 (both Flanders) but Amardip, Chirag and Armaan all got 4. This left Amardip as our best scorer (5 along with some others but the higher board gets the award) and we had a prize giving and received our packed lunchesbefore retracing our steps to Brussels Midi and the Eurostar home. This was spot on time as were all the parents and so ended a successful trip. One thing I would specially like to mention is the fact that some of our quieter players really did "come out of their shells" and I hope this has given them confidence for the future. We have confirmed the first weekend in September 2017 for the next saga in this series. - TRIPS 2017. IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN EMAIL PLEASE CONTACT ME. PETE
- Gibraltar 2016
At a reasonable time in the morning, 18 players, Imogen Camp, Jason Covey, Joseph Dalton, Matthew Forster, Cassie Graham, George Harman, Chirag Hosdurga, George Ivanov, Nugith Jayawarna, Gurveen Kapoor, Batuhan Kaya, Shobhin Manocha, Kishan Modi, Shyam Modi, Aditya Munshi, Gwilym Price, Pramoth Ragavan and Nicolai Woltery met Glynis Purland and Ian Burford at BA check in at Heathrow. There were some problems over cases - I fear that parents are going to have to learn to read regulations or pay more for trips as hold luggage is getting very expensive. Oliver Howell was meeting us in Gibraltar whilst William Lovell was delayed on his holiday and was flying out Friday. Once in the air the journey went smoothly and arrival was on time. They were brought to the hotel by minibus and were able to attend the reception before the first chess event which was the blitz, We had joint winners, Aditya being the best U12 whilst the Spanish had the best U16. 13 players were third equal and this included Joseph, Nugith, Gwilym and Nicolai. The Onslow brothers were also in this group although this year they had travelled independently. The Friday morning saw round one of the main tournament with round two following after lunch. The scores at the end of day one are:- U12s Aditya and Gurveen 2, Jason, Chirag and Nicolai 1. U14s Joseph and George Ivanov 2, Matthew 1.5, Nugith, Gwilym, Cassie, Ollie, Imogen, Pramoth, Jagdish. George H, Kishan 1, Batuhan, 0.5, Shobhin 0. Tonight we have Master Classes with David Howell and Jovanka Houska taking those for the English speakers. The squad are lucky to have two such well known players coaching them. The sessions went very well with squad members at both. I was with Jovanka and we spent the evening looking at some very interesting puzzles. The dictum "If you see a good more check for a better one first" was very much in vogue! Saturday we have one round then either a Rock Tour or Bowling followed in the evening by a simultaneous against the professionals. Our scores after round three were as follows U12; Aditya, Gurveen 3, Jason and Nicolai 2, Chirag 1, U14; Josepn 3, George Ivanov 2.5, Cassie, Imogen, Gwilym, Nugith, Jagdish, Kishan 2, Matthew, Pramoth, William 1.5, Shobhin, Oliver, George H, 1, Batuhan 0.5.In the afternoon we split between 10 pin bowling or the Rock Tour. Glynis and I had some players on our buses whilst Ian took the bowling. We visited Europa Point and had a stop there. We then went up to St Michael's Cave where the sheer scale of it amazed my group. On the way out we got some photos with the apes (and I have promised not to entitle one "Guess the Ape!" We had a short stop at the Apes Den but only our oldest resident, Mercedes, was there she is 29. Then it was back to the Hotel having a quick look at the frontier en route and prepare ourselves for the simultaneous. We had 104 players (parents and siblings were included) playingStuart, David, Jovanka, Juan and Pia workin in tandem and of the squad party Imogen was our only winner but draws were achieved by Gwilym, Joseph, Kishan, Nicolai, Nugith, Oliver, Pramoth and Shobhin. It was both enjoyable and successful. Sunday is a double round day and by 1000 we were all sitting down ready for the off. By the end of the round we had U12s: Aditya, Gurveen, Jason and Nicolai on 3, Chirag on 2. U14s Joseph on 3.5, Cassie. Matthew and Nugith on 3, George I, Jagdish and William 2.5, Gwilym, Ollie, Shyam, Imogen, George H on 2, Pramoth and Kaya 0n 1.5 and Shobhin on 1. The afternoon passed smoothly and, at U12 level we had Aditya and Nicolai on 4 and Chirag, Gurveen and Jason on 3. Providing Adiya and Nicolai play for a result (the computer has paired them) the winner will get a major prize and anyone on 4 Should get something barring a lot of draws on the 4 score level. At U16 we have Joseph and Nugith on 4, Matthew, Kishan George I, Cassie and Imogen on 3, Gwilym, and William on 2.5, Ollie, Shyam, Shobhin, George H on 2 Pramoth and Batuhan on 1.5 and George I still playing. After dinner we are having our Master Classes again and then, perhaps, a little preparation for the final round tomorrow. At present we have 3 squad members 2= including David Liu who is here with his whole family. It is almost certain that at least one squad member will get a major prize (David is playing Joseph and Nugith is floating down) and four should get a minor prizes. The Master Classes went well again and David and Jovanka spent an extra hour with some of our players. The final round saw all to play for. Adiya and Nicolai ground out a long draw (it was the last game to finish) and this put them 5th=, Jason and Chirag ended up on 4 and 9th= with Gurveen on 3. At U16 Nugith came second on 5, Joseph (and David) 3= on 4.5, whilst Cassie shared the girls prize on 3.5.
Our other scores were Gwilym, George I, and Kishan on 3.5, Ollie, Matthew, Imogen and Shyam on 3, William on 2.5, Shobhin, Pramoth, George H and Kaya on 2. Now it is off on a Dolphin Safari! Sadly one of our number was taken off by his father whilst another is not destined to be a seaman but the other 18 enjoyed the experience and saw planty of Dolphins. Then it was prepare for the Gala dinner. Half of the group, Nugith, Joseph, Gwilym, George I, Kishen, Cassie, Aditya, Nicolai, Chirag and Jason won cash prizes so a far amount of money is heading back to England.
British Championships Bournemouth 2016
The annual event took place in the Pavilion Complex in Bournemouth at the end of July/ beginning of August. Sadly this could be the last time the U15 and U13 events are held and, although the numbers especially in the U15s are low I shall still be sorry to see both of them go. We also had a change of plan this year with U10, U12, U14 and U16 on week one and squad players did well in the three older events. At U16 level Elliot Cocks was champion with Ilya Misyura joint 2nd. At U14 level the championship was shared by Koby Kalavannan, a regular winner in the past, and Juju Samworth-Calvier who only got in the squad in January this year. Girls Champion was Laura Davison. The U12s was another hard fought event with the title being shared by Aditya Munshi and Ranesh Ragavan.with Thivya Rahulan girls champion. A total of 12 squad players were in the Championship and 5 others player in non junior events.combined with 42 in the junior events to give a total 50 playing in the first week. A further 27 played in the second week so about half of our active members visited Bournemouth.
We had one player, Michael isafore, gaining a place in the squad whilst Edward Gray, Bobby Doherty, Nikolai Woltery, Viktor Stoyanov, Tai Remus Elliot and John Wall all gained first norms. We wish them well in the future.
The second week was also very successful and I would like to thank Syringa Camp, Russell Doddingto, Mike Forster and Dvaid Welch for their help with the juniors during the two weeks. Dhruv Easwar was the U11 Champion, Amardip Ahluwalia won the U13 Champioship with Thivyaa Rahulan as Girls Champion whilst Nugith Jayawarna and Koby Kalavannan shared the U15 title. Both John Wall and Viktor Stoyanov gained their second half norm in successive weeks and we welcome them in to the squad whilst Tim Lewis Polina Shchepinova and Raphael Balouka Myers all gained first norms.
We can now look forward to Llandudno 2017 when I return to my birthplace!
The two teams at Aughton St Michaels New friendships already made Saxons defeating Riverside teachers
Boards 6,5,4,3 Saxony v Wirral Boards 2 and 1 Wirral v Saxony Boards 7 and 8 Saxony v Wirral
Manchester v Saxony boards one to 4 Saxony v Manchester boards 4 and 5 Saxony v Manchester boards 7 and 8
Annegret and Cedric locked in Combat Bolton Exploring Flint Castle Debbie (Riverside) and Hendrik (Saxony) Saxon team on the Mersey Ferry We visited the Museum of Science and Industry The last photo outside my house
VISIT OF SAXONS TO ENGLAND 2016
For full results see results page.
8 players and two leaders arrived at Manchester Airport on time on Thursday morning 30th June. I met them with our church minibus – the first time I have driven it with anyone under 50 in it! As the day was good we decided to go to Flint Castle so the Saxon players could get some culture and also have a play. This was followed by fish and chips at a local café and a visit to Anfield. We then had the obligatory supermarket visit (Saxons are no different to English!) and went on to my house where we unpacked (except the 3 females who were staying with Ian and Glynis.) We all enjoyed a pizza meal before the ladies left and the “men” settled down to watch soccer. In fact it was so boring that no one bothered about extra time. The following morning after breakfast we met at Seacombe Ferry and went on the “Ferry ‘cross the Mersey”. The U Boat was closed so we spent an hour at Spaceport instead. In fact Hendrik, the German leader, was the only one who had been there before. Then it was down to the serious stuff. We spent the afternoon as guests of Riverside School, Wallasey and after being fed (fish and chips) we had a Saxons v Riverside soccer match (won 6-3 by Riverside) but then the Saxons took on all comers at chess and beat them all. They then played a Wirral team and beat them 15.5 – 0.5 before returning to my house for tea. They were not all forced to watch Welsh Wizardry (although most did) and then retired. Saturday saw the match v an England team. Sadly we had a large number of cry offs but those who came did really well. The first round ended 4-4 and after the first 4 games of round two it was 2-2. However the next two games were Saxon wins and a draw in the penultimate game gave the Saxons victory. This was confirmed by a win in the final game giving a score of 9.5-6.5 for the Saxons. We adjourned to Ian’s for a KFC before going home to watch the football.The Saxons were pleased and relieved by the result and, eventually retired to bed. On Sunday we left home, met Glynis and the girls at The Rocket and drove to Manchester. They spent the morning looking round the Museum of Science and Industry before having lunch there and starting the match. It was a 3.5 hour single round match against what looked like a strong Manchester team. However, the success of the soccer team seemed to have galvanised the chess players.and they played their best chess of the visit to win 6.5 - 1.5. We then moved to Salford Crescent McDonald’s where the kids at least enjoyed their meals – I do sound old! We then went to the Ukranian Club in Bolton where we had a rapid play. There were 15 of the players there but, although two clubs were invited no one else turned up. We had four rounds and Jamie Horton was our only 100% player. We then said our goodbyes and headed for home arriving at 2200 and going straight to bed. We packed in the morning and I dropped them off at Hamilton Square after an excellent 5 days.
- JUNIOR SQUAD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016
These were held over the weekend 2/3 April at Wokefield Park Berkshire. The venue proved very good with a helpful staff, good catering and plenty for the players to do between rounds both inside and outside. They were even encouraged to play football outside! We have had lots of good comeback from competitors and their families. We had 4 sections of which three are Squad Championships.
At U16 level we had 18 players and after three rounds James Kearney was lone leader on 3 with 6 players on 2. The U14s had 33 players and in round 4 Ethan Bains Gillespie met Dominic Miller as the only two 100% players. 3 players are on 2.5. The U12s was the largest section with 53 players but after 3 rounds only Ben Headlong and Rajeiv Ratnesan were on maximum points. 6 players were on 2.5. The U10s is for aspiring squad players but was certainly no less hard fought. Of 45 games played on Saturday only one was drawn! This left the top 4 seeds all on 3.Adam John, Ezra Brass, Dhruv Radhakrishnan and Jeff Tomy. There could be a lot of exciting chess Sunday.
Of the 9 players on 3 going in to round four only Dominic Miller (U14s) was a winner. This left the top pairings as U16; James Kearney (3.5) v Partha Mulay (2.5) and Gwilym Price (2.5) v Anshu Ramaiya (3). U14s; Dominic Miller (4) v Amardip Ahluwalia (3.5) and 6 players on 3. U12s saw Rajeiv Ratnesan v Ross Tselos (both 3.5) and Cheuk Nam Wong (3) v Ben Headlong (3.5). There were a further 12 on 3. At U10 level Ezra Brass v Dhruv Radhakrishnan and Jeff Tomy v Adam John were the top pairings (all 3.5) and there were 6 players on three.
The first section to finish was the U10s' We had one definite result on board two with Adam John winning and so becoming champion. Ezra Brass, Oliver Faulkner, Dhruv Radhakrishnan and Nishchal Thatte shared second place whilst Yabo Choong, Boris Stoyanov and Daniel Yu shared the grading prize.
The Under 14s was won outright by Dominic |Miller with 4.5. Ethan Bains-Gillespie and Amardip Ahluwalia shared second prize and Peter Isaksen, George Ivanov and Riyaan Yesudian shared 4th place. George Neale won the grading prize.
In the U12s top board was a draw so the way was open for Ben Headlong to come through and take first place - which he did! 4 players shared second place, Ranesh and Rajeiv Ratnesan, Ross Tselos and Armaan Gogia. Grading prizes were won by Edward Gray, Bathuran Kaya, Vidura Mandis and Charlie Metcalfe.
The u14s was the last to finish and this was won by James Kearney with Anshu Ramaiya and Rohan Yesudian runners up and Elliot Cocks, Thomas Finn, Partha Mulay and Karthik Velayudham sharing fourth place.
Frydek Mistek 2016
A party of 15 players, Amardip Ahluwalia, Robert Ashworth, Thomas Carroll, Freddie Coleman, George Harman, Nikhil Kadambadi, Gurveen Kapoor, Charlie and Thomas McLaren, Alfie Onslow, Oliver Thornley, Luke Vallis, Mikey Watson and Riyaan and Rohan Yesudian met Vice well on their way to gaining ratingstor Cross and Dave Welch at Stansted Airport. Security was tighter but the flight still ran to time and Vasek (plus bus) met us at Ostrava Airport. We went to Frydek where the hotel is in the old Mexican -Texas style (to quote Victor). The first evening was settling in and Wednesday is a social day with a visit to a blast furnace, shopping and swimming.
The tournament started. on Thursday with two rounds and by the end of the day we had Alfie, Amardip and Riyaan on 2, Luke and Nikhil on 1.5, Charlie, Freddie, George, Oliver and Thomas M on 1 and Gurveen, Mikey, Robert, Rohan and Thomas C on 0.5. Round three saw wins for Freddie, Gurveen, Luke, Robert and both Thomas' whilst Oliver and Riyaan claimed draws. We did even better in the afternoon getting a total of 9.5 points to easily top 50% for the day. Our current scores are Luke 3.5; Alfie and Amardip 3; Freddie, Nikhil and Riyaan 2.5; Charlie, George, Robert and both Thomas' 2; Gurveen, Mikey, Oliver and Rohan 1.5. There is only one round tomorrow and in the afternoon, there are simultaneous displays and various other chess based games and activities. At the end of round 5 Amardip was our leading player on 4 followed by Alfie and Luke on 3.5; Charlie, Freddie, George, Robert and Thomas C on 3; Mikey, Nikhil, Riyaan and Robert 2.5; Gurveen and Thomas M 2; Oliver 1.5. Hopefully the players will all have a restful and enjoyable afternoon and evening and arrive Sunday morning refreshed for the fray! Steady progress has been maintained with a further 9 points added to the total. Amardip remains our top scorer with 4.5 followed by Alfie, Charlie, Luke and Robert on 4. Freddie, Rohan and Thomas C are on 3.5; George, Mikey, Riyaan and Thomas M on 3; Gurveen, Nikhil and Oliver on 2.5. The afternoon saw a further 8 points gained and Amardip 2nd on 5.5 and Alfie 8th on 5. Both are in with chances of a prize tomorrow and we wish them the best of luck. The whole squad is doing well and our other scores are Charlie and Rohan 4.5; Luke, Robert and Thomas C 4; Freddie, Gurveen, Nikhil. Oliver, Riyaan and Thomas M 3.5, Mikey and George 3. Hopefully plenty of preparation will be done tonight and we look forward to the final battles tomorrow. We managed exactly 50% in the final round and Amardip retained second place with the top four boards all drawing. Our 3 unrated players are well on their way to gaining ratings and of our 12 rated players 9 have improved their ratings by 3 figures! The final results (with placings in brackets - all continental tournaments tie break all positions). Charlie 5.5 (10), Alfie 5 (11), Thomas C 5 (15), Rohan 5 (16), Luke 4.5 (19), Gurveen 4.5 (23), Freddie 4 (25), Nikhil 4 (26), Mikey 4 (29), Robert 4 (31), George 4 (35), Riyaan 3.5 (37), Thomas M 3.5 (39), Oliver 3.5 (40). There were a total of 58 players in the section.
The programme now is social, bowling this afternoon then, probably a car museum ion the final morning and perhaps some last minute shopping on the way back to the airport. Arrival at Stansted is 1910 (7.10pm) Tuesday 29th. Please do be on time to collect your son.
as some of you might have guessed we had email problems. Victor worked hard, sometimes until after midnight, to get emails to me. I did not recieve one! I used a Czech website with help from a friend. After all his hard work it is only right to publish the full account. Here goes!
Tuesday 22/3
Despite the Brussels situation and the French air traffic controllers' strike we arrived safely and on time in Ostrava. There was an obvious increased security presence at Stanstead but our progress was unimpeded. Vasek met us with a coach at the airport and took us to our hotel. The style reminds me of where Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid, with Spanish / Mexican decorations all around. We had one of our usual team meetings in our biggest room which happens to be the bridal suite! Tomorrow is a blast furnace, shopping and swimming.
Wednesday 23/3/16
Last night we enjoyed a meal at at fast food restaurant in the new shopping mall. The majority of us ordered chicken and chips, at 7p.m. At 8p.m. We were still eating when the lights around were dimmed and the centre closed the entrances. The team had eaten all the chips and more had to be put on for the management. After a meeting we retired to bed looking forward to a full day on Wednesday.
There was plenty of choice in the hotel breakfast and we met the coach to go to a new attraction for the Squad. The blast furnace at Vitkovice. We were treated to a three hour tour of a combined coal mine and iron works, all above ground, including ascending the observation tower 72m above the ground. We also went inside the blast furnace. Yes it had cooled down nicely since ceasing production ten years ago. We learned a lot and followed in the footsteps of Usain Bolt who was a previous visitor during an Ostrava Diamond League meet.
Lunch in a nearby cafe, chicken and chips again, was followed by an afternoon in which we were let loose in an enclosed shopping park. The only surprise was that Victor resisted the urge to buy more cycling equipment.
Swimming was the last major item on our itinerary and we enjoyed an hour and a half at the Olesna Dam aquapark near Frydek-Mistek. The two flumes were hardly underused and the time flew by.
We returned to the National House, the tournament venue and restaurant to pay our entry fees and eat our evening meal.
After a short geography lesson and supermarket raid it was back to the hotel and a meeting which turned tourists back into chess players. We had acclimatised, soaked up some industrial history and science and now it was down to the serious business of accumulating points for the Squad over the chess board.
Thursday 24/3/16
Breakfast again at 8:00 followed by a refreshing walk over the bridge and through the park. The chess opening ceremony began with stirring music and was conducted in several languages. Sponsors logos adorned the backdrop, with flags and trophies all around. Soon the formalities were over and the chess began. Team and individual targets were given out at lunchtime and after lunch at the chess we played round 2 at 15:00. As managers we very much enjoyed analysing games with the team and as more of the Squad gathered round it became a very high powered brainstorming session! Ten of our players were drawn to play their team-mates and only five played foreigners.
After two rounds we have scored 16.5 points and after the team target has been adjusted to allow for the clashes we are about half a point ahead of the predicted score. A very good first quarter of the event. We have been challenged to play football against the Belarus team as usual so we need to get some practice. Other chess organisers we know have greeted us warmly and friendships renewed. We postponed our walk to Frydek square for a good reason: some of our round three games were so long we were the last team to eat and didn't have time afterwards. We had a short meeting at the hotel, a little free time and then some much needed sleep. Victor's "Game of the week was played today by Riyaan Yesudian. Enjoy the Benoni!
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.Nd2 Bg7 8.e4 O-O 9.Be2 Na6 10.O-O Nc7 11.f4 Rb8 12.a4 Re8 13.Kh1 Bd7 14.Re1 h5 15.h3 Ng4 16.Qc2 Qh4 17.Nf3 Qg3 18.hxg4 hxg4 19.Be3 gxf3 20.Bxf3 b5 21.axb5 Nxb5 22.Qd2 Nd4 23.Rxa7 Rxb2 24.Qxb2 Qxe1+ 25.Bg1 Nxf3 26.gxf3 Bd4 27.Qh2 Kg7 0-1
Friday 25/3/16
Today began with an eight o'clock breakfast as usual. I was still playing over the last few moves of Riyaan's Benoni win yesterday and mentally admiring their destructive beauty. When he showed us yesterday evening we had all clapped spontaneously. Pairings are now available on the web so players at breakfast were comparing their knowledge of our opponents and discussing variations.
We had been challenged yesterday by the Belarus team to a game of football so we stopped briefly on the way to the chess to look at the football "stadium".
At the board we found the going tougher than yesterday but showed our usual tenacity in defence to score seven points, leaving us -0.46 behind the adjusted target. After lunch a small detachment accompanied my on a football hunt. The older well established shops were closing for easter but the new malls were fully operational. We eventually made a shrewd purchase and returned for the afternoon round. We played some of our best fighting chess in round four and scored 9.5, our highest yet. We had scored 16.5 on each day so far, showing great consistency. We were now 0.9 ahead of our target after allowimg for clashes between ourselves.
On the way back we had a 7/8 a side match by streetlights and moonlight to prepare us for the Belarus match.
At the meeting we discussed the grandmaster simul and eleven people expressed a wish to take part. We had been given only six places so a raffle will be held tomrrow to decide.
After the meeting we had a little free time before own rooms and bedtime. To date none of our players has been brave enough to enter the chess themed drawing competition. Maybe tomorrow.....
Saturday 26/3/16
Today began with breakfast at 8:00 as usual followed by the only game of the day at 9:00. We had another solid round and scored 8.5 points putting us 1.375 ahead of our target when adjusted for all-squad clashes.
After lunch we split up into those lucky enough to win one of our allocated places in the simuls against the titled players and those who didn't and went to play football in the park. We had our best ever return in the simuls with 5 wins out of 7 against the local IM or GM Stohl.
The winners were Thomas Carroll, Rohan Yesudian, Nikhil Kadambadi, Mikey Watson and Freddie Coleman.
After a short break we attended the performance which consisted of dancing, Taeqwando, a trapeze artist and tbe two rook mascots of the event dancing and teasing the tombola winmers.
After dinner at the National House we went on a short walk to Frydek Square and saw Frydek Castle, the statues of St.Folrian and St.John of Nepomuc, various churches, a school and the town hall.
Sunday 27/3/16
We were well aware that the clocks would go forward on Sunday so we had a short meeting and went to bed half an hour earlier than usual.
We were relieved to see everyone at breakfast on time. The clocks had gone forward and one room seemed to be working in two different time zones simultaneously. We played well and with great determination in the morning round scoring nine points. This put us 2.35 points ahead of the adjusted target. In the afternoon we had nine players with flags on their board, a record for this year. We scored eight points for a daily total of 17, our best of the event. With one round to go we are 2.09 ahead of schedule. Several individual targets have been reached with one round to go. I am sure football at lunchtime helped get some fresh air into our lungs ready for the afternoon. The match with the Belarus team looks in jeopardy as I have been unable to find their organiser for two days. In the team competition our three teams are separated by only one point and rivalry on another front has been provoked. We discussed the team competition at our team meeting , along with the status of our targets. We were slightly earlier to bed tonight because the round starts at 8:00 tomorrow morning.
Monday 28/3/16
For a team that had just put the clocks forward an hour, today began too soon with breakfast at seven. The last round began at eight and we still needed 6.5 points to reach our target. We had one on the stage (Amardip) in second place and playing for a main prize. Seven players were in positions to have flags on their boards and there were two all England games. The last round was hard fought with many long games and at the end we had scored 7.5 points. To the great delight of the team, when the allowance for Squad v.Squad games is taken into account we finished 1.45 points ahead of target. Amardip played well under the pressure of a live game on the stage and managed to protect his second place.
The prize giving with the two rooks in costume cavorting around was as usual entertaining. We saw Amardip collect a diploma and select from the available prizes for his second place. Gurveen won a raffle prize as did Nikhil but we were uncompetitive in the Miss Frydek-Mistek competition.
A quick change of clothing followed and after a game of football in the park we walked to the Riviera bowling alley which we have used before and met Vasek and his wife of four days, Kate. You now get three hours for the price of two so you can guess hold long we stayed. It was good to meet Vasek's family again and catch up with what they had been up to since last year.
We had no regular plan for eating tonight so we patronized McDonalds next to our hotel. At our daily meeting we celebrated our success in the achievement of our various targets and reviewed our process for packing up. Bed followed soon after and a lie-in tomorrow beckoned , at least for short while.
Tuesday 29/3/16
An eight o'clock breakfast was a luxury today on a trip where every day seemed to be in a different time zone. By 09:45 we were leaving the hotel with rooms checked and heading for the bus station, trundling our cases behind us. Most cases had gained weight since the outward flight due to the increased chocolate content. We arrived at the Tatra car museum for our 11:00 tour with an english speaking guide, the same one as last year. She took us round and told us about the history and design of the exhibits. Then we were allowed to explore the inside of the Tatra round the world vehicle. She must have been confident that if it could survive 37 months of arduous conditions, it would probably survive an encounter with the Squad. There then followed an intensive course in car maintenance from Dave and Victor using the exhibits as props.
Just outside there was an Albert supermarket and we made a quick raid to get food to eat later on the journey. Then we boarded the bus for a restaurant lunch in Stramberk. The tower there is up a steep slope with a commanding view of the countryside so it was an opportunity not to be missed, despite the tower itself being closed until April. At the best vantage point there was a quick geography lesson from Victor, including of all things the Gloucester cheese rolling championships! I am pleased to report the steps on the way down are much improved since our last visit which I am sure will please any Welsh readers.
The coach then took us to the airport for our return flight. We were the only plane to take off for three hours so the departure lounge was hardly crowded and we progressed easily through the various stages. The flight back was pretty smooth, as was passport control and baggage reclaim. Soon we had given out reports, said our thanks and goodbyes and reunited the players with their parents. Thanks to the players for their efforts and their team spirit and to David Welch for everything he did to make the trip such a success.
Victor Cross
30.3.16- PLEASE NOTE. SQUAD SUBS ARE DUE.YOU SHOULD ALL RECEIVE A LETTER IN EARLY MARCH
- Below is our team after the first match Some of Thursday's prize winners More prize winners!! from left Remy, Federico
including Calum S, James and Lucy and Calum S - Lara and Yaqub are among the prize winners The "horrid white stuff" but it is pretty! Federico, Callum, James, Elizabeth, Jake, Remy, The whole group at the end of the tournament Jackson. Our prize winners in Trzebinia 16
Trip to Chrzanow and Trzebinia
At the usual early hour Lucy Bennet-Stevens; Calum Brewer; Ben Dible; Daniel Finn; Thomas Finn; Jake Holton; Oliver Howell; Dylan Hung; Peter Isaksen; Elizabeth Ivanov; James Kearney; Lara Mallin; Oscar Pollack; Federico Rocco; Remy Rushbrooke; Yaqub Saeed; Calum Salmons; Juju Samworth-Calvier and Jackson Wen met Glynis Purland and Ian Burford at Gatwick foor the Easyjet flight to Krakow. The flight was slightly delayed over German airspace and on landing the group went to their B&B and also the local Tesco to stock up. (English chess players are, in the main, not adventurous foodwise!). After lunch at the school we had a two round match against Chrzanow County. There were a lot of close games and they had strong players on the top boards but our strength in depth counted and we won 24-14. Individual scores were:- 2 - Lucy, Oliver, Dylan, James. Lara, Federico, Remy and Juju. 1.5 - Elizabeth. 1 - Calum B, Daniel, Thomas, Peter, Yaqub and Calum S. 0.5 - Jake 0- Ben, Oscar and Jackson. You will see a photo after the match. Please note - if by any chance you do not notice your child in this (or any other) photo it does not mean they are in hospital, kidnapped or anything sinister. Glynis is not a professional photographer! And sorry to sound pedantic but yes it has caused unnecessary panic before!
Thursday was an excellent day.. All the players joined in lessons with Polish kids. They had maths, geography and an hours Drama lesson. Both Polish and English enjoyed. themselves a lot. In the afternoon we visited the Civic Hall and met the Mayor who loved our gift (a signed drawing of Birkenhead Town Hall from the squad. We then played an 11 round 3mn+1 tournament. along with 65 Polish children. We won loads of trophies and prizes!!! (but I do not have details for certain so will append them later. Our totals were as follows:- 7.5 Calum B; 7 James and Federico; 6.5 Lucy and Calum S; 6 Dylan, Oscar and Remy 5.5 Daniel, Thomas, Peter and Yaqub; 5 Jake, Oliver, Elizabeth, Lara, Juju and Jackson; 4.5 Ben.
Friday was our social day. We went to Bochnia ( which I think are salt mines) and it was excellent especially for the kids. All found it very enjoyable. We then went on to Krakow but the weather was terrible so we had a late lunch in Gallery. We walked to the Cloth Hall (which usually has lots of chess sets for sale) and had 45minutes there. We heard the bugler, who plays every day in memory of the bugler shot by the Mongols as he warned the town of their prescence, The weather was too bad for him to be even out of the window !!!! He actually plays from the top of Mariakirche. To quote Glynis "horrid white stuff came down and stuck so we took 2 hours to get back from Krakow!!!" This evening the kids are preparing for the big tournament tomorrow.
Saturday saw the start of the tournament and was a day of mixed fortunes for us. No one in C, D or E are on 5!!!! (Not sure what these are - ed) We could win all 3 sections but.......!!!!!
We had snowballing after the chess followed by swimming. The slide proved very popular. We then had a gorgeous meal of spag boll/ mushroom enchilladas in our B & B. Everything including 2nds polished off. This is excellent for an English group. Now the scores
4 - Callum B, James, Federico, Remy. 3 - Lucy, Thomas, Jake, Oscar, Callum S, Jackson. 2.5 - Oliver, Elizabeth, Yaqub. 2 - Daniel, Peter. 1.5 - Lara, Juju. 1 - Ben. 0 - Dylan.
The final day was "fabulous" to quote Glyn. We have done very well and I append the results below. There is a picture of the prize winners which, apart from the top three also include Elizabeth, Jake and Jackson in group E and Remy in group C. No doubt there will be some celebrations tonight and tomorrow they are travelling home and due to arrive Gatwick 1420 (2.20pm).
Group C 33 players(Under 12 I think) Remy10th 5pts: Group D 27 players (Under 14?) Federico 2nd 7 pts, Yaqub 12th-5; Oliver 13th-5; Oscar 14th-4.5; Lucy 15th-4.5; Juju 16th -4.5; Peter 19th-4; Lara 21-4; Daniel 22-4; Callum 24-3.5; Ben 26-2 Group E 16 players (U16?) Callum 1st-6.5; James 2nd-6; Jake 5th-5.5; Jackson 6th 5.5; Elizabeth 8th-5; Thomas 11th-4.5; Dylan 14th-2.5.- London Junior Championships
Squad players did well in the London Junior Championships in December and the following are to be congratulated on winning their sections. U16 Pranav Chauhan, U14 Dominic Miller & Ilya Misura, U12 Jason Covey & Anita Somton. (Am I allowed to add a Welshman Chirag Guha was also joint champion?) - We are hosting a web page for the NYCA. Please go to "more" and NYCA. Many squad members play in their competitions and so we are very happy to help out. Pete
- NEW MEMBERS
The Yateley Manor tournament proved a happy hunting ground for aspiring squad members. In the U16s Cassie Graham and Jacob Watson both qualified, at U14 Juju Samworth-Calvier was successful whilst in the youngest tournament Nadia Jaufarally gained her second norm. Well done to all four players.
At the London Junior in December Thomas Carroll (U14), Adam Bennett, Batuan Kaya, Kishan Modi and Anita Somton (U12) all qualified for the squad. We congratulate them and hope they enjoy their time in the squad and benefit from our trips.
We would like to congratulate the following players who gained their second norms in the British Rapidplay at Leeds this weekend (31/10-1/11)
Lucy Bennet-Stevens, Gurveen Kapoor and Arushi Ramaiya.
Half norms were gained by Adam Bennett, Thomas Carroll, Juju Samworth-Calvier and Jacob Watson. -
TRIP TO ROTTERDAM OCTOBER 2015
Firstly apologise about the tardyness of the update and also the disjointedness. The trip was led by Victor Cross and Dawn Burroughs. They did an excellent job and did email me reports and photos. I, meanwhile, was on the High Seas and the email reception and usage was pretty awful. I am now in a hotel in Seville and am trying to get something on (no chance of photos) but hopefully all the text is on.
Saturday 24.10.15
Breakfast at 8.15 followed by a short walk to the tram stop. We joined the Russian team from Murmansk for a city tour on a historic tram. For an hour and a half we enjoyed the sights of Rotterdam with its unique architecture complemented by an informative commentary, in english.
We then arrived at the venue and saw the excellent playing conditions with all the live game technology in place. A high quality cold buffet with salad and hot spicy soup followed and after a short opening ceremony where the sponsors Basamro were mentioned as much as possible it was down to the serious business of playing Russians at chess. Their ratings led us to believe they were good and on this occasion ther were not wrong. We lost 7-1, Asha being the star of the show with a win. Her reward was an interview by the Russian tv crew who followed their team's every move. Yes, an interpreter was provided. I was then ambushed by the camera brandishing team. I will never know what the interpreter said on my behalf but we all smiled and shook hands at the end.
After the library closed to the public the atrium entrance was set up for dinner and we enjoyed the company of the Dutch and the Russians. We would have enjoyed the company of the French too had they been there but by the time they arrived we had finished our main course and some had even had seconds.
After dinner we had a nine round blitz tournament, cut to eight because we were being chucked out of the library!
We enjoyed lots of good and exciting games but did not feature in the prizes.
After a full day we had a short meeting in the hotel and retired earlier to bed. We had to change our watches again tonight because the clocks went back. Miraculously everyone arrived for breakfast on time on Sunday morning. Sunday 25.10
Breakfast at 7.45 then a short refreshing walk to the venue. Sending the free postcards we were given yesterday was easy. The hotel stamp and post them for you for the princely sim of 1 euro. You don't get that at the hostel. The postcards were pictures of a special chess set. The pieces were scale models of real buildings in Rotterdam which gives you a taste of the unusual designs in the city.
The match with Rotterdam had many exciting and double edged games. George produced a nice sacrificial finish and we were leading for some time. Ollie Howell fought back well from a pawn down to draw but when the score stood at 1.5-4.5 a strange whistling noise started coming from the pipes/air conditioning, we never did find out which. Oliver Willson's game was paused and resumed in an upstairs room. The increment used plus the time lost in moving meant the last round would start 70 minutes later than scheduled. The salad and rolls were the same as yesterday and just as delicioua. The soup was a darker and thus even more dangerous colour especially for those wearing white shirts.
All the afternoon games were to take place in the room upatairs. The technology was moved again along with the soft drink/coffee bar. The only toilets available now required a pass key on a swipe card, which everyone shared. There was no source of water for the new bar but Dawn ensured all our team had water at the board. No coded messages were exchanged.
Paris were our opponents this afternoon. They had won both of their matches but by narrow margins, 5-3 and 4.5-3.5. 4/4 on the top two boards disguised a score below 50% from the rest so we went into the match with hope.
They were raised further when George capitalised on a bogus mate by his opponent. Suzie entertained us with a three pawns for a bishop ending which was blockaded into a draw. Ollie Willson drew, having played from 9.00 until 4.45 with only a 15 min lunch break. Eva finished the day off in style with a king side attack, while sheltering her own king behind an enemy pawn she could have captured on f2. Although losing the match 3-5, collectively we played our best chess against the tournament winners.
We were on our own again in the evening and booked tables in a pizza restaurant for after the prize-giving. The prizes, funded by Basamro a global shipping, transport and logistics company, were very generous. Every player & manager received a trophy as did each of the teams. We were placed fourth and were invited to play next year in Murmansk, the last of the four events Basamro initially agreed to sponsor and alternate between Russia and Holland.
Pictures of new friends were taken and we finally saw the last of the ubiquitous tv crew from Russian tv.
The rest of the evening was spent in a pizza restaurant with pictures of Silvio Berlesconi and Enzo Ferrari on the wall. It was debatable which one had driven more people roumd the bend, the food however was good. The standard of consumption was so high that several GM ( gastronome magnifique) norms should have been awarded.
After some McFlurries on the way back we had a short meeting followed by bed. - EPSCA Schools' Entry form can be found on the entry forms page. Go to more then entry form on the top bar.
- Playing Hall at the Caleta Toby is, perhaps the less attractive but WON! Kevin on his way to a win over Aditya Davies v Davis The beauty of St Michael's Cave
- Trip to Gibraltar Summer 2015
On Thursday 20th August 17 boys joined Ian Campbell, Ian Hughes and Rachel Bold at Heathrow for the annual trip to Gibraltar. As Glynis and Ian have Glynis' daughters wedding in Slovenia at the end of the month the two Ians were deputising. Ian Cambell is a regular Gibraltar coach with over 20 visits under his belt and Ian Hughes is EPSCA Treasurer, a serving teacher who has taken many chess trips for school and squad. Our team was; Amardip Ahluwalia, Hajane Ambukumar, Jason Covey, Alex Davies, Holden Davis, Matthew Forster, James Golding, Nikolai Hinterreither, Nikhil Kadambadi, Koby Kalavannan, Mark Kenyon, William Lovell , Shyam Modi, Alfie Onslow, Anshu Ramaiya, Federico Rocco, Kartik Velayudham and Kevin Ye. In fact Nikolai has a house in Spain so joined us for the Blitz. The flight and pick up at the airport went smoothly so we all managed to join 76 others in the Blitz. Our final results were; Holden, James, Koby and Alfie 5pts (3=); Amardip, Matthew, Nikhil, Federico and Kevin 4pts (13=); Mark and Anshu 3.5pts (31=), Hajane, Jason, Alexander, Nikolai, William and Kartik 3pts (36=), Shyam 2pts (66=). Friday morning we were all ready for the arrival of the minister by 1000 but he was delayed and in the end his deputy made the opening moves. Then it was down to business for a two round day. In the U16s Koby finished the day on two, Hajane, Alexander, Matthew, James, Nikolai, Nikhil, Alfie, Anshu, Federico and Kartik were all on one, Mark was on a half whilst Holden and William have yet to score. At U12 level Amardip, Jason and Shyam are on two, Kevin on 1.5. In the evening we had Master classes. The two English ones were by David Howell and Jovanka Houska and all (including me) attended and enjoyed learning more endings. Saturday morning was round three with total scores as follows:.In the U16s Koby was on 3; Anshu and Federico were on 2; Hajane, Matthew, Nikolai, and Kartik were on 1.5; Alexander, Holden, James, Nikhil, William and Alfie, were on one, Mark was on a half. At U12 level Amardip, and Shyam are on 3, Jason on 2 and Kevin on 1.5. In the afternoon 14 of the boys went on a "Beach experience " at Both Worlds (5 minutes up the road) whilst the other 4 went on a Rock Tour. Sunday was another two round day and by the end of the day our scores were U16s Koby was on 4; Hajane 3.5; Federico and James 3; Alfie, Holden and Nikolai on 2.5; Anshu, Matthew, Kartik and Mark on 2; Alexander 1.5 and Nikhil and William 1. At U12 level Amardip maintained his perfect score with Jason on 4 and Kevin and Shyam on 3.5. In the evening we had a repeat of the Master Class with David and Jovanka dealing with "our" players. Sadly I was unable to stay but they did seem to be enjoying themselves. I hope to get a group photo tomorrow but it might be a week or so before I can get it on to the web. I had to borrow someone to get these on. Our final results were as follows: U16 4= Hajane; 7= Koby, Federico; 11= James; 19= Holden; 25= Anshu, Nikolai, Matthew, Mark, Alfie, and Kartik; 34=William and Alexander. 42; Nikhil. The top 11 got prizes and this included Daniel Gallagher 7= and Luke Remus Elliot 11= who had travelled with their families. At U12 Amardip was 2=; Jason 5=; Kevin and Shyam 8=. In fact all four of our players got prizes as did squad members Oliver Howell, Aditya Munshi and Jake Bains-Gillespie who were 8=. In the afternoon the players went on a Dolphin trip and, apparently, many dolphins were seen but sadly directors have other priorities!! The gala dinner and prize giving was in the evening and went very well with a fair amount of money coming England's way. I have to leave early tomorrow morning but the boys will have a chance to shop and\or play on the beach. Please do remember to be at Heathrow on time (1850). Thanks for all your support and my thanks to Ian, Ian and Rachel. - British Championships Warwick University 2015
This year's championships were held inland at Warwick University. There was a good entry from the juniors which reflected the central position of the venue although being inland does have disadvantages for families. However overall the figures,were a record for the championships (1193). Playing conditions were very good and there was plenty of space for eating, waiting and analysing. One point Aber did score on however was the weather!
I write this from the squad point of view which means that U10s and below are not currently in our orbit, although we do hope to see many of the top players in the squad in future years. The first week saw three tournaments where squad members take part and the Under 11s is where many of our new young members play. This year it was won with a perfect score by Aditya Verma from Essex and he has now joined squad whilst the two runners up were Chirag Guha (Wales) and Adithya Paleri (a year 5). However the U13s was a different story. with all five main prize winners; Koby Kalavannan (1st), Nugith Jayawarna (2nd) and Ilya Misyura, Oscar Pollock and Jonah Willow (all 3=) plus joint girls champion Sharon Daniel; being squad members. Similarly the U15s was dominated by squad players with the winner being Danny Gallagher, and joint runners up Callum Brewer, Elliot Cocks, Joshua Fernandes and Girinath Haridas all being members. We congratulate all these players on their fine performances. Also worthy of our congratulations are our new and aspirin members. Rajeiv Ratnesan put the disappointments of the trial behind him when getting his second half norm at the first opportunity and we welcome him in to the squad. First half norms were gained by Cassie Graham in the U15s and in the U11s by Nadia Jaufarally, Abishek Thakar and Param Vyas. We wish them well in their quest for further success. So ended the first week and a good one it was. The second week saw a further three tournaments for squad members and, again, many players did well. The U12 title was shared by Mahima Raghavendra, Aditya Verma (who won two tournaments, scored 50% in the major open and 50% in the open rapidplay. 35 games in two weeks!) and Harvey Zhang (Under 10). Under 14 was won by Jake Holton with Ellliot Cocks, Koby Kalavannan, Dominic Miller, Anshu Ramaiya and Max Turner all joint runners up. All 6 are squad members. The U16s was won by Michael Ashworth with Taran Jina, Sam Herring (three squad members) and Billy Twigge-Molecey runners up. We congratulate all these players and their performances. We also welcomed in to the squad Abishek Thakar who persuaded his parents to let him stay an extra week and gained his second norm in the U12s. Kishan Modi and Jem Gurner also gained half norms. Well done to all of you. I think this has been a marvellous fortnight and we would like to thank all involved in the congress which has given many of our members a thoroughly enjoyable time. - Group at Chrzanow
- Regional Matches v Wales
As usual, these were held over the last weekend of the May half term at The Grange School in Monmouth. We are grateful to the Thomas' for allowing us to use such excellent facilities. On the Saturday there were two EPSCA matches at U10 level. Our boys won 14.5-4.5 but the girls lost 2.5-9.5.The other two matches saw teams from the South East taking on Wales.The U12 match sees a predominantly U11 team playing and the Welsh U12s are very strong. However our strength in depth told so, although we lost 7-9 on the top 8 boards which included some excellent matches, we only dropped half a point on the bottom 4 boards to see us home 14.5-9.5. In fact the top 8 were so hard fought that only Duncan MacDonald (believe it or not a Welshman!) scored 2 points. It was a different story at U14 level where we had a good team out and they played really well dropping only 3.5 points out of 24.(Full results see results page) At this point I would like to thank Ian Hughes of EPSCA who came down from Warrington to look after the two EPSCA teams. The Squad owes a great thanks to Mike Forster who not only arranged the U14 team but managed both squad teams. It should be noted that his son was actually in Poland and so was not playing. This dedication is what keeps the squad going! Sunday saw two teams from the SW arrive and, again, a parent, Mike McLaren, had organised this and also did the managing. Both Mikes have agreed to continue for another year. At U12 level SW only had one squad player and it was to be expected that a stronger Welsh team than yesterday would win and so it proved: the score being, 8-4 in both rounds. However some of the non squad players in both teams did very well and we hope to see more of them. I must say the U14s were a little disappointing and I feel sure they will know this was a match they should have won. In round one the 7 squad players picked up 1 point (two draws) and the team went down 3.5-8.5. In round two they rallied strongly and won the round 7-5 (squad players getting 5 points) but it was too little too late and Wales won 13.5-10.5. I am sure the team will return next year thirsting for revenge!! - Trip to Chrzanow May 2015
On Saturday 23rd May a party of 12 squad members, Amardip Ahluwalia, Ethan Bains-Gillespie, Jake Bains-Gillespie, Freddie Coleman, Matthew Forster, Oliver Howell, George Ivanov, Gautam Jain, James Kearney, Oliver Thornley, Alex Van Lint and Jackson Wen met Victor Cross and Dave Welch at Stansted Airport for the flight to Katowice where we were met by our old friends from School 8 in Chrzanow. As it was a late arrival Sunday saw the first of the chess and we played 3 rounds of the individual FIDE rated tournament leaving 5 still to play. The opposition in this is of mixed age and during the day the squad made their first "raid" on the local shop as all the supermarkets were closed (presidential election I am told). The shopkeeper must have thought it was Christmas the amount of money she took! There are three more rounds tomorrow plus swimming at the school. Breakfast and Dinner are at the hotel and all the group have eaten well whilst even lunch which was a Polish takeaway, went down well. It is great not to have fussy eaters on the trip and so much easier for our hosts. Scores after three rounds are as below:-
Matthew 3; Gautam and James 2.5; George and Jackson 2; Amardip and Ethan 1.5, Jake , Freddie, Alex and two Olivers 1.
Monday saw a further three rounds of the tournament after which the group went for a swim. They had an hour in the pool which, although a school pool, would put many English leisure centres to shame (I have been in it!). Again the players have eaten well which after some problems in February is very pleasing! Current scores are:-
Gautam 5; Matthew 4.5; James and Jackson 4; Amardip, George and Alex 3.5; Jake, Freddie and Oliver H 3; Ethan 2.5; Oliver T 1.5
Tuesday was a very full day. Breakfast at school followed by a practical physics lesson; surface tension in liquids, light experiments, static electricity, pressures, not forgetting electro magnets. As if that waa not enough we moved on to maths: reciprocals followed by practical work with Mobius strips. We were also the guests of honour at a school assembly. We introduced ourselves, I said some suitably complimentary things about the Director and our special relationship with Chrzanow and the team shook hands with everyone present. Some of them said to me it was quite an experience being treated as a celebrity. Then we attended the town hall for an audience with the mayor. He talked to all of us, gave us all a gift bag and allowed us to pay a visit to his office.Then we returned to school for round seven, the last of the FIDE tourament. We scored 7.5 out of 12 and recorded a third place overall, plus several age group prize winners. Final scores were:-
Gautam,(3rd) Jackson (4th) and James (5th) 5; Matthew (2nd U14), George (3rd U14) and Alex 4.5; Oliver H 4 (2nd U12); Amardip (3rd U12), Ethan and Jake 3.5; Freddie 3; Oliver T 2.3.
On Wednesday we met the coach at 06:30 and after a quick breakfast at the school we drove to the salt mine at Bochnia which only David had visited previously. It is still a UNESCO world heritage site but is different from it's close neighbour the salt mine at Wielicka. There are fewer carvings done by the miners in their spare time but more use of audio visual aids to tell the history of the mine and the development of mining techniques over time. Mining here started 767 years ago. Our guide watches english comedy series in his spare time and it showed; he was excellent.
The roads had been particularly kind and we did arrive one hour early. After getting up so early I didn't have the heart to tell the players but many did enjoy a second breakfast / first lunch in the snack bar outside the mine. When inside there was also the delight of a wooden slide of 105m in length which some of our team enjoyed three goes on.
After 3.5 hours underground we emerged to travel to Krakow. The roads were not kind here and at a suitable point we jumped out because it was faster than driving. We ate at the Galeria which has a food hall to cater for all tastes and then suitably refuelled we headed for souveneir heaven in the Sukienice or cloth hall in the Rynek or town square, the biggest in Europe. That was followed by a walk to the castle and the dragon down by the River Vistula left us in a fit state to collapse, happy but exhausted onto our minibus seats for the return journey to Chrzanow and then our hotel in Jaworzno. After a very full day I am sure we all slept soundly! It was good to learn a little about Polish history and culture to go alongside the chess experience in a different environment so we heard about the king who was saved by a spider, the brothers competing to build the highest tower and the attack of the Tartars which precipitated the bugler's fate.
Thursday began with breakfast at school folllowed by an hour in the computer suite. Some played stick cricket, others tried their hand at programing games. Then we were taken on a guided walk around Chrzanow by Marta and her students. We enjoyed ice creams in the town square where the Mayor was watching rehearsals of dances for the days of Chrzanow festival at the weekend. After lunch at school we played a six a side match with rolling substitutions against their pupils. The match lasted over an hour and we won 8-7. Well done England!
Then it was back inside to get ready to play team blitz chess. The format was a teams of 4, seven round swiss with match points the main decider. We were asked to name our teams after regions of England so we chose Sussex, England South and Central England. One team contained the local IM coach, the headteacher and the two arbiters. Despite this one of our teams won the event by half a game point after being equal on match points. Overall our teams came first, fourth and sixth out of eleven. The team with the IM came third. We won two of the four board prizes, Amardip for board 2 and Alex for board 4. The winners received 50plz each and the fourth place team received computer mice.
A very successful day ended with dinner at school and the usual bus ride back to the hotel in Javorzno.
Team Bl
Sussex First, 11 points 20.5 games: Matthew;Amardip;Oliver H;Freddie.
Central England Fourth, 9 points, 19 games James;Ethan;Jake;Oliver T.
England South Sixth, 7 points, 18 games Gautam;Jackson;George;Alex;
Well done Sussex!
We met at 7:10 for an early breakfast at school. The Daniel Sadziechowski IM simul then began. He took on 39 players and lost none, drew five (all to England). Oliver Howell, Ethan Bains-Gillespie, Amardip Ahluwalia, Gautam Jain and Freddie Colemam were the only ones to draw.
Then to the aquathlon (swimming and running combined) in which Matthew, Freddie and Gautam were brave enough to take part. As usual the pool was hot and ice creams went down very well. After swimming and lunch the running took place. Times were combined leaving Matthew first in his age group and Gautam second. Obviously we are not just a chess team!
Then we came to the climax of the visit, the match against Chrzanow including the Dyrector and the arbiting team. Scoring heavily on the lower boards with some close contests higher up we won both rounds with a final score of 17.5-8.5. Everyone was presented with named plaques and bags of tourist information to remember the occasion.
The day concluded with a barbecue of sour soup and sausages in the school grounds. Then we set our minds to packing.....
Our last day began with checking rooms and moving large quantities of luggage, presents and prizes to the minibus. We left the hotel at 7:45 to have breakfast at school. The minibus then took us to the war memorial square where a large celebration called the three daya of Chrzanow was taking place, including our last chess tournament. The time control was 3 min and 2 seconds a move. Nine rounds were played with the team scoring consistently and well. We scooped all the U12 and U14 prizes to round the trip off in style.
The minibus then returned us to school for lunch and fortunately the forecast thunder storm arrived while we were eating. After passing an hour playing exchange in the chess room we decided ww could trust the weather and returned to the square for Polish sausages, waffles, ice creams and fairground rides.
Dinner awaited us in school and then after a send off with photographs and flag waving from Marta and the Dyrector we headed for the airport. Katowice is small but perfectly formed and consequently very efficient. They even found some scissors that Stansted had missed in a compartment the player didn't know he had! The plane left on time for a scheduled flight of two hours and five minutes. We were thus cut off from the wi fi at the airport bringing good news to the Arsenal supporters.
On landing, passports, baggage reclaim and meeting parents went smoothly.
Thanks to Dave Welch for his invaluable input to the trip and to the team for bonding so well.
My personal thanks to everyone involved and especially Victor for all the effort he put in. PWP - Group at Anselm Mine The atmospheric Wash House Anselm Mine players relaxing Anselm Mine
The Show Frydek Mistek James (winner) and Callum at prize giving Team with prizes Frydek Mistek - TRIP TO FRYDEK MISTEK 2015
Tuesday 31st March
18 players, Niall Ali, Gabriel and Reuben Balouka Myers, Callum Brewer, Daniel and Thomas Finn, Nikolai Hinterreither, Jake Holton, Dylan Hung, Dominic Klingher, William Lovell, Shobhin Manocha, Dominic Miller, Shayam Modi, James Moreby, Partha Mulay, Alfie Onslow and Luke Vallis met Dawn Burroughs, Victor Cross and Peter Purland at Stansted Airport for our annual trip to the Czech Republic. We had a smooth flight arriving only 10 minutes late and Vasek Holusa was waiting there with a coach to take us to the Hotel Centrum which was to be our base for the week, The first evening was spent unpacking, eating and going over important rules, programmes etc.
Wednesday 1st April
No one thought of any pranks this morning as we headed off to the Anselm Mine. This closed in 1991 and reopened 2 years later as a museum. We had an English speaking guide, Daniel, and started off underground where we saw the evolving methods of winning the coal. I was pleased with the sensible questions many of the boys asked. After about 45 minutes there we went to the Mine Rescue Centre Museum and as well as looking at various methods we also had a go at their practise course which the players thoroughly enjoyed. We then had a meal at the Miners Club before going to see the prehistoric village. (It is supposed to be the first place in Europe where coal was used for a fire). The players also had a good go on the children's play area. We then moved on to the shopping mall where the players bought a football and copious amounts of food (perhaps next time we will save the parents money and not feed them!!). Then it was on to Frydland and the swimming pool. Most of the players went swimming and did not show their chief arbiter the respect due to such an august person. Fortunately he was a swimming coach and can look after himself! Then it was back to the hotel, some chess, dinner, a decent chat and bed ready for tomorrow's tournament.
Thursday 2nd April
Firstly could I apologise for lack of pictures. They will go on the site eventually but I do not have the technology here. Today was the first chess day and proved very good. After breakfast we walked to the National House to find they had the biggest tournament for many years if not ever. The U15s, where most of our players (17) are has 64 players from 14 different countries. Inevitably we will have some squad v squad games (2 today) but I am pleased to say both were very hard fought and lasted over three hours. The morale and humour within the squad is excellent although I did wonder if we had some rather nervous children when Dawn arrived with 8 toilet rolls! The humour was shown when Gabriel arrived at our "area" having just demolished the top seed (who left the hall in tears). Gabriel was upbraided for bullying and Shobhin said "I make everyone smile!" Of course we were all very happy with Gabriel! The actual chess was equally good. There were some nail-biting games and I, personally, really enjoyed go over the games with the players when they came out. We had soccer at lunch time although eventually rain stopped play. In the evening we returned to the hotel where Reuben out ate Pete with mushrooms after which the players settled down to a noisy pairs blitz (which I can hear whilst writing!). Victor will finalise the target tonight and we have two more rounds tomorrow. Current scores
2 - Callum; Thomas; Dominic K. 1.5 - Gabriel, Dominic M; James; Partha and Shyam (U12).
1- Niall; Daniel; Nickolai; Jake; William; Alfie; Luke. 0 - Reuben; Dylan; Shobhin.
Friday 3rd April
Firstly a warning. I am having problems with the internet so please DO NOT worry if we miss a day or so. When I first started squad trips there was no communication ever!! We awoke to a covering of snow which stopped lunch time soccer but has almost all gone now. We hada very good morning scoring 10.5 and Dominic M also appeared on Czech TV. As is the nature of swiss draws the afternoon round proved very hard and, by the evening, we had no one on 100%. Still we are only just behind our target and a good score tomorrow morning will put us on course. There is little to report on the social side except the finish of the blitz which is going on (noisily) as I write.
Current scores
3.5 James: 3 Callum; Thomas; Dominic M; Partha: 2.5 Nikolai; Dominc K 2 Reuben; Daniel; Jake; Alfie:
1.5 Niall; Gabriel; Shyam: 1 William; Shobhin; Luke: 0.5 Dylan
Saturday 4th April
Only one round today and we had three inter English games. Tomorrow the twins are paired. One can do nothing and all continental tournaments are the same. This is why I hate computer pairings and do my best to keep English and Welsh tournaments done by hand. Anyhow our current status is
4.5 James 3.5 Callum; Dominic M: 3 Thomas; Nikolai; Dominic K; Partha; Alfie: 2.5 Niall; Daniel:
2 Gabriel; Reuben; Jake: 1.5 Dylan; William; Shyam: 1 Shobhin; Luke.
After the round we stacked up with supplies, had a game of soccer, went for a walk whilst 4 picked by lot (Gabrial, Callum, Dominic M and Shyam played in a simul against GM Jansa and IM Pisk. Although no one won they all had good games. We then watched their annual show which was one of the best I have seen (young dancers, performing dogs and a bionic man as well as the inevitable rooks. We then returned for our meal and a game of Millionaire.
The blitz last night was won by Callum and Nikolai with James, Dominic and Shobhin runners up.
There are two rounds tomorrow and we are hoping to exceed our target and get a good game of soccer as well!!
Stop press Niall and William win Millionaire getting every question right!!
Sunday 5th April
This was very much a chess day with two rounds which could prove vital in our quest for prizes and achievement of norms. Although only three players (Partha, Shyam and Luke) got two wins a lot of others got a win and a draw so the points scored during the day totalled 20. At lunch time a few boys returned to the hotel to do analysis whilst the majority played soccer. In the evening we had our usual meeting and then retired to our rooms to prepare for our final game. One amusing incident was Reuben managing to drop his room key down the lift shaft! Although he is by no means large he was unable to go down to retrieve it!!
At present there is James on 6, 4 players on 5.5 and 3 (including Callum and Partha) on 5. As Callum is playing up if all three of ours win we will have 3 in the top five. Our current scores are:-
6 James: 5 Callum; Partha: 4 Niall; Nikolai; Dominic M: 3.5 Gabriel; Reuben; Thomas; Dominic K; Shyam:
3 Jake; Dylan; Alfie; Luke: 2.5 Daniel: 2 William; Shobhin:
With one round to go James, Partha, Niall and Dominic M have achieved their personal norms.
I am sure we all wish all our players the best for tomorrow.
Monday 6th April
Sadly the dream did not happen in full but we had a very good round and ended up just short of what was an ambitious target. James won to take the U15 crown with 7 points - a great achievement for a player only 31 days too old for the U12s. Callum also won to come 4th with 6 and achieve his target. The other players final scores were 5 12= Partha (T); Dominic M (T): 4.5 16= Thomas (T); Nial (T); Nikolai (T): 4 (29=) Dominic K; Gabriel; Alfie; Shyam:
3.5 37= Reuben; Jake; Dylan (T): 3 46= Daniel; Luke: 2.5: 2.5 William: 2 Shobhin. We were 5th in the team competition so, sadly, no cake. We had lunch in the National House and then the prize giving. There is always a free draw at the end and Alfie won a chess set and book.We then went to the bowling via the hotel and had two hours of bowling plus some pizza and chips. Then it was back to the hotel, some free time, evening meal and packing. It has, so far, been an excellent trip. Some good chess results, a team that has bonded well together and been polite and cooperative.
Tuesday 7th April
We had a lie in this morning with an 0845 leisurely breakfast. We then did the final packing and set off for the Tatra Technical Museum in Kopravnice. We had a guided tour and also benefited from Victor's expertise in the motoring field. After some souvenir buying we went for lunch then visited World in Miniature in Ostrava (a collection of models of famous buildings past and present). There were also some swings so both physical and mental entertainment could be had. Then it was off to the airport for thr final departure. It nearly wasn't for Alfie as the hotel had messed up! Thanks to Vasek and helpful Ostrava Airport officials he did accompany us and the passport is now safe. (And Alfie is at the Junior Squad where I am writing this!!). It was a really enjoyable trip and the whole squad can be proud of their performances and behaviour. - JUNIOR SQUAD ENTRY FORM Go to "more" button and then "entry forms" and you will find it.
- Our team in Poland Mahima on the podium The team with their prizes
Aloysius and Rahul on the podium Elizabeth with her prize A fine array of trophies - POLAND February 2015
Tuesday 17th February saw 14 players; Harry Grieve; Oscar Idle; Elizabeth Ivanov; Nikhil Kadambadi; Devin Karia; Rishul Karia; Aloysius Lip; Thomas Mclaren; Oscar Pollock; Mahima Raghavendra; Karthik Saravanan; Oliver Thornley; Riyaan Yesudian and Rohan Yesudian meetin Ian Burford and Glynis Purland at Stansted Airport. There was a slight delay with the flight but Marta met us at Katowice Airport and we were safely delivered to the hotel. The first evening was a relaxing one as we got ready for a blitz tournament and two rounds of the FIDE event on Wednesday.In the Rapid play the playerswere in 4 teams and played 7 rounds. London - Harry, Aloysius, Karthik and Oscar I. came 2nd - 20.5 points; Chester- Rishul, Riyaan, Thomas and Oscar P. came 4th - 19 points; Girls( our 2 - Mahima and Elizabeth plus Polish 2) came 6th - 5 points and Liverpool - Rohan, Nikhil, Devin and Oliver came 7th 2 points.
In the FIDE Celebration Tournament ( The school is 30 years old) the scores after 2 rounds- Thomas on 2; Harry, Riyaan, Mahima and Elizabeth on 1.5; Aloysius, Karthik, Oscar I., Rishul, Rohan, Oscar P. and Devon on 1. Failed as yet to score Nikhil and Oliver. All are well and looking forward to tomorrow. Thursday saw what I think were the final three rounds of the FIDE tournament. The table I was sent was in Polish so if I have got anything wrong I apologise. There was a Pole on 4.5 who was, I assume, the winner. There were 5 players on 4 including Aloysius and Oscar P (both of whom had a presentation on stage. Elizabeth scored 3.5 and was top girl overall. Our other scores were 3 - Harry, Rishul, Oscar I, Thomas, and Karthik. 2.5 - Rohan 2 - Mahima, Oliver, Riyaan and Nikhil. 1.5 Devin. In the evening they went for a swim and all enjoyed the experience. Glynis apparently did 30 lengths!! Friday was our day out We had an excellent day yesterday Started day in Krakow dropped off by Krak (statue of mythical dragon). Walked up through castle and cathedral to market place. Kids loved it all. Ian and I went to see Gothic triptych - marvellous.We then had 3.5 hour trip down Wielizca (I hope) salt mine. Had hour add on to do the museum, which we had not done before and had new elements anyway. Excellent. Got to hotel for tea and then played Quiz Chess in 2 teams.
Satuday and Sunday saw the tournament in Trzebinia and the squad really had a good weekend. We have picked up a few seconds and thirds over the years but this time we excelled ourselves. We had 8 place prizes, 2 girls prizes and even 2 raffle prizes (both Yesudian brothers). Having already won three prizes in Chrzanow this brings our total for the trip to 15. However for me the best thing was Rishul won the U16s with 8\9 getting a large cup and a tablet - his only rival being Aloysius with 8. The next player was on 5.5! This is the first time we have had a winner in the many years we have been visiting here. In the U14s Harry was 4th, Thomas 7th, Oscar P 8th, Oscar I 9th and Nikhil 10th. Rohan was 11th but did get a raffle prize whilst Karthik scored 4. Elizabeth and Mahima won girls prizes. At U12 Mahima won 3rd prize whilst Riyaan and Oliver got 4.5 and Devin 4. The team then paraded round and each player got a bag of goodies. The big problem tomorrow will be getting all the prizes in the suitcases. I announced the success at Swindon and we can all be proud of this group. Glynis tells me they were an excellent group, pleasant, friendly and showing a good team spirit. - NEW MEMBERS
At the two Junior events in December 5 players obtained their second norms - Holden Davis (U16); Luke Remus-Elliot, Kartik Velayudham, Partha Mulay and Elliot Cocks (U14). We welcome them in to the squad and hope they will enjoy their membership. Also two players Liam Reed (U14) and Pramoth Ragavan gained their first half norms. Hopefully they will soon qualify for the squad.
At Yateley Manor Laura Davidson and Lara Mallin gained their second norms and took their place in the squad. Unusually Darshan Kumaresan, who had stepped in to even up numbers, gained a half norm. What was really pleasing was that he then gained his second half norm at Swindon as did Pramoth Ragavan who had gained his first at London Junior. Three players gained their first half norms and, if you look for unusual coincidences, all had double barrelled names. These were Lucy Bennet-Stevens, Emmanuelle Gelain-Sohn and Hugo Westwood-Dunkley. We hope they will soon gain their second half and take their place in the squad.
One point I would like to reiterate - a squad norm lasts for "life" (16 normally is the cut off point). - Quadrangular
The annual quadrangular was held at Liverpool College using the new middle school buildings which gave us a totally self-contained environment. Sadly the Midlands U16 team, despite boasting 10 squad players who were eligible could only raise four players. There are always times when players are unavailable or have school commitments but 7 out of 10? Anyhow, despite this the North only won 3½-2½. Scotland defeated Wales by the same score. At under 14 level there were wins for the Midlands 6½-3½ and Wales 6-4 whilst the results were reversed at U12 with North winning 8-2 and Scotland 6-4. Round two started with little between the teams although looking at the players I suspect the North U12s are favourites after amassing 8 points. Again there were a lot of good matches and very few quick finishes. The first two matches to finish (Wales v North U14 and Scotland v Midlands U12) were both draws The two U16 games saw Midlands beat Scotland 4-2 and North beat Wales 3½-2½. The other U14 game went down to the wire but Midlands won their final game to triumph 5½-4½ whilst North continued their good form beating Wales 7-3 at U12. Sunday morning saw our final games with only one “no show” and even they had warned they might not come. Two of the tournaments were wide open with only 2 points separating all four teams at U16 and one point separating the top two at U14 and they were playing! The North were, however, odds on favourites at U12s only needing 3½ points to win. This they duly did in the first 90 minutes but there was still nothing in it in the other two sections. In the U14s Scotland came on strongly beating North 7-3 but this was not quite enough to catch the top two. Here the result was in doubt until the last two games with Wales beating Midlands 6-4 to triumph by a single point. The U16s was even closer with 1½ point between all four teams. Here Scotland beat Wales on tie break with North half a point behind. This has proved one of our best competitions to date with three different winners, some very close results and some exciting games.Next year's competition will be held on December 5th and 6th in Liverpool. I would like to think that both North and, perhaps especially, Midlands can put out full teams as it would be lovely to see two of our regions contesting top spot. Please could all squad members put these dates in your diary! - TWO ENTRY FORMS
The junior squad entry form has been published on the Entry Forms page. It is not in a brilliant format. If you would like it in a better format please email me. I will send out a general squad mailing early in the New Year.
I have (I hope) emailed all U16 squad members and those with a half norm an invite to the English Closed at Yateley Manor. Remember this is strictly invitation only and non squad members can only enter if they have a half norm already. If by any chance you have not received an invite please let me know. - BRITISH RAPIDPLAY LEEDS 1-2 NOVEMBER
This is the first opportunity this season for players to gain half norms (and also for some squad players to win money!) It is the only adult event that carries a qualification element and is used because of a paucity of strong over 11 tournaments in the North. As it is predominantly adult the half norm level is 6.5 as juniors grades usually improve quicker and they do better against the more mature players (like me!!) Congratulations to James Moreby who won the Major section and also to Dominic Miller who won the Intermediate. Dominic wasn't in the squad - he is now!! Gaining second norms were Rohan Yesudian, Shyam Modi and Devin Karia - all of whom we welcome in to the squad. First half norms were gained by Greg Neale, Hambel Willow, Elliot Cocks and Holden Davis. We wish them good luck in getting their second norm. - Important news . Gibraltar 2015 has been confirmed and will take place 20-25 August.
- Trip to Saxony 2014
On Monday 17th February Glynis and Peter Purland met a group of 8 players consisting of Harry Grieve, Elizabeth Ivanov, Ashwin Kalyana, James Kearney, Tharsan Kuhendiran. James Meredith, Eva Ressel and Karam Sangha at 0700 at London City Airport for our visit to Saxony. We flew to Dresden where we got two trains to Liepzig. We had already met Annegret and three players, Hai, Gengchun and Julia and friendships were made on the journey. The Saxons then led ours astray (ie in to McDonalds) where we had a late lunch before making our way by tram and foot to the Sports Hotel Egidius Braun which was to be both base and playing venue. After settling in we had a general meeting and then our first chess assignment which took place over 8 rounds either side of an excellent supper. This was a team Scheveningen and our 8 played their eight at first round board v board (which we lost 3.5-4.5) and then our 1 v their 2; 2v3 etc. As we had the stronger rounds early we should, and did, take the lead but after round 6 the score was 24-24 and we should lose the last two rounds 13-3. In all my years arbiting I have never seen a team win from this position but we did coming home by the narrowest of margins 32.5 to 31.5. It was a really brilliant fight back.I am not going to give individual scores as unless you know a lot about the system they can be very misleading and all I will say was that we were so proud of the whole team. With a score like that everybody played their part! Then it was an early night in preparation for the long play match tomorrow.
Tuesday 18th February We were all down by 0830 for a continental breakfast buffet style and at 0900 we started the match. There are four rounds of 75 minutes for 40 moves then 15 minutes back. The teams are split in two with boards 1-4 playing each other and boards 5-8 doing likewise. The first round saw the score 3.5-4.5 for Saxony (the same as last night) and after the game the players relaxed on the football field or playing exchange, After lunch we had our official photos. (I will try to get some on the website when I return home) and at 1400 started round two. Again a lot of good, hard fought chess was played and we the second round ended 4.5 -3.5 in England's favour giving a score for the day of 8-8. There was time to relax before dinner and both teams had an hour playing in the fresh air.Again a lot of good, hard fought chess was played and we the second round ended 4.5 -3.5 in England's favour giving a score for the day of 8-8. There was time to relax before dinner and both teams had an hour playing in the fresh air. We then had supper and played Kondiblitz (5 minutes on the clock but the clock is 10 yards from the board. It is a good way to tire the players out!! The two board ones competed in the final and Tharsan ran out winner. By this time it was meeting and off to bed.
Wednesday 19th February The players had decided that an early breakfast was called for and had eaten at 0800; the staff ate at 0830. All were ready for an 0900 departure, We walked to the tram which took us to the town centre. Hendrik then walked us round the centre pointing out things of interest. We went in St Nicholas' church, saw the University, Opera House, Rathaus, Wagner's birthplace, Goethe's statues and rubbed his foot for luck amongst other things then had time in the Market Square to buy souvenirs and anything else they wanted. We then walked to the zoo where we ate our packed lunch and had a 2 hour guided tour of Gondwanaland - their fairly new, heated, undercover area. This was very interesting and the two teams then voted to return home and continue Saxony v England at soccer. (We do have an "official" match tomorrow.) We then had tea and played Crazy Lightning (which was new to the Saxons) but Gengchun still managed to win it with James M and Harry 2=. Then it was a meeting and off to bed.
Thursday 20th February This is a busy day with two chess matches and a soccer match. First off was round three of the chess and this was in theory a 4-4 draw and so it turned out (although not with all the "right" players winning.). So we will go in to the final round tied on 12-12. No one can say either side has had it easy! The next assignment was the soccer match. As this is a centre for soccer excellence we played on a marvellous indoor pitch and, again, a good team performance saw us home 8 goals to 2. We then returned to the hotel for a well earned lunch. After lunch we had the final round of the long play, We started off well with our lower boards gaining a 3.5 - 0.5 advantage but on the upper boards this was gradually pinned back until the core was 15.5 - 15.5 and the last game playing. I suppose it was destined to be a draw and so it turned out and one of our best ever series of matches ended up 16 -16. It has been a really brilliant series with a lot of good play and good sportsmanship and we have both been really pleased with the way the players have conducted themselves. We will now pack and probably finish off with some fun chess and a relatively early night as we get the 0903 train from Leipzig. If you are a parent of one of the party reading this please be at London City at 1400 tomorrow!!We had exchange in the evening won by Gengchun Wong (Saxon) and Elizabeth then an early night as we were up for 0720. The journey went very well and we arrived 10 minutes early. All the parents were on time and by 1425 all players were safely returned! So ended an excellent trip - Yateley Manor Closed Championships
These took place over the weekend 25-26 January and were, as usual, held in conjunction with the South of England Championships. The squad would like to thank Chris Howell and Mike Forster for running the event and Yately Manor for hosting it. As I was in Gibraltar I cannot give a blow by blow account but I have the final scores. Under 12 There were 17 players took part (one had to cry off due to illness) and the winner was Koby Kalavanan on 4.5, followed by Charlie McLaren on 4 and George Ivanov on 3.5. Under 14 This section had well over half the players with 36 players starting but one withdrawing very ill (I quote the arbiter!) Hopefully he is now better. Four players shared first place on 4 points; Girinath Haridas, Tharshan Kuhendiran, Theo Slade and Richard Zhu. Under 16 We had 11 entries although one did not turn up. The winner was Adam C Taylor on 4.5, followed by Akito Oyama on 4 and Roman Mitra on 3.5. These were the top three grades! We also had five players gain their second half norm and these are listed under New Members. - Training Weekend
The annual training weekend was held at Suites Hotel Knowsley over the weekend 4-5th January. We were really well looked after by the hotel and it proved a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. Saturday was taken up by four coaching sessions by GM Nigel Davies, IM Andrew Martin and IM Graeme Buckley whilst IA Peter Purland looked at the proposed new laws and also took the players swimming. After two very good meals 21 youngsters and 13 siblings or parents took part in a crazy lightning tournament which, I am sure uniquely, was won jointly by the two highest seeds Anantha Anilkumar and Ray Sayers (holding the banner for the parents). Sunday morning saw full group coaching by our three coaches whilst Nigel, Chris Archer-Lock Peter and Glynis Purland had a "parents' forum" where all shared views on how best the parents can help their children enjoy chess and also progress. This proved interesting and Andrew had brought up some literature to help parents and chess clubs. The final session was a 10 minute themed tournament also won by Anantha. The whole weekend was enjoyed by all who participated and even parents got some new ideas.The whole event was organised and stage managed by Glynis Purland who has done some excellent work for nine years and many players and certainly the squad owe her their thanks. Sadly only 29 players attended and only 2 were from the squad. This meant that, despite the coaches agreeing to take a pay cut the squad lost a lot of money and we cannot justify using our resources to further subsidise the event. Therefore unless another organisation is willing to guarantee the event against loss this will have been the last event. It is very sad but we must accept that things move on.
I would like to thank the many people past and present who have assisted in the running of this event in the 20+ years it has been in existence and hope that similar events can be organised by others as I feel the social side even more than the chess side has done enormous good over the years. - New Members
The Yateley Manor Closed Championships (which are restricted to squad players and those who already have a half norm) saw five players gain there second half norm including a brother and sister. I am pretty certain this is the first time that two from the same family have got in at the same time. The players were; Under 16 Michael Green; Under 14 Emily Green, Matthew Forster, Jake Holton and Oscar Idle. Also interesting that three players got their first half at London Junior (our previous qualifier) and the other two from the British Rapidplay - the qualifier before London Junior. They worked quickly!
We would like to welcome six new members who qualified at the London Under 14 Major. This was a very good result and two of the players were U12. We wish them every success in their chess and hope to see them in many events:- James Golding, Rishul Karia, Elizaveta Sheremetyeva, Alex Van Lint, Daniel Varney and Naomi Wei. Zoe Varney and Haotian Wu gained half norms.At the London U12\16 there were 6 more new qualifiers. Zoe Varney; Anshu Ramaiya, Oscar Pollack, Thomas McLaren, Freddie Coleman and Pranav Chauhan. All of these are very welcome new members and we hope to see them regularly during the year.Matthew Forster. Michael Green, Alex Davies and Oscar Idle gained half norms. -
Quadrangular Match
This annual event between teams from Scotland, Wales and the North and Midlands of England Regional teams took place over the weekend of 7-8th December at Liverpool College. We are very grateful to the continued help from the school. There are 26 players in each team, 6 at U16 and 10 at both U14 and U12. We had full teams at U14 and U16 but Scotland and Midlands were a board short at U12. The first round went smoothly enough but the results were a little surprising. North beat Scotland at all three levels (5-1. 7-3. 5.5-4.5), whilst Wales won 2 out of 3 against Midlands (0.5-5.5, 6.5-3.5, 7.5-2.5). The second round saw Wales dominate at U12 beating Scotland 6-4 whilst the Midlands came back from their heavy defeat against Wales to beat North 6.5 – 3.5. This left Wales 4.5 points clear on 13.5 but the other three were very close with Midlands and North both on 9 and Scotland on 8.5. At U14 level Wales went on to Day two with a two point lead over the North(14-12) with the two due to meet. Midlands were in third position on 8.5 with Scotland on 5.5. The crop of northern players at present U16 have carried all before them for years and by the end of round two it seemed obvious this would happen again as they had 9 points, Midlands had 7.5, Scotland 6 and Wales 1.5. Even the greatest optimist cannot see Wales derailing the Northern juggernaut. Sadly at U12 level the Kamath family of three players failed to arrive or even let Glynis know giving Wales three points before a result came in and virtually guaranteed them the tournament. This just shows how selfish behaviour can affect a wide range of people. In fact Wales got the 3.5 points they needed out of the remaining 7 games and won the tournament with 21 points. Midlands beat Scotland to come second on 16.5 whilst North just pipped Scotland for third by half a point. At Under 14 the battle continued until the final games with Wales needing half a point to secure the championship whilst Midlands defeated Scotland but still ended up third. In the end Wales scored 1.5 to draw the match and take the tournament with Midlands third. At Under 16 level the North signed out with an emphatic 6-0 win against Wales whilst Midlands and Scotland shared the spoils but this left Midlands second just ahead of Scotland. It was another good weekend and the quality and competitiveness of the chess is shown by the fact that only 9 players; James Kearney, Karam Sangha and Jonah Willow (Midlands) Daniel Abbas, Robert Maclean and James Walsh (North) John Morrison Scotland) Hugo Fowler and Shayanna Sivarajasingam (Wales) scored three points. Next year’s event will be held on December 6th and 7th at Liverpool College.
British Rapidplay Leeds 2013
This annual event is part of the selection process for the squad and is also an opportunity for squad members to show what they can do! This year I am pleased to say that Pranav Chauhan and Karthik Saravanan gained their second half norms and have been welcomed in to the squad, whilst Emily Green, Jake Holton, Oscar Pollack and Alex Sheerin gained their first norms. I have not got results from all the sections and will update this once I have but at this stage I congratulate Joshua Fernandes for coming 1st= in the Intermediate Section. - Antwerp 2013
As in the last few years, a Squad team was invited to play in the “Go For Grandmaster” event in Antwerp. and have been welcomed in to the squad.This is part of a larger sponsored initiative in Belgium involving coaching and other activities. The team event forms the part-publicity / visibility, part-competitive element of the scheme. As such it is a fun event between teams of under 16 players from Germany, Netherlands, the hosts Belgium and ourselves. The venue is a splendid area, one floor below the public viewing gallery of the MAS Museum in the centre of the Antwerp docklands.
We gathered at St.Pancras International as arranged, the only slight worry being the player with all the tickets was the last to arrive! Dawn Burroughs had done all the invitations and received grateful thanks from all the parents and players for all the work involved. Some players had more trouble with the scanners than others but at last we all made it through and the rest of the journey was trouble free until we got to Brussels Midi and had to change trains. The team all managed to walk past me whilst I was looking at the information board. This resulted in me on one platform waiting to board the delayed 18:21 service to Antwerp, with Dawn and the rest of the party on a neighbouring platform awaiting the 18:32! We did all manage to board the same train however and arrived at Antwerp Central at a much more civilised time than last year. This station is the most three dimensional I have ever encountered. It combines the arched architecture of St. Pancras with platforms on at least three levels, all in the same internal space. Our rendezvous with the organisers was the Ibis hotel, just next to the station. The only problem being there are three of them, two being right next to the station. Anticipating the problem one of the organisers was stationed outside to intercept us and the transfer of players to their host families then went smoothly.
After having part of another party moved out of my room so that I could check-in, we went out for a meal in one of the many restaurants / street cafes that populate the centre of Antwerp. All the players had made email contact with their host families before the trip so we all had an enjoyable evening and were well prepared for the tournament.
All the teams were presented with t-shirts advertising the event and after the problems we had last year with the sun on the chessboards we also had
baseball hats. Don’t tell Scotland but we were allocated blue! Sunglasses had been added to our team kit-list but in the event they were rarely
necessary due to more cloudy conditions. At the handshakes we suffered a slight embarrassment when we were presented with gifts by our opponents. We had come prepared with gifts for the host families but none for the chess – we will have to remember that next year.
Lunches were provided by the organisers but we also visited the Belgian version of the Co-Op to buy food for the journey home. Some further Squad
training is needed on the disciplines of team shopping! The time control was 45 minutes per player per game, a strange one being neither one thing nor the other. We played 10 board matches against each team as a double round all play all. We played consistently against all opponents, our lowest score being 3/10, our highest 4.5/10. The event was much more of an even strength this year with a stronger team from Germany. We were thus placed fourth
as a team and received a cup but strong performances by George Ivanov and Simon Leung were rewarded with board prizes of 50 euros.
We successfully played our part in displaying competitive chess to hundreds of members of the general public who passed through on their way to and from the viewing gallery on the roof. We enjoyed excellent hospitality, both from the host families and from the organisers who took all the managers out or a meal on the Saturday evening. I would like to thank the team Callum Brewer, Alexei Davies, Toby Harris, Simon Leung, Otto Pyper, Billy Twigge-Molecey, Joe Lindsay, Eva Ressel and Elizabeth and George Ivanov for their company, their adaptability and commitment to the cause and for entertaining me with some interesting chess. On behalf of all of us I would like to thank Dawn for everything she did to enable us to have such an enjoyable weekend. - Poland August 2013
- On Friday 23rd August a group of 8 players (pictured above) met Glynis Purland and Sandra Roberts for a trip to a tournament in Southern poland organised by our good friend Andrzej Matusiak. The players were (l to r) James Walsh, Harry Li, Conrad Green, Andrew Horton, Sam Herring, Joshua Fernandes, Matthew Walsh, Shyam Kalairajah. The journey went smoothly and they were in their hotel in the early hours of Saturday morning but with a good lie in beckoning.
(Please note that due to internet problems with remote regions of Southern Poland and my own trip to Albania it might be mid September before this is completed) I am getting a little through and there is also a very good web site reached through the chess arbiter network. In summary there are 18 teams from 9 countries. The English teams are named Liverpool and Manchester with the former being Andy (I have not heard his reaction on being told by Glynis), Conrad, Matthew and Joshua and the latter Harry, Sam, James and Shyam. Round one Liverpool beat Stridon Strigova of Croatia 4-0 and Manchester beat Abertawe (Wales) 2.5 - 1.5. Liverpool then defeated Obukhiv (Ukraine) 3-1, lost 4-0 to St Petersburg and beat Minsk (Belarus) 2.5 - 1.5 whilst Manchester drew with Minsk, defeated Kobryn (Belarus) 3-1 and lost 2.5-1.5 to Orlova (Czech Republic). Our leading individuals are Shyam with 4 and Matthew with 3. On 2.5 we have Conrad and Joshua, on 2 James and 1.5 Andrew Harry and Sam. (It's tough at the top) At present Abertawe are third (but play St Petersburg today). Liverpool are 5th and play Druzba (Russia) and Manchester 9th and play Goranka (Croatia). The results this morning were not brilliant. Liverpool got a "Druzbbing" from the Russians only Joshua managing a draw whilst Manchester drew, Sam and Shyam winning. It is swimming this afternoon and crazy lightning this evening so that should be enjoyable. Glynis reported that the swimming complex was the best she had ever been to so hopefully all had a great time. This morning Liverpool played Abertawe (Wales) so I was left with divided loyalty but Liverpool took no prisoners winning 4-0 whilst Manchester drew 2-2 with Belgade (wins for Sam and James) This afternoon Liverpool were playing Orlava and Manchester Jastrzebie II (the hosts). Manchester won 4-0 but as I write the Liverpool result is not up. If any one read this about 1700 then I was wrong. The tournament has finished with the three British teams tying on 12 match points but on game points that leaves Manchester 5th, Liverpool 6th and Abertawe (Swansea) 7th. Individual scores were Shyam 6, Sam and Joshua 4.5, James and Matthew 4, Andrew and Conrad 3.5, Harry 2.5 As I said earlier it IS tough at the top.
The players finish off with the social side of things on Thursday and Friday. Tonight it is the presentation and formal closing and tomorrow everyone is visiting a Western Theme Park (with rides) in the city of Zory. This was a good experience and even the leaders enjoyed taking part in the activities. In the evening the party went out for a meal at a good restaurant and on the Friday went up the local mountain on a chairlift - did some toboganning and walked to the Czech border before spending some time in the town of Wisla. Then it was good bye to Poland and a smooth journey back to Liverpool where the party6 dispersed. - The NCJS is a Registered Charity No 1084293. The trustees are A Webster, P Purland and G Jacobs. The squad exists to help encourage junior chess by providing trips and tournaments for promising juniors All players have a chance of qualifying
CREATE A FREE SITE WITH WEEBLY
Change
Match v Flanders
Grimbergen Chess Club
Saturday\Sunday 6-7 September
I left home at 0600 and met Sharon Daniel, Nugith Jayawarna, Mahima Raghavendra, Kevin Ye, and Riyaan Yesudian at Lime Street getting the 0645 to London. There we met Victor and, eventually, Amardip Ahluwalia, Jake Bains-Gillespie, Sam Bundy, William Cleeve, Jason Covey, Daniel Finn, Oliver Howell, Peter Isaksen, Nikhil Kadambadi, Dominic Klingher, James Moreby, Aditya Munshi, Alfie Onslow, Yaqub Saeed and Oliver Thornley. Sam was in the wrong place and James' train from Newcastle had been cancelled but thanks to kind and efficient Eurostar staff we all got safely on. The train was on time, we were met at Brussels Zuid and we went to the same youth centre as last year (by the airport). The match was under way by 1600. It was a very close first round and it could so easily have been 10-10 but Amardip won on time in a poorer position. The second round was a different kettle of fish. Obviously Victor's team talks bear fruit as we won the second round 13.5-6.5 giving us an overall victory by 24.5-15.5.Dominic Klingher, Amardip Ahluwalia, Oliver Howell, Kevin Ye, Peter Isaksen and Oliver Thornley all got 2/2. The players were then sent to their billets for the night. They seem to have enjoyed themselves and arrived ready for the rapid play the next morning. In the end we started about 1020 and decided to have 6 rounds @ 15 minutes per player. Our players tended to end up in the middle although Amardip came through at the end to be second equal and as he had 2/2 in the match was crowned best English player. We had our prize giving (having eaten between rounds) and then headed off to Brussels Zuid. Unfortunately there was a fun run on and we were diverted and a 30 minute journey took almost an hour. We were rushed to get on to Eurostar but did make it (the kids were very good) and for once Eurostar was on time. We said our goodbyes then the five of us walked down to Euston where we caught the 1805 to Liverpool. We would like to express our thanks to Rudi, Jan and the parents and organisers in Flanders for looking after us so well and giving us such a good match.
Grimbergen Chess Club
Saturday\Sunday 6-7 September
I left home at 0600 and met Sharon Daniel, Nugith Jayawarna, Mahima Raghavendra, Kevin Ye, and Riyaan Yesudian at Lime Street getting the 0645 to London. There we met Victor and, eventually, Amardip Ahluwalia, Jake Bains-Gillespie, Sam Bundy, William Cleeve, Jason Covey, Daniel Finn, Oliver Howell, Peter Isaksen, Nikhil Kadambadi, Dominic Klingher, James Moreby, Aditya Munshi, Alfie Onslow, Yaqub Saeed and Oliver Thornley. Sam was in the wrong place and James' train from Newcastle had been cancelled but thanks to kind and efficient Eurostar staff we all got safely on. The train was on time, we were met at Brussels Zuid and we went to the same youth centre as last year (by the airport). The match was under way by 1600. It was a very close first round and it could so easily have been 10-10 but Amardip won on time in a poorer position. The second round was a different kettle of fish. Obviously Victor's team talks bear fruit as we won the second round 13.5-6.5 giving us an overall victory by 24.5-15.5.Dominic Klingher, Amardip Ahluwalia, Oliver Howell, Kevin Ye, Peter Isaksen and Oliver Thornley all got 2/2. The players were then sent to their billets for the night. They seem to have enjoyed themselves and arrived ready for the rapid play the next morning. In the end we started about 1020 and decided to have 6 rounds @ 15 minutes per player. Our players tended to end up in the middle although Amardip came through at the end to be second equal and as he had 2/2 in the match was crowned best English player. We had our prize giving (having eaten between rounds) and then headed off to Brussels Zuid. Unfortunately there was a fun run on and we were diverted and a 30 minute journey took almost an hour. We were rushed to get on to Eurostar but did make it (the kids were very good) and for once Eurostar was on time. We said our goodbyes then the five of us walked down to Euston where we caught the 1805 to Liverpool. We would like to express our thanks to Rudi, Jan and the parents and organisers in Flanders for looking after us so well and giving us such a good match.
GIBRALTAR 2014
At the usual very early hour at Heathrow terminal 3 16 players met Glynis Purland and Ian Burford ready and eager for the annual Gibraltar. The players were Anantha Anilkumar; Joshua Fernandes; Matthew Forster; Florian Garland-Hoff; Michael Green; Sam Herring; Mark Kenyon; Alex Kitshoff; Oren Levene; Gwilym Price; Samir Samadov; Theo Slade; Billy Twigge-Molecey; Daniel Varney; Prashast Vir; and Jackson Wen. 5 hours later 16 players, 2 leaders and 17 suitcases arrived at Gibraltar - one suitcase following on the next day! After checking in to their roomsand being shown round the hotel and surrounding area the players assembled for the Blitz. This was a nine round tournament at a rate of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds a move and was hard work for both players and organisers. None of our party was in the prize list although two squad members travelling independently (Joshua Higgs and James Moreby) were. Our scores were Anantha, Michael and Prashast 6; Samuel, Samir, Billy and Daniel 5.5; Joshua, Oren and Theo 5; Matthew and Jackson 4.5; Mark and Gwilym 4; Florian and Alex 3. This was followed by a reception on the balcony where drinks and canapes were served before the group assembled for dinner. Some waited up to see the draw (and sadly there are so many British in the U16s we will have some inter squad pairings). The following morning the Gibraltar Minister for Sports, Culture, Youth and Heritage, Steven Linares, arrived to officially open the event and the 4th Gibraltar Junior International was underway. Shortly after this the chairman returned to his usual polo shirt and shorts and we all relaxed. Round one saw some good results with no player losing to a "foreigner" and the longest game of the round was a repairing between two squad players which ended up with a definite result. Friday we had two rounds and a masterclass in the evening so there was not much time for relaxing although as many players as possible took advantage of the warm sea and almost as warm pool. Jovanka Houska and Pia Cramling took the master class in the evening.Scores after Day One were - Under 12 Anantha 2; Oren and Samir 1. - Under 14 Prashast 2; Gwilym and Michael 1.5; Alex, Daniel, Florian, Joshua, Matthew, Sam and Theo 1; Billy, Jackson and Mark 0.5. It is good to see everyone scoring in the opening two rounds. Tomorrow we have one round and a Rock Tour. Finally I am pleased to say that our errant case arrived at lunch time so all the party can now wear clean clothes!!
Saturday saw one round followed by a Rock Tour and a simultaneous. The Rock Tour went well stopping at Europa Point, St Michael's Cave and the Apes Den. and the driver also gave a very good commentary regarding the history and sights of the Rock. We also had the chance to interact with monkeys (they are not apes!) and many photos were taken. Current scores are - Under 12 Anantha 3; Oren and Samir 2. - Under 14 Prashast 2.5; Gwilym, Matthew, Michael and Sam 2; Billy, Florian, Mark, and Theo 1.5; Alex, Daniel and Joshua 1; Jackson 0.5 The evening simultaneous was played by our five coaches in tandem - which can lead to some interesting events. For our chess players, the look on Jovanka's face when she saw 2h3 had been played by her predecessor and Mark getting a draw by repetition when 3 different players played the same move!! Anyhow we had 4 wins, Gwilym, Joshua, Samir and Theo and 4 draws Anantha, Mark, Mikchael and Prashast. Congratulations to all these players.
Sunday is a two round day and the first of these, round four, is underway as I write. Sadly I have to return to the cold and rain of Cardiff at 1645 today as all the timetable for summer chess has been messed up by the Commonwealth Games (Chess) and the Olympiad in Tromso. I hope to be able to give a full report Monday evening or Tuesday morning but will update scores tomorrow.
I had an excellent journey so can put the scores up tonight. .
Under 12 Anantha and Samir 4;.Oren 3.5 - Under 14 Michael 4; Theo 3.5; Gwilym, Joshua and Sam 3; Billy, Jackson and Prashast 2.5; Mark and Matthew 2; Florian 1.5; Alex and Daniel 1.
I am sitting in the Angel Hotel in Cardiff and the rain is really lashing down outside whilst our players are, no doubt, sunning themselves (probably on a boat in the Bay of Gibraltar as we speak.) I have seen the final results and would like to congratulate our prize winners. Our three U12s all won prizea with Anantha 1st= on 5 points and Oren and Samir 6th= on 4points. Some squad members always travel separately and we also congratulate Nikolai Hinterreither (5th) and William Lovell and James Moreby (6th=). At Under 16 level Michael Green shared 5th place along with 3 independent squad members Joshua Higgs, Jonathan Pein and Stephen Whatley. Our other scores were Joshua, Theo and Jackson 3.5; Sam, Mark, Gwilym, Billy and Prashast 3; Matthew, Florian and Daniel 2; Alex 1.5. The dolphin trip seems to have gone well although it appears the dolphins were more attracted by Chris Howell's boat than by Glynis'! The final dinner went well and the journey home was uneventful.
At the usual very early hour at Heathrow terminal 3 16 players met Glynis Purland and Ian Burford ready and eager for the annual Gibraltar. The players were Anantha Anilkumar; Joshua Fernandes; Matthew Forster; Florian Garland-Hoff; Michael Green; Sam Herring; Mark Kenyon; Alex Kitshoff; Oren Levene; Gwilym Price; Samir Samadov; Theo Slade; Billy Twigge-Molecey; Daniel Varney; Prashast Vir; and Jackson Wen. 5 hours later 16 players, 2 leaders and 17 suitcases arrived at Gibraltar - one suitcase following on the next day! After checking in to their roomsand being shown round the hotel and surrounding area the players assembled for the Blitz. This was a nine round tournament at a rate of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds a move and was hard work for both players and organisers. None of our party was in the prize list although two squad members travelling independently (Joshua Higgs and James Moreby) were. Our scores were Anantha, Michael and Prashast 6; Samuel, Samir, Billy and Daniel 5.5; Joshua, Oren and Theo 5; Matthew and Jackson 4.5; Mark and Gwilym 4; Florian and Alex 3. This was followed by a reception on the balcony where drinks and canapes were served before the group assembled for dinner. Some waited up to see the draw (and sadly there are so many British in the U16s we will have some inter squad pairings). The following morning the Gibraltar Minister for Sports, Culture, Youth and Heritage, Steven Linares, arrived to officially open the event and the 4th Gibraltar Junior International was underway. Shortly after this the chairman returned to his usual polo shirt and shorts and we all relaxed. Round one saw some good results with no player losing to a "foreigner" and the longest game of the round was a repairing between two squad players which ended up with a definite result. Friday we had two rounds and a masterclass in the evening so there was not much time for relaxing although as many players as possible took advantage of the warm sea and almost as warm pool. Jovanka Houska and Pia Cramling took the master class in the evening.Scores after Day One were - Under 12 Anantha 2; Oren and Samir 1. - Under 14 Prashast 2; Gwilym and Michael 1.5; Alex, Daniel, Florian, Joshua, Matthew, Sam and Theo 1; Billy, Jackson and Mark 0.5. It is good to see everyone scoring in the opening two rounds. Tomorrow we have one round and a Rock Tour. Finally I am pleased to say that our errant case arrived at lunch time so all the party can now wear clean clothes!!
Saturday saw one round followed by a Rock Tour and a simultaneous. The Rock Tour went well stopping at Europa Point, St Michael's Cave and the Apes Den. and the driver also gave a very good commentary regarding the history and sights of the Rock. We also had the chance to interact with monkeys (they are not apes!) and many photos were taken. Current scores are - Under 12 Anantha 3; Oren and Samir 2. - Under 14 Prashast 2.5; Gwilym, Matthew, Michael and Sam 2; Billy, Florian, Mark, and Theo 1.5; Alex, Daniel and Joshua 1; Jackson 0.5 The evening simultaneous was played by our five coaches in tandem - which can lead to some interesting events. For our chess players, the look on Jovanka's face when she saw 2h3 had been played by her predecessor and Mark getting a draw by repetition when 3 different players played the same move!! Anyhow we had 4 wins, Gwilym, Joshua, Samir and Theo and 4 draws Anantha, Mark, Mikchael and Prashast. Congratulations to all these players.
Sunday is a two round day and the first of these, round four, is underway as I write. Sadly I have to return to the cold and rain of Cardiff at 1645 today as all the timetable for summer chess has been messed up by the Commonwealth Games (Chess) and the Olympiad in Tromso. I hope to be able to give a full report Monday evening or Tuesday morning but will update scores tomorrow.
I had an excellent journey so can put the scores up tonight. .
Under 12 Anantha and Samir 4;.Oren 3.5 - Under 14 Michael 4; Theo 3.5; Gwilym, Joshua and Sam 3; Billy, Jackson and Prashast 2.5; Mark and Matthew 2; Florian 1.5; Alex and Daniel 1.
I am sitting in the Angel Hotel in Cardiff and the rain is really lashing down outside whilst our players are, no doubt, sunning themselves (probably on a boat in the Bay of Gibraltar as we speak.) I have seen the final results and would like to congratulate our prize winners. Our three U12s all won prizea with Anantha 1st= on 5 points and Oren and Samir 6th= on 4points. Some squad members always travel separately and we also congratulate Nikolai Hinterreither (5th) and William Lovell and James Moreby (6th=). At Under 16 level Michael Green shared 5th place along with 3 independent squad members Joshua Higgs, Jonathan Pein and Stephen Whatley. Our other scores were Joshua, Theo and Jackson 3.5; Sam, Mark, Gwilym, Billy and Prashast 3; Matthew, Florian and Daniel 2; Alex 1.5. The dolphin trip seems to have gone well although it appears the dolphins were more attracted by Chris Howell's boat than by Glynis'! The final dinner went well and the journey home was uneventful.
BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS ABERYSTWYTH 2014
Obviously your editor is biased regarding the venue as he was a student there many, many years ago and before any of the playing venues were built! It is a quiet but beautiful area of the country and, apart from the last day the weather was very good, some would say too hot at times. The University, town and county all did their best to make us feel at home and I did notice a lot of the players and parents taking advantage of the facilities available such as the weekly coach trips and the "Lein Fach" to Pontarfynach (Devil's Bridge). It was good to see plenty of Juniors there and the overall entry topped 850 which was higher than we had hoped for. Squad players acquitted themselves well and I would like to congratulate the following squad members who were crowned champions. U16 Tarun Malhotra; U15 Michael Ashworth - Girls Zoe Varney; U14 James Golding, Richard Zhu; U13 Arul Gupta, Girinath Haridas, Koby Kalavannan - Girls Asha Jina; U12 Anantha Anilkumar, Koby Kalavannan - Girls Mahima Raghavendra; U11 Sacha Brozel - Girls Mahima Raghavendra. The following players gained their second norms and we welcome them in to the squad. Hajane Anbukumar, Asha Jina and William Lovell (who actually got one norm each week).Half norms were gained by the following players and we wish them luck in their quest for squad membership. (Remember the next opportunity is the British Rapidplay in Leeds where you enter the ADULT section appropriate to your age.) Laura Davidson, Devin Karia, Lara Mallin, Ximan Mao, Shyam Modi Zac Potel and Luke Remus-Elliot.
Obviously your editor is biased regarding the venue as he was a student there many, many years ago and before any of the playing venues were built! It is a quiet but beautiful area of the country and, apart from the last day the weather was very good, some would say too hot at times. The University, town and county all did their best to make us feel at home and I did notice a lot of the players and parents taking advantage of the facilities available such as the weekly coach trips and the "Lein Fach" to Pontarfynach (Devil's Bridge). It was good to see plenty of Juniors there and the overall entry topped 850 which was higher than we had hoped for. Squad players acquitted themselves well and I would like to congratulate the following squad members who were crowned champions. U16 Tarun Malhotra; U15 Michael Ashworth - Girls Zoe Varney; U14 James Golding, Richard Zhu; U13 Arul Gupta, Girinath Haridas, Koby Kalavannan - Girls Asha Jina; U12 Anantha Anilkumar, Koby Kalavannan - Girls Mahima Raghavendra; U11 Sacha Brozel - Girls Mahima Raghavendra. The following players gained their second norms and we welcome them in to the squad. Hajane Anbukumar, Asha Jina and William Lovell (who actually got one norm each week).Half norms were gained by the following players and we wish them luck in their quest for squad membership. (Remember the next opportunity is the British Rapidplay in Leeds where you enter the ADULT section appropriate to your age.) Laura Davidson, Devin Karia, Lara Mallin, Ximan Mao, Shyam Modi Zac Potel and Luke Remus-Elliot.
POLAND MAY 2014
Saturday 24th May
At a rather unearthly time in the morning 13 of our young chess players, Gianfranco Ameri, Anantha Anilkumar, Ethan Bains-Gillespie, Gabriel Balouka Myers, Reuben Balouka Myers, Jacob Boswell, Nikolai Hinterreither, George Ivanov, Koby Kalavannan, Ashwin Krishna, Shobhin Manocha, Samir Samadov and Luke Vallis met our two leaders Victor Cross and John Higgs at Stansted Airport. The group flew Ryanair to Katowice where we were met by our hosts from School 8 in Chrzanow a well respected "chess school" in this part of Poland. We were taken to the school where we were taking part in a FIDE rated seven round international tournament playing over three days. There is no rest for the wicked and we started play on the first day. After two long play rounds Koby and Ashwin were on two points, Jacob, Samir and Luke on 1.5, Anantha, George, Nikolai, Ethan and Gianfranco on 1, Gabriel on 0.5 and Reuben and Shobhin yet to score. After the chess we enjoyed our evening meal in the school refectory and then returned to our hotel exhausted but pleased with the progress made today. Tomorrow we look forward to three rounds.
Results can be found on chess results.com (insert full URL)
Sunday 25th May
A slightly delayed departure ("I did set my alarm clock") at 7.30am for breakfast at the Nova Resto & pub - our hosts for the day. Due to the European elections, the chess school is being used as a polling station so today's three rounds are being played in the pleasant surroundings of their main restaurant.
The team have settled in well and are enjoying the Polish cuisine. The weather has been on our side for the trip and morale is high. Sweets and drinks remain a high priority for members of the team and a local shop is doing a roaring trade with certain members!
Koby had the plum draw in the third round playing an FM from Ukraine (2016). The standard of chess at the event is high with digital clocks on each table (not something you always see in the UK). The arbiter is FIDE qualified and the results / pairings are promptly uploaded. All boys worked very hard today which is reflected in the results from the first five rounds: Koby is on 4.5 points; Ashwin on 4; Samir on 3.5; Anantha, Nikolai & Reuben on 3; Gianfranco, Ethan, Gabriel, Jacob, George & Luke on 2.5 and Shobhin on 1.5.
For full results & pairings paste this address into your browser:
http://www.chessarbiter.com/turnieje/2014/ti_2737/results.html?l=en&tb=10_
Tomorrow is a mix of school work with our host school and the final 2 rounds in the afternoon. Wish us luck!
Monday 26th May
The generous leaders graciously granted a lie in to start the day for our young players - much needed for all concerned! 8am into the minibus and off to the host school for breakfast and morning school activities. The group thoroughly enjoyed their lessons in maths, physics and Polish that were undertaken in the home tongue which made it more interesting! After this unexpected cerebral challenge it was off to the school swimming pool where most of the group took a cool dip. After lunch it was more exercise, this time a scratch football match: England Chess v Polish Girls. After a fine 3:0 victory it was time to make our way to the playing hall for the last two rounds. Interesting note for junior organisers - a disco was provided by the school so players could relax between the rounds! Koby was playing on board 1 hoping to secure a win to progress and secure the tournament. Ashwin & Samir kept hard on his heels and the pressure was on right to the end of the tournament. The final scores over 7 rounds: Koby on 5; Samir on 4.5; Reuben, Jacob, Gianfranco, Ethan, Gabriel, Anantha, Nikolai & Ashwin finished on 4; Luke & George on 3.5; and Shobhin on 2.5.
Final scores and positions are seen at:
http://www.chessarbiter.com/turnieje/2014/ti_2737/results.html?l=en&tb=14_
Our prize winners were:
Koby - best international player;
Samir - best U18 player;
Ashwin - best U12 player.
The day ended with a lovely meal in the school refectory and back to the hotel exhausted but very pleased with the individual successes of all the players.
Tomorrow morning we are playing in a simul with a local IM at the host school and in the afternoon a trip for souvenir shopping and down the local salt mine, as you do!
Tuesday 27th May
The last day of our trip to Poland started (after another delicious Polish breakfast) with a simul against a local IM who is employed by our host school as the resident chess coach - the school also has an IA on the payroll! IM Jacek Bielczyk (2291) - who has one GM norm - played our thirteen squad members and after 90 minutes had drawn with 7 and had beaten 6. Congratulations to Samir who came the closest to beating him.After lunch we travelled to Krakow for a cultural visit and to buy the all important gifts for our generous and supportive parents. We then travelled to the Wieliczka salt mine (www.kopalnia.pl) for a fantastic 2 hour visit which everybody voted was much better than the shopping! Our trip ended with presentations by our host (a high quality plaque for each player with name plate) and then our thank you's to those who made it possible:
Mr Marian Sadzikowski - Principal of our host school;
Mrs Marta Szostek-Trzep - English teacher at the school;
Mrs Dorota Slusarczyk-Malecka - teacher at the school.
not forgetting a big thank you to our minibus driver and the catering staff for producing such lovely home cooked fresh food.
And finally Happy Birthday today to Ashwin - a top player and name to watch out for.
All have arrived home safely and been reunited with their families. On behalf of the Squad I would like to give a big thank you to John and Victore for all their hard work both before and during the trip. Without such dedicated volunteers we could not run the numbers of trips we do.
Trip to Frydek Mistek
Victor and I have decided to leave this in as it does contain some of Victor (and occasionally my) thoughts.
Please note I am writing this second hand!!
All have arrived safely about 30 minutes late and have settled down in the hotel which has wifi throughout. Wednesday was the social day and they have certainly been to the Anselm mine and probably shopping and swimming. The chess starts Thursday.
Thursday, as well as the chess, the group went to Albert (the local supermarket) at lunchtime to learn the route and in the evening had a walk to Frydek Square seeing St.Florian's statue, tilted house, castle etc. Football is planned for lunchtime Friday. Friday was obviously a good day over the chess board, hopefully we can keep it up.Victor is very pleased with the results so far and his hopes echo mine (or vice versa). Football went well today although goals claimed far exceeds goals scored! Tomorrow two of the Russian boys are joining us. There is only one game tomorrow plus some chess related activities. The weather has been glorious so far (like Wales!) Evening meal was fried mushrooms and the mushroom eating competition was won by a vegetarian. Victor retired as he did not have mush room left! (remember I do this second hand!!) The results from Saturday remain pleasing and we still have players on the stage (ie top boards). In the afternoon simultaneous against GM Sergey Movsesyan there were wins for Daniel Abbas, Joseph Dalton and Gautam Jain. We had football with two Russian boys at lunchtime (Don't mention the Crimea) and tomorrow we have football against Belarus. In the evening there was a good show with a Kendo demonstration and a lazer juggling display. Sunday we played Belarus at football and drew 4-4. Their team looked like Gulliver's Travels with four adults and three little children. We dominated posession and their ref ignored their hand ball in the area and disallowed a perfectly good goal...we was robbed! Good relations were fostered and our Opta stats were way better than theirs! Some players entered the drawing competition for which the prize is a solar powered torch. Don't say if the sun is out you don't need one. Early to bed tonight after preparation. The internet has been great for preparation this week with on line draws and access to players' games. Internet access in the hotel has improved enormously, in inverse proportion to the breakfast!Some news from the past was that a young lady who often played at Millfield, Sveta, is now teaching English in Russia. Her grandmother is leading the Russian delegation. On Tuesday we left the hotel at ten to visit the Tatra factory. The guide was taking her first English group and was nervous so we shared the job. I did the technical bits on engines transmission etc and she did the Tatra history. We saw a car Stalin used in addition to Hitler's snowmobile.We went to a restaurant for lunch and then walked through a storm to the caves. We went about 300 metres through the caves and saw some interesting formations including the second biggest void, filled mostly with water. We then had time for half an hours shopping for food for the flight before the last coach ride to the airport. Vasek was with us on our tourist days and did a great job. We gave him three cheesr before we left.
Boarding was much easier than Stansted. We were the only plane on the departures board when we arrived! Travelling this way is easier than battling through Prague and creates amother tourist day at the end of the trip. Team spirit has been great on this trip despite the age difference and everyone has shown an interest and listened to guides etc. It has been an enrichimg experience for all of us.
Thanks to Dawn and the team for their contributions and congratulations to them on their success.
Victor (with Pete uploading things)
As usual, Victor sorted the team targets out which were as follows; Under 12 target 3.06 per round.Scored 29, 4.52 ahead
Under 15 target 7.25 per round Scored 57.5, 0.5 behind. There are 21 countries in the chess event with 70 players in the U12s and 58 in the U15s. Our scores after seven rounds were as follows.
U15 6 - Daniel Abbas. 5.5 - Pavel Asenov. 5 - Michael Ashworth; Joseph Dalton; 4.5 - Thomas Finn; Jamie Macdonald. 4 - Robert Ashworth; Harry Croasdale; Hector Huser; Gautam Jain; Saaras Mehan; Prashast Vir. 3 - Dylan Hung
U12 7 - Dominic Klingher 6 - Nugith Jayawarna. 5.5 - James Moreby; David Xu; 5 - John Croasdale.
I will try to keep this as up to date as possible but results can be found on www.chess-results.com
IWhat a final round. Only one defeat, 12.5 points our highest score, Dominic wins, Daniel third, Nugith third, we win a cake for third place out of 29 teams, another of our teams was just outside the prizes. Prashast won a suitcase and Thomas a watch and a jigsaw in the raffle.We enjoyed two hours of bowling Monday afternoon and then packing in the evening after a short walk round Mistek. Tuesday we have caves, shopping and the Tatra museum before flying home.All 5 U12s topped 50% and 4 in the U15s did so. Dominic has made it a second win after his success in the Squad Championships as has been unbeaten in both winning 11 of the 13 games, an excellent performance. Nugith, too, has done very well, 2nd in the Squad and third here. These are two names for the future.
FRYDEK-MISTEK TRIP 2014
Thanks very much to Dawn Burroughs for putting together this comprehensive report.
Tuesday 15th April - Victor and I met 18 boys (Daniel Abbas, Gautam Jain, Dylan Hung, Hector Huser, John Croasdale, Harry Croasdale, Dominic Klingher, James Moreby, Nugith Jayawarna, David Xu, Jamie MacDonald, Prashast Vir, Micahel Ashworth, Robert Ashworth, Joseph Dalton, Thomas Finn, Saaras Mehan, Pavel Asenov) at Stansted Airport on Tuesday 15th April. We flew Ryan Air to Ostrava, which Victor tells me is better than previous years when they had to fly to Prague and then travel by train to Frydek Mistek. After taking off ½ hour later than scheduled, the flight went well, Saaras made a ‘friend’ on the plane, the man who he was sitting next to continuously talked to him about Manchester United (good job Peter was not on the flight). On our arrival in Ostrava we were met by our English speaking guide Vasek, had an evening meal, unpacked, then bed.
Wednesday 16th April – We met for breakfast at 08.00, all arrived on time except 2 (Jamie and Prashast), they had forgotten to change the time on their clocks, so were set to be up an hour later. After breakfast Vasek met us and we were all set for our sightseeing day out. The boys all piled on a coach that was waiting outside the hotel, only to find out they had got on the wrong one, and were nearly off to school (The High School of Agriculture). After getting on the correct coach, we set off for the Landek Coalmine just outside of Ostrava. The boys found this very interesting, and were a credit to us, as they listened very well to Daniel our English speaking tour guide. Dylan was very inquisitive, and asked many appropriate questions, he also put on the breathing apparatus that the ‘rescuers’ used in the 1980’s. James and David also tried this equipment on, but it was a little on the heavy side for them.
We then went to the New City Hall in Moravska, Ostrava, this has a tower constructed of glassed steel with a copper plate. We went up to the viewing platform where on a good day you can see the Beskydy and Jeseniky mountains from the 73 metres high terrace. There is a fountain with a statue of Icarus in front of City Hall, which is the third biggest bronze statue in the Czech Republic. (We had a team photograph taken here).
We then managed to fit in ½ an hour shopping at the Avion shopping centre. It is amazing what you can fit in in ½ hour. They loved the ice creams and sorbets that they bought for 60p. More importantly Harry bought a football in anticipation of the following day.
13 of the boys then went swimming, we had the sole use of the swimming pool, which also had a whirl pool. A lot of splashing went on, and Harry was crowned the ‘king’ of the splashers. They all enjoyed the use of the whirlpool too. There is an advantage of being the only female on the trip, you get to have the use of the changing room to yourself.
We then had a late evening meal, team talk, and then early night.
Thursday 17th April – We all met at 08.00 for breakfast, then set off through City Park to National House where we were playing in the tournament. The opening ceremony started at 09.00; there were 124 juniors taking part in 3 sections. After round 1 the U15 score was 7½ and U12 – 4½, with some good chess being played. Round 2 was U15 – 7½ with Michael and Gautam playing each other, and the last 2 in the playing room, and U12 – 3, with James and Nugith playing each other. In between rounds we took the boys to Albert’s (the supermarket), so they could stock up on whatever was needed. Victor and I bought the ‘team toilet roll’ (soft quilted) which went down very well, as it is much softer than the local paper.
We then had evening meal at hotel, and Victor took us on a walk, we went on the footpath next to the Ostravice River, then up to the square before Frydek Castle. Victor gave us a tour of the square also telling us about the cast iron statue of St Florian dated 1863, we saw the oldest street in the town (Hluboka). On the way back to the hotel we went past the football ground where as you can imagine there were many discussions about various football teams, including Bolton!
Friday 18th April – Second day, we all met for breakfast, and went to the venue, the weather was beautiful, the best day so far, sunny and warm. Even though it was hot, Dominic still kept his coat on all day. He had worn it for the first 2 rounds, and wanted to keep it on. At the end of round 3 both Dominic and Pavel were on 3/3, total team score U15 – 7½, U12 – 3½. After lunch, we were able to take the boys to the park and have a game of football, all played except Saaras who did some revision ready for his exams. Many goals were scored, and it was 12 – 8, but funnily enough when I asked them how many individual goals they scored, it totalled more than 20, nearer 30, some exaggeration going on I think. David was the star of the match scoring quite a few goals, although it was said by some that he was goal hanging. Round 4 took place, again with excellent results, U15 – 8, U12 – 3½, at this stage we had 6 players who had not lost a game, and with Dominic 4/4 still wearing his coat.
We had evening meal of battered mushrooms and potatoes, it didn’t go down well with some of them, but Nugith ate 2 helpings. Unfortunately James persuaded Victor to tell us his ‘mushroom’ joke, ‘after he had eaten all his mushrooms, he was going to ask for more, but didn’t have much room’, needless to say there were a lot of groans heard around the room.
We had team talk, and ‘adopted’ 2 Russian players, we invited them to play football with us the following day, also they were keen to learn English, and the boys were very good at talking to them, and explaining the English language. This evening the boys played 3 way non consultation chess, we played it by room, with the exception of Daniel and Pavel, who were split to make up numbers in 2 other rooms. They enjoyed playing this, and it will be continued tomorrow.
Saturday 19th April – After breakfast we walked as usual through the park to National House, round 5 started and Dominic still had his coat on! After winning 4/4 we told him not to take it off, as it was becoming his lucky charm. At this stage we had 6 players that hadn’t lost a game. Michael was the last person playing in the hall today, and played fantastically turning the game round well to win.
After all the games were finished we went and played football in the park again including the two Russian boys that were learning English, (Gena and Vladimir). Unfortunately during this match Hector twisted his ankle, and had to hobble off. He spent the rest of the day and the following day limping.
In the afternoon there were chess related activities going on, and 6 of us played in the simultaneous against GM Sergej Movsesjan and WGM Julia Kochetkova. Daniel, Joseph and Gautam had wins against the GM’s. We then watched a cultural show on the stage with 4 men showing us their experiences of using swords made of bamboo, this was called ‘Kendo’, and a lazer lighting display, which was very good.
We then returned to the hotel, had our evening meal, and continued with the 3 way non consultation chess, they then had time to continue with preparation for their games the following day. There were a row of them sitting in the foyer with laptops, ipads etc, getting their wifi connections, as for some reason tonight it was not working in their rooms. This has proved to be an important part of the trip, to enable them to research and prepare for their next games.
Sunday 20th April – Had breakfast, we had cheese today 48 hours after requesting it. Played round 6, another good performance from the U12’s with a total score of 3½ again. Dominic broke his pattern, and is now on 5½/6, and the U15’s – 4½, this was our toughest round for the U15’s. Had lunch, unfortunately they had run out of vegetarian options today, and the vegetarians had to just have potatoes and rice for lunch. Some of the boys that had finished lunch early went and played football, they played 5 a-side and Hector was referee with a sore ankle, Saaras stayed behind and revised again, and some others played table football.
Round 7 was just about to start and Michael came running out asking me for tissues as he had spilt coke on to the board next to him. It’s amazing what I produced from my ‘Mary Poppins’ bag on this trip, tissues, first aid medication for sore throats, nose bleeds, headaches, swollen ankles, and an umbrella when it rained.
We had some good results this round, and the U 15’s were now back up to their best overall score yet of 8 and the U12’s constant at their 3½.
We then had a 7 a-side football match against Belarus, as they had more U9’s and U12’s than us, they played 4 adults on their team, which wasn’t really fair as they had one in goal the whole match against our goalies of James and Dominic. As Victor said it did look like Gulliver’s Travels. The result was 4-4, however, we did deserve to win, they ignored hand balls more than once and disallowed a goal, the referee was a Belarusian!
We had out last round of 3 way non consultation chess tonight, and the results were 1st Robert, Michael and Pavel, 2nd - Dominic, David and James with 3rd place being Jamie, Prashast and Daniel, 4th – Harry, John and Saaras, and joint 5th Hector, Thomas and Nugith, and Dylan, Gautam and Joseph. Early to bed tonight as an early start tomorrow, our last round is a 08.00 start.
Monday 21st April - We were prepared for the last round, and at 10.50 Dominic was the first out of his game, beaming all over his face “I’ve won the tournament” he said, with a fantastic score of 7/8, the U15’s had their best overall score of the tournament of 8½, and the Under 12’s – 4. The boys really had done extremely well, with all of the U12’s reaching, and most exceeding their personal target, and nearly all of the U15’s reaching their personal target.
Prize giving was at 13.00, with Dominic winning the U12’s and won a tablet, (not the sort I had been dispensing), Nugith came 3rd and won a chess set and book, Daniel came 3rd in the U15’s and also won a chess set and a book, with Prashast also winning a suitcase (how we’re going to get that one home?), and Thomas winning a watch and jigsaw. Overall our ‘team 2’ came 3rd and won a cake that I carried very carefully back to the hotel and we all shared.
After all our excitement and us congratulating the squad, we then met with Vasek and Kate, and went ten pin bowling. The bowling alley opened especially for us as it was bank Holiday Monday, and usually they are closed, so we had the whole 4 lanes to use between us. I played alongside the boys while Victor did some paperwork. Dylan and James were very competitive against me, and their target was to beat my score, they didn’t manage it on the first game, I wasn’t playing too badly, but then it went downhill, I think my arm started aching (that’s my excuse), and they beat my score on the last two games. A good time was had by everyone, they even managed to order some chips while we were there, first chips in a week, you should have seen their faces.
After our evening meal, Victor took us on a walk to Mistek Square, and we had a small history lesson. We then returned to the hotel to pack, that was a challenge you can imagine. One of the rooms, mentioning no names, who could not even tell you what colour carpet they had in their room all week, as it was covered in clothes and everything else, took rather a long time to pack and sort out their rubbish. Also another room panicked as they could not find their room key, they hunted everywhere, even in other player’s rooms, in the end it was found in Harry’s wash bag which was packed in his suitcase, don’t ask how it got there. Also when checking rooms, we asked Daniel why had he got 3 empty water bottles beside his bed, he replied as he had a severe sore throat, when he wakes up in the morning, and his roommate is still asleep, he can’t call out to him, so he throws the bottles at him.
Tuesday 22nd April – We had a lie in this morning as we were not having breakfast until 08.30, well one room didn’t exactly have a lie in as they still had their alarm set from the previous day, which was 06.00, so they got up and played blitz before breakfast.
After breakfast we met with Vasek again and were taken by coach to the Tatra factory, the guide was taking her first English group and she was nervous so Victor helped her out and he covered the technical bits on engines etc. We saw Stalin’s car that he was given for his 70th birthday, and Hitler’s snowmobile. We then had lunch and then visited the Zbrasov Aragnite Caves, they are the only show caves of hydrothermal origin in the Czech Republic, we saw stalagmites and stalactites, little shrublets of aragonite and ‘doughnuts’ covering the walls. The lower part of the caves are filled with carbon dioxide. Near the caves is the deepest abyss in the Czech Republic (The Hranice Abyss, 289,5 m). We then had time for ½ an hour shopping for some food before heading for the airport.
Our flight was on time, and this time Saaras was able to sit next to his friends, so didn’t have a long chat with a stranger about Manchester United!
ENGLAND V FLANDERS
Held at Sutton Grammar School Saturday and Sunday 31st August and 1st September Our annual match was held in the London Borough of Sutton and we had the use of Sutton Grammar School - which has certainly produced International Masters in the past. We are very thankful to the Headmaster Mr Ironside and governors for allowing us the use of the school. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Pat Armstrong for all the hard work she has put in getting beds for our visitors, arranging refreshments, equipment and being on hand all weekend. Without people like Pat we could not run these events.
The only problem on the Saturday was the M25. English players and the Flemish Coach were held up but eventually we got underway about 30 minutes late. Unlike most previous years where the scores have been very close, the England team put on a sparkling performance to take the first round 14.5 - 5.5. The Flemish had to work hard to get a team owing to school term but the play of our top boards was very pleasing, The second round had a similar
result with England winning 14-6 and therefor the match 28.5 - 11.5. The top 10 result was 11-9 to England but the bottom 10 was 17.5 - 2.5 showing our strength in depth. After the match the Flemings were taken away by their hosts and all seemed to go well overnight with many pleasant comments being made by both players and hosts. After a slight traffic delay the rapidplay started on Sunday morning - four rounds joint and a further two rounds english only. After three we had 4 players on 3 - Jonah Willow (england), Tamer Ismail (Flanders), Daniel Blyth and Alex West (Hosts). Tamer won to make him the highest scoring Flemish player whilst Jonah won to go in to the final two rounds in the lead. He held this lead by the simple expedient of winning his last two games and ending up with a perfect score. One point behind was Alex Golding who was too young to qualify for the team and won the "best host" award whilst worthy of mention were two other hosts James Golding and Max Elliott both 3rd= on 4.5. Hopefully they will soon gain the appropriate qualifications to join the squad. All final scores for the rapid play are on the results page.
Gibraltar 2013
A group of 10 squad players, Anantha Anilkumar, Florian Garland-Hoff, Raghav Nayak, Samir Samadov, Nishant Bommayya, Matthew Fergusson, Ashwin Kalyana, Alex Kitshoff, Patrick Smith and Ollie Willson joined Glynis Purland and Ian Burford at Heathrow Airport at a very early hour to go to the Gibraltar Junior International. The first four were playing in the U12 section and the other 6 in the U16 section. They were joined in Gibraltar by Richard Meikle-Briggs who was also in the U16 section. This is a tournament where some players go with their families and Harry Grieve (U12), Charles and Cosima Keen (U16), Jonathan Pein (U16) and, of course, Stephen Whatley (U16 and resident in Gibraltar) were also there. After checking in the group were shown round the hotel and its environs and having a bit of lunch before playing in the Blitz tournament. Ollie came third equal and received his prize from GM Stuart Conquest who is now resident in Gibraltar. Other results were 7.5 Jonathan Pein, 7.0 Matthew Fergusson, Ashwin Kalyana, Patrick Smith. 6.5 Anantha Anilkumar, Harry Grieve, 6.0 Nishsnt Bommayya, Cosima Keen. 5.0 Charles Keen, Richard Meikle-Briggs, Samir Samadov, Stephen Whatley. 4.5 Alex Kitxhoff, Raghav Nayak. 3.0 Florian Garland-Hoff. After this we had a manager's reception on the terrace with free drinks and nibbles followed by dinner and an early night.
Friday saw the start of the tournament which was opened by the Minister for Sport and leisure Steven Linares and the first round proved very successful for squad members. At U16 level only Alex and Charles lost, both to other Squad members whilst at U12 level the Squad had a 100% score. Sadly the afternoon round did not go well for the U16s with only Stephen winning although we did have some draws. This left Ollie, Jonathan and Stephen on 1.5, Patrick, Richard, Nishant, Matthew, Ashwin and Cosima on 1 and Charles and Alex yet to score. The U12s did better with Harry, Samir and Anantha on 2, Florian on 1.5 and Raghav on 1. After dinner the boys took part in a Master Class led by Jovanka Houska (Commonwealth Ladies Champion) and GM Pia Cramling. Some interesting games were shown and the players enjoyed analysing the positions and trying to find the solutions.
Saturday we only had one round and this had its ups and downs. In the U14s Stephen is now our leading player on 2.5 with Cosima, Ollie and Patrick on 2, Ashwin, Matthew and Jonathan on 1.5, Charles and Richard on 1 and Alex on 0.5. The U12s sees Harry still on 100%, Anantha half a point behind, Raghav and Samir on 2 and Florian on 1.5. In the afternoon we had a coach tour of the Rock. We started off going through the refurbished tunnels to Europa Point. Unfortunately we were unable to get a clear view of Africa as we stood on what is claimed to be the southernmost point of Europe. We then went up a steep and winding road to St Michael's Cave which is a natural cave inhabited since prehistoric times and still a regular concert venue. This was also our close encounter with the famous apea. I have seen more as the sun was keeping some in the shade but there were enough for photos and watching their playful antics. The final stop was near the Great Seige Tunnels which were built during a previous effort by the Spanish to reclaim the Rock. This was unsuccessful as I am sure the present one will be! Then it was back to the hotel and dinner before the simultaneous display. This was to be a massive event where parents and even arbiters and organisers were included. In total 90 people sat down to play 5 of our coaches who were playing in tandem - even harder than 1 v 18. The intrepid 5 were GMs Juan Bellon, Victorija Cmilyte, Stuart Conquest and Pia Cramling and IM Jovanka Houska. In the end they had 2 losses and 11 draws which is an excellent result for them. Cosima was one of two winners (the other was the Azeri coach) whilst squad members Florian Garland-Hoff, Alex Kitshoff, Richard Meikle-Briggs, Jonathan Pein and Ollie Willson all gained draws. One of our parents, Amy Grieve, also got a draw - have we found a new player?? Harry, however, does claim much of the credit!
Sunday is a double round day and the day where events can be won or lost. The U12s was the first to finish and here, again, it was a day of conflicting fortunes. Our players on the higher scores did not do as well whilst those on the lower scores did well. As a result we had Anantha on 3.5 points and the other 4 on 3points. As there are 10 prizes in each section a win tomorrow could see any of our players in line for a lower prize. The U16s saw Cosima and Patrick on 3.5, Richard, Ollie and Matthew on 3, Ashwin, Jonathan and Stephen on 2.5, Alex and Nishsnat on 2 and Charles on 1. We have three inter squad matches which is unfortunate but forced (I as director always check the draw) but providing our players go for a win and not play feeble draws we could have at least three in the prize list. The evening was spent with master classes again and I sat in with Pia and many of our players and we all had a good time and learnt a lot. It is amazing the stale mates that can be gained!
Monday was our final day and a very important round. In the U12s Florian and Harry both won and gained a share of 8th place whilst Anantha and Samir ended up on 3.5 points and Raghav on 3 points. At U16 level the squad fared much better. Patrick won to be placed 2nd= and got a sustantial prize whilst Ollie was 5th by himself and added to his winnings. Cosima got the Girls' trophy and she was equal 6th with Stephen Also "on the podium" were Ashwin, Matthew, Nishant and Richard who shared 9th place. Jonathan ended up on 2.5 whilst Alex and Charlie scored 2 points. After the chess we all went on a Dolphin Safari and this year there were hundreds of Dolphins swimming around the boat and jumping out of the water. It proved a spectacular sight. After that we had a chance to relax and dress up before the Gala Dinner where the prizes were distributed. We then did the obligatory packing before a rather late night at the end of another good tournament.
Fate nearly dealt us a blow on Tuesday as fog closed Gibraltar and we spent an anxious time waiting to see if the flight would take off from Gib. In the end the plane refuelled at Malaga and flew on to Gib so we had no border problems and, according to the website only landed 90 minutes late.
A group of 10 squad players, Anantha Anilkumar, Florian Garland-Hoff, Raghav Nayak, Samir Samadov, Nishant Bommayya, Matthew Fergusson, Ashwin Kalyana, Alex Kitshoff, Patrick Smith and Ollie Willson joined Glynis Purland and Ian Burford at Heathrow Airport at a very early hour to go to the Gibraltar Junior International. The first four were playing in the U12 section and the other 6 in the U16 section. They were joined in Gibraltar by Richard Meikle-Briggs who was also in the U16 section. This is a tournament where some players go with their families and Harry Grieve (U12), Charles and Cosima Keen (U16), Jonathan Pein (U16) and, of course, Stephen Whatley (U16 and resident in Gibraltar) were also there. After checking in the group were shown round the hotel and its environs and having a bit of lunch before playing in the Blitz tournament. Ollie came third equal and received his prize from GM Stuart Conquest who is now resident in Gibraltar. Other results were 7.5 Jonathan Pein, 7.0 Matthew Fergusson, Ashwin Kalyana, Patrick Smith. 6.5 Anantha Anilkumar, Harry Grieve, 6.0 Nishsnt Bommayya, Cosima Keen. 5.0 Charles Keen, Richard Meikle-Briggs, Samir Samadov, Stephen Whatley. 4.5 Alex Kitxhoff, Raghav Nayak. 3.0 Florian Garland-Hoff. After this we had a manager's reception on the terrace with free drinks and nibbles followed by dinner and an early night.
Friday saw the start of the tournament which was opened by the Minister for Sport and leisure Steven Linares and the first round proved very successful for squad members. At U16 level only Alex and Charles lost, both to other Squad members whilst at U12 level the Squad had a 100% score. Sadly the afternoon round did not go well for the U16s with only Stephen winning although we did have some draws. This left Ollie, Jonathan and Stephen on 1.5, Patrick, Richard, Nishant, Matthew, Ashwin and Cosima on 1 and Charles and Alex yet to score. The U12s did better with Harry, Samir and Anantha on 2, Florian on 1.5 and Raghav on 1. After dinner the boys took part in a Master Class led by Jovanka Houska (Commonwealth Ladies Champion) and GM Pia Cramling. Some interesting games were shown and the players enjoyed analysing the positions and trying to find the solutions.
Saturday we only had one round and this had its ups and downs. In the U14s Stephen is now our leading player on 2.5 with Cosima, Ollie and Patrick on 2, Ashwin, Matthew and Jonathan on 1.5, Charles and Richard on 1 and Alex on 0.5. The U12s sees Harry still on 100%, Anantha half a point behind, Raghav and Samir on 2 and Florian on 1.5. In the afternoon we had a coach tour of the Rock. We started off going through the refurbished tunnels to Europa Point. Unfortunately we were unable to get a clear view of Africa as we stood on what is claimed to be the southernmost point of Europe. We then went up a steep and winding road to St Michael's Cave which is a natural cave inhabited since prehistoric times and still a regular concert venue. This was also our close encounter with the famous apea. I have seen more as the sun was keeping some in the shade but there were enough for photos and watching their playful antics. The final stop was near the Great Seige Tunnels which were built during a previous effort by the Spanish to reclaim the Rock. This was unsuccessful as I am sure the present one will be! Then it was back to the hotel and dinner before the simultaneous display. This was to be a massive event where parents and even arbiters and organisers were included. In total 90 people sat down to play 5 of our coaches who were playing in tandem - even harder than 1 v 18. The intrepid 5 were GMs Juan Bellon, Victorija Cmilyte, Stuart Conquest and Pia Cramling and IM Jovanka Houska. In the end they had 2 losses and 11 draws which is an excellent result for them. Cosima was one of two winners (the other was the Azeri coach) whilst squad members Florian Garland-Hoff, Alex Kitshoff, Richard Meikle-Briggs, Jonathan Pein and Ollie Willson all gained draws. One of our parents, Amy Grieve, also got a draw - have we found a new player?? Harry, however, does claim much of the credit!
Sunday is a double round day and the day where events can be won or lost. The U12s was the first to finish and here, again, it was a day of conflicting fortunes. Our players on the higher scores did not do as well whilst those on the lower scores did well. As a result we had Anantha on 3.5 points and the other 4 on 3points. As there are 10 prizes in each section a win tomorrow could see any of our players in line for a lower prize. The U16s saw Cosima and Patrick on 3.5, Richard, Ollie and Matthew on 3, Ashwin, Jonathan and Stephen on 2.5, Alex and Nishsnat on 2 and Charles on 1. We have three inter squad matches which is unfortunate but forced (I as director always check the draw) but providing our players go for a win and not play feeble draws we could have at least three in the prize list. The evening was spent with master classes again and I sat in with Pia and many of our players and we all had a good time and learnt a lot. It is amazing the stale mates that can be gained!
Monday was our final day and a very important round. In the U12s Florian and Harry both won and gained a share of 8th place whilst Anantha and Samir ended up on 3.5 points and Raghav on 3 points. At U16 level the squad fared much better. Patrick won to be placed 2nd= and got a sustantial prize whilst Ollie was 5th by himself and added to his winnings. Cosima got the Girls' trophy and she was equal 6th with Stephen Also "on the podium" were Ashwin, Matthew, Nishant and Richard who shared 9th place. Jonathan ended up on 2.5 whilst Alex and Charlie scored 2 points. After the chess we all went on a Dolphin Safari and this year there were hundreds of Dolphins swimming around the boat and jumping out of the water. It proved a spectacular sight. After that we had a chance to relax and dress up before the Gala Dinner where the prizes were distributed. We then did the obligatory packing before a rather late night at the end of another good tournament.
Fate nearly dealt us a blow on Tuesday as fog closed Gibraltar and we spent an anxious time waiting to see if the flight would take off from Gib. In the end the plane refuelled at Malaga and flew on to Gib so we had no border problems and, according to the website only landed 90 minutes late.
Regional and U10 teams v Wales
The annual match took place over the weekend 1\2 June and was held, as usual, at the Grange School Monmouth. We are all very grateful for the support of The Grange for this event. For the first time for a long time we had an U10 girls’ match over 6 boards. Long may this continue! Saturday also saw the two SE v Wales matches and the U10 boys v Wales. Sunday was the two SW v Wales
matches. At the start on Saturday we had a full 40 players from both sides eager to get started. At U14 level the Welsh have a strong team but, sadly for them, had lost two of their top six and although they only lost 3.5-4.5 on the top 8 in the first round SE were triumphant on the bottom four boards. round two proved even better for SE and they triumphed by 9.5 – 2.5 giving a resounding
win by 18 – 6. It will be interesting to see if the Welsh come back tomorrow and deal harshly with SW. At U12 the strength of the SE told with a first round victory by 9-3 although in round two the Welsh did narrow the margin to 8-4 giving SE a 17 – 7 victory. The English U10 boys were victors by 9-1 in both rounds where English strength in depth counted. The Welsh have got some very
good girls at the younger age groups, which was shown in the U10 girls, match where the first round was drawn 3-3 and after a nail biting second round Wales won on the final board to finish (of all four matches!) to take the round 4-2 and the match 7-5.
On Sunday it was the turn of the South West. We had one English default but a younger brother was handy so 48 players were ready at the start. From the Welsh point of view the morning was a disaster. The SW teams were, in theory, weaker but stormed home 9-3 at U12 level and the same result at U14!! The second round saw Wales playing much better but SW still won the U12s
6.5 – 5.5 giving them a 15.5 – 8.5 advantage whilst in the U14 SW won 7-5 giving a total of 16-8
Junior Squad Championships
These were held in Daventry at the Daventry Court Hotel. It is the first time we have used a hotel and the reaction from the parents was very positive. We will certainly be looking to return next year so please watch this space for the date! 115 players took part in four sections and at the end of three rounds Thr leader board was as follows. Under 10 Anita Somton (2.5) v Benjamin Headlong (3); Jack Yang (2.5) v Oliver Howell (2.5). Under 12 James Moreby (3) v Koby Kalavanann (3); Girinath Haridas (3) v Freddie Coleman (2.5) (4 others on 2.5). Under 14 Josh Higgs (3) v Akito Oyama (2.5); Jake Liang (2.5) v Harry Croasdale (2) (11 others on 2). Under 16 Louise Head (2.5) v Ollie Willson (3) The final round saw Benjamin Headlong (4) V Oliver Howell (3.5) on top board in the U10s. In the U12s Koby Kalavanan (4) played Girinath Haridas (3.5) with Karam Sangha also on 3.5. In the U14s things were much closer. Joshua Higgs was sole leader on 3.5 and played Jake Liang - one of 6 players on 3. Ollie Willson took a half point lead over Louise Head in to the final round where he played Jake Manton whilst Louise played Kumar Dixit. The first section to finish was the U10s won by Benjamin Headlong with Abhisek Thakar and Riyaan Yesudian joint second. In fact this time all sections finished in age order and the U12s saw Girinath Haridas defeat Koby Kalavannan in the final game to take the title on 4.5 points ahead of Koby, Nikolai Hinterreither, George Ivanov, Dominic Klingher and James Moreby all on 4 points. The U14s was the only title that was shared – by Joshua Higgs and Akito Oyama on 4 points ahead of Joseph Dalton, Taran Jina, Jordan Lewis,Jake Liang and Prashast Vir. Finally the U16s was won by Ollie Willson on 4 points followed jointly by Kumar Dixit and John Fraser on 3.5. It was an excellent weekend which ran very smoothly and was appreciated by parents and players alike. Finally, congratulations to Thomas Finn on gaining his second norm and we welcome him to the Squad.
British Rapidplay Championships
There was a very good turn out from the Junior Squad at this event and, as is often the case, the younger brain did well!
We also had some prospective members aiming for their first or second norms and the first to gain his place was Karam Sangha who reached his target with three rounds to spare. A further five players gained their second half norm; Robert Ashworth, Sam Herring, Elizabeth Ivanov, Jason Lau and Raghav Nayak. We are very pleased to welcome these players in to the squad and hope they will enjoy their time with us.
New Members
We would like to congratulate the following players on becoming members of the squad at the British Championships – Arul Gupta who was U11 champion and Owen Robinson who gained his second norm in U13s. First norms were gained by Sam Herring and Jason Lau (U13), Michael Gilbert (U12), Robert Ashworth, Elizabeth Ivanov, Raghav Nayak and Andrew Smailes (U11) and to all these we wish them the best of luck in their quest for second norms.
ENGLISH CLOSED 2013 AT YATELEY MANOR
This event was held in conjunction with the South of England championships, at Yateley Manor over the weekend of Sat and Sun January 26th and 27th. Playing conditions were excellent, room set up in advance, everything ran smoothly – a controller’s dream!
Under 12 (22 players)
Over the weekend, quite a few results went against the seeding, demonstrating just how strong an event this was. But top seed, Anthony Zhang was largely untroubled, conceding just one draw, in round 3, to Girinath Haridas, the eventual runner-up, half a point behind. Dion Huang, who came third with 3½ out of 5, was also unbeaten. Six players shared 4th place, Harry Grieve, Anantha Anilkumar, Taylor Pearson, Charlie McLaren, Pavel
Asenov and Koby Kalavannan. Sam Hayman qualified to join the Squad
Under 14 (31 players)
The first round saw the formbook turned upside down, with the bottom half beating the top half 8½ - 6½. The top three seeds were all held to draws. At the end of the first day, the sole leader was Gwilym Price (seeded 28thout of 31), with 3 out of 3. The Sunday saw the leading players re-establishing
themselves. Top seed, Akito Oyama, shared 1st place with Jason Lau, with 4 out of 5. Second and third seeds, Ashwin Kalyana and Ryan Wong, together with David Liu and overnight leader Gwilym Price, were equal 3rd, half a point behind. Joshua Fernandes won his second norm to
qualify to join the Squad.
Under 16 (16 players)
Top seed Adam Taylor led from the front, winning his first 4 games and conceding a draw to second seed Philip Knott in the last round. Louise Head, seeded 9th out of the 16 players, came clear 2nd with 4 points and a superb grading performance 40 points above her grade. Philip Knott and Ollie Willson shared 3rd place half a point behind
Our thanks as always go to Andrew Martin for all his hard work making sure the whole event ran smoothly. Thanks too to controller, Chris Howell
Alec Webster
I would like to add my congratulations to all the players who did well, especially our four champions and also welcome Sam and Joshua in to the squad. Finally my thanks to Alec and his team for running a superb event, probably the strongest Junior Event in England. Gibraltar, however, is great!!
Peter
Under 12 (22 players)
Over the weekend, quite a few results went against the seeding, demonstrating just how strong an event this was. But top seed, Anthony Zhang was largely untroubled, conceding just one draw, in round 3, to Girinath Haridas, the eventual runner-up, half a point behind. Dion Huang, who came third with 3½ out of 5, was also unbeaten. Six players shared 4th place, Harry Grieve, Anantha Anilkumar, Taylor Pearson, Charlie McLaren, Pavel
Asenov and Koby Kalavannan. Sam Hayman qualified to join the Squad
Under 14 (31 players)
The first round saw the formbook turned upside down, with the bottom half beating the top half 8½ - 6½. The top three seeds were all held to draws. At the end of the first day, the sole leader was Gwilym Price (seeded 28thout of 31), with 3 out of 3. The Sunday saw the leading players re-establishing
themselves. Top seed, Akito Oyama, shared 1st place with Jason Lau, with 4 out of 5. Second and third seeds, Ashwin Kalyana and Ryan Wong, together with David Liu and overnight leader Gwilym Price, were equal 3rd, half a point behind. Joshua Fernandes won his second norm to
qualify to join the Squad.
Under 16 (16 players)
Top seed Adam Taylor led from the front, winning his first 4 games and conceding a draw to second seed Philip Knott in the last round. Louise Head, seeded 9th out of the 16 players, came clear 2nd with 4 points and a superb grading performance 40 points above her grade. Philip Knott and Ollie Willson shared 3rd place half a point behind
Our thanks as always go to Andrew Martin for all his hard work making sure the whole event ran smoothly. Thanks too to controller, Chris Howell
Alec Webster
I would like to add my congratulations to all the players who did well, especially our four champions and also welcome Sam and Joshua in to the squad. Finally my thanks to Alec and his team for running a superb event, probably the strongest Junior Event in England. Gibraltar, however, is great!!
Peter
Junior Squad Training Weekend
This was held on the first weekend in January at Suites Hotel in Knowsley and was attended by 43 players. As usual the coaching team consisted of Andrew Martin IM, Squad Chief Coach, Nigel Davies GM, Graeme Buckley IM and Peter Purland IA. Saturday saw the players split in to four groups and have a session with each of the four trainers whilst in the evening 28 players and 15 parents and siblings played Crazy Lightning and a good time was had by all. Sunday saw problem setting by the coaches followed in the afternoon by a themed 10 minute tournament. The Squad would like to thank the coaches for their hard work, Suites Hotel for looking after us so well and especially Glynis Purland who organised the weekend. Almost every one found it an enjoyable and useful weekend whilst for the parents it is one weekend when they can relax and not worry about their children's results!
International Quadrangular
Many Squad members took part in this annual event which was held at Liverpool College on December 1st and 2nd. Teams from North, Midlands Scotland and Wales took part in the event and this year was one of the closest on record. The U16 Section saw two teams at the top with North and Scotland both winning comfortably in round one and drawing in round two. In the final round North started with a half point advantage and ensured their victory by beating the Midlands 6-0, whilst Scotland conceeded three draws to Wales. Midlands just pipped Wales for third place. One notable statistic is that Matthew Walsh has been playing in the event for 5 years and has won 15\15! At U14 Wales were the favourites being Robinson Cup winners and also NYCA Champions. They lived up to their reputation winning all three matches and having a margin of 6.5 points at the end. Scotland were second
followed by North and Midlands although only 1.5 points separated these three. The U12 section had no clear favourite and both round one games were drawn. In round two North won 8-2 against Scotland and, as Scotland and Midlands had drawn their lead of 2.5 points looked enough. Midlands, however, were in no mood for losing and ended up beating the North 7.5-2.5. This gave Wales a chance as well and they defeated Scotland 7-3 and so pipped the Midlands by just half a point leaving North third, 100% records were gained by 5 players in U12; Jacob Boswell and Sam SmithMcGloin (M), Euan Dawson (S) Ben Choo Yin, Joshua Williams and Arjun Balasabramanian (W). At U14 this was only achieved by Joshua Fernandes (N) whilst at U16 Matthew Walsh (N) and Daniel Deary (S) also won three. Thanks go to Liverpool College for hosting the event, Ian Campbell for his arbiting and
all the teams for their effort over the weekend.
Many Squad members took part in this annual event which was held at Liverpool College on December 1st and 2nd. Teams from North, Midlands Scotland and Wales took part in the event and this year was one of the closest on record. The U16 Section saw two teams at the top with North and Scotland both winning comfortably in round one and drawing in round two. In the final round North started with a half point advantage and ensured their victory by beating the Midlands 6-0, whilst Scotland conceeded three draws to Wales. Midlands just pipped Wales for third place. One notable statistic is that Matthew Walsh has been playing in the event for 5 years and has won 15\15! At U14 Wales were the favourites being Robinson Cup winners and also NYCA Champions. They lived up to their reputation winning all three matches and having a margin of 6.5 points at the end. Scotland were second
followed by North and Midlands although only 1.5 points separated these three. The U12 section had no clear favourite and both round one games were drawn. In round two North won 8-2 against Scotland and, as Scotland and Midlands had drawn their lead of 2.5 points looked enough. Midlands, however, were in no mood for losing and ended up beating the North 7.5-2.5. This gave Wales a chance as well and they defeated Scotland 7-3 and so pipped the Midlands by just half a point leaving North third, 100% records were gained by 5 players in U12; Jacob Boswell and Sam SmithMcGloin (M), Euan Dawson (S) Ben Choo Yin, Joshua Williams and Arjun Balasabramanian (W). At U14 this was only achieved by Joshua Fernandes (N) whilst at U16 Matthew Walsh (N) and Daniel Deary (S) also won three. Thanks go to Liverpool College for hosting the event, Ian Campbell for his arbiting and
all the teams for their effort over the weekend.
World Youth Chess Championships, Maribor, Slovenia 7th to 19thNovember 2012
34 players and 9 coaches, many of the players being existing members of the National Chess Junior Squad journeyed to the World Chess Championships in Slovenia.
The event was held at Maribor, the second city in Slovenia, with a population of approximately 90,000 people. The large river Dravaflowed through its centre and just on the edge of the city there is a ski-resort situated on a forest-lined mountainside – this is where the WYCC was located. Fortunately a gondola ran throughout our stay making it easier to get to the mountain top (1042m high), and there was great walking to enjoy.
The England team of 34 players, 9 coaches and more than 30 family members stayed in the Hotel Arena which was 5 minutes walk from the playing area. The staff were great, the beds comfortable, and the players loved the food!
The daily routine was pretty straightforward - breakfast; find the pairings on the web (more bandwidth next time please!); individual coaching; lunch; final practice and then off to the start of the round which was at 3pm each day.
As far as the chess is concerned, the playing conditions were very good compared to equivalent events. The Slovenian organisers had done an excellent job, with firm but friendly arbiters, plenty of score sheets and pens, and the on-line scores were expertly produced in almost real time. There was the usual rush of people trying to get into the venues at the start of round 1 but for rounds 2 to 10 the organisers implemented a strict policy of access to the main venue of players only. At the smaller venue, where the U8s and the U10 girls are playing, parents are allowed in before the round starts. There were live webcams in both playing halls and in the main hall ten live boards per section.
WYCC was a very positive experience for all players, coaches, parents and others who stayed with us in Maribor. The atmosphere in ‘base camp’ was relaxed, focused, supportive and friendly; being able to walk to and from the playing venue was a major bonus. Perhaps most importantly a high standard of chess was played and some strong results were achieved.
The team as a whole performed well, securing an average of 50% overall. There were a number of first timers on the trip and they all played very well. All players, even the veterans, learnt a lot, whether preparing for a game or simply how tough chess is at this level.
The team had two players winning prizes. Aditya Verma was 4th= (albeit 8th on tie-break) in the under 8 Open, and Matthew Wadsworth finished 5th in the under 12 Open (finishing unbeaten), just half a point behind the gold medallist. Both very much enjoyed being presented with their awards by GM Garry Kasparov, and they received the biggest cheers of the evening from the enthusiastic and large group of England supporters.
A final thank you to our Head of Delegation Jim Wadsworth and our Head Coach GM Nick Pert. We all had a great time!
34 players and 9 coaches, many of the players being existing members of the National Chess Junior Squad journeyed to the World Chess Championships in Slovenia.
The event was held at Maribor, the second city in Slovenia, with a population of approximately 90,000 people. The large river Dravaflowed through its centre and just on the edge of the city there is a ski-resort situated on a forest-lined mountainside – this is where the WYCC was located. Fortunately a gondola ran throughout our stay making it easier to get to the mountain top (1042m high), and there was great walking to enjoy.
The England team of 34 players, 9 coaches and more than 30 family members stayed in the Hotel Arena which was 5 minutes walk from the playing area. The staff were great, the beds comfortable, and the players loved the food!
The daily routine was pretty straightforward - breakfast; find the pairings on the web (more bandwidth next time please!); individual coaching; lunch; final practice and then off to the start of the round which was at 3pm each day.
As far as the chess is concerned, the playing conditions were very good compared to equivalent events. The Slovenian organisers had done an excellent job, with firm but friendly arbiters, plenty of score sheets and pens, and the on-line scores were expertly produced in almost real time. There was the usual rush of people trying to get into the venues at the start of round 1 but for rounds 2 to 10 the organisers implemented a strict policy of access to the main venue of players only. At the smaller venue, where the U8s and the U10 girls are playing, parents are allowed in before the round starts. There were live webcams in both playing halls and in the main hall ten live boards per section.
WYCC was a very positive experience for all players, coaches, parents and others who stayed with us in Maribor. The atmosphere in ‘base camp’ was relaxed, focused, supportive and friendly; being able to walk to and from the playing venue was a major bonus. Perhaps most importantly a high standard of chess was played and some strong results were achieved.
The team as a whole performed well, securing an average of 50% overall. There were a number of first timers on the trip and they all played very well. All players, even the veterans, learnt a lot, whether preparing for a game or simply how tough chess is at this level.
The team had two players winning prizes. Aditya Verma was 4th= (albeit 8th on tie-break) in the under 8 Open, and Matthew Wadsworth finished 5th in the under 12 Open (finishing unbeaten), just half a point behind the gold medallist. Both very much enjoyed being presented with their awards by GM Garry Kasparov, and they received the biggest cheers of the evening from the enthusiastic and large group of England supporters.
A final thank you to our Head of Delegation Jim Wadsworth and our Head Coach GM Nick Pert. We all had a great time!
Poland October 2012
Team Members:
Daniel Abbas, Joshua Cavendish, Harry Croasdale, Oskar Hackner, Lawrence Lee, Saaras Mehan, Owen Messere, Akito Oyama, Otto Pyper, Raunak Rao, Frank Sabin and Isaac Stables.
Team Managers: Ian Burford and Glynis Purland
Saturday 20th October
An early start was made by the North of England contingent – setting off from Chester Station at 6.35am. A very straightforward journey enabled us to join the rest of the party in plenty of time to fly from Gatwick at 12.50. We were met at Krakow airport by one of our Polish hosts, Marta Szostek-Trzep, who took excellent care of us for the whole week. A two-hour minibus journey took us to the Hotel Limba, in the beautiful mountain resort of Poronin. The staffs here were attentive and catered well for the various dietary needs. We met Mr. Sadzikowski, the Director of School 8, Chrzanow, who had invited us on the trip, had a team chat and settled into our rooms for an early night.
Sunday 21st October
We had an early start today, which was to become a familiar pattern!! Following a buffet breakfast we were taken to the nearby bustling resort of Zakopane where we went on a cable car to the top of the mountain. The views were breathtaking and Marta told us of the legends connected with the mountains. Following a rapid walk through the market we returned to our hotel. at 11 am we started a 3 member, 9 round Team Tournament.
England
1 –Daniel Abbas, Oskar Hackner and Akito Oyama
England 2 –Joshua Cavendish, Raunak Rao and Frank Sabin
England 3 –Harry Croasdale, Lawrence Lee and Owen Messere
England 4 –Saaras Mehan, Otto Pyper and Isaac Stables.
The other teams came from various towns in Poland.
It was a very hard fought competition, with ‘UKS przy SP8 Chrzanow’ coming first. England 1,2 &3 finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, with
England 4 finishing 7th. Akito, Daniel and Joshua were in the top 6 for their individual scores (3rd, 4th & 6th).
3. Akito (8.0), 4. Daniel (8.0), 6. Joshua (7.0), 7. Raunak (6.5), 8. Owen (6.5) 9. Frank (6.50) 11. Harry (6.0), 12. Oskar (6.0), 15. Isaac (5.0), 17. Lawrence (4.5), 20. Saaras (3.0), 22. Otto (3.0).
Monday 22nd October
This was our designated sight seeing day and it enabled us to move to our final venue from the mountains. In the morning we had a 2 hour guided tour of Wieliczka Salt Mines. An absolutely fascinating place whichcontained many wonders –several churches, a cathedral and various statues all carved from salt. Fortunately the boys answered enough questions correctly for our guide to allow us to use the lift on the way back to the surface!! In the afternoon we visited Krakow, the beautiful ancient, once capital, of Poland. The boys indulged in some retail therapy – buying chess sets and we walked through the town square, castle area, down to the river and the fire-breathing dragon. We had a team talk when we reached our hotel for the rest of the stay, in Jaworzno, and the boys sampled the delights of 3-way chess.
Tuesday 23rd October
Today we started the pattern that would follow through the rest of the week. Up at 7.30, mini bus to the school and breakfast at 8.30. Chrzanow School
8 has pupils from 5-15 and is one of the top chess schools in the country, with chess being included on the timetable. We were welcomed to the school in their Assembly and each player made a brief speech of introduction. The rest of the morning involved us in school activities, an English/Polish lesson, Geography – tourism in Poland and I.T.After lunch the boys were shown how to play volleyball and participated in a brief match. The score will remain between us!
Round 1 of the FIDE Rated Tournament was held in the brand new Biblioteka, which the town is very proud of. Initially our players were split into an A and B group, but on reviewing the play in the B group I suggested all our players enter the A group. Play lasted until 7.30pm when we returned to school for tea, and then to our hotel.
Wednesday 24th October
The Higher Secondary School (Lyceum) was visited this morning and the boys played a simultaneous round against IM Daniel Sadzikowski. Daniel did not lose a game but Oskar, Daniel, Owen, Akito, Raunak and Frank did hold him to a draw. We then had the special privilege of going to the Town Hall to meet with the Deputy Mayor of Chrzanow who chatted with the boys about their experiences. In the afternoon the boys who had previously played in the B team caught up on the first round whilst the others had a walk around Chrzanow old town.
Round 2 of the FIDE Tournament was held later in the afternoon. In our hotel that evening we played Consultation Chess where Saaras, Oskar, Otto and Harry obtained wins.
Thursday 24th October
This morning saw two tournaments, a Blitz against Chrzanow School 8 and a Three-way tournament between Rybnik (the winners of the Polish Schools
Competition), Chrzanow and us.Oskar won the Blitz, with Harry second and Frank third. England won the Three-way tournament with Akito first individual place and Oskar third.
Blitz – 1.Oskar (5.0), 2.Harry (4.5), 3. Frank (4.0), 4. Owen (4.0), 5.Daniel (4.0), 6. Lawrence (4.0), 7. Akito (4.0), 8. Otto (4.0), 9. Saaras (4.0), 12. Raunak (3.5), 23. Joshua (3.0), 24. Isaac (3.0)
Three-way – 1. Akito (4.5), 3. Oskar (4.5), 4. Otto (4.0), 5. Owen (4.0), 6. Frank (4.0), 12. Lawrence (3.0), 13. Daniel (3.0), 14. Harry (3.0), 16. Raunak (3.0), 17. Saaras (3.0), 23. Joshua (3.0), 27. Isaac (3.0)
In the afternoon the boys had a break in between their chess and played football against a Chrzanow side.
Round 3 of the FIDE Tournament was held in the Biblioteka.A room quiz on various aspects of our trip was played on our return to the hotel. Joshua, Frank and Raunak were the very worthy winners with an admirable score of 18/20.
Friday 25th October
Today we sampled more of the delights of Chrzanow School 8 Sports Facilities. The two swimming pools, slide and hot tubs proved very popular with
the boys. A last minute shopping spree was held in the new centre of Chrzanow followed by a game of badminton.
Round 4 of the FIDE Tournament was held, with tensions mounting in this hard fought competition. The day ended with a disco held at the school where the Polish students ‘encouraged’ the team to dance!
Saturday 26th October
Always a sad day at the end of a trip. A 9am start today for the final round of the FIDE Tournament, with all to play for. Some very tense matches were
played and the final results were: - Winner - Szymon Drop (4.5) with Akito in second place and Harry third.
FIDE Tournament – 2. Akito (4.0), 3. Harry (3.5), 4. Daniel (3.5), 5. Oskar (3.5), 8. Lawrence (3.0), 12. Frank (2.5), 15. Josh (2.0), 16. Raunak (2.0),
17.Saaras (1.5), 18. Otto (1.5), 19. Isaac (1.5), 21 Owen (1.0).
We had our final meal at the school, said our goodbyes and our excellent minibus driver returned us to the airport for our flights home.
The behaviour of the boys was impeccable throughout and both Ian and I thoroughly enjoyed their company. They were a pleasure to take.
The English team on the Tatra
Mountains in Zakopane
Daniel Abbas, Joshua Cavendish, Harry Croasdale, Oskar Hackner, Lawrence Lee, Saaras Mehan, Owen Messere, Akito Oyama, Otto Pyper, Raunak Rao, Frank Sabin and Isaac Stables.
Team Managers: Ian Burford and Glynis Purland
Saturday 20th October
An early start was made by the North of England contingent – setting off from Chester Station at 6.35am. A very straightforward journey enabled us to join the rest of the party in plenty of time to fly from Gatwick at 12.50. We were met at Krakow airport by one of our Polish hosts, Marta Szostek-Trzep, who took excellent care of us for the whole week. A two-hour minibus journey took us to the Hotel Limba, in the beautiful mountain resort of Poronin. The staffs here were attentive and catered well for the various dietary needs. We met Mr. Sadzikowski, the Director of School 8, Chrzanow, who had invited us on the trip, had a team chat and settled into our rooms for an early night.
Sunday 21st October
We had an early start today, which was to become a familiar pattern!! Following a buffet breakfast we were taken to the nearby bustling resort of Zakopane where we went on a cable car to the top of the mountain. The views were breathtaking and Marta told us of the legends connected with the mountains. Following a rapid walk through the market we returned to our hotel. at 11 am we started a 3 member, 9 round Team Tournament.
England
1 –Daniel Abbas, Oskar Hackner and Akito Oyama
England 2 –Joshua Cavendish, Raunak Rao and Frank Sabin
England 3 –Harry Croasdale, Lawrence Lee and Owen Messere
England 4 –Saaras Mehan, Otto Pyper and Isaac Stables.
The other teams came from various towns in Poland.
It was a very hard fought competition, with ‘UKS przy SP8 Chrzanow’ coming first. England 1,2 &3 finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, with
England 4 finishing 7th. Akito, Daniel and Joshua were in the top 6 for their individual scores (3rd, 4th & 6th).
3. Akito (8.0), 4. Daniel (8.0), 6. Joshua (7.0), 7. Raunak (6.5), 8. Owen (6.5) 9. Frank (6.50) 11. Harry (6.0), 12. Oskar (6.0), 15. Isaac (5.0), 17. Lawrence (4.5), 20. Saaras (3.0), 22. Otto (3.0).
Monday 22nd October
This was our designated sight seeing day and it enabled us to move to our final venue from the mountains. In the morning we had a 2 hour guided tour of Wieliczka Salt Mines. An absolutely fascinating place whichcontained many wonders –several churches, a cathedral and various statues all carved from salt. Fortunately the boys answered enough questions correctly for our guide to allow us to use the lift on the way back to the surface!! In the afternoon we visited Krakow, the beautiful ancient, once capital, of Poland. The boys indulged in some retail therapy – buying chess sets and we walked through the town square, castle area, down to the river and the fire-breathing dragon. We had a team talk when we reached our hotel for the rest of the stay, in Jaworzno, and the boys sampled the delights of 3-way chess.
Tuesday 23rd October
Today we started the pattern that would follow through the rest of the week. Up at 7.30, mini bus to the school and breakfast at 8.30. Chrzanow School
8 has pupils from 5-15 and is one of the top chess schools in the country, with chess being included on the timetable. We were welcomed to the school in their Assembly and each player made a brief speech of introduction. The rest of the morning involved us in school activities, an English/Polish lesson, Geography – tourism in Poland and I.T.After lunch the boys were shown how to play volleyball and participated in a brief match. The score will remain between us!
Round 1 of the FIDE Rated Tournament was held in the brand new Biblioteka, which the town is very proud of. Initially our players were split into an A and B group, but on reviewing the play in the B group I suggested all our players enter the A group. Play lasted until 7.30pm when we returned to school for tea, and then to our hotel.
Wednesday 24th October
The Higher Secondary School (Lyceum) was visited this morning and the boys played a simultaneous round against IM Daniel Sadzikowski. Daniel did not lose a game but Oskar, Daniel, Owen, Akito, Raunak and Frank did hold him to a draw. We then had the special privilege of going to the Town Hall to meet with the Deputy Mayor of Chrzanow who chatted with the boys about their experiences. In the afternoon the boys who had previously played in the B team caught up on the first round whilst the others had a walk around Chrzanow old town.
Round 2 of the FIDE Tournament was held later in the afternoon. In our hotel that evening we played Consultation Chess where Saaras, Oskar, Otto and Harry obtained wins.
Thursday 24th October
This morning saw two tournaments, a Blitz against Chrzanow School 8 and a Three-way tournament between Rybnik (the winners of the Polish Schools
Competition), Chrzanow and us.Oskar won the Blitz, with Harry second and Frank third. England won the Three-way tournament with Akito first individual place and Oskar third.
Blitz – 1.Oskar (5.0), 2.Harry (4.5), 3. Frank (4.0), 4. Owen (4.0), 5.Daniel (4.0), 6. Lawrence (4.0), 7. Akito (4.0), 8. Otto (4.0), 9. Saaras (4.0), 12. Raunak (3.5), 23. Joshua (3.0), 24. Isaac (3.0)
Three-way – 1. Akito (4.5), 3. Oskar (4.5), 4. Otto (4.0), 5. Owen (4.0), 6. Frank (4.0), 12. Lawrence (3.0), 13. Daniel (3.0), 14. Harry (3.0), 16. Raunak (3.0), 17. Saaras (3.0), 23. Joshua (3.0), 27. Isaac (3.0)
In the afternoon the boys had a break in between their chess and played football against a Chrzanow side.
Round 3 of the FIDE Tournament was held in the Biblioteka.A room quiz on various aspects of our trip was played on our return to the hotel. Joshua, Frank and Raunak were the very worthy winners with an admirable score of 18/20.
Friday 25th October
Today we sampled more of the delights of Chrzanow School 8 Sports Facilities. The two swimming pools, slide and hot tubs proved very popular with
the boys. A last minute shopping spree was held in the new centre of Chrzanow followed by a game of badminton.
Round 4 of the FIDE Tournament was held, with tensions mounting in this hard fought competition. The day ended with a disco held at the school where the Polish students ‘encouraged’ the team to dance!
Saturday 26th October
Always a sad day at the end of a trip. A 9am start today for the final round of the FIDE Tournament, with all to play for. Some very tense matches were
played and the final results were: - Winner - Szymon Drop (4.5) with Akito in second place and Harry third.
FIDE Tournament – 2. Akito (4.0), 3. Harry (3.5), 4. Daniel (3.5), 5. Oskar (3.5), 8. Lawrence (3.0), 12. Frank (2.5), 15. Josh (2.0), 16. Raunak (2.0),
17.Saaras (1.5), 18. Otto (1.5), 19. Isaac (1.5), 21 Owen (1.0).
We had our final meal at the school, said our goodbyes and our excellent minibus driver returned us to the airport for our flights home.
The behaviour of the boys was impeccable throughout and both Ian and I thoroughly enjoyed their company. They were a pleasure to take.
The English team on the Tatra
Mountains in Zakopane
Antwerp 2012
I met the team, and Dawn Burroughs who had done all the pre-event work, at St. Pancras International on the Friday evening to be greeted by a notice about cancelled trains on Sunday. Just when I thought my reputation as the “Jonah of the Eurostar” was about to be enhanced we were told that our intended train would not be affected. Boarding went much more smoothly than the airport alternative apart from one member of the team doing a “Gretel” impression by leaving a trail of things through security. We played cards and chess on the train while others listened to music. In Brussels we made our connection and formed a very favourable impression of Belgian trains until our tickets were checked and we were told we were in first class. Telling them that all trains were like this in England didn’t seem to help so we moved to less comfortable accommodation. On arrival in Antwerp our rendezvous point – the café – was closed, but Marcel and the host families met us and all were soon whisked off for the night. In many cases email contact had already been made and everyone had presents for their new Belgian friends. The team did much better than the management who were checked into a Youth Hostel.
The tournament began with a match against last year’s winners the Netherlands. After many close games we lost 4-6 but had learned enough to believe we could beat them the second time we would play in this double round all-play-all. In round two we edged a tight match with Belgium 5.5-4.5 and followed up with a comfortable win against the much weaker German team. At the end of the first round we were equal first on match points but third on the tie break of games won. The last match of day one was the re-match with Netherlandswhich we won 6-4. Having won three in a row our task on day two was to repeat our victory over Belgium and follow it up with another win over Germany. After a tense and fascinating struggle we lost 4.5-5.5 to Belgium, a result which guaranteed a home victory in the competition. In the last round we did beat Germany, when the score went from 2-1 to 7.5-2.5 in the last seven minutes of the available ninety! This guaranteed second place and a team prize of 200 Euros, along with a trophy and medals, while Eva, Joshua and David also won 50 Euro board prizes. Since we were rushing for our train which left 65 minutes after the last game ended, these prizes were
handed over in the car park! Now began the second Belgian Grand Prix of the year when three cars braved pavement short-cuts around road works and the chaotic centre of Antwerp which was cut in half by a part-finished tram line, to get us to the station. Remarkably this was achieved with ten minutes to sit down on the platform. On the train we staged our own more leisurely prize-giving, much to the amusement of the other passengers. I just knew the Eurostar journey couldn’t be trouble free again: we were held up before entering the tunnel by the continued engineering work but not by quite enough to get more compensation. Everyone was collected within minutes of emerging at arrivals and my journey home, which would finally end at 7p.m. on Monday continued…… Thanks to the team for their commitment to the cause and to Dawn, who made the whole thing possible.
Victor Cross
Final Results
Belgium 41.5; England 34.5; Netherlands 32.5, Germany 11.5. 10,8,6,0 match points respectively
Individual Results
These are against Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany in that order. Players are in board order.
Patrick Smith 0, 0.5, 0, 0.5, 0, 0.5.
Daniel Noel 0.5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1.
Louise Head 0, 0.5, 1, 1, 1, 0.5.
Adam Burroughs 0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 0, 0.5.
Robert Fitzgerald 0, 0, 1, 1, 0.5, 1.
Michael Ashworth 0, 1, 1, 0.5, 0, 0.5.
Jamie MacDonald 0, 1, 0.5, 0.5, 1, 0.5.
Eva Ressell 1. 0.5, 1, 0.5, 0, 1.
Joshua Higgs 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1.
David Liu 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1.
Flanders 2012
This year it was our turn to visit Flanders and 20 players (well actually 19 as one had to return for his passport) met Victor Cross and Peter Purland at St Pancras International. Fortunately Harry’s mother is a fast driver and he was able to join us in the passport queue. (Please see results for team list) At this point we nearly lost Sammy as they wanted a Shengen visa to travel through France but Victor’s charm saved the day. So, after some earlier problems with getting the team, we did eventually get 20 actually on to Eurostar. The journey ran exactly to time and we were met at the station and taken to their new HQ. This is next to an airfield and this was to be the first official event at the centre. We started at 1530 playing all moves in 45 minutes. In round one we had black and after some fairly good early
results things deteriorated and almost all the later games were lost leaving us facing a 7-13 deficit after round one. Round two started well for England and after 9 games the score was 6-3 in our favour. This continued throughout the game and with the last game in play the score was tied. This went down to a 10.2 (for which I was really grateful!!) but fortunately the players agreed a draw and the match was tied. The result was thus to be decided working on the rapid play (a system worked out by Rudi and Ian Cowen many years ago) and so the event continued. We started the tournament at 1025 and ended up with 4 rounds. With a round to go we were half a point ahead (I never understand Rudi’s scoring system) and in the end we won by either 1 or 2 points. Anyhow we decided to keep one trophy each. Ben Tuerlinckx won our part of the blitz but Samuel Vandeputte was their overall winner. We had Samir Samadov and Harry Grieve first equal and Samir took the trophy on tie break. We were then taken to the station but then had an awful journey back on Eurostar. We got to Frethun and the train was declared unfit to go through the tunnel. We had to go back to Lille and were 2hrs 45 minutes late. I made my train with minutes to spare whilst Victor and Theo had to spend the night in London.
GIBRALTAR 2012
The second Gibraltar International Junior Chess Festival started today with an 11% increase in numbers on the initial tournament and including players from England, Spain, Gibraltar, Hungary and Portugal. When all were playing we had a total of 69 players with 41 in the U16s and 28 in the U12s. The U12s had only 8 FIDE rated players and after the first two rounds which were played on Friday 6 players were on 2\2 including 3 of the rated players. In the U16s the majority of the 41 players were rated and here, of the 8 players on 2\2 all but one were rated. One of the important factors of the tournament is that we have visiting grandmasters who are available to go over games and also in the evening master classes are on offer. Today we held our first of two masterclass evenings. Husband and wife grandmasters Juan Manuel Bellon and Pia Cramling demonstrated games they had won using prepared ideas in sharp opening positions. Pia's game was against Irina Levitina, and was played in the Women's Candidates tournament of 1986, in Malmo. Juan Manuel showed a spectacular game he won against Kiril Georgiev, played in the early 90s. The children were thus treated to two superb lessons. As both games were very complicated, the audience were encouraged to ask as many questions as they liked!
The Festival includes a range of events specially arranged to fit into the 5-day schedule. Tomorrow afternoon the children, having played their third round games this morning, are invited on a Rock Tour, the highlight of which will be a close encounter with Gibraltar's best-known residents, the Barbary apes! In the evening there will be a series of Simultaneous displays offered by the visiting masters. As well as the children, the parents will be invited to take part. It promises to be a fun but challenging event for all!
There was only one round today but in the U12s it led to a single leader on 100% - Alejandro Perez Garcia. He is down floating to play Kevin Diller in round 4 and there are 3 other players on 2½. In the U16s there are 3 players on full score, FM Benjamin Gledura (Hungary) who has white against Oskar Hackner (England) and Carlo Garcia de Lomas Guerrero who is floating down to play Alfred Wong (England) whilst Henry Broadley is white against Jonathan Pein both England and also on 2½. There are two rounds on Sunday which should go a long way to sorting out the top positions although with the extensive prize list there are many other prizes to play for and a lot of good competitive chess can be looked forwarded to.
There were two events on the social side. In the afternoon 91 players and their families participated in a tour of Gibraltar. We started off with a drive through Camp Bay to Europa Point where we had a photo stop and a look at the most southerly Trinity House Lighthouse. We then went to the Upper Rock stopping first at St Michaels Cave. People were very impressed with the formations on display and in particular the concert hall. We then visited the souvenir shop and the apes benefitted by one player’s ice cream! We then stopped at the Ape’s Den where the obligatory photos were taken before moving on to the Great Siege Tunnels. We were able to go in to these and appreciated the strength of the fortifications. After dinner there was a simultaneous display, given by our visiting grandmasters, Juan Bellon, Stuart Conquest, Pia Cramling, Jovanka Houska and Ray Keene. A total of 62 players took part and the final score was gms +54, =7 -1. Joseph Levene (England) was the only winner but mention must be made of eight year old Denis Diller who held Ray Keene to a draw with a very impressive display. The whole evening went very smoothly and we are very grateful for the effort put in by our top players. Sunday there are two rounds and in the evening Stuart Conquest and Jovanka Houska are giving a master class.
As is ever the case there were mixed fortunes for squad members on the Sunday but at least we ended the day with some strong performances. Henry Broadley was playing top board on Monday in the final round whilst Aidan McGiff, Jonathan Burch, Jonathan Pein, James Bowler and Alfred Wong were in boards 3-5. Sunday night we had another master class and one which I find thoroughly enjoyable. Jovanka Houska spent time looking at the middle game showing the power of different pieces in certain positions and she was followed by Stuart Conquest who looked at some end games. It proved a most useful evening and highlighted areas which are not covered that frequently. Monday saw some very pleasing overall results. Although Henry lost, he joined James, Jonathan Burch and Jonathan Pein in 3rd= although in fact Jonathan Pein took the U14 prize. Aidan McGiff and William Claridge-Hansen were equal 6th whilst Alfred and Ryan Wong shared 10th place. In the U12s Joshua Higgs was 6th=. After play had finished, 95 players and families got the bus down to the ferry terminal and had a Dolphin Safari. This proved probably the best I have been on from the point of view of the number of dolphin “spotted” whilst, for the first time on a safari I have been on, we saw a turtle. We returned to the Caleta and got ready for our Gala Dinner and prize giving. This all went well and we returned safely on the Tuesday after another very good trip.
Visit of Ile de France August 2012
This year the team from Ile de France which we had played in 2011 visited us. The original idea was to come to London and stay at Chessington but the room prices of £195 per night and hire prices of £250 per day put us off. Fortunately, Suites Hotel which we had used for our training weekend, came to our rescue with a good deal and the French flew in to Manchester. They did not have an easy journey as, unbelievably, they had been separated by an automatic door at GDG and 6 had to come on a later flight. Anyhow, with a bit of luck I got them all on a bus (really decent bus driver) and we went to Suites where we all settled in and I got the equipment unloaded. Some of the England team also stayed there and after a good night’s sleep all were ready for battle in the morning. Both sides started a player short so we played 13 a side in the match. The games all lasted a long time but we were gradually going under. With 7 games finished it was 5.5 – 1.5 in favour of Ile de France. Unfortunately things did not improve in the second half and the final score in round one was 3.5 – 9.5. We had just under an hours break for lunch and then restarted. The second round was better being 4-4 at one stage although, unfortunately, the later results did not go in our favour and the final result was 8-5 for Ile de France giving a final score of 17½ - 8½ in favour of the French. We then sorted ourselves out prior to having dinner together in the restaurant. On Sunday we invited 7 further English and 34 players took part in the rapidplay which we played on Fisher 20 +10 timings. With a 1000 start we were hoping for a 1700 finish. The morning went very smoothly and there were no problems over timing. We started round four after lunch at 1350 but with 6 French on the top four boards. How often have we said that in rapid play. The final round saw the top three boards all light blue!! As a result the winner was Alexandre Ek, followed by Thomas O’Sullivan with Yovann Gatineau third. At this point we had 5 English players half a point behind, Callum Brewer, Gautam Jain, Ashwyn Kalyana, Tharshan Kuhendiran and Karam Sangha. This was especially good for Karam as he is not yet in the squad. We then had the closing ceremony with Callum and Ryan Reed getting prizes in the rapid play as well as Rohan Yesudian and the other 4 on 4 points who all got small tokens. The final day I took the group to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. We got the train up and spent 5 hours going on rides, eating and, certainly for the youngsters, generally enjoying themselves. Unfortunately the weather was decidedly unkind but for youngsters in a fairground this did not dampen their spirits. We arrived back in Liverpool at 8pm and said our goodbyes on the station.
British Championships 2012
With the very full and equally expensive we moved up to Tyneside and a wonderful venue at The Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields. Good playing conditions, free parking, the best catering I can remember and a friendly welcome from all made it a memorable congress. I am also pleased to report that the junior entry was up on Sheffield showing that families will travel to a decent area even if it is a long way. There was plenty of good chess as well and we had quite a few champions from amongst the squad. At U16 three boys tied for the money with Oskar Hackner getting the U16 trophy and Henry Broadley and Adam C Taylor tying for the U15 one. U16 girls champion was Chantelle Foster with Louise Head as U15 champion. The U14 championship was taken by Tarun Malhotra whilst Cosima Keen and Jessica Wen tied for the girls’ title with Akshaya Kalaiyalahan who, the previous week, had been crowned U11 girls’ champion. Akito Oyama won the U13 title whilst Eva Ressel was U12 girls’ champion. At U11 level, Arul Gupta, who had missed a place at the trial, won the tournament (and a place in the squad) whilst Charlie McLaren was U10 champion. Congratulations to all these players on the hard work they put in to become champions.
Visit of Saxon Chess Players August 2012
In 2010 a group of 8 Junior Squad youngsters aged 11 and 12 visited Saxony after Victor had received an invitation to come during the Paignton Congress. Looking back in the diary I saw that we won the match 29-3 but I had commented that the Saxons were young but I felt had promise and I would be interested to see them in two years time playing our U12s. This was to be the opportunity as 5 of the 8 players were in the team that visited us.
The Saxons arrived at Liverpool Airport on Friday 10th August and settled down in their hotel. The leaders then met at the Baltic Fleet to sort out the programme after which they had a night’s sleep. On Saturday, the Saxons and I met at the Town Hall. We chatted for a bit before going to Exchange Flags then on to Matthew Street to see the Wall of Fame and the Cavern club. We walked through Williamson Square and went in St George’s Hall where we had a good look round at the exhibits, calls, court room etc and as a bonus were able to see the floor uncovered. The Saxons seemed to really enjoy this. We then moved on to the Adelphi and went up to St Andrew’s for the story of the gambler. Next stop was Paddy’s Wigwam which they looked over. We then walked down Hope Street stopping by the Institute, looking at St James’ Cemetery and watching some people abseiling down the Anglican Cathedral. We then went in the Cathedral and had a look round and they decided we should go up the tower. There were quite good views although, unusually for this summer, there was a heat haze. They then walked down to the Beatles Story but there was a long queue so they spent time in Chavasse Park before going on to the cinema. Sunday was “Ferry Cross the Mersey” day but as well as the cruise they visited Spaceport and the Wallace and Gromit exhibition at Seacombe, had a picnic lunch and went on to Woodside to view the U Boat. They tried to repatriate it but their efforts were fruitless (it is surprisingly Danish property) so they returned to Liverpool empty handed.
Monday was the first of two days devoted mostly to chess. A minibus picked us up at the hotel and we were taken to Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) where we spent a couple of hours looking round, using many interactive exhibits and seeing a textile making demonstration. After lunch it was down to the chess. We played two 50 minute games at MOSI where the Saxons showed how much they had improved by winning 15-1!! We then went to Bolton for a fish and chip supper followed by a blitz tournament at Bolton Chess Club. We managed a total of 34 players and this included adults (some being of a high standard) and was won on 5\5 by Henrik Hoffmann who was the Saxon coach and plays for one of the teams in the 4NCL. Second place was shared by Robert Kreyssig, Joseph McPhillips, Selina Moses and Anna Nobis with Selina getting the trophy on tie break. Afterwards the coach took us back to Liverpool. After a night’s sleep the Saxons got the train to Town Green where they were met by cars and taken to Aughton St Michael’s where they were to play a combined England and Lancashire team. There was a late start but eventually we got going with 9 English having turned up and the match commenced about 30 minutes late. Unfortunately, from an English point of view, the match went the way of Monday with some good games but the English coming off second best. Hari was the only one to score gaining a draw when his opponent made an illegal move in time trouble. This gave us our only half point. We then had a buffet lunch provided by the school and then got on to the second round. After three defeats it was Hari again who broke our duck. This was a far better round with the 4 England players drawing 2-2 and Cameron getting a draw on board 5. The final score was England 3 -13 Saxony but with some good close games. We then started the rapidplay in which we had 33 players. The Saxons gradually moved to the top but were challenged by Zheming Zhang (who came second=) and Kyle
Sharpe who came fourth. The winner was Theo Gungl (board 2) half a point ahead of Zheming and Robert Kreyssig (Board 1). We then went to the Stanley Arms for a farewell dinner after which the Saxons returned to their hotel and flew out Wednesday.
England Chess Squad Trip Report – Frydek Mistek Easter 2012
The complete team list and final results were:
Beskydy Tournament:- Matthew Payne 5.
Under 15s:- Rohan Bansal 4, Paul Calderon 4.5, Alexei Davis 5.5, Kumar Dixit 4.5, Toby Harris 3, Andrew Horton 6, Shyam Kalairajah 5, Alex Kitshoff 2.5, Simon Leung 3.5, Roman Mitra 5.5, Pavan Murali 4, Leo Tsoi 5
Under 12s:- Harry Grieve 5. Jake Liang 5.5, Aloysius Lip 6, Eva Ressel 5, Theo Slade 6, Brian Tarhon 5.5, Aditya Yanamandra 3.5
This Easter holiday, a party of 20 players and 3 adults (Victor Cross and Peter and Glynnis Purland) travelled to Frydek Mistek in the Czech Replublic, to participate in the “Tournament of Young Talents” held there annually. The party consisted of 3 Sussex players: Brian Tarhon (U12), Toby Harris (U15) and myself (FIDE Open) and below is my personal account of this fantastic trip...
Day 1 – Tuesday 3rd April
The vast majority of our group met up at Heathrow Airport ready for our flight to Prague, whereas the other few players were coming from Manchester. After saying goodbye to parents, we followed the standard procedure of check-in, security and then patiently waiting for our plane. We arrived in Prague at around 10 am local time (an hour ahead of over here), and collected our luggage, where we then had a 2 hour wait for the Manchester group. After we all met up, we had to get many different forms of transport to get to our hotel, which would take about 5 hours in total, these included a 3 and a half hour train to Ostrava, on which we played chess for the whole journey! Once we arrived at our hotel, we were allocated rooms (Toby and I were roommates) after which we had dinner and our first of the daily meetings which explained what was happening each day. We then were sent to our rooms to unpack and then it was an early night after all the travelling.
Day 2 – Wednesday 4th April
Today was our sightseeing day, so it was an early start and breakfast so we could catch the bus we needed. We first visited Ostrava Coal Mine, and went down to about -600 ft to see the mine, we even found a training course which we were allowed to go through, and this favoured the younger members of our group... We also had lunch there before travelling to our next destination: Ostrava Town Hall, where we went up to the viewing tower. We were then taken to a huge shopping mall, where we were allowed to spend some of our money on souvenirs or other things we needed. We then went to a local sports centre, where we first played football, and then either went swimming or played squash for an hour. After this we returned to our hotel for dinner, before being given a guided tour to the chess venue we would be playing at the next day... After this we returned to the hotel for an early night, ready for the start of the tournament.
Day 3 – Thursday 5th April (1/5 of tournament)
Today was the start of the tournament, so we all had an early breakfast before our long-awaited first round. The younger groups also had an opening ceremony before play commenced. In Rd 1, the U12’s scored a perfect 7/7 (Brian 1/1) and the U12’s 5/12 (Toby 0/1). I had to wait a bit longer before my tournament started, as I had a default win from no opponent being present! (1/1). Each day of the tournament (including today), we had lunch at the venue where we ate with fellow team mates etc. We then had some time before Rd 2 to play some fun games of exchange before our meeting with Victor over the round’s performance. Rd 2: U12’s scored 4/7, but Brian won again putting him on 2/2 whereas the U15’s scored 8.5/12, with Toby winning putting him on 1. My game was a massive struggle against a 2171 as I was being beaten a pawn down, but fought back to secure a battling draw! (1.5/2). After the excitement of the day, we returned to the hotel for dinner, our meeting and pairs blitz until bed.
Day 4 – Friday 6th April (2/5 of tournament)
The start of the day was very similar to yesterday, with early breakfast ready for an early round 3. In this round, the U12’s scored 4/7, with Brian maintaining his 100% start with 3/3. The U15’s scored 5/12, with Toby drawing putting him on 50% (1.5/3). I got smashed in my game losing to a 2201 in 24 moves, who I later found out was a friend of Peter and Victor’s! (1.5/3). After lunch and exchange, it was time for Rd 4... The U12’s scored 4/7, with Brian losing his 100% start, but staying unbeaten on 3.5/4. The U15’s scored 6.5/12 with Toby drawing again leaving him on 2/4. I achieved my best result to date, beating my first titled player (a Polish FM) in a tactical melee! (2.5/4). After this, some of our group went to a water park whilst the remainder returned to the hotel for dinner and exchange (I went with Andrew and we scored 15/17) before bed.
Day 5 – Saturday 7th April (3/5 of tournament)
Today started in the usual fashion, with us all being ready for Round 5. The U12’s scored 4/7, with Brian drawing again putting him on 4/5. The U15’s achieved 6.5/12, with Toby losing leaving him on 2/5. My game was a very dull affair against a 2173, which ended in a pretty stale draw, putting me on 3/5. The afternoon was different though, as all the sections bar mine were involved in an afternoon programme of different activities including simuls, brainteasers and football in the park and then a show. My game was against a 2070, who I out calculated in a rook ending, scoring me the win (4/6). After returning to the hotel and dinner, we had a consolation game with roommates, but unfortunately Toby and I lost to Andrew and Kumar, and then it was another early night.
Day 6 – Sunday 8th April (4/5 of tournament)
Today returned to normal after the chaos of the previous day, with all sections having 2 rounds. In Rd 6, the U12’s scored 5/7, with Brian drawing leaving him on 4.5/6. The U15’s scored 50% (6/12) with Toby drawing so he was on 2.5/6. I played my first of two shocking games of the day just blundering away the game in the opening to an in-form 2030 (4/7). Rd 7: the U12’s scored 5.5/7, with Brian winning leaving him on the same as the round score. The U15’s scored 7.5/12, with Toby drawing again so he is on 3/7), I played another dreadful game against a 2106, so I was on 50% prior to the final round (4/8). We then had dinner and a game of Millionaire before bed.
Day 7 – Monday 9th April (Final day of tournament)
We had an earlier round start today (8, as opposed to 9am every other day) and this was the final round. The U12’s scored 3/7 and Brian lost for the one and only time, so he finished on 5.5/8 (this was just outside the prizes...). The U15’s scored 7/12, with Toby losing to leave him on 3/8. I finally got back to winning ways to finish the tournament on a high, beating a 2028, so I finished on 5/9. After dinner we had the closing ceremony, where Theo, Eva and Andrew all won prizes, and Adi won a cycle helmet from a raffle. After this we went to the town square to take part in a challenging town trail with roommates and then we went bowling with the friends we met on the first day, and of us Toby scored the highest with 95 (with NO barriers). We then returned to the hotel for dinner, our final meeting and packing before bed.
Day 8 – Tuesday 10th April
We had an early start to catch the 0827 train to Ostrava, so we had an early breakfast and final room check before leaving. We then caught a 3 and a half hour pendelino train to the underground station, on which we played blitz and exchange. After the underground, we caught the bendy bus to the airport, before which we said goodbye to the Manchester lot, as their plane was later. We then checked in, went through security and got on the plane back to Heathrow, which landed about 4.30 local time. We then proceeded through customs, with a bit of mishap, as Brian’s passport seemed to be inaccurate... We then got our bags, said goodbye to everyone and made our own way home.
It had been an amazing trip for me personally, as I later discovered as a consequence of my exploits, I gained 30 FIDE rating points, but the other activities were fantastic too, so I would 100% encourage anyone offered a National Squad Trip to go, they really are unforgettable!!!
Reported by Matt Payne
Frydek Mistek 2012
On April 3rd 16 players met Victor at Heathrow whilst a further 4 met Glynis and Peter at Manchester. We all met up at Prague Airport then got the bendy bus to Dejvika where we boarded the tube to Muzeum and a further one to Hlavni Nadrazi where we booked for our main line train. The three of us and many of the players had a meal en route and arrived at Ostrava within two minutes of time. We had a comfortable change then got the branch line to Frydek arriving dead on time where Vashek was waiting to meet us. We transferred to Hotel Centrum and, after dinner had a meeting then unpacked and turned in.Wednesday was our free day and we made good use of it. Our first step was Anselm Mine at Landek which is under new ownership and has been much improved. We had a tour of both the surface and underground before lunch then had a play at the mammoth site. Next stop was Ostrava Town Hall where we went up the tower and took in the panorama of the city. We then had 100 minutes in the newest shopping mall before heading to the swimming pool. We were 30 minutes early so played soccer first then went in the pool where many played with the ball and others had a sauna or played in the whirlpool. We returned to the Centrum for dinner then the players joined Glynis and Victor for a walk in to Mistek whilst I booked us in for the tournament and got the tickets for the train. Thursday we were at breakfast at 0800 and at the hall by 0845. This was the first two rounds of the competition and we are playing to a time limit of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds. This gives plenty of time for a well thought out game. There are over 300 players in the 6 sections representing 11 countries and after a mercifully short opening ceremony we started. We had one player in the FIDE rated (Beskydy) Tournament and he was unlucky enough to have his opponent not arrive in the morning. However he made up for this with an excellent fighting draw against a 2100+ player in the afternoon. The U15s had a steady start scoring 6 (out of 12) in the morning but gained a creditable 8.5 in the afternoon. Only Pavan Murali was on 2\2. The U12s however stole the show with 7 (out of 7) in the morning and 4 in the afternoon when we had two inter squad pairings. Our only loss was to the top seed. Jake Liang, Theo Slade, Brian Tarhon and Aditya Yanamandra were al on 2\2. I had spent the date chatting to Karel Jubala, Karel Holusa and various other friends from abroad. This was coupled with going over quite a few games. We then returned home. ate, had our meeting and had a pairs Blitz competition run by Victor and Glynis in the evening. Friday we were at the National House by 0845 and this was another two round day with the U12s playing steadily scoring 4 points in each round to remain just ahead of their target whilst the U15s recovered from a poor morning (5 points) to reach their target of 6.5 in the afternoon. There were some dogged performances especially from the U15s in the afternoon and Victor is happy with the way things are going. Meanwhile in the Beskydy event Matthew met an old friend of ours Taddeus who has joined in with us for the last 6 years but his friendliness only showed itself in the post match analysis. In the afternoon, however, Matthew played an FM and gained his first titled scalp. The evening was split 50\50 with half going to the local Aquapark with Peter and the others playing exchange with Victor and Glynis. A good time was had by all, and two future trips were also arranged during the day. As usuual we were at the National House by 0845 and there was only one round today except for Matthew and he scored an excellent 1.5 to gain even more rating points. The U15s got 6.5 points whilst the U12s scored 4 for the fourth time in a row. Various of the players got good positions but were unable to convert them in to the extra half point. The afternoon was given over to social events and 16 of our players were lucky enough to be picked for one of the simultaneous displays. These were timed and even though our wins were on time a win against a gm is a win! Kumar Dixit beat Edouard Andreev (Ukraine) whilst Rohan Bansal beat Oleg Ivanov (Russia), Draws were gained by Theo Slade (Andreev), Alex Kitshoff and Aloysius Lip (Ivanov) and Romasn Mitra against Vlastimil Hort (Czech Republic). This was more than I could do as I lost to him in an evening event. There were other activities which, although mostly for younger players, our lads entered in to the spirit of things and took part. We then watched the local talent show which did, perhaps, have too much audio this year. In the past it has been very visual. In the evening Victor and Glynis ran a consultation event whilst I took part in a simul and social event at the National House. Surprisingly we were at the National House by 0845. There were two rounds and these could prove vital for potential prize winners. We were very proud of the effort put in by the group and this was reflected in a good all round performance. The results are shown below but for the first time for many years we are in with a chance of first prize in three sections (the girls prizes at U12 are separate). Obviously this depends on some good results tomorrow but the players are certainly "up for it". In the evening we played Millionaire but did not have time for the tie break. The winners will be announced tomorrow. One winner from yesterday was Simon Leung who won a draw for a football. Monday 9th April We were at the National House for 0745!! And for the final round we had 4 players on stage and 14 flags which is a record. We gained all our targets and, when the dust had settled we had three prize winners; Andrew Horton 3rd U15s, Eva Ressel 3rd in U 12 girls and Theo Slade 4th in U12s. There were only 5 prizes this year (less sponsorship) so we missed out on one more. After the prize giving we had the play off of millionaire and this was won by Theo and Harry. We then moved to the Town Square where we had our Town Trail. This was won by Aloysius and Leo with a really good score of 17. Then it was on to the bowling where, again, a good time was had by all. The winners here were Toby Harris (older) and Harry Grieve (U12s). We then returned to the hotel where packing loomed and we spent the evening on that chore. On the final day we caught the 0827 train to Ostrava and, tired nit happy, retraced our steps back to England.
Final Scores
Beskydy Tournament:- Matthew Payne 5.
Under 15s:- Rohan Bansal 4, Paul Calderon 4.5, Alexei Davis 5.5, Kumar Dixit 4.5, Toby Harris 3, Andrew Horton 6, Shyam Kalairajah 5, Alex Kitshoff 2.5, Simon Leung 3.5, Roman Mitra 5.5, Pavan Murali 4, Leo Tsoi 5
Under 12s:- Harry Grieve 5, Jake Liang 5.5, Aloysius Lip 6, Eva Ressel 5, Theo Slade 6, Brian Tarhon 5.5, Aditya Yanamandra 3.5
I met the team, and Dawn Burroughs who had done all the pre-event work, at St. Pancras International on the Friday evening to be greeted by a notice about cancelled trains on Sunday. Just when I thought my reputation as the “Jonah of the Eurostar” was about to be enhanced we were told that our intended train would not be affected. Boarding went much more smoothly than the airport alternative apart from one member of the team doing a “Gretel” impression by leaving a trail of things through security. We played cards and chess on the train while others listened to music. In Brussels we made our connection and formed a very favourable impression of Belgian trains until our tickets were checked and we were told we were in first class. Telling them that all trains were like this in England didn’t seem to help so we moved to less comfortable accommodation. On arrival in Antwerp our rendezvous point – the café – was closed, but Marcel and the host families met us and all were soon whisked off for the night. In many cases email contact had already been made and everyone had presents for their new Belgian friends. The team did much better than the management who were checked into a Youth Hostel.
The tournament began with a match against last year’s winners the Netherlands. After many close games we lost 4-6 but had learned enough to believe we could beat them the second time we would play in this double round all-play-all. In round two we edged a tight match with Belgium 5.5-4.5 and followed up with a comfortable win against the much weaker German team. At the end of the first round we were equal first on match points but third on the tie break of games won. The last match of day one was the re-match with Netherlandswhich we won 6-4. Having won three in a row our task on day two was to repeat our victory over Belgium and follow it up with another win over Germany. After a tense and fascinating struggle we lost 4.5-5.5 to Belgium, a result which guaranteed a home victory in the competition. In the last round we did beat Germany, when the score went from 2-1 to 7.5-2.5 in the last seven minutes of the available ninety! This guaranteed second place and a team prize of 200 Euros, along with a trophy and medals, while Eva, Joshua and David also won 50 Euro board prizes. Since we were rushing for our train which left 65 minutes after the last game ended, these prizes were
handed over in the car park! Now began the second Belgian Grand Prix of the year when three cars braved pavement short-cuts around road works and the chaotic centre of Antwerp which was cut in half by a part-finished tram line, to get us to the station. Remarkably this was achieved with ten minutes to sit down on the platform. On the train we staged our own more leisurely prize-giving, much to the amusement of the other passengers. I just knew the Eurostar journey couldn’t be trouble free again: we were held up before entering the tunnel by the continued engineering work but not by quite enough to get more compensation. Everyone was collected within minutes of emerging at arrivals and my journey home, which would finally end at 7p.m. on Monday continued…… Thanks to the team for their commitment to the cause and to Dawn, who made the whole thing possible.
Victor Cross
Final Results
Belgium 41.5; England 34.5; Netherlands 32.5, Germany 11.5. 10,8,6,0 match points respectively
Individual Results
These are against Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany in that order. Players are in board order.
Patrick Smith 0, 0.5, 0, 0.5, 0, 0.5.
Daniel Noel 0.5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1.
Louise Head 0, 0.5, 1, 1, 1, 0.5.
Adam Burroughs 0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 0, 0.5.
Robert Fitzgerald 0, 0, 1, 1, 0.5, 1.
Michael Ashworth 0, 1, 1, 0.5, 0, 0.5.
Jamie MacDonald 0, 1, 0.5, 0.5, 1, 0.5.
Eva Ressell 1. 0.5, 1, 0.5, 0, 1.
Joshua Higgs 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1.
David Liu 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1.
Flanders 2012
This year it was our turn to visit Flanders and 20 players (well actually 19 as one had to return for his passport) met Victor Cross and Peter Purland at St Pancras International. Fortunately Harry’s mother is a fast driver and he was able to join us in the passport queue. (Please see results for team list) At this point we nearly lost Sammy as they wanted a Shengen visa to travel through France but Victor’s charm saved the day. So, after some earlier problems with getting the team, we did eventually get 20 actually on to Eurostar. The journey ran exactly to time and we were met at the station and taken to their new HQ. This is next to an airfield and this was to be the first official event at the centre. We started at 1530 playing all moves in 45 minutes. In round one we had black and after some fairly good early
results things deteriorated and almost all the later games were lost leaving us facing a 7-13 deficit after round one. Round two started well for England and after 9 games the score was 6-3 in our favour. This continued throughout the game and with the last game in play the score was tied. This went down to a 10.2 (for which I was really grateful!!) but fortunately the players agreed a draw and the match was tied. The result was thus to be decided working on the rapid play (a system worked out by Rudi and Ian Cowen many years ago) and so the event continued. We started the tournament at 1025 and ended up with 4 rounds. With a round to go we were half a point ahead (I never understand Rudi’s scoring system) and in the end we won by either 1 or 2 points. Anyhow we decided to keep one trophy each. Ben Tuerlinckx won our part of the blitz but Samuel Vandeputte was their overall winner. We had Samir Samadov and Harry Grieve first equal and Samir took the trophy on tie break. We were then taken to the station but then had an awful journey back on Eurostar. We got to Frethun and the train was declared unfit to go through the tunnel. We had to go back to Lille and were 2hrs 45 minutes late. I made my train with minutes to spare whilst Victor and Theo had to spend the night in London.
GIBRALTAR 2012
The second Gibraltar International Junior Chess Festival started today with an 11% increase in numbers on the initial tournament and including players from England, Spain, Gibraltar, Hungary and Portugal. When all were playing we had a total of 69 players with 41 in the U16s and 28 in the U12s. The U12s had only 8 FIDE rated players and after the first two rounds which were played on Friday 6 players were on 2\2 including 3 of the rated players. In the U16s the majority of the 41 players were rated and here, of the 8 players on 2\2 all but one were rated. One of the important factors of the tournament is that we have visiting grandmasters who are available to go over games and also in the evening master classes are on offer. Today we held our first of two masterclass evenings. Husband and wife grandmasters Juan Manuel Bellon and Pia Cramling demonstrated games they had won using prepared ideas in sharp opening positions. Pia's game was against Irina Levitina, and was played in the Women's Candidates tournament of 1986, in Malmo. Juan Manuel showed a spectacular game he won against Kiril Georgiev, played in the early 90s. The children were thus treated to two superb lessons. As both games were very complicated, the audience were encouraged to ask as many questions as they liked!
The Festival includes a range of events specially arranged to fit into the 5-day schedule. Tomorrow afternoon the children, having played their third round games this morning, are invited on a Rock Tour, the highlight of which will be a close encounter with Gibraltar's best-known residents, the Barbary apes! In the evening there will be a series of Simultaneous displays offered by the visiting masters. As well as the children, the parents will be invited to take part. It promises to be a fun but challenging event for all!
There was only one round today but in the U12s it led to a single leader on 100% - Alejandro Perez Garcia. He is down floating to play Kevin Diller in round 4 and there are 3 other players on 2½. In the U16s there are 3 players on full score, FM Benjamin Gledura (Hungary) who has white against Oskar Hackner (England) and Carlo Garcia de Lomas Guerrero who is floating down to play Alfred Wong (England) whilst Henry Broadley is white against Jonathan Pein both England and also on 2½. There are two rounds on Sunday which should go a long way to sorting out the top positions although with the extensive prize list there are many other prizes to play for and a lot of good competitive chess can be looked forwarded to.
There were two events on the social side. In the afternoon 91 players and their families participated in a tour of Gibraltar. We started off with a drive through Camp Bay to Europa Point where we had a photo stop and a look at the most southerly Trinity House Lighthouse. We then went to the Upper Rock stopping first at St Michaels Cave. People were very impressed with the formations on display and in particular the concert hall. We then visited the souvenir shop and the apes benefitted by one player’s ice cream! We then stopped at the Ape’s Den where the obligatory photos were taken before moving on to the Great Siege Tunnels. We were able to go in to these and appreciated the strength of the fortifications. After dinner there was a simultaneous display, given by our visiting grandmasters, Juan Bellon, Stuart Conquest, Pia Cramling, Jovanka Houska and Ray Keene. A total of 62 players took part and the final score was gms +54, =7 -1. Joseph Levene (England) was the only winner but mention must be made of eight year old Denis Diller who held Ray Keene to a draw with a very impressive display. The whole evening went very smoothly and we are very grateful for the effort put in by our top players. Sunday there are two rounds and in the evening Stuart Conquest and Jovanka Houska are giving a master class.
As is ever the case there were mixed fortunes for squad members on the Sunday but at least we ended the day with some strong performances. Henry Broadley was playing top board on Monday in the final round whilst Aidan McGiff, Jonathan Burch, Jonathan Pein, James Bowler and Alfred Wong were in boards 3-5. Sunday night we had another master class and one which I find thoroughly enjoyable. Jovanka Houska spent time looking at the middle game showing the power of different pieces in certain positions and she was followed by Stuart Conquest who looked at some end games. It proved a most useful evening and highlighted areas which are not covered that frequently. Monday saw some very pleasing overall results. Although Henry lost, he joined James, Jonathan Burch and Jonathan Pein in 3rd= although in fact Jonathan Pein took the U14 prize. Aidan McGiff and William Claridge-Hansen were equal 6th whilst Alfred and Ryan Wong shared 10th place. In the U12s Joshua Higgs was 6th=. After play had finished, 95 players and families got the bus down to the ferry terminal and had a Dolphin Safari. This proved probably the best I have been on from the point of view of the number of dolphin “spotted” whilst, for the first time on a safari I have been on, we saw a turtle. We returned to the Caleta and got ready for our Gala Dinner and prize giving. This all went well and we returned safely on the Tuesday after another very good trip.
Visit of Ile de France August 2012
This year the team from Ile de France which we had played in 2011 visited us. The original idea was to come to London and stay at Chessington but the room prices of £195 per night and hire prices of £250 per day put us off. Fortunately, Suites Hotel which we had used for our training weekend, came to our rescue with a good deal and the French flew in to Manchester. They did not have an easy journey as, unbelievably, they had been separated by an automatic door at GDG and 6 had to come on a later flight. Anyhow, with a bit of luck I got them all on a bus (really decent bus driver) and we went to Suites where we all settled in and I got the equipment unloaded. Some of the England team also stayed there and after a good night’s sleep all were ready for battle in the morning. Both sides started a player short so we played 13 a side in the match. The games all lasted a long time but we were gradually going under. With 7 games finished it was 5.5 – 1.5 in favour of Ile de France. Unfortunately things did not improve in the second half and the final score in round one was 3.5 – 9.5. We had just under an hours break for lunch and then restarted. The second round was better being 4-4 at one stage although, unfortunately, the later results did not go in our favour and the final result was 8-5 for Ile de France giving a final score of 17½ - 8½ in favour of the French. We then sorted ourselves out prior to having dinner together in the restaurant. On Sunday we invited 7 further English and 34 players took part in the rapidplay which we played on Fisher 20 +10 timings. With a 1000 start we were hoping for a 1700 finish. The morning went very smoothly and there were no problems over timing. We started round four after lunch at 1350 but with 6 French on the top four boards. How often have we said that in rapid play. The final round saw the top three boards all light blue!! As a result the winner was Alexandre Ek, followed by Thomas O’Sullivan with Yovann Gatineau third. At this point we had 5 English players half a point behind, Callum Brewer, Gautam Jain, Ashwyn Kalyana, Tharshan Kuhendiran and Karam Sangha. This was especially good for Karam as he is not yet in the squad. We then had the closing ceremony with Callum and Ryan Reed getting prizes in the rapid play as well as Rohan Yesudian and the other 4 on 4 points who all got small tokens. The final day I took the group to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. We got the train up and spent 5 hours going on rides, eating and, certainly for the youngsters, generally enjoying themselves. Unfortunately the weather was decidedly unkind but for youngsters in a fairground this did not dampen their spirits. We arrived back in Liverpool at 8pm and said our goodbyes on the station.
British Championships 2012
With the very full and equally expensive we moved up to Tyneside and a wonderful venue at The Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields. Good playing conditions, free parking, the best catering I can remember and a friendly welcome from all made it a memorable congress. I am also pleased to report that the junior entry was up on Sheffield showing that families will travel to a decent area even if it is a long way. There was plenty of good chess as well and we had quite a few champions from amongst the squad. At U16 three boys tied for the money with Oskar Hackner getting the U16 trophy and Henry Broadley and Adam C Taylor tying for the U15 one. U16 girls champion was Chantelle Foster with Louise Head as U15 champion. The U14 championship was taken by Tarun Malhotra whilst Cosima Keen and Jessica Wen tied for the girls’ title with Akshaya Kalaiyalahan who, the previous week, had been crowned U11 girls’ champion. Akito Oyama won the U13 title whilst Eva Ressel was U12 girls’ champion. At U11 level, Arul Gupta, who had missed a place at the trial, won the tournament (and a place in the squad) whilst Charlie McLaren was U10 champion. Congratulations to all these players on the hard work they put in to become champions.
Visit of Saxon Chess Players August 2012
In 2010 a group of 8 Junior Squad youngsters aged 11 and 12 visited Saxony after Victor had received an invitation to come during the Paignton Congress. Looking back in the diary I saw that we won the match 29-3 but I had commented that the Saxons were young but I felt had promise and I would be interested to see them in two years time playing our U12s. This was to be the opportunity as 5 of the 8 players were in the team that visited us.
The Saxons arrived at Liverpool Airport on Friday 10th August and settled down in their hotel. The leaders then met at the Baltic Fleet to sort out the programme after which they had a night’s sleep. On Saturday, the Saxons and I met at the Town Hall. We chatted for a bit before going to Exchange Flags then on to Matthew Street to see the Wall of Fame and the Cavern club. We walked through Williamson Square and went in St George’s Hall where we had a good look round at the exhibits, calls, court room etc and as a bonus were able to see the floor uncovered. The Saxons seemed to really enjoy this. We then moved on to the Adelphi and went up to St Andrew’s for the story of the gambler. Next stop was Paddy’s Wigwam which they looked over. We then walked down Hope Street stopping by the Institute, looking at St James’ Cemetery and watching some people abseiling down the Anglican Cathedral. We then went in the Cathedral and had a look round and they decided we should go up the tower. There were quite good views although, unusually for this summer, there was a heat haze. They then walked down to the Beatles Story but there was a long queue so they spent time in Chavasse Park before going on to the cinema. Sunday was “Ferry Cross the Mersey” day but as well as the cruise they visited Spaceport and the Wallace and Gromit exhibition at Seacombe, had a picnic lunch and went on to Woodside to view the U Boat. They tried to repatriate it but their efforts were fruitless (it is surprisingly Danish property) so they returned to Liverpool empty handed.
Monday was the first of two days devoted mostly to chess. A minibus picked us up at the hotel and we were taken to Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) where we spent a couple of hours looking round, using many interactive exhibits and seeing a textile making demonstration. After lunch it was down to the chess. We played two 50 minute games at MOSI where the Saxons showed how much they had improved by winning 15-1!! We then went to Bolton for a fish and chip supper followed by a blitz tournament at Bolton Chess Club. We managed a total of 34 players and this included adults (some being of a high standard) and was won on 5\5 by Henrik Hoffmann who was the Saxon coach and plays for one of the teams in the 4NCL. Second place was shared by Robert Kreyssig, Joseph McPhillips, Selina Moses and Anna Nobis with Selina getting the trophy on tie break. Afterwards the coach took us back to Liverpool. After a night’s sleep the Saxons got the train to Town Green where they were met by cars and taken to Aughton St Michael’s where they were to play a combined England and Lancashire team. There was a late start but eventually we got going with 9 English having turned up and the match commenced about 30 minutes late. Unfortunately, from an English point of view, the match went the way of Monday with some good games but the English coming off second best. Hari was the only one to score gaining a draw when his opponent made an illegal move in time trouble. This gave us our only half point. We then had a buffet lunch provided by the school and then got on to the second round. After three defeats it was Hari again who broke our duck. This was a far better round with the 4 England players drawing 2-2 and Cameron getting a draw on board 5. The final score was England 3 -13 Saxony but with some good close games. We then started the rapidplay in which we had 33 players. The Saxons gradually moved to the top but were challenged by Zheming Zhang (who came second=) and Kyle
Sharpe who came fourth. The winner was Theo Gungl (board 2) half a point ahead of Zheming and Robert Kreyssig (Board 1). We then went to the Stanley Arms for a farewell dinner after which the Saxons returned to their hotel and flew out Wednesday.
England Chess Squad Trip Report – Frydek Mistek Easter 2012
The complete team list and final results were:
Beskydy Tournament:- Matthew Payne 5.
Under 15s:- Rohan Bansal 4, Paul Calderon 4.5, Alexei Davis 5.5, Kumar Dixit 4.5, Toby Harris 3, Andrew Horton 6, Shyam Kalairajah 5, Alex Kitshoff 2.5, Simon Leung 3.5, Roman Mitra 5.5, Pavan Murali 4, Leo Tsoi 5
Under 12s:- Harry Grieve 5. Jake Liang 5.5, Aloysius Lip 6, Eva Ressel 5, Theo Slade 6, Brian Tarhon 5.5, Aditya Yanamandra 3.5
This Easter holiday, a party of 20 players and 3 adults (Victor Cross and Peter and Glynnis Purland) travelled to Frydek Mistek in the Czech Replublic, to participate in the “Tournament of Young Talents” held there annually. The party consisted of 3 Sussex players: Brian Tarhon (U12), Toby Harris (U15) and myself (FIDE Open) and below is my personal account of this fantastic trip...
Day 1 – Tuesday 3rd April
The vast majority of our group met up at Heathrow Airport ready for our flight to Prague, whereas the other few players were coming from Manchester. After saying goodbye to parents, we followed the standard procedure of check-in, security and then patiently waiting for our plane. We arrived in Prague at around 10 am local time (an hour ahead of over here), and collected our luggage, where we then had a 2 hour wait for the Manchester group. After we all met up, we had to get many different forms of transport to get to our hotel, which would take about 5 hours in total, these included a 3 and a half hour train to Ostrava, on which we played chess for the whole journey! Once we arrived at our hotel, we were allocated rooms (Toby and I were roommates) after which we had dinner and our first of the daily meetings which explained what was happening each day. We then were sent to our rooms to unpack and then it was an early night after all the travelling.
Day 2 – Wednesday 4th April
Today was our sightseeing day, so it was an early start and breakfast so we could catch the bus we needed. We first visited Ostrava Coal Mine, and went down to about -600 ft to see the mine, we even found a training course which we were allowed to go through, and this favoured the younger members of our group... We also had lunch there before travelling to our next destination: Ostrava Town Hall, where we went up to the viewing tower. We were then taken to a huge shopping mall, where we were allowed to spend some of our money on souvenirs or other things we needed. We then went to a local sports centre, where we first played football, and then either went swimming or played squash for an hour. After this we returned to our hotel for dinner, before being given a guided tour to the chess venue we would be playing at the next day... After this we returned to the hotel for an early night, ready for the start of the tournament.
Day 3 – Thursday 5th April (1/5 of tournament)
Today was the start of the tournament, so we all had an early breakfast before our long-awaited first round. The younger groups also had an opening ceremony before play commenced. In Rd 1, the U12’s scored a perfect 7/7 (Brian 1/1) and the U12’s 5/12 (Toby 0/1). I had to wait a bit longer before my tournament started, as I had a default win from no opponent being present! (1/1). Each day of the tournament (including today), we had lunch at the venue where we ate with fellow team mates etc. We then had some time before Rd 2 to play some fun games of exchange before our meeting with Victor over the round’s performance. Rd 2: U12’s scored 4/7, but Brian won again putting him on 2/2 whereas the U15’s scored 8.5/12, with Toby winning putting him on 1. My game was a massive struggle against a 2171 as I was being beaten a pawn down, but fought back to secure a battling draw! (1.5/2). After the excitement of the day, we returned to the hotel for dinner, our meeting and pairs blitz until bed.
Day 4 – Friday 6th April (2/5 of tournament)
The start of the day was very similar to yesterday, with early breakfast ready for an early round 3. In this round, the U12’s scored 4/7, with Brian maintaining his 100% start with 3/3. The U15’s scored 5/12, with Toby drawing putting him on 50% (1.5/3). I got smashed in my game losing to a 2201 in 24 moves, who I later found out was a friend of Peter and Victor’s! (1.5/3). After lunch and exchange, it was time for Rd 4... The U12’s scored 4/7, with Brian losing his 100% start, but staying unbeaten on 3.5/4. The U15’s scored 6.5/12 with Toby drawing again leaving him on 2/4. I achieved my best result to date, beating my first titled player (a Polish FM) in a tactical melee! (2.5/4). After this, some of our group went to a water park whilst the remainder returned to the hotel for dinner and exchange (I went with Andrew and we scored 15/17) before bed.
Day 5 – Saturday 7th April (3/5 of tournament)
Today started in the usual fashion, with us all being ready for Round 5. The U12’s scored 4/7, with Brian drawing again putting him on 4/5. The U15’s achieved 6.5/12, with Toby losing leaving him on 2/5. My game was a very dull affair against a 2173, which ended in a pretty stale draw, putting me on 3/5. The afternoon was different though, as all the sections bar mine were involved in an afternoon programme of different activities including simuls, brainteasers and football in the park and then a show. My game was against a 2070, who I out calculated in a rook ending, scoring me the win (4/6). After returning to the hotel and dinner, we had a consolation game with roommates, but unfortunately Toby and I lost to Andrew and Kumar, and then it was another early night.
Day 6 – Sunday 8th April (4/5 of tournament)
Today returned to normal after the chaos of the previous day, with all sections having 2 rounds. In Rd 6, the U12’s scored 5/7, with Brian drawing leaving him on 4.5/6. The U15’s scored 50% (6/12) with Toby drawing so he was on 2.5/6. I played my first of two shocking games of the day just blundering away the game in the opening to an in-form 2030 (4/7). Rd 7: the U12’s scored 5.5/7, with Brian winning leaving him on the same as the round score. The U15’s scored 7.5/12, with Toby drawing again so he is on 3/7), I played another dreadful game against a 2106, so I was on 50% prior to the final round (4/8). We then had dinner and a game of Millionaire before bed.
Day 7 – Monday 9th April (Final day of tournament)
We had an earlier round start today (8, as opposed to 9am every other day) and this was the final round. The U12’s scored 3/7 and Brian lost for the one and only time, so he finished on 5.5/8 (this was just outside the prizes...). The U15’s scored 7/12, with Toby losing to leave him on 3/8. I finally got back to winning ways to finish the tournament on a high, beating a 2028, so I finished on 5/9. After dinner we had the closing ceremony, where Theo, Eva and Andrew all won prizes, and Adi won a cycle helmet from a raffle. After this we went to the town square to take part in a challenging town trail with roommates and then we went bowling with the friends we met on the first day, and of us Toby scored the highest with 95 (with NO barriers). We then returned to the hotel for dinner, our final meeting and packing before bed.
Day 8 – Tuesday 10th April
We had an early start to catch the 0827 train to Ostrava, so we had an early breakfast and final room check before leaving. We then caught a 3 and a half hour pendelino train to the underground station, on which we played blitz and exchange. After the underground, we caught the bendy bus to the airport, before which we said goodbye to the Manchester lot, as their plane was later. We then checked in, went through security and got on the plane back to Heathrow, which landed about 4.30 local time. We then proceeded through customs, with a bit of mishap, as Brian’s passport seemed to be inaccurate... We then got our bags, said goodbye to everyone and made our own way home.
It had been an amazing trip for me personally, as I later discovered as a consequence of my exploits, I gained 30 FIDE rating points, but the other activities were fantastic too, so I would 100% encourage anyone offered a National Squad Trip to go, they really are unforgettable!!!
Reported by Matt Payne
Frydek Mistek 2012
On April 3rd 16 players met Victor at Heathrow whilst a further 4 met Glynis and Peter at Manchester. We all met up at Prague Airport then got the bendy bus to Dejvika where we boarded the tube to Muzeum and a further one to Hlavni Nadrazi where we booked for our main line train. The three of us and many of the players had a meal en route and arrived at Ostrava within two minutes of time. We had a comfortable change then got the branch line to Frydek arriving dead on time where Vashek was waiting to meet us. We transferred to Hotel Centrum and, after dinner had a meeting then unpacked and turned in.Wednesday was our free day and we made good use of it. Our first step was Anselm Mine at Landek which is under new ownership and has been much improved. We had a tour of both the surface and underground before lunch then had a play at the mammoth site. Next stop was Ostrava Town Hall where we went up the tower and took in the panorama of the city. We then had 100 minutes in the newest shopping mall before heading to the swimming pool. We were 30 minutes early so played soccer first then went in the pool where many played with the ball and others had a sauna or played in the whirlpool. We returned to the Centrum for dinner then the players joined Glynis and Victor for a walk in to Mistek whilst I booked us in for the tournament and got the tickets for the train. Thursday we were at breakfast at 0800 and at the hall by 0845. This was the first two rounds of the competition and we are playing to a time limit of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds. This gives plenty of time for a well thought out game. There are over 300 players in the 6 sections representing 11 countries and after a mercifully short opening ceremony we started. We had one player in the FIDE rated (Beskydy) Tournament and he was unlucky enough to have his opponent not arrive in the morning. However he made up for this with an excellent fighting draw against a 2100+ player in the afternoon. The U15s had a steady start scoring 6 (out of 12) in the morning but gained a creditable 8.5 in the afternoon. Only Pavan Murali was on 2\2. The U12s however stole the show with 7 (out of 7) in the morning and 4 in the afternoon when we had two inter squad pairings. Our only loss was to the top seed. Jake Liang, Theo Slade, Brian Tarhon and Aditya Yanamandra were al on 2\2. I had spent the date chatting to Karel Jubala, Karel Holusa and various other friends from abroad. This was coupled with going over quite a few games. We then returned home. ate, had our meeting and had a pairs Blitz competition run by Victor and Glynis in the evening. Friday we were at the National House by 0845 and this was another two round day with the U12s playing steadily scoring 4 points in each round to remain just ahead of their target whilst the U15s recovered from a poor morning (5 points) to reach their target of 6.5 in the afternoon. There were some dogged performances especially from the U15s in the afternoon and Victor is happy with the way things are going. Meanwhile in the Beskydy event Matthew met an old friend of ours Taddeus who has joined in with us for the last 6 years but his friendliness only showed itself in the post match analysis. In the afternoon, however, Matthew played an FM and gained his first titled scalp. The evening was split 50\50 with half going to the local Aquapark with Peter and the others playing exchange with Victor and Glynis. A good time was had by all, and two future trips were also arranged during the day. As usuual we were at the National House by 0845 and there was only one round today except for Matthew and he scored an excellent 1.5 to gain even more rating points. The U15s got 6.5 points whilst the U12s scored 4 for the fourth time in a row. Various of the players got good positions but were unable to convert them in to the extra half point. The afternoon was given over to social events and 16 of our players were lucky enough to be picked for one of the simultaneous displays. These were timed and even though our wins were on time a win against a gm is a win! Kumar Dixit beat Edouard Andreev (Ukraine) whilst Rohan Bansal beat Oleg Ivanov (Russia), Draws were gained by Theo Slade (Andreev), Alex Kitshoff and Aloysius Lip (Ivanov) and Romasn Mitra against Vlastimil Hort (Czech Republic). This was more than I could do as I lost to him in an evening event. There were other activities which, although mostly for younger players, our lads entered in to the spirit of things and took part. We then watched the local talent show which did, perhaps, have too much audio this year. In the past it has been very visual. In the evening Victor and Glynis ran a consultation event whilst I took part in a simul and social event at the National House. Surprisingly we were at the National House by 0845. There were two rounds and these could prove vital for potential prize winners. We were very proud of the effort put in by the group and this was reflected in a good all round performance. The results are shown below but for the first time for many years we are in with a chance of first prize in three sections (the girls prizes at U12 are separate). Obviously this depends on some good results tomorrow but the players are certainly "up for it". In the evening we played Millionaire but did not have time for the tie break. The winners will be announced tomorrow. One winner from yesterday was Simon Leung who won a draw for a football. Monday 9th April We were at the National House for 0745!! And for the final round we had 4 players on stage and 14 flags which is a record. We gained all our targets and, when the dust had settled we had three prize winners; Andrew Horton 3rd U15s, Eva Ressel 3rd in U 12 girls and Theo Slade 4th in U12s. There were only 5 prizes this year (less sponsorship) so we missed out on one more. After the prize giving we had the play off of millionaire and this was won by Theo and Harry. We then moved to the Town Square where we had our Town Trail. This was won by Aloysius and Leo with a really good score of 17. Then it was on to the bowling where, again, a good time was had by all. The winners here were Toby Harris (older) and Harry Grieve (U12s). We then returned to the hotel where packing loomed and we spent the evening on that chore. On the final day we caught the 0827 train to Ostrava and, tired nit happy, retraced our steps back to England.
Final Scores
Beskydy Tournament:- Matthew Payne 5.
Under 15s:- Rohan Bansal 4, Paul Calderon 4.5, Alexei Davis 5.5, Kumar Dixit 4.5, Toby Harris 3, Andrew Horton 6, Shyam Kalairajah 5, Alex Kitshoff 2.5, Simon Leung 3.5, Roman Mitra 5.5, Pavan Murali 4, Leo Tsoi 5
Under 12s:- Harry Grieve 5, Jake Liang 5.5, Aloysius Lip 6, Eva Ressel 5, Theo Slade 6, Brian Tarhon 5.5, Aditya Yanamandra 3.5