Thursday 16 September 2010

New monthly chess Grand Prix

A series of monthly Grand Prix chess events kicks off on Sat 2 October at Trinity School, Ford.

The event is open to chess players of all abilities and will involve a monthly tournament with prizes for each event and end of season series prizes.

It takes place on first Saturday of each month from October to December 2010 and then February to July 2011.

A poster is attached, please feel free to distribute this and display it in school etc.

Thursday 17 June 2010

Puzzle time

Here's a challenging puzzle for you all.

It was set by Andrew Martin IM at the recent coaching session. White is about to queen its c-pawn but has to be careful about that black bishop!

White has the move, how can he force a draw? It's a very tricky solution but very beautiful. If you can find it, leave your answer as a comment here.

Sunday 13 June 2010

Star coach for Shropshire juniors

International Master Andrew Martin conducted a fantastic coaching session for Shropshire juniors on Saturday 12 June. The event was organised by Shropshire Junior Chess Academy.

Local juniors worked through a tough series of challenges set for them by Andrew and in the prixze competition Sam Eardley and Laura Newey won special prizes of Andrew's chess DVDs.

The session was a great success and we look forward to all the juniors putting what they have learnt into practice in the forthcoming season.

Following the coaching session there was a simultaneous match involving Andrew playing 19  opponents at the same time. The juniors did very well at this as well with Matthew Best getting into a winning position only to be squeezed out by a mating attack and Heath Pearson being one of the last to finish.

The final result of the simul was Andrew Martin 17.5 Shropshire 1.5 with Peter Kitchen, Shrewsbury getting a striking win and Andy Tunks getting a well-deserved draw.

Monday 17 May 2010

International master to run Shropshire coaching session

Junior chess players in the county have an opportunity to attend a coaching masterclass next month with International Chess Master Andrew Martin in an event organised by Shropshire Junior Chess Academy.

As well as running a coaching sessions for some of the county’s budding chess players, the chess master will also take on all-comers in a simultaneous display involving 30 of the county’s top players.

The event takes place at Trinity Primary School, Ford on 12 June with the junior coaching session in the morning and the simultaneous chess display after lunch.

The morning coaching session costs just £6 and it is the same price for the afternoon simultaneous display. Juniors attending the whole day costs £10. Players need to register for the event in advance.

DOWNLOAD the form to register here ...

Friday 7 May 2010

Juniors head for gigafinal

Six Shropshire Juniors have qualified for the Gigafinal stage of the UK Chess Challenge competition after competing in a regional qualifying tournament held in Herefordshire.

The next stage takes place in Cheshire in July and includes top juniors from across the midlands and the north.

To qualify for the gigafinal the juniors had to achieve a score of 4 out of 6 games. The top boy and girl in each group also gets the title Supremo/Suprema.

UK Chess Chalenge 2010 Gigafinal qualiers

Ieuan Fenton U18 Supremo

Francis Rooney U15 Supremo

Jonathan Newey U15 runner up

Matthew Best U14 Supremo

Athar mehmood U13 Supremo

Laura Newey U11 qualifier

Thursday 15 April 2010

Jamie Allan is star performer in league season

The Shropshire league season is now complete and Shrewsbury Juniors ended in 4th position in the 3rd division, while Newport Juniors unfortunately finished in the bottom slot, although captain Jamie Allan scored a very impressive 7/9 despite having played most of the season on board 1.

Shrewsbury Juniors were bolstered by the addition of an adult for much of the season after they lost their fifth player Angelica Dean early on. The team got six wins and one draw from 12 matches and ended up only just behind the promotion slots. Notable performances for them included Matthew Best 5.5/10, Chris Lovejoy 5/9 and Henry Graham 5/8.

Both teams have a further chance to take some adult scalps in the forthcoming summer cups.

Monday 22 March 2010

Shropshire juniors qualify for Megafinal

Seven juniors qualified for the Megafinal stage of the UK Chess Challenge in an event held by Shropshire Junior Chess Academy on Saturday (20 March).

The qualifying tournament resulted in a tie for first place between Ieuan Fenton and Athar Mehmood, with Athar getting the trophy on the tie break from sum of progressive scores, while Francis Rooney came in third place.

The qualifiers, who will take part in the Megafinal to be held in Herefordshire on 1 May, are:

Ieaun Fenton U18
Sam Eardley U17
Jonathan Newey U15
Francis Rooney U15
Matthew Best U14
Athar Mehmood U14
Heath Pearson U9

Thursday 4 March 2010

UK Chess challenge event - 20 March

Take part in the UK’s largest chess competition!

Shropshire Junior Chess Academy is holding a qualifying event for the UK Chess Challenge on Sat 20 March at Trinity School, Butts Lane, Ford, Shropshire, with the kind permission of the head teacher.

The event is a major national competition that attracts around 70,000 children each year. Those who take part in the Shropshire event on 20 March have the chance to qualify for a regional Megafinal in Herefordshire in May. And beyond that there is a Gigafinal and even a Terrafinal to find the champion of champions!

Entry fee £3.

To enter, simply complete the details on the attached document and send by email or post or if you’ve left it to the last minute, you can even telephone.

Sunday 31 January 2010

Calling all budding chess champs

The first meeting of the Shropshire Junior Chess Academy for 2010 takes place on Sat 6 February. The session is open to to U18 chess players of all abilities and involves some fun games and coaching with the chance to 'graduate' through the chess Academy.

A number of junior chess players from the academy play for county teams and take part in a range of competitions against other juniors and adults.

"Whether you are a budding chess master, or have just learned the moves, you will get a warm welcome at the academy," says joint county chess organiser Steve Rooney.

The Academy meets at Trinity School, Ford, near Shrewsbury from 10am to 12pm. If you would like to attend, please contact Steve Rooney on 01694 723724 or email steve.rooney@busandcoach.com

Saturday 16 January 2010

Shrewsbury win junior derby

The derby match between Shrewsbury Juniors and Newport Juniors in the Shropshire league took place last Thursday after a postponement before Christmas. A well-fought match ended in a 3.5 - 1.5 win for Shrewsbury.

The first game finished was on board 3 when Shrewsbury's Chris Lovejoy overlooked a combination from young opponent David Birtenshaw which lead to checkmate. Then a rook and pawn ending on board four went Shrewsbury's way to equal the score as Matthew Best overcame Luke West. On board one Shrewsbury's 'honorary' junior Ian Davies built up a strong attack and won his match against Mark Richards.

Henry Graham then clinched the match for Shrewsbury with a win on board five against Richard Heath. Henry got a two pawn advantage then sensibly swapped off major pieces and eventually won a rook as well.

The final game which wouldn't affect the final score was nonetheless the most closely-fought of the match. Shrewsbury's Francis Rooney defended stoutly against an attack on his kingside from his former team mate Jonathan Newey who now plays for Newport. The final stages of the game saw Jonathan a piece up but Francis' advanced pawn caused him a lot of problems with a number of mating threats from rook and king. Jonathan decided to give up his rook for the advanced pawn leaving him with a knight and three pawns against the rook. Perilously short of time, Francis found a way of forcing off a pawn and then Jonathan had to give away his queen promoted from a pawn to avoid checkmate.

The final seconds involved a desperate chase of king against knight and pawn and showed the weakness of the knight in such situations ending up with a drawn king against king and a pawn. Great entertainment for those watching!