Shropshire Junior Chess blog

UK Chess Challenge 2012

2012-02-09T03:02:00.000-08:00

A Shropshire qualifying event for the UK Chess Challenge takes place on Sat 3 March 2012

Shropshire juniors have a chance to compete once again in this fantastic UK-wide competition that involves around 70,000 children from 5-18.

The UK Chess Challenge gives everyone a chance to win a prize and the chance to qualify for regional and even national levels of the competition as it progresses towards identifying the best UK junior chess players of each age group.

The Shropshire qualifying event is open to chess players of all abilities and takes place at Trinity School, Butts Lane, Ford, nr Shrewsbury on Sat 3 March from 9.30am - 1.30pm.

No-one goes away empty-handed with lots of fun prizes on offer!

The entry fee is £3, payable on the day. For more information call Steve Rooney on 01694 723724 or Francis Best on 01743 821220.

Next junior event 4 February

2012-01-19T03:40:00.001-08:00

Saturday 4 February is our first meeting for 2012. It will be at the usual venue, Trinity School, Ford from 10am to 12.00pm.

See you there.

UK Chess Challenge

2011-11-14T09:02:00.001-08:00

Enter now for this year's UK Chess Challenge. This fantastic tournament involves more than 65,000 children each year and claims to be the largest chess tournament in the world. The first stage begins in the spring term held in schools or local junior clubs.

We will be running a qualifying event at the Junior Chess Academy in February/March 2012, but schools can get involved directly by holding their own events. There are lots of fun prizes supplied as part of the entry pack and children can qualify for a Regional Megafinal and National Gigafinal and Terrafinal where there are some serious csh prizes!

For more information see the new UK Chess Challenge website - http://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com.

If your school in Shropshire needs any assistance with equipment, or advice from local chess coaches please get in contact us on 01694 723724.

Junior chess club gets underway

2011-09-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

The first junior chess club session of the season starts on Saturday 17 September - 10am -12.00pm at Trinity School, Butts Lane, Ford.

All abilities welcome for some fun games, puzzles and 'light' chess coaching.

Cost £3, just turn up and pay on the day.

further dates for the autumn term -
Sat 5 November
Sat 3 December

See you there ...

Four trophies at Megafinal!

2011-05-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

A trip down the A49 to the Megafinal in Hereford saw Shropshire juniors return with four trophies and a number of qualifiers for the next stage of the UK Chess Challenge.

Six Shropshire juniors won their sections to be declared Supremos and qualify for the Northern Gigafinal that takes place in July. Two Shropshire junior academy members - Heath Pearson and Francis Rooney - won all their games at the Megafinal. Ten-year old Heath swept aside all opposition in his section to take the Supremo slot, and Francis Rooney won all six of his games in the tough combined section for 14-18 year-olds and was under 16 Supremo.

Photo - back L-R: James Sloan, U17B Supremo; Matthew Best, U15B Supremo; Francis Rooney, U16B Supremo; and front: Heath Pearson, U10B Supremo.

Shropshire winners at 2011 Megafinal:

Under 7 boys supremo Billy Hudson, Castle House School

Under 9 boys runner-up Luca Ebola, St George's School

Under 10 Supremo - Heath Pearson, Oxon School who scored 6/6

Under 10 girls runner-up Rhiannon Wilson, Radbrook School

Under 13 boys runner up Morgan Warcroft, Abraham Darby

Under 15 Supremo - Matthew Best, Mary Webb School - 4/6 Under 15 boys runner-up Ben Spicer, Bridgnorth Endowed

Under 16 Supremo - Francis Rooney, Church Stretton School - 6/6

Under 17 Supremo - James Sloan, Idsall School - 5/6

Under 18 girls Supremo - Jade Bonner, Abraham Darby School

Under 18 boys Supremo - Ben Treadwell, Abraham Darby School

Winners of rosettes for those who scored at least 3.5 points from their 6 matches were: Ella Mates, St Lawrences U11G; Alfie Deal and Ben Sutton, Castle House U10B; Oscar Stone and Duncan Parry, St Georges U11B; Darren Ward, Abraham Darby U12B; Matthew Taylor, Idsall School U13B.

Shropshire schools represented at the Megafinal were: Abraham Darby, Bridgnorth Endowed, Castle House, Church Stretton, Idsall, Mary Webb, Radbrook, St George's, St Lawrences.

(Apologies if I have missed any of the Shropshire juniors from the results or got any names wrong, just leave a comment with corrections and I'll edit.)

Megafinal this Saturday

2011-05-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that the UK Chess Challenge megafinal takes place this Saturday 7 May. As a result we have cancelled our normal monthly session and will meet again in June. Results from the megafinal will be posted when available.

Shropshire juniors to take part in Megafinal

2011-04-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

The Megafinal stage of the UK Chess Challenge takes place on Sat 7 May at Thruxtone School, Hereford. those that have qualified for this stage of the event should have received entry forms, if you haven't sent yours in, then do so without delay! Look forward to seeing lots of you there!

UK Chess Challenge 2011

2011-01-28T07:59:00.000-08:00

It's UK Chess Challenge time once again!

Shropshire juniors have a chance to compete once again in this fantastic UK-wide competition that involves around 70,000 children from 5-18.

The UK Chess Challenge gives everyone a chance to win a prize and the chance to qualify for regional and even national levels of the competition as it progresses towards identifying the best UK junior chess players of each age group.

The Shropshire qualifying event is open to chess players of all abilities and takes place at Trinity School, Butts Lane, Ford, nr Shrewsbury on Sat 5 Feb from 9.30am - 1.30pm. There are lots of prizes and no-one goes away empty-handed!

The entry fee is £3, payable on the day. For more information call Steve Rooney on 01694 723724 or Francis Best on 01743 821220.

Wrekin congress success

2011-01-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

Four Shropshire juniors took part in the Wrekin Chess Congress last weekend in Telford and all four ended on the same points and shared the junior prize for the tournament.

Heath Pearson (9) was the youngest competitor in the tournament and following a win in his very first competitive game he finished on 2.5 points along with Matthew Best, Peter Mellor and Francis Rooney.

Congratulations to all of them. Heath's first win is shown below.

The diagram above shoes the final position after 24 ...Kxf7.

Graham Toone (109) - Heath Pearson [ug] Wrekin Minor, 08.01.2011 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 Heath has learnt the Scandanavian Defence ... 5.Nf3 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.Bg5 Bf5 8.Ne5 e6 9.g4 h6 An aggressive response, but that's the way he likes to play! 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 Qb6 A little too aggressive, leaves the Bishop on f5 en prise. 12.Nc4 Qd8 13.gxf5 exf5 14.Be5 Bb4 15.Qd3 f4 16.Qf5 Nbd7 17.Nd6+ It's looking a bit tough for black here, but don't panic ... 17...Kf8 18.Bh5 Qa5 19.0-0 Bxd6 20.Bxd6+ Kg7 21.Rfe1 Both players have missed the unprotected queens, so ... 21...Qxf5 ... and now white has lost the leader of his attack. 22.Re7 Rae8 23.Rxf7+ Kg8 24.Be2 The final error, the bishop is heading for c4 where for a discovered check, but white has forgotten that the rook on f7 is now unprotected. 24...Kxf7 Heath gets a win against a 109-graded player in his first competitive game! 0-1

Left to right: Francis Rooney, Heath Pearson and Matthew Best (Peter Mellor had to leave before the prizegiving.)

New monthly chess Grand Prix

2010-09-16T09:14:00.001-07:00

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.

Puzzle time

2010-06-17T01:21:00.001-07:00

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.

Star coach for Shropshire juniors

2010-06-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

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.

International master to run Shropshire coaching session

2010-05-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Juniors head for gigafinal

2010-05-07T07:18:00.000-07:00

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

Jamie Allan is star performer in league season

2010-04-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Shropshire juniors qualify for Megafinal

2010-03-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

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

UK Chess challenge event - 20 March

2010-03-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Calling all budding chess champs

2010-01-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

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

Shrewsbury win junior derby

2010-01-16T02:33:00.001-08:00

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!

London Chess Classic successes

2009-12-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

Shropshire was well represented at the London Chess Classic.

Congratulations to Nathanael Paul who came joint second in the Classic Weekend Under 145 event with 4/5; and to Athar Mehmood who won the Under 14 rapidplay event.

Mathew Best and Francis Rooney also attended the event on Saturday (taking their dad's along to pay for dinner!), and enjoyed watching the super grandmasters in the main theatre as well as the commentary by various British grandmasters in the analysis room which also included visits by the stars. Nigel Short was particularly entertaining in his post mortem of his game against Chinese GM Ni Hua. And the joint analysis from US GM Hikaru Nokamura and Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (currently rated world number 1) was astonishing. The speed with which these guys see things has to be seen to be believed. It was very exhausting just listening and makes you wonder whether these super GMs are actually human or some kind of higher level species!

We also bumped into former Shropshire player Tommy Cheng who is now based in Wimbledon and was competing in the Saturday rapidplay. All in all a fantastic event - do not miss the next one promised in 2010!

PS - Spot the Shropshire dads in the background to photo of Kramnik and Adams! (Photo from London Chess Classic report by John Saunders - www.londonchessclassic.com)

County match cancelled - 28 Nov

2009-11-27T02:54:00.000-08:00

The county U140 match on Sat 28 Nov is off. Our opponents Lincolnshire have conceded th match as they couldn't raise a team. Next match is on 16 Jan 2010.

London Chess Classic

2009-11-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

There will be some Shropshire juniors attending the fantastic London Chess Classic tournament next month. It includes the top British players against the best in the world including the current world number one rated player Magnus Carlsen! We are going to the event on Sat 12 Dec - if you would like to join us please get in touch with Steve or Francis.

Shropshire - Worcestershire county match result

2009-11-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Wins by Graham Shepherd, Ivor Salter, Mark Richards and county team debutant Sam Eardley, and draws by John Tunks, Steve Kempsell and Francis Rooney were the highlight of the season's second county match against Worcestershire.

WORCESTERSHIRE 10.5 SHROPSHIRE 5.5

Grade Score

1 JOHN VARILONE 139 0 GRAHAM SHEPHERD 139 1

2 DAVID SCRIVEN 139 ½ STEVE KEMPSELL 138 ½

3 DON CURRY 137 ½ JOHN TUNKS 138 ½

4 IAN TRUSCOTT 136 1 ATHAR MELMOOD 133 0

5 DOUG BOTT 131 1 PETER MELLOR 125 0

6 TIM YATES 129 1 GEORGE VESZOKAI 123 0

7 DAVID RICHARDSON 128 0 IVOR SALTER 120 1

8 JOHN GITTUS 126 ½ FRANCIS ROONEY 110 ½

9 KRZYSZTOF KROWICKI 274843F 126 1 VINCENT CREAN 109 0

10 ROB BRICKNELL 125 1 MAISY PUGH UG 100E 0

11 GILES STANTON 125 0 MARK RICHARDS 98 1

12 FRANCIS O'GORMAN 124 0 SAM EARDLEY UG 90E 1

13 MICHELE CLACK 124 1 RICHARD HEATH UG 80E 0

14 JASON COLE 123 1 DEFAULT 0

15 IAN CLACK 122 1 DEFAULT 0

16 PETER BANKS 121 1 DEFAULT 0

10½ 5½

League season underway for junior teams

2009-10-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

Both Shrewsbury Juniors and Newport Juniors found their opening league matches tough going down 4-1 and 5-0 respectively.

For Shrewsbury the half points came from Chris Lovejoy (who drew after being too polite to play on and win on time!) and Angelica Dean.

Shifnal & Telford D v Shrewsbury Juniors 4 - 1
A Jones 1, F Rooney 0;
R Brown 0.5, C Lovejoy 0.5;
P Broderick 1, M Best 0;
R Szwajkun 1, H Graham 0;
T Skidmore 0.5, A Dean 0.5.

Newport Juniors v Wellington B 0 - 5
J Newey 0, K Hickmott 1;
J Allan 0, D Powell 1;
M Richards 0, D Ogundipe 1;
H Davenport 0, J Kuczynski 1;
R Heath 0, D Wright 1.

First county match of season

2009-10-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

The first county match of the season for Shropshire Juniors took place on 3 October. This season the team is competing in the Midlands Chess association under 140 section. As it's a 16-board event, there will be a mix of adults and juniors to make up the team.

The first match was a tough one and ended with a 12-4 defeat to Warwickshire with wins for Graham Shepherd, Ian Davies an Maisy Pugh and draws for Athar Mehmood and Vinnie Crean. Unfortunately a couple of transport problems meant that we defeated three boards.

Juniors playing their debut match for the county were Richard Heath and Laura Newey

	Shropshire	ECF CODE	GRADE	SCORE	Warwickshire	ECF CODE	GRADE	SCORE
	white on odd				white on even

1	Shepherd, Graham C	118873C	139	1	Harrington, Michael J	156103A	137	0
2	Mehmood, Athar	264465E	133	½	Choudhury, Shakeel	269822F	135	½
3	Davies, Ian G	136893L	131	1	Al-Samir, Medhi	270896G	133	0
4	Default			0	Brelsforth, Dave	172043A	138	1
5	Salter, Ivor	118435A	120	0	Jimenez, Frank C	113645J	132	1
6	Default			0	Pitt, Chris W	129346B	131	1
7	Micallef, Charles	273522C	112	0	Walker, Mike BA	120981E	131	1
8	Rooney, Francis	264469B	110	0	Gilbert, Kim T	111228E	129	1
9	Crean, Vincent	143038F	109	½	Phipps, Malcolm J	117082L	129	½
10	Pugh, Maisy			1	Llewelyn, John D	114495K	128	0
11	Best, Matthew	269317D	95	0	Hussain, Adrian	256357F	128	1
12	Newey, Jonathan	267845H	91	0	Green, John	273516H	125	1
13	Dean, Angelica	273523E	72	0	Hodkinson, Peter	249822E	120	1
14	Default			0	Leaper, Richard D	192092D	117	1
15	Heath, Richard			0	Pakenham, John H	116631B	114	1
16	Newey, Laura			0	Hughes, Peter J	270857H	111	1

	RESULT			4				12

First Academy session of season

2009-09-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

The first session for Shropshire Junior Chess Academy takes place this Saturday (3 Oct) at Trinity School, Ford, near Shrewsbury from 10am to 12pm.

The Academy started last season and has already seen its first candidates successfully reach accreditation for the Pawn and Knight levels. The events are a mix of coaching, fun games and competitions.

The Academy is open to under 18s chess players in the county of all abilities. Just turn up on Saturday and get involved.

After the Academy this Saturday there will be the first match for the county junior team against Warwickshire starting at 1.30pm. This season the juniors are taking part in the Under 140 grade section of the Midlands Chess Association competition.

Shropshire Under 18s take on the UK's best

2009-09-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Shropshire juniors took on top teams from around the country in the National Youth Chess Association under 18 event held at Abraham Darby School, Telford on Saturday (26 September).

Although the eight-board team were heavily outgraded in all their four matches, there were some very good individual performances including Nathanael Paul on board 3 (2.5/4); Francis Rooney on board 5 (2/4) and Mark Richards on board 7 (2/4). There was also an under 14 event held on the same day in which Shropshire junior Athar Mehmood played with the Staffordshire team on top board, scoring 3/4 and winning a board prize.

Shropshire U18 team and club: 1. Craig Whitfield (Staffs) 2. Ieuan Fenton (Oswestry) 3. Nathanael Paul (Coddon) 4. Peter Mellor (Coddon) 5. Francis Rooney (Shrewsbury/Church Stretton) 6. Chris Lovejoy (Shrewsbury) 7. Mark Richards (Newport) 8. Matthew Best (Shrewsbury)

Revised league fixtures

2009-09-14T05:30:00.001-07:00

There have been some changes to the earlier published fixture list. The Calendar of dates on the left has now been updated to show the new fixtures for Shrewsbury and Newport Juniors this season which kicks off next month.

Official 2009 grades

2009-09-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

Shropshire Junior grades 2009

Following some further amendments by ECF in late August these are now the official grades for the 2009-10 season.

Ieuan Fenton (Oswestry) 175
Louis Graham 166
Athar Mehmood (Newport) 133
Nathanael Paul (Coddon) 131
Peter Mellor (Coddon) 125
Francis Rooney (Shrewsbury/Church Stretton) 110
Christopher Lovejoy (Shrewsbury/Church Stretton) 104
Huw Davenport (Newport) 99
Mark Richards (Newport) 98
Jamie Allan (Newport) 97
Matthew Best (Shrewsbury) 95
Henry Graham (Shrewsbury) 90
Jonathan Newey (Shrewsbury) 91
Luke West (Newport) 80
Angelica Dean (Shrewsbury) 72
Joseph Mellor (Coddon) 64
Matthew Mellor (Coddon) 56
Katherine Lovejoy (Shrewsbury) 50

Full list of Shropshire grades here - http://rutterchess.741.com/Grades_2009.htm

New grades online

2009-08-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

The 2009 grades are now online at http://grading.bcfservices.org.uk/

Quite a few have topped the 100-mark and there are large increases for some of our juniors as anticipated.(Remember that these grades also represent a major revision which has seen a lot of junior grades lifted.)

I'll put the full list of grades on here shortly.

HOWEVER, be warned that there could still be revisions to this list before it becomes official for the coming season. I don't see any Shropshire grades that I would consider out of order but there are some incidences across the country of significantly "overgraded" juniors that may mean there is further tinkering with the system of allocating these grades.

Shropshire juniors reach final stage of UK Chess Challenge

2009-07-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

Two Shropshire Juniors have reached the final stage of the UK Chess Challenge with a place in the Challengers Tournament at the Terrafinal to be held next month in Warwick. Alex Taylor (Adams Grammar and Newport Chess Club) came equal third in the U18 Gigafinal last weekend with 4 points from 6 matches; and Athar Mehmood (Wrekin College and Newport Chess Club) came equal second in the U12 section with 5/6, only narrowly missing out on the top spot and qualification for the Terrafinal. This is a very impressive result for both players as these Gigafinal sections are very tough at the top with a number of junior internationals present!

In total, 12 Shropshire juniors took part in the Gigafinal in Manchester which was the Northern final of the competition which involves around 70,000 young chess players in its opening stages!

All of the Shropshire players performed well against tough opposition. The full results with club/school in brackets:

U7B Greg Jones (Shrewsbury) 2.5/6
U11B Joe Booth (St Georges Sch, Shrewsbury) 2/6
U12B Athar Mehmood (Newport) 5/6 - equal 2nd
U13B Matthew Best (Shrewsbury) 2/6
U13B Mark Richards (Newport) 4/6
U13G Angelica Dean (Shrewsbury) 3/6
U14B Francis Rooney (Shrewsbury) 3/6
U15B Peter Mellor (Coddon) 2.5/6
U16B Jamie Allan (Newport) 2.5/6
U16B Sam Eardley (Adams Grammar) 2/6
U17B Nathanael Paul (Coddon) 2.5/6
U18B Alex Taylor (Newport) 4/6 - equal 3rd

Shropshire chess AGM

2009-07-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

The report submitted to the Shropshire Chess AGM summarising the highlights of the past season is available to download. Download AGM report

Chester congress report

2009-06-29T01:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a brief report on the Chester congress which took place last weekend: Three Shropshire juniors competed in the event at the weekend. Nathanael Paul scored 3/5 in the Intermediate section, a very strong result in this section which is for players under 130 grade. Along the way he beat one player graded 128 and drew against a 129. In the Minor section (under 100 grade), Athar Mehmood scored 3.5/5 and Francis Rooney 2.5/5. Meanwhile among the adults playing, Chris Paul scored 3/5 in the Minor and Steve Rooney scored 2.5/5 in the Major - managing to draw every single game.

UK Chess Challenge Gigafinal

2009-06-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder to all those who qualified for the Gigafinal, you should have received your entry forms by post during the past week. If for any reason you haven't, I suggest you speak to the organisers - see contact details on their website - www.ukchesschallenge.com/contactus.shtml

Junior Academy and Fun tournament 6 June

2009-06-04T03:16:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that the next Shropshire Junior Chess Academy takes place on Saturday with an opportunity for some of the regulars to get their Pawn or Knight qualification! Also in the afternoon we will run a fun tournament from 1pm to 4.30pm - with cash prizes! It should be a good opportunity for a refresher for those who haven't played for a few weeks and a warm-up for Gigafinal qualifiers in the UK Chess Challenge. Both events are at Trinity School, Ford and are open to junior players of all levels.

Shropshire junior on England duties

2009-05-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

Best of luck to Shropshire junior Athar Mehmood who is playing in an international tournament in Poland this week with an England side playing against teams from Turkey, France and Poland. We hope to give you the results of his exploits later in the week.

UK Chess Challenge qualifiers

2009-05-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all the Shropshire juniors who qualified for the next stage of the UK Chess Challenge competition. A total of 42 Shropshire juniors took part in the Megafinal which took place at Kingstone & Thruxton School near Hereford on Saturday and all those who scored 4 points from six games or were the leading player in their age group qualified for the next stage - the Northern Gigafinal which is held in July. The UK Chess Challenge is an annual competition that encourages chess amongst junior and secondary school children and involves more than 70,000 children.
The Shropshire qualifiers for the 2009 Gigafinal are:
Greg Jones - (Much Wenlock) Under 7 - Runner up 4/6
Laura Newey - (Lilleshall) Under 10 - Suprema 5/6
Angus Ingliss-Jones - (Castle House) Under 10 - Runner up 4/6
Charlotte Collier - (Castle House) Under 11 Runner up - 4.5/6
Alice Collier - (Castle House) Under 11 4/6
Georgia Stannard - (St Georges, Shrewsbury) Under 11 4/6
Tom Holiday - (St Georges, Shrewsbury) Under 11 - Runner up 4/5/6
Joe Booth - (St Georges, Shrewsbury) Under 11 4/6
George Kilby - (St Georges, Shrewsbury) Under 11 4/6
Athar Mehmood - (Wrekin College) Under 12 - Supremo 6/6
Angelica Dean - Under 13 - Suprema 4/6
Matthew Best - ( Mary Webb) Under 13 - Supremo 4/6
Mark Richards - (Adams Grammar) Under 13 - 4/6
Jonathan Newey - (Adams Grammar) Under 14 - Supremo 6/6
Luke West - (Adams Grammar) Under 14 - 4/6
Francis Rooney (Church Stretton) Under 14 - 4/6
Peter Mellor - (Blessed Robert Johnson) Under 15 - Supremo 4/6
Chris Lovejoy - (Adams Grammar) Under 16 - Supremo 4/6
Sam Eardley - (Adams Grammar) Under 16 - 4/6
Jamie Allan - (Adams Grammar) Under 16 - 4/6
Nathanael Paul - (New College) Under 17 - Supremo 4.5/6
Alex Taylor - (Adams Grammar) Under 18 - Supremo 3.5/6
(Supremo/Suprema means they won their age section.) Apologies if I have missed any qualifiers - of so please add the details on a comment and I'll update the table.

Peter Mellor wins junior prize at Nottingham

2009-04-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Shropshire Junior's county team board one Peter Mellor who played in the Nottingham Congress last weekend and won the top junior prize with 3.5/5 in the under 100 section.

Juniors excel in league season

2009-04-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Shrewsbury Juniors and Newport Juniors finished fourth and fifth respectively in Shropshire's division three this season, a very good outcome for both teams who have made some great results against higher-graded adult teams. Shrewsbury, who scored five wins and three draws from 12 matches, were lying in third place right up until the last match but a match default by Wellington B let Oswestry B slip past them. Let's hope they can match that form in the summer cup competitions!

Shropshire Junior county results 2008-09

2009-03-31T05:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a summary of the results for this season's county matches. Bearing in mind that the juniors were outgraded significantly on almost all boards, it is a truly magnificent set of results. Special commendations to Nathanael for an outstanding 4.5 points, Athar on 3 points and Francis and Angelica who both scored 2.5.

SHROPSHIRE UNDER 100 TEAM 2008-09

Players	Grade	Leic	Nott	Worcs	Staff B	Warks	Staff T	TOTAL
Peter Mellor	85	0	0	1	0	0	1	2
Athar Mehmood	78	0	1		0.5	1	0.5	3
Nathanael Paul	65	1	0	0.5	1	1	1	4.5
Mark Richards	59	0	0.5	0	1	0.5	0	2
Huw Davenport	56	0.5	1	0.5	0	0	0	2
Francis Rooney	49	0	0	1	0.5	1	0	2.5
Jonathan Newey	49	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5
Matthew Best	37	0	1	0	0	0	1	2
Jamie Allan	35	0	0.5	1	0	0	0.5	2
Joe Mellor	29	0			0	0	0	0
Matthew Mellor	23	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Angelica Dean	ug	0	0.5	0	1		1	2.5
Oscar Nicholls	ug			0				0
Chris Paul (sub)	69			0				0
Luke West	ug					1		1

Another close encounter for Shropshire Junior team

2009-03-31T04:25:00.000-07:00

Shropshire Junior's final county match of the season ended in another tight finish which unfortunately went against us. A fine win by Peter Mellor on top board was not enough to equal the scores and left the match result 6.5-5.5 in Staffordshire Terrier's favour. However the juniors have performed magnificently against tough opposition throughout the six-match campaign with a number of good individual results. The winners in the latest match were Nathanael Paul, Matthew Best and Angelica Dean with draws from Athar Mehmood, Jonathan Newey and Jamie Allan.

Shropshire v Staffordshire Terriers

SECTION - U100

DATE - 28 March 2009

VENUE - Trinity School, Ford, Shrops

Board	Colour	Shropshire Name	BCF Code	Grade	Score	Staffs Terriers Name	BCF Code	Grade	Score
1	B	Peter Mellor	248946G	85	1	N Mclean	271134F	96	0
2		Athar Mehmood	264465E	78	½	J Day	109480E	99	½
3		Nathanael Paul	245834C	65	1	S Burndred	107695E	99	0
4		Mark Richards	264468L	59	0	P Shaw	118825C	99	1
5		Huw Davenport	257511F	56	0	D Nesbitt	171039E	96	1
6		Francis Rooney	264469B	49	0	R Dolan	157184K	94	1
7		Jonathan Newey	267845H	49	½	J Montague	179091C	93	½
8		Matthew Best	269317D	37	1	P Shelley	118855A	92	0
9		Jamie Allen	273629K	35	½	K Grzybowski	266797G	88	½
10		Joe Mellor	252231H	29	0	M Wyza	240298B	85	1
11		Matthew Mellor	260562E	23	0	C Mustaffa	249951E	73	1
12		Angelica Dean		Ung	1	J Gater	255708D	72	0
					5½				6½

Shrewsbury Juniors end season with win

2009-03-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Shrewsbury Juniors topped off their season with another good result, winning 3-2 against Wellington B. Helped by a default on board two, the juniors sealed the result with a fine win by Matt Best on board five and a win on top board where Louis Graham was standing in for younger brother Henry who was unwell. Shrewsbury Juniors 3-2 Wellington B L Graham 1-0 D Powell J Newey 1-0 default F Rooney 0-1 K Hickmott C Lovejoy 0-1 J Kuczjnski M Best 1-0 M Walsh

3rd spot still in sights for Shrewsbury

2009-03-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Shrewsbury Juniors kept hopes alive of securing third place in their division with a draw against Oswestry. Wins for Chris Lovejoy and Matthew Best and a draw for Francis Rooney mean that Shrewsbury Juniors retain 3rd place for the moment, although only one point above Oswestry, who still have a game in hand. The battle will now go down to the last matches, with the juniors facing Wellington B in two weeks. Oswestry B 2.5-2.5 Shrewsbury Juniors R Thompson 1-0 H Graham G Hampson 1-0 J Newey S Tullett 0-1 C Lovejoy G Ives 0.5-0.5 F Rooney R Farrall 0-1 M Best

Shropshire juniors ready for next stage of UK Chess Challenge

2009-03-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

Eighteen Shropshire juniors qualified for the Megafinal stage of the UK Chess Challenge at a tournament organised by Shropshire Junior Chess Academy on Saturday 7 March. The young chess players will now compete in the regional Megafinal to be held in Hereford in May. The qualifiers are: Under 7 Greg Jones Under 10 Laura Newey Under 11 Ben Jones Under 12 Richard Heath Christian Hudson-Pearson Athar Mehmood Matthew Mellor Alex Dillon Under 13 Matthew Best Angelica Dean Under 14 Jonathan Newey Francis Rooney Luke West Under 15 Peter Mellor Under 16 Matthew Evans Joe Mellor Jamie Allan Under 17 Nathanael Paul The tournament was a closely-fought event with Jamie Allan and Athar Mehmood sharing first place in terms of points scored with Nathanael Paul in third place.

Another grading update

2009-03-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

For those who like to keep an eye on their grades (and those of their opponents), the ECF boffins have made some furtehr adjustments to the 'New Grades' which are due to come into force next season. The main effect seems tobe a small drop in most junior grades. Please note these grades are not the official ones this year, but will be used as the basis of calculating next year's grade. If this all sounds far too confusing, forget it and just try and win as many games as possible in the remainder of the season! If you must find out more - here's the link - http://grading.bcfservices.org.uk/

Coddon B prove too strong for Shrewsbury

2009-03-02T05:36:00.000-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors went down 4-1 against division 3 leaders Coddon B on Friday. At one stage a number of the matches looked good for Shrewsbury and the result could have gone the other way, but it wasn't to be. A solitary win for Jonathan Newey was the only point. Shrewsbury Juniors 1-4 Coddon B H Graham 0-1 E Raby F Rooney 0-1 P Mellor C Lovejoy 0-1 A Pickles J Newey 1-0 C Paul M Best 0-1 N Paul

UK Chess Challenge Qualifying event

2009-02-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

SAT 7 MARCH 2009 - 1pm to 5pm TRINITY SCHOOL, BUTTS LANE, FORD, SHROPSHIRE The UK Chess Challenge is the biggest junior tournament in the country and each year more than 70,000 children take part. The competition is open to all under 18s. Some schools run their own qualifying tournaments but for those who don’t have the chance to enter through their school (or who haven’t managed to qualify that way!), Shropshire Junior Chess Academy is holding a special qualifying tournament on Sat 7 March. There are lots of prizes available and the chance to qualify for the next stage of the competition which is a regional event, normally held in Hereford. And after that there are national finals held in Manchester. It is a great event and we will have lots of fun prizes at the qualifying day so no-one will go away empty-handed. Full details can be downloaded - here

Juniors still in the race - just

2009-02-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors' promotion hopes took a knock after they lost to Shifnal Telford D. The result leaves the juniors in third place but they need one of the top two to slip to have a hope of going up. Francis Rooney got the only win of the night for the Shrewsbury team while Henry Graham got another well-deserved draw on top board. Shifnal Telford D 3.5-1.5 Shrewsbury Juniors J Kenderdine 0.5-0.5 H Graham T Skidmore 1-0 C Lovejoy J Beddoes 0-1 F Rooney A Carr 1-0 M Best N Donaldson 1-0 K Lovejoy

Junior county match winners

2009-02-13T02:50:00.000-08:00

Shropshire's Juniors had another close county match against Warwickshire. Although the match ended 7.5-4.5 in the visitor's favour, there was a chance of drawing the tie right up to the last few games. For the second match in a row, the juniors got the better of the top six boards. There were wins against higher-graded opponents for Athar Mehmod, Nathanael Paul, Francis Rooney and Luke West (the latter making his debut for the side) and Matthew Best drew. MATCH - Shropshire Junior U100 v Warwickshire

SECTION - U100

DATE - 7^th February 2009

VENUE - Trinity School, Ford, Shropshire

Board	Colour	Name Shropshre	ECF Code	Grade	Score	Name Warwickshire	ECF Code	Grade	Score
1	B	Peter Mellor	248946G	85	0	Malcolm Phipps	117082L	99	1
2	W	Athar Mehmood	264465E	78	1	Steven Bowen	263574E	97	0
3	B	Nathanael Paul	245834C	65	1	Medhi Al-Samir	270896G	95	0
4	W	Mark Richards	264468L	59	½	Richard Leaper	192092D	94	½
5	B	Huw Davenport	257511F	56	0	Paul Hardstaff	112088J	93	1
6	W	Francis Rooney	264469B	49	1	Peter Hodkinson	249822E	92	0
7	B	Jonathan Newey	267845H	49	0	John Green	273516H	92	1
8	W	Matthew Best	269317D	37	0	Ken Wise	126940K	88	1
9	B	Jamie Allen	273629K	35	0	Graham Gee	157194B	84	1
10	W	Joe Mellor	252231H	29	0	Pauline Woodward	152732A	84	1
11	B	Matthew Mellor	260562E	23	0	Shakeel Choudhury	269822F	57	1
12	W	Luke West	-	-	1	Harvey Watkins	273993J	51	0
		TOTAL			4½	TOTAL			7½

Shrewsbury Juniors continue winning run

2009-01-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors chalked up another victory in division 3 with a win against Telepost C. Wins for Chris Lovejoy, Jonathan Newey and Matthew Best added to a draw from Henry Graham to secure the win. Telepost C 1.5-3.5 Shrewsbury Juniors S Jones 0.5-0.5 H Graham C Micallef 1-0 F Rooney J Casewell 0-1 C Lovejoy B Holdford 0-1 J Newey S Sweeney 0-1 M Best

Shropshire Juniors take on Bulldogs

2009-01-19T09:31:00.003-08:00

Shropshire's junior county team lost 8-4 away to Staffordshire Bulldogs this month. Still looking for their first county win, the juniors tied the top six boards 3-3 but lost the middle order boards. Wins came from Nathanael Paul, Mark Richards and Angelica Dean, with draws from Athar Mehmood and Francis Rooney. MATCH - Staffordshire Bulldogs v Shropshire

SECTION - U100

DATE - 10 January, 2009

VENUE - Bushbury Community Centre, Bushbury, Wolverhampton

Board	Colour	Staffs Bulldogs	BCF Code	Grade	Score	Shropshire	BCF Code	Grade	Score
1		Peter Broomhall	107382F	99	1	Peter Mellor		85	0
2		Ravi Patel	252770E	91	½	Athar Mehmood		78	½
3		Robert Brodie	143228L	90	0	Nathaniel Paul		65	1
4		Paul Walters	259317J	90	0	Mark Richards		59	1
5		Peter Crozet	176457D	88	1	Huw Davenport		56	0
6		John Fenby	185108B	83	½	Francis Rooney		49	½
7		Tony Meakin	104387A	84	1	Jonathan Newey		49	0
8		Kevin Moore	181458J	79	1	Matthew Bent		37	0
9		Paul Guest	263626J	75	1	Jamie Allen		35	0
10		Simon Jones	113908D	75	1	Joe Mellor		29	0
11		Peter Evans	128860L	68	1	Matthew Mellor		23	0
12		Siddharth Singh		Ung	0	Angelica Dean		Ung	1
		FINAL SCORE			8				4

Shrewsbury Juniors do the double

2009-01-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors completed a double over Newport Juniors in the return league match this month. Wins for Chris Lovejoy against Jamie Allan and Francis Rooney against Luke West plus a default win for Matthew Best sealed the win early on, with Jonathan Newey also securing a draw for the home side against Mark Richards. Athar Mehmood got Newport's only win against Henry Graham on board one. Shrewsbury Juniors 3.5-1.5 Newport Juniors H Graham 0-1 Athar Mehmood J Newey 0.5-0.5 M Richards C Lovejoy 1-0 J Allan F Rooney 1-0 L West M Best 1-0 default

Congress success for juniors

2009-01-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

Shropshire Juniors stormed the Wrekin Chess Congress held in Madeley last weekend with Ieuan Fenton (17) from Oswestry winning the Major section with 4.5 points from five games and Athar Mehmood (12) from Newport club winning the Minor section with a stunning 5 points after winning all five games. A number of the county's juniors competed in the Minor section with many of them chalking up wins against higher-graded and mainly adult opponents. Full results: Major section (under 150 grade) Ieuan Fenton 4.5/5 1st place Minor section (up to 99 grade) Athar Mehmood 5/5 1st place Nathanael Paul 4/5 joint 2nd place Peter Mellor 3.5/5 Angelica Dean 2.5/5 Mark Richards 2.5/5 Chris Lovejoy 2/5 Jamie Allan 1.5/5 Matthew Best 1.5/5 Huw Davenport 1.5/3 Francis Rooney 1.5/5 Alex Dillon 1/5

County match 13 December

2008-12-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

The county team travelled to Redditch for their last county match in the first half of the season. Good wins were achieved by Peter Mellor, Francis Rooney and Jamie Allen; with draws for Nathanael Paul and Huw Davenport. The match ended 8-4 to Worcestershire but it was another good battle for the Shropshire juniors. Peter Mellor's win on board one followed a period when his king was under strong attack but he calmly rebuffed his opponent's attempts to break through and moved into an ending in a winning position which he duly converted. Francis Rooney's game was the last to finish and was a very tight middle game when Francis' bishops exerted strong pressure against his opponent whose position became more and more cramped. Francis eventually won a piece and his opponent resigned. Jamie Allen won his game when his opponent missed some tactics in the ending. Both Nathanael Paul and Huw Davenport drew their games without ever looking in trouble. Huw has 2.5 points out of three in this season's county matches, a fantastic result so far! MATCH - Worcs v Shropshire

SECTION - Under 100

DATE - 13^th Dec 2008

VENUE - Webheath Village Hall

Board	Colour	Name	BCF Code	Grade	Score	Name	BCF Code	Grade	Score
1		Peter Banks	165118D	92	0	Peter Mellor		85	1
2		Maureen Clarke	108407A	92	1	Athar Mehmood		78	DEF
3		Rob Bricknell	234732F	91	1/2	Nathanael Paul		65	1/2
4		Michele Clack	108320D	89	1	Mark Richards		59	0
5		Richard Turner	157246F	89	½	Huw Davenport		56	1/2
6		Richard Collett	108620A	88	0	Francis Rooney		49	1
7		Tony Taylor	192111D	62	1	Jonathan Newey		49	0
8		James Friar		ug	1	Matthew Best		37	0
9		Joseph Friar		ug	0	Jamie Allen		35	1
10		David Curzon	270899B	33	1	Matthew Mellor		23	0
11		Krzysztof Krowicki		ug	1	Angelica Dean		Ug	0
12		Kevin Day		ug	1	Chris Paul (Substitute)		75	0
13
14		TOTAL			8				4

Junior Congress winner

2008-12-20T09:40:00.000-08:00

Athar Mehmood won the Shropshire's Junior Chess Congress held at Trinity School on 6 December. The event was a five round event and Athar won all five matches to take the top slot. In second place were Matthew Best and Chris Lovejoy on four points, followed by a clutch of players on 3.5 points.

Wrekin Chess Congress

2008-12-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

The Wrekin Chess congress takes place on Sat 3 and Sun 4 January 2009. A number of Shropshire juniors will take part and there is likely to be strong competition for the junior top spots. for more details you can download the entry form here ..

Shrewsbury Juniors lose to Wellington

2008-12-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors suffered only their second defeat in the season when they lost 4-1 to Wellington B. The juniors sole point came from a fine win by Matthew Best. Shrewsbury B 1-4 Wellington B Henry Graham 0-1 D Powell Francis Rooney 0-1 J Lenton Chris Lovejoy 0-1 J Kuczynski Jonathan Newey 0-1 D Wright Matthew Best 1-0 B Brown

About us

2008-12-06T06:48:00.000-08:00

Shropshire Junior Chess blog aims to promote junior chess in the county both within schools and in junior sections of local clubs
We run the Junior Chess Club which meets once a month and involves coaching, fun games and competitions.
There are juniors playing the the main Shropshire league and in county teams that compete in the Midlands league.
For more information you can email - info@shropshirechessacademy.co.uk
Francis Best and Steve Rooney
Shropshire Junior Chess

Games archive

2008-12-06T05:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some games from Shropshire Junior matches that you can play through on the blog. Just select a game and click the arrow buttons to move the pieces on the board. Alternatively, you can click on an individual move and the board will display the position at that moment.

Junior Chess congress 6 Dec

2008-12-02T02:35:00.000-08:00

The Shropshire Junior Chess congress takes place this Saturday 6 Dec at Trinity School, Butt Lane, Ford from 2pm to 5pm. Players should register from 1.30pm. Entry fee is £2. (In the morning at the school there is a session of the Shropshire Junior Chess Academy from 10am to which all are welcome. A great alternative to Christmas shopping!!) The Junior congress will be a five round tournament with everyone playing in all rounds. The event is open to juniors up to age 18 (as at 1 Sept 2008) and there will be trophies for some and other prizes depending on the number of entries. In order that we can organise the tournament draw, please call Steve Rooney on 01694 723724 to let us know you are attending. Look forward to seeing you next weekend.

Juniors battle in Newport-Coddon match

2008-11-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

The battle of juniors raged in Newport on Thursday night as Peter Mellor and Athar Mehmood, board 1 and 2 for Shropshire Juniors respectively, tussled on top board. Athar eventually gaining the victory. However, the rest of the games finished a lot quicker. Board 5 was settled after move 1 as for the third time Newport had to default with the loss of Luke West. Board three ended next when Huw Davenport agreed a draw with his childhood chess coach Alan Shaw. After playing on Shaw realised he would have won as a forced back rank mate was unseen by Davenport. Jamie Allan and Mark Richards lost on the other boards meaning Coddon won convincingly. Coddon B 3.5-1.5 Newport Juniors P Mellor 0-1 A Mehmood A Pickles 1-0 M Richards A Shaw 0.5-0.5 H Davenport N Paul 1-0 J Allan C Paul 1-0 Default

Juniors’ excellent start to the season continues

2008-11-22T02:58:00.000-08:00

I interviewed Matthew Best to obtain the following report from last night's exciting match Shrewsbury Juniors v Oswestry:

Shrewsbury juniors have been on form recently, and took two more points against top of the table Oswestry B. After a loss on board 4 for Johnathan Newey, a win on board 5 for Matthew Best over Euan Stevenson levelled the scores. Stephen Tulett and Shrewsbury’s Henry Graham drew their game despite the junior being outgraded. A hard-fought win on board 2 for Chris Lovejoy over Richard Farrall gave the juniors the upper hand, 2½-1½. On board three, Oswestry’s Alf Evans rebuffed the dangerous-looking attacks from Francis Rooney emerging a piece up in what appeared to be a winning ending. However, with the Oswestry man having a mere 2½ minutes left, Francis Rooney offered the draw, and Alf Evans accepted. After the game, people at the Shrewsbury club were reflecting on what a growing threat the youngsters are. Having lost only one game so far this season against title favourites Coddon B (3-2), they have drawn two games which were possible wins, and beaten rivals Newport Juniors.

Strong showing for county team

2008-11-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

The Shropshire Junior county team came very close to chalking up their first points in the Midlands county championship with a 6.5-5.5 result against Nottinghamshire on 15 November. The junior team has represented the county for the past two seasons in this competition with the vast majority of their opponents being experienced adult players. The latest match is their best result so far. Shropshire winners against Nottinghamshire were Athar Mehmood, Huw Davenport, Matthew Best and Matthew Mellor, while draws were achieved by Mark Richards, Jamie Allan and Angelica Dean. A number of the other games were also close and it looked at one stage as if we might pull off a victory. Overall it was a fantastic performance by the team! The next match is on 13 December against Worcestershire. MATCH - Shropshire U100 v Nottinghamshire

SECTION - U100

DATE - 15 November 2008

VENUE - Trinity School, Ford, Shropshire

Board	Colour	Name Shropshre	ECF Code	Grade	Score	Name Nottinghamshire	ECF Code	Grade	Score
1	B	Peter Mellor	248946G	85	0	Allan Brown	221644K	98	1
2	W	Athar Mehmood	264465E	78	1	Michael Zang	261179L	96	0
3	B	Nathaniel Paul	245834C	65	0	Robert Parker	265583E	96	1
4	W	Mark Richards	264468L	59	½	Chris Sargeant	251856K	95	½
5	B	Huw Davenport	257511F	56	1	Ric Dawson	165413F	90	0
6	W	Francis Rooney	264469B	49	0	Derek Cronshaw	143502E	87	1
7	B	Jonathan Newey	267845H	49	0	Andrew Garside	259650H	80	1
8	W	Matthew Best	269317D	37	1	Len Morrell	115804B	74	0
9	B	Jamie Allen	273629K	35	½	Arun Maini	263693B	71	½
10	W	Matthew Mellor	260562E	23	1	Ross Mackay	267595L	66	0
11	B	Angelica Dean	-	-	½	Ken Heath	112441K	62	½
12	W	Oscar Nicholls	-	-	0	Dorothy Blampied	106873J	60	1

					5½				6½

Newport Juniors v Oswestry B

2008-11-14T06:16:00.001-08:00

Newport's Jamie Allan is now supplying reports of his team's matches to the blog. Here is his report from last week's match against Oswestry B. Newport Juniors had to field an understrength team for the second time because of the unavailabilty of Athar Mehmood. Huw Davenport lost on board one and after a quick start debutant Luke West lost in an endgame situation on four. Two good wins from Jamie Allan and Mark Richards meant once again the juniors lost after defaulting board five. Newport Jrs v Oswestry B H Davenport 0, S Tullet 1 M Richards 1, A Evans 0 J Allan 1, R Farrall 0 L West 0, G Ives 1

Shrewsbury Juniors unbeaten run ends - or does it?

2008-11-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors ended up 3-2 down in their match last week against Coddon B. But a possible rule infringement by Coddon might see the Shrewsbury team awarded the match points. Two Coddon players were not fielded in the correct grading order as the league rules require, so Shrewsbury have referred the matter to the league controller. The result has not yet been confirmed on the Shropshire chess website. In the matches on the night, Shrewsbury scored a win from Jonathan Newey and draws from Francis Rooney and Matthew Best. There were two all-junior encounter in the match. On board 1, Peter Mellor, overcame Henry Graham with in a sharp attacking game and on board 4, Coddon's Nathanael Paul overcame Shrewsbury's Chris Lovejoy after developing a match-winning advantage following a tight early middle game. Coddon B v Shrewsbury Juniors Peter Mellor 1-0 Henry Graham Alan Pickles 0-1 Jonathan Newey Alan Shaw 0.5-0.5 Francis Rooney Nathanael Paul 1-0 Chris Lovejoy Chris Paul 0.5-0.5 Matthew Best (Final match result to be confirmed)

Shrewsbury Juniors v Shifnal & Telford D

2008-11-09T09:50:00.002-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors retained their unbeaten record with a draw against Shifnal & Telepost D, despite being a player short. Good wins for Chris Lovejoy and Francis Rooney plus a solid draw from Jonathan Newey saw them hold the match event though they lost board five by default. Shrewsbury Juniors v Shifnal & Telford D 2.5 - 2.5 H Graham 0, J Kenderdine 1; J Newey 0.5, J Beddoes 0.5; C Lovejoy 1, A Carr 0; F Rooney 1, N Donaldson 0; default 0, D Terry 1.

Shrewsbury Juniors v Telepost C

2008-11-09T09:50:00.001-08:00

Shrewsbury Juniors v Shifnal & Telford D 2.5 - 2.5 H Graham 0, J Kenderdine 1; J Newey 0.5, J Beddoes 0.5; C Lovejoy 1, A Carr 0; F Rooney 1, N Donaldson 0; default 0, D Terry 1.

Newport Juniors v Wellington B

2008-11-09T09:46:00.000-08:00

Newport Juniors chalked up a win against Wellington B in their league match. Wins for Alex Taylor, Athar Mehmood (by default) and Jamie Allen saw them win 3-2. Wellington B v Newport Juniors 2 - 3 D Powell 0, A Taylor 1; Ogundipe-default 0, A Mehmood 1; J Hucygnski 1, M Richards 0; D Wright 1, H Davenport 0; B Ives 0, J Allen 1.

County match 18 Oct

2008-11-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

The first county match on 18 October proved a tough challenge for Shropshire juniors. The match ended 10-5-1.5 to Leicestershire which included a very fine win by Nathaniel Paul and a draw by Huw Davenport. We will put some of the games on this site for you to play through soon. (Well as soon as we have made sense of the scoresheets!)

MATCH - LEICESTERSHIRE V SHROPSHIRE

SECTION - U100

DATE - 18/10/2008

VENUE - PLOUGH INN, LITTLETHORPE

Board	Colour	Name	BCF Code	Grade	Score	Name	BCF Code	Grade	Score
1	W	BARRIE COOPER	108821 L	97	1	PETER MELLOR	248946 T	85	0
2	B	IAN FARQUHARSON	190455 A	94	1	ATHAR MEHMOOD	264465 E	78	0
3	W	ELIZABETH GIST	269703 J	94	0	NATHANIEL PAUL	245834 C	65	1
4	B	STUART HOLLINGWORTH	260174 G	90	1	MARK RICHARDS	264468 L	59	0
5	W	MICK BUSBY	107771 F	91	½	HUN DAVENPORT	257511 F	56	½
6	B	RICHARD DAVIS	250154 F	91	1	FRANCIS ROONEY	264469 B	49	0
7	W	MICHAEL THORNTON	120374 F	88	1	CHRIS LOVEJOY	249687 C	48	0
8	B	STEVAN PREOCANIN	250151 L	87	1	MATTHEW BEST	269317 D	37	0
9	W	TERRY CLAY	108464 B	83	1	JAMIE ALLEN	273629 K	35	0
10	B	GEORGE WINTERTON	162084 J	83	1	MATTHEW MELLOR	260562 E	23	0
11	W	MICHAEL ADAMS	253513 A	80	1	ANGELICA DEAN	273523E	-	0
12	B	HERVE TRIBOUILLOY	272935 A	27	1	OSCAR NICHOLS	-	-	0
13
14
15
16
					10.5				1.5

Keep up with the champions!

2008-10-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

The World Chess Championships 2008 starts tomorrow, Tue 14 Oct in Bonn, Germany. The match is between reigning champion Viswanathan Anand (38) and former champion Vladimir Kramnik (33). It promises to be a very exciting match, played out over 12 games, and should put chess back in the news. You can follow the games as they happen on the official website - www.uep-worldchess.com - or at www.chessbase.com

Next Chess Academy

2008-10-05T05:54:00.001-07:00

The next Junior Chess Academy takes place on Sat 15 November at Trinity School, Ford nr Shrewsbury. For those of you who haven't been yet, the Academy is a fun way to learn more about chess to help you enjoy it more and, most importantly, win more games! We have now produced course books for the first two stages of the Academy - Pawn and Knight with the Bishop level to follow shortly. The Academy is suitable for all juniors up to age 18 at all ability levels. You can download an information leaflet and enrolment form for the Academy here. See you on 15 November!

Shrewsbury Juniors v Telepost C

2008-10-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

Shrewsbury Juniors finished level with Telepost C in Friday's league match. At one stage it looked as if the team could pull off a win but Telepost managed to hold the match in the end. Matthew Best was in a good position on board five but lost to a mating attack against the run of play and then a well deserved draw on top board for Henry Graham and a solid win for Jonathan Newey saw the match 1.5-0.5 in the junior's favour. The final two boards were shared with Francis Rooney outplaying John Casewell on board two and Chris Lovejoy finally succumbing to Brian Holford's amterial advantage despite wome gallant efforts to hold the game. Full result: Telepost C 2.5 Shrewsbury Juniors 2.5 C Micalleff 0.5-0.5 Henry Graham J Casewell 0-1 Francis Rooney B Holford 1-0 Chris Lovejoy S Sweeney 0-5-0-5 J Newey A Bowyer 1-0 Matthew Best

Chess Academy lifts off!

2008-10-01T05:43:00.001-07:00

Shropshire's new Junior Chess Academy started last month and the second meeting takes place this Saturday - 4 October - at Trinity School, Ford, near Shrewsbury at 10am. The first meeting last month was well attended with the juniors getting a quick introduction to the Academy structure and the qualifications they can gain, followed by a 5-minute tournament which was won by Francis Rooney with eight points from nine games. See you on Saturday! (PS to find Trinity School take the A458 Welshpool road from Shrewsbury and ford is the first village you come to. HJust after the petyrol station turn right and the school is 100m on your left.)

Shrewsbury Juniors kick off with a win

2008-09-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Shrewsbury Juniors overcame their rivals Newport Juniors in the opening match of the season. The Shropshire League Division 3 match was held at Newport's venue and ended in a thrilling 3-2 win for the visitors. Unfortunately Newport were unable to field a full side so Shrewsbury started off with a default on board 5 for Matthew Best. The first match finished on board one when Athar Mehmood's king-side attack overcame Henry Graham's defence. Then Mark Richards won against Jonathan Newey on board two despite the Shrewsbury player having good chances earlier on. That left Shrewsbury needing two wins from the remaining two games and Chris Lovejoy chalked up his point with a win for Shrewsbury against Huw Davenport. And finally Francis Rooney won against Jamie Allen finding the win in a Rook and King v King ending. Full result: Newport Juniors 2 Shrewsbury Juniors 3 Athar Mehmood 1-0 Henry Graham Mark Richards 1-0 Jonathan Newey Huw Davenport 0-1 Chris Lovejoy Jamie Allen 0-1 Francis Rooney default 0-1 Matthew Best

League gets underway!

2008-09-18T00:57:00.000-07:00

The Shropshire league gets underway this week and the county's two junior teams clash as Shrewsbury Juniors travel to Newport Juniors tonight for the opening match. Best of luck to all! Full report to follow here soon ...

Staffordshire Junior chess congress

2008-09-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Staffordshire Junior chess congress takes place on Sunday 19 October at Hassell Community Primary School, Barracks Rd, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire. ST5 1LF. It starts at 9.30am sharp and there are six rounds and players have 30 minutes each on the clock for each round. The event is open to all those under 18 years of age on 1 September 2008. More details and booking form here - www.junior.staffordshirechess.org.uk/congress.html

Shropshire Junior chess Academy

2008-09-15T05:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all junior chess players in the county. The exciting news this month is the launch of a new Junior Chess Academy to help budding youngsters develop their chess skills and have more fun by winning more games! The Academy will have a regular monthly meeting on a Saturday morning which will involve some coaching, competitive games and lots of fun - and there may even be the odd prize to win! There will be lots of puzzles and fun ways to learn and all participants will have the chance to progress through a series of levels from Pawn to Knight, Bishop and Rook with certificates and badges to be earned. We'll tell you more about this at the first meeting. The club will be held at TRINITY SCHOOL, FORD, NR SHREWSBURY SY5 9LG at 10-12 on the following Saturday mornings this term. Sat 20 Sep Sat 4 Oct Sat 1 Nov Sat 6 Dec The final Academy meeting of the term (6 Dec) will be followed by the Junior Chess Congress from 12pm-5pm. The Academy will be run by Shropshire junior chess coordinators Francis Best and Steve Rooney, both of whom are CRB-checked. There is a small fee to register for the Academy and for the course material and certificates at various levels which will all be produced to a very professional level.

Shropshire junior county team

2008-09-15T05:31:00.000-07:00

This year we will be running a junior county team in the Midlands chess championships once again. There are six matches altogether which take place on Saturday afternoons. The home matches will be played at Trinity School, Ford, away venues to be advised. The matches are played with clocks with around an hour an a half for each player. If you would like to be considered for the team, please let us know although these matches are really suitable for those with some experience at this level and the team will be selected by Francis Best and Steve Rooney. See the Calendar for all the dates and venues.

Shropshire league chess

2008-09-15T05:30:00.001-07:00

This season there will be junior teams from Shrewsbury and Newport competing in the adult county league once again. We wish them all the best in the coming season. Playing chess at the adult clubs is a good progression for juniors who have begun to get some experience of formal matches. If you want advice on whether this would suit you, please ask Francis or Steve. See details in Clubs section.

Junior grades

2008-09-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

Well done to all junior players who have all seen marked increases in their grades this year. Grading is done by the national organisation English Chess Federation and is designed to show the relative strength of players. You need to play about 15 games under match conditions with more than an hour for your moves to get a listing on the national grading list. The grade system is being revised next year and the New Grade listed below will be the starting point for that, although the old grades will be the official ones for this season. Name Age Club 2008 grade ('NEW GRADE') Louis Graham 15 Church Stretton 150 (174) Ieuan Fenton 16 Oswestry 125 (152) Alex Taylor 17 Newport 106 (133) Peter Mellor 14 Coddon 85 ( 116) Athar Mehmood 11 Newport 78 (127) Henry Graham 13 Church Stretton 60 (112) Mark Richards 12 Newport 59 (106) Huw Davenport 15 Newport 56 (99) Francis Rooney 13 Shrewsbury 49 (94) Jonathan Newey 13 Shrewsbury 49 (89) Christopher Lovejoy 15 Shrewsbury 48 (91) Matthew Best 12 Shrewsbury 37 (86) Jamie Allen 15 Newport 35 (75) Lauren Birt 14 Shrewsbury Sch 30 (rapid) (75) Joseph Mellor 15 Coddon 29 (85) Matthew Mellor 11 Coddon 23 (62) Katherine Lovejoy 13 Shrewsbury 16 (77)

Success at UK Chess Challenge

2008-07-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all the Shropshire juniors who competed in the UK Chess Challenge Gigafinal at Manchester on 5/6 July. The star result was Athar Mehmood's 6 wins out of 6 to take first place in his Under 11 section and qualify for the national Terrafinal next month. Each of the juniors played six games against tough opposition from across the midlands, the north, Scotland and Northern Ireland, scoring 1 point for a win and a half for a draw. The Shropshire results were: Under 9 Girls - Laura Newey (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 2/6 Under 9 Boys - George Downs (Castle House school) 1.5/6 - Akash Srinivasan (Old Hall school) 1.5/6 Under 11 Boys - Athar Mehmood (Old Hall school and Newport chess club) 6/6 Terrafinal qualifier Under 12 Girls - Angelica Dean (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3.5/6 Under 12 Boys - Matthew Best (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 2.5/6 - Sam Skubala (Oswestry school) 2/6 Under 13 Girls - Katherine Lovejoy (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3.5/6 Under 13 Boys - Jonathan Newey (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3/6 - Francis Rooney (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3/6 Under 15 Boys - Sam Eardley (Adams Grammar) 3/6 - Christopher Lovejoy (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3/6 Under 17 Boys - Alex Taylor (Adams Grammar and Newport chess club) 2.5/6 Under 18 Boys - Chris Lewis (Adams Grammar and Newport chess club) 3.5/6

UK Chess Challenge - Gigafinal

2008-07-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

Good luck to all the Shropshire Juniors taking part in this weekend's Gigafinal at Manchester. Results to be shown here next week.

UK Chess Challenge

2008-04-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

Take part in the UK's biggest junior chess event. On 11 and 25 April the Shrewsbury Junior club is running a UK Chess Challenge event. Lots of prizes available for all age groups and you can qualify for the next round of the event which is a regional Megafinal next month. Just email to tell us you are coming on steve.rooney@busandcoach.com and turn up at 6.30pm on Friday 11 April - details in club section on left.

2008-02-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

BEGINNERS' CHESS DAY Saturday 8 March 2008 Trinity School, Ford, near Shrewsbury. 10am to 3pm Aimed at 7-11 year olds who may be complete beginners or just know how the pieces move. A fun day with games, competitions and coaching. Entry is £10 including a copy of an excellent chess book for children. To register, email - steve.rooney@busandcoach.com

2008-02-27T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hello, this is the new Shropshire Junior Chess blog. You will find details of all our news, results and events here and, if we are clever enough, you might also be able to see some of the star games our juniors have played.

Shropshire Junior Chess blog

UK Chess Challenge 2012

A Shropshire qualifying event for the UK Chess Challenge takes place on Sat 3 March 2012

Next junior event 4 February

UK Chess Challenge

Junior chess club gets underway

Four trophies at Megafinal!

Megafinal this Saturday

Shropshire juniors to take part in Megafinal

UK Chess Challenge 2011

Wrekin congress success

New monthly chess Grand Prix

Puzzle time

Star coach for Shropshire juniors

International master to run Shropshire coaching session

Juniors head for gigafinal

Jamie Allan is star performer in league season

Shropshire juniors qualify for Megafinal

UK Chess challenge event - 20 March

Calling all budding chess champs

Shrewsbury win junior derby

London Chess Classic successes

County match cancelled - 28 Nov

London Chess Classic

Shropshire - Worcestershire county match result

League season underway for junior teams

First county match of season

First Academy session of season

Shropshire Under 18s take on the UK's best

Revised league fixtures

Official 2009 grades

New grades online

Shropshire juniors reach final stage of UK Chess Challenge

Shropshire chess AGM

Chester congress report

UK Chess Challenge Gigafinal

Junior Academy and Fun tournament 6 June

Shropshire junior on England duties

UK Chess Challenge qualifiers

Peter Mellor wins junior prize at Nottingham

Juniors excel in league season

Shropshire Junior county results 2008-09

Another close encounter for Shropshire Junior team

Shrewsbury Juniors end season with win

3rd spot still in sights for Shrewsbury

Shropshire juniors ready for next stage of UK Chess Challenge

Another grading update

Coddon B prove too strong for Shrewsbury

UK Chess Challenge Qualifying event

Juniors still in the race - just

Junior county match winners

TOTAL

TOTAL

Shrewsbury Juniors continue winning run

Shropshire Juniors take on Bulldogs

Shrewsbury Juniors do the double

Congress success for juniors

County match 13 December

Junior Congress winner

Wrekin Chess Congress

Shrewsbury Juniors lose to Wellington

About us

Games archive

Junior Chess congress 6 Dec

Juniors battle in Newport-Coddon match

Juniors’ excellent start to the season continues

Strong showing for county team

Newport Juniors v Oswestry B

Shrewsbury Juniors unbeaten run ends - or does it?

Shrewsbury Juniors v Shifnal & Telford D

Shrewsbury Juniors v Telepost C

Newport Juniors v Wellington B

County match 18 Oct

Keep up with the champions!

Next Chess Academy

Shrewsbury Juniors v Telepost C

Chess Academy lifts off!

Shrewsbury Juniors kick off with a win

League gets underway!

Staffordshire Junior chess congress