UK Chess Challenge 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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