Junior League Gives Rise to Fighting Chess

Shropshire junior chess players from across the County came together to do battle over the board on Saturday 27th April at Trinity School, Ford.  Lots of hard fought games took place, with the teams representing Thomas Telford School (2 teams), Idsall School, Condover Primary School and the Shropshire Junior Chess Academy (2 teams).

It was clear that the battle for first place was going to be between Idsall and Shropshire Chess Academy A team, as both teams had won all their matches leading up to the lunch break.  In the head to head clash after lunch, experience prevailed, with Shropshire juniors  winning on all four boards.  Both teams won their final remaining match to finish clear first and second overall.

All the participating teams deserve credit and some gutsy performances  were achieved by many players, including some who were considerably younger than the rest.  So well done and keep working at the chess!

Thank you too, for parents, teachers and organisers who make school and other clubs possible by their hard work and dedication.

The event also doubled up as a UK Chess Challenge qualifier and a number of players will be travelling down to Hereford next weekend to take part in  the Megafinal competition, competing against junior players from other areas who have qualified in similar events.

Final Table of Results

Position	Team	Match Points	Game Points
1	Shropshire Junior Chess Academy A	10	58
2	Idsall School	8	48
3	Thomas Telford A	6	41
4	Shropshire Junior Chess Academy B	3	38
5	Thomas Telford B	3	34

Junior chess league - Sat 27 April

Look forward to seeing you all at the junior chess league event on Sat 27 April.

We will also combine the event with a qualifier for the UK Chess Challenge. Registration at 9.30am, first round at 10am and should be complete before 1.30pm.

See you there!

CANCELLED: UK Chess Challenge 23 March 2013

TODAY'S CHESS HAS BEEN CALLED OFF BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER CONDITIONS - NEW DATE FOR UK CHESS CHALLENGE TO BE ADVISED SOON

This Saturday’s junior chess session will be a competition, which is a qualifier for the “Megafinal” of the UK Chess Challenge.

We have run these for a number of years now and they always prove popular with the players. Registration is 9:30-10:00, with the play starting at 10:00, or shortly after. There will be at least six rounds and prizes are awarded for success (badges, gonks and gold dots, primarily!) We should be finished by around 1:00pm.

 Please spread the word around friends and schools and hope to see you on Saturday.

Shropshire Junior Chess League Confirmed

Thanks to all the schools who have already registered an interest in the new junior chess league we are launching.  The date for the first league day has now been set - Saturday 27^th April 2013.

How will it operate? Teams of 4 players will compete against each other on a league basis. 

Download the flyer here for full details and register your team now!

And check out the calendar for details of other Shropshire Junior chess events.

Junior chess Sat 26 Jan

The next junior chess session takes place this Saturday 26 Jan at Trinity School, Ford, 10am-12pm.

All welcome!

New Junior Chess League to be Launched

The Shropshire Junior Chess Academy is planning to launch a junior chess league in 2013.  This is an exciting opportunity for schools and junior chess players to compete as members of a junior team against other similarly-minded chess enthusiasts.

How will it operate?

Teams of 4 players will compete against each other on a league basis.  Matches against other teams will be scheduled to take place once a term, on a Saturday.  The exact nature of the league will reflect the composition of teams entered but it will generally be based around year groupings / age.

Our school doesn’t have a chess club but would still like to enter a team

That’s fine.  If the school has a number of keen young chess players, they may wish to form their own team(s).  Alternatively, you may like help in setting up a school club, in which case, please get in touch to discuss; we may be able to help.

Is there a cost?

As this is the first year of operation, we are not making any charge at all to enter teams.  We do ask that you supply us with contact details of a single team captain / organiser, who will need to be an adult.  Also, you will have to arrange your team’s own transport to and from the venue (currently, we have access to venues in Telford and Shrewsbury and it is anticipated that we will alternate between these two centres).  The Junior Chess Academy also has its own equipment, so that’s also taken care of.

Are there prizes?

Definitely!  Our experience of running junior chess is that the participants appreciate small tokens of their achievements (rosettes, badges etc) and we will award a trophy to the winning team(s) at the end of the year.  The intention is also to reward individual achievement with special prizes, which will be decided as the league develops.

I want to register an interest – what do I do now? 

Email us now stating: 

• School name
• School contact details (address, telephone number, email)
• Team captain / organiser contact name
• Team captain / organiser  contact details, if different from 2
• Likely numbers of junior players (grouped by ages / year group)\

francis.best@gmx.com

steve.rooney@busandcoach.com

Good luck to the Gigafinalists

Well done to all those Shropshire juniors who qualified for the UK Chess Challenge gigafinal and best of luck to all of you for the next stage on 7-8 July.

U10 Boys
Chris Coull, St Giles Primary, Shrewsbury
Luca Evola, St George's Primary, Shrewsbury
Jonathon McMahon, Castle House, Newport

U11 Boys
Heath Pearson, Oxon School, Shrewsbury - Won his section with 6/6!

U12 Boys
Lewis Clarke, Castle House, Newport

U13 Boys
David Forster, Bridgnorth Endowed

U14 Boys
Gareth Gower, Abraham Darby, Telford

U15 Boys
Athar Mehmood, Wrekin College

U16 girls
Rebecca Davis, Abraham Darby, Telford

U18 Boys
James Sloan, Idsall School, Shifnal