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.

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

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!

London Chess Classic successes

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

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

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

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