Congratulations!

A successful day for CJCC. 

We won the 4-Way Team Battle Blitz with Brentwood School, KEGS and Colchester Juniors tonight. Over 50 juniors took part.

Christmas Clash Team Battle #qWXASZ5M • lichess.org

Luoke led the CJCC team having just finished competing in the British Online Chess Championships. 

After 7 games over 4 days, Luoke finished 3rd overall in the Under 8s. Shrishti also played in the Under 8s and finished 12th. Congratulations to both of them on their fine performances.

Former CJCC player Nina Pert (Year 9) played in the British Women's Championship and finished 2nd. This was a fantastic achievement, competing against adult players.

Happy New Year!

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

Art and Extra Christmas Chess

 Thank you to all CJCC players who have sent Christmas cards and in particular who have added their own artwork. 

Below is a fine drawing by Luoke who will be taking part in the British Online Under 8 Championships over Christmas. Shrishti is also playing from CJCC so the best of luck to both of them.

We have extra Christmas chess with so many of us at home. Boxing Day Kindness 9am on ChessKid and Boxing Day Blitz 7pm on lichess. 

CJCC will also be in a 4-team Essex Battle Blitz on 30th January with Brentwood School, KEGS and Colchester Juniors.

2021 will kick off with the Brentwood School Blitz (open to all Essex and Suffolk Juniors) on 3rd January, broadcast by IM Richard Pert on his TwitchTV channel.

Best Wishes for the New Year

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

December Chess

With Christmas fast approaching, I'd like to wish all CJCC players and their families a Happy Christmas. It has been a busy and fun term of chess.

In lieu of snow this year, enjoy the card I created for 2019.

Those of you who played in the Brentwood School Blitz on Sunday 6th December can find the TwitchTV commentary at IMCheckThis - Twitch

This week we have our Wednesday 7pm CJCC blitz (9th), ChessKid With Kindness Tournament and Coaching 9am Saturday (12th) followed by the www.lichess.org CJCC Saturday Blitz.

Below is some of what we have to enjoy over Christmas.

Sunday 20^th December 10am – 11am

www.lichess.org

Essex Arena Battle Blitz – Brentwood School vs KEGS vs CJCC vs Suffolk Juniors vs Essex Juniors vs Colchester Juniors

Six-Way Shootout Team Battle #ydoT4IBl • lichess.org

 

 Wednesday 30th December  www.lichess.org

CJCC Evening Blitz 7pm-8pm

CJCC Wednesday Evening Blitz Arena #o1zG4nde • lichess.org

 

Sunday 3^rd January 10am - 11am  www.lichess.org

16th Brentwood School First Sunday Blitz.

Ideal practice ahead of the Brentwood Scholarship Tournament

https://lichess.org/tournament/tP2m9B1U

At some point in 2021, we can look forward to playing each other over the board once again.

Happy New Year!

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

CJCC Team Success

 Congratulations CJCC. We have won our first ever chess competition!

Essex 4-Way Battle Essex Blitz Team Battle 251020 • lichess.org

CJCC came out on top ahead of KEGS, Brentwood School and Colchester Junior Chess Club. 

Thank you to everyone who took part. CJCC had players in the KEGS and Brentwood teams so were always likely to be able to claim some kind of success.

Congratulations in particular to George (EvenNimbleCamel) for heading our scoring and two of our younger players - Veer (RealUpbeatFireman) and Hugo (FitShakyKangaroo) - for their fine results.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Next Term

To help all our planning, please see the timetable below. It contains most of the upcoming chess although isn't set in stone.

All the CJCC events have Zoom running alongside (the rolling invites are in the tournament document I email out). The lichess links are also on the document and in News (under Learn - Classes).

All the lichess tournaments are open to any Essex or Suffolk junior with a lichess account and the appropriate rating. 

The CJCC Saturday ChessKid events are only open to those in CJCC. Please note that although everyone is invited to play, more experienced players are expected to show kindness when playing those rated under 1000.

As ever, do ask if you have any questions and take advantage of the excellent chess learning material on both sites. 

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Half-Term Chess

It has been great to be physically back in schools coaching chess again. But online chess has a huge amount going for it as well. We will get the best of both worlds in the future with over the board clubs, competitions and coaching running parallel with the same online.

CJCC continues online. We have a fortnightly Saturday morning tournament at www.chesskid.com followed by coaching over Zoom for the less experienced players. We also have fortnightly blitz tournaments on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings at www.lichess.org 

Our players take part in Team Battle Blitzes on lichess, playing for CJCC, KEGS, Brentwood School and Essex Juniors. There are a myriad of other competitions and great learning material on both sites.

Last Sunday, George (EvenNimbleCamel) organised his own tournament at www.lichess.org because he wanted to play and there wasn't one organised. George had Berserked to victory the day before in the CJCC Blitz but he didn't make the podium in his own event (Rowan from Suffolk taking the honours).

We have an Essex Arena Battle Blitz on Sunday 25th, giving CJCC Battle Blitz players the chance to represent CJCC or their own school. There is also a CJCC Halloween Coaching Day on 31st October.

Keep an eye on the emailed calendar and club news sections on lichess and ChessKid for upcoming events - there are always some just around the corner.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

CJCC in Essex Arena Battle Blitz and ChessKid Change

We had a great 4-way Essex Arena Battle Blitz contest this morning. Thank you to everyone who took part.

https://lichess.org/tournament/vfaDN9eo

Brentwood School 81, KEGS 71, CJCC 70, Colchester Juniors 53.

Brentwood School got their revenge after losing a 22-board match 23-21 to KEGS on Thursday. Fantastic to have that many students giving up their evening to play.

Former CJCC players Nina and Max led Brentwood School to victory with 20 wins between them. Quite a few of our older players were playing for KEGS.

Well done to George - EvenNimbleCamel - for playing more games than anyone else and being CJCC's top scorer. We were so close to second!

ChessKid Early Riser tournament 9am Saturday with coaching to follow for the less experienced players. Open to all. Blitz on www.lichess.org at 11am to follow.

Brentwood School Mad Blitz Sunday 4th October on www.lichess.org is open to all Essex and Suffolk Juniors. Former CJCC parent International Master Richard Pert is due to play and stream live commentary on his twitch channel. Link via the tournament page.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Online Success for Olga and Upcoming Blitz Battles

Congratulations to Olga Latypova who has won two big online events recently - the 4NCL U1700 (a national competition) and the Essex Online U150. Both these events are open to adults and juniors. 

Here is Olga with her fragile-looking 4NCL trophy. Thank you to her dad Egor for the photo.

This weekend former CJCC player Nina will represent England in the European Online U12 Championships. The best of luck to her.

All CJCC players are invited to play in the Essex 4-Way Arena Battle Blitz on Sunday 27th. CJCC vs Colchester Juniors vs KEGS vs Brentwood. It should be fun! Essex Blitz Battle Team Battle 2709 • lichess.org

This Saturday will see the first CJCC tournament double. Rising Stars (with coaching afterwards) at www.chesskid.com at 9am with the CJCC Blitz at www.lichess.org at 11am. As ever, it will all be on Zoom to add to the social feel.

Just as well there is plenty of online chess to enjoy because competitive chess over the board seems a long way off. Both sites also have some excellent learning material. If you would like to know more, please get in touch.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

New Term Timetable

CJCC will remain online for the autumn term. Social distancing guidelines will not allow us to meet face-to-face as a club for a little while yet. One day however....

Our new online timetable is below. Fortnightly tournaments on Wednesdays and Saturdays. All will have Zoom running alongside to allow coaching and social chatter.

The Rising Stars events are specifically designed to help our younger and less experienced players. The tournaments will be followed by a short coaching session on ChessKid for these players using Zoom and ScreenShare.

Wednesday 9th September - 7pm CJCC tournament at www.lichess.org.

Saturday 19th September - 9am Rising Stars at www.chesskid.com (for those rated under 1000).

Saturday 19th September - 11am CJCC Saturday Blitz at www.lichess.org 

Wednesday 23rd September - 7pm CJCC tournament at www.lichess.org

Saturday 3rd October  - 9am Rising Stars at www.chesskid.com (for those rated under 1000).

Saturday 3rd October - 11am CJCC Saturday Blitz at www.lichess.org 

Wednesday 7th October - 7pm CJCC tournament at www.lichess.org

Saturday 17th October  - 9am Rising Stars at www.chesskid.com (for those rated under 1000).

Saturday 17th October - 11am CJCC Saturday Blitz at www.lichess.org 

Saturday 31st October - CJCC Halloween Coaching Day.

CJCC now has around 100 members and all are welcome to join. Members have their own student accounts at ChessKid and Lichess which give them access to a whole new world of chess playing, puzzling and learning.

Please get in touch with any questions about CJCC or Essex Junior Chess.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

CJCC's First Battle Blitz Match

Tonight I organised a 3-way Arena Battle Blitz Match at www.lichess.org between CJCC, Brentwood School and KEGS.

This was CJCC's first ever chess match. CJCC finished very respectably between Brentwood and KEGS on 103 points.

Brentwood vs KEGS Team Battle #FoDQgBak • lichess.org

13 CJCC players made up our team. More were representing their schools. George (EvenNimbleCamel) was CJCC's top scorer. CJCC player Evan (GingerNinja20) top-scored for KEGS (where he starts in September).

This was all about having fun representing your club or school. Over 40 children entered. We will do it again.

Coming up in the next week...

Sat 8th  - CJCC Blitz at Lichess.

Sun 9th - Brentwood School Blitz at Lichess.

Mon 10th - St Cedd's Closed Tournament on ChessKid.

Tue 11th - CJCC Closed Blitz on ChessKid.

Wed 12th - Brentwood School Social Tournament on Lichess.

Thu 13th - KEGS Year 7 Tournament on Lichess.

All apart from the Brentwood Blitz will have Zoom running alongside to add to the fun.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

100 Online Members

CJCC continues to grow online with our mix of tournaments and coaching, split between www.chesskid.com and www.lichess.org

Using Zoom during some of the tournaments and to deliver group coaching sessions means it feels like a real club despite being in a virtual world.

We now have 100 members online which is a great feeling.

This week (14th) we'll have our Rising Stars and Superstars tournaments on ChessKid.

Next week (21st) we'll have our first Chess960 Arena Blitz on Lichess with (as usual for CJCC Lichess events) Zoom running alongside.

Saturday 25th July will see the latest CJCC Group Coaching Day using Zoom ScreenShare with Lichess. This time, practical chess endgames.

I also run online chess for Brentwood School, KEGS, St Cedd's and Elm Green.

One advantage of being online is to allow future KEGS students to represent their new school and meet the current KEGS players ahead of starting in September. Many CJCC players have also been part of the Essex Junior Battle Blitz team.

Good luck to our Gigafinalists. Well done to Olga who won the first U12 Girls Gigafinal and goes straight through to the Terafinal.

The world of online chess continues to grow!

Best Wishes
Robin Slade
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

CJCC online update

CJCC continues to expand and develop online along with chess in general.

We alternate our Tuesdays between www.chesskid.com and www.lichess.org. The majority of the children have student accounts I have created on both sites.

On ChessKid we have two tournaments - Rising Stars at 4pm and Superstars at 5pm. On lichess we all play in one tournament at 4.30pm with the option of linking up on Zoom. Occasionally, our lichess tournament is a chess variant tournament like Crazyhouse.

In addition CJCC have two different Saturday events at www.lichess.org.

There is a monthly CJCC Saturday Blitz Tournament open to any Essex Junior player below a certain grade. I also organise a Sunday Blitz the following day on behalf of Brentwood School open to any Essex Juniors regardless of grade. Many CJCC players choose to play in both.

There is also a monthly CJCC Coaching Day where I deliver coaching sessions to small groups via Zoom and Lichess. Using Zoom's screenshare facility, we can all view the same chess positions while we discuss them. Next Saturday (27th June) 22 children have signed up split into 4 groups when we will look at lessons to learn from a complete game and complimentary positions.

If you wish to join CJCC's online adventure or find out more about online chess please email me.

Good luck to Luoke ("NewWhiteBaseball", Year 3) who has qualified to represent a UK junior team against the USA in an online match next week.

Best Wishes
Robin Slade
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Chess Craft

George is making the most of CJCC online, playing tournaments and learning on ChessKid and Lichess. George and I are having some good Slow Chess battles on ChessKid.

But George - redhairedgenius on ChessKid and EvenNimbleCamel on Lichess - is on the blog for crafting not chess skill. He has made the giant chess set in the photo below to help him practice.

George's pieces are attached by blu-tac so can be moved about.

Well done to George. Great to see what other talents CJCC players have.

Best Wishes

Robin

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

International Honours

There is plenty of online chess around at the moment.

This week CJCC player Shrishti was brave enough to accept an invitation to represent an English women's team in an international match at www.lichess.org

Although this was an adult team, Shrishti (who is in Year 3) managed to win 4 games out of 7 and help England to win their match.

So if you lose to EthicalMoose in a CJCC tournament on lichess, you know you've lost to an international player.

This weekend quite a few current and former CJCC players are playing in a 25 board match I've organised between KEGS and Brentwood School on lichess.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

CJCC Chess Graduate

One of the nice things about running a junior club for so long is watching the players grow on and off the board.

Max first came to my club when he was 4. He has moved on since (and got a bit bigger) but never lost his love of playing and particularly attacking.

Currently, Max is playing a series of blitz tournaments with chess GMs and IMs. This week he got to play GM Peter Svidler.

Peter Svidler is a chess legend. A multi-time Russian Champion and these days just outside the world's top 20.

What would happen when one of CJCC's strongest graduates met one of the world's best players? Alas, Goliath beat David although Max has beaten a few titled players in the last few weeks.

CJCC is running its own tournaments online for our members (although without any chess legends taking part). To find out more, please get in touch.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

CJCC Tournament Update

CJCC members have now enjoyed two online tournaments – one at www.chesskid.com and one at www.lichess.org


Last week George won our inaugural event at www.chesskid.com . He won two very close games with Xander and Luoke to finish on 100%. 20 children took part.


This week 30 children entered our tournament at www.lichessorg . Seb (VaultingShark) was our runaway winner but it was close for second. Bertie (JauntyCrocodile) just pipped Samuel (PureFranticPawn). Seb lives in Paris so becomes our first international winner.


We will alternate tournaments each week between the two sites (www.chesskid.com being more suitable for the younger players, www.lichess.org better for the older ones).


On our return to lichess on 12^th May, we will (by popular request) have a Crazyhouse Tournament – where captured pieces join your army. This is the online solo version of Exchange Chess. More sensible chess before that on www.chesskid.com next week.


This Saturday (2^nd May), CJCC host a tournament at www.lichess.org open to all Essex Juniors graded below 60 – those relatively inexperienced in tournament play.



Best Wishes

Robin

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

CJCC online tourmaents

Our online club continues to grow. We now have about 50 members split between www.chesskid.com and www.lichess.org .


On Tuesday 21^st at 4pm we have the 1^st CJCC Fast Chess tournament on www.chesskid.com .


On Tuesday 28^th at 4.30pm we have our first CJCC member-only lichess tournament.


I will run CJCC member-only events on Tuesday afternoons to replicate our normal club times (our future events at www.chesskid.com will also start at 4.30pm).


CJCC also hosted an invitational blitz event on Saturday 18^th April. Our next invitational blitz (open to all our members) will be 10am-11am on Saturday 2^nd May. Entry with password via https://lichess.org/tournament/bQDkM4Ga



If your friends would like to join CJCC online please ask their parents to email me at the address below.


Best Wishes

Robin (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

CJCC moves online

CJCC has moved online so our players can continue to have fun playing and improving their skills while the club cannot open as normal.

I have set up two online clubs. The younger players are at www.chesskid.com while the older players are at www.lichess.org

www.chesskid.com is the world’s leading chess playing and learning site for younger children.

www.lichess.org is a free chess site with a straightforward layout and where I play myself.



www.chesskid.com allows children to play other children from around the world as well as challenge their club friends. The lessons and videos are expertly packaged and presented while the children can also solve puzzles (alone or in a duel) and challenge robots. All the while the children collect ChessKid prizes and rating points.

www.lichess.org also carries some fine learning material and gives older children a chance to try a whole range of chess variants alongside the standard game. You can play at a variety of time limits and earn a lichess rating for playing and puzzle solving.



Both sites will allow us to have internal club tournaments while on ChessKid we can also have matches with other schools and clubs.



The clubs can only be joined by invitation. I can follow the progress of all the players, send them messages and challenge them to a game. Do get in touch if you would like to be part of this.

I will host the regular club on the platforms by logging in at the normal term-times the club would have been open. This will let the children find their friends online to play as well as challenge me.



I hope you and your families all stay healthy. A perfect time for online chess.



Best Wishes

Robin (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Club Champion, Coronavirus ,Club Closure and Computer Chess

Next week was due to be the last week for CJCC before the Easter break but coronavirus has intervened.

With the government closing the schools I must follow suit and close the club. There will be no meeting therefore on Tuesday 24th March.

I hope to reopen the club on 21st April but this is dependent on how the coronavirus situation develops.

This week was the turn of the older players although it was understandably quieter than usual.

Many congratulations to John who beat Hriday in a play-off to decide our Club Champion. Shrishti won the trophy for the highest scorer among the younger players and will receive her trophy when I next see her. A CJCC record 77 players took part in total which represents most of our membership.

Xander is facing the camera behind John fresh from representing the Essex U9 team at the weekend.

I can recommend the sites below as a great way to improve chess skills and have fun playing while the club is closed and tournaments are postponed.

www.chesskid.com - great for younger children whether learning and playing

www.lichess.org - some well presented material in the "learn" section and an online playing platform for older children

www.thechesswebsite.com - lots of bite-size chess videos for slightly stronger players

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Brentwood Open 1st March

We had over 100 children from Year 1 to Year 12 take part in the 5th Brentwood Open on Sunday. Brentwood School were generous supporters of the event and great hosts.

The top section was internationally rated with the bottom section for ungraded younger players so there was something for everyone. Full details will appear at www.britishchess.co.uk

14 CJCC players took part, featuring in all 4 sections. It was particularly nice to see some in their first individual tournament.

Three of our debutants in the U11 Minor - Yashas, Shrishti and Hugo - came joint 3rd with 4/6. Hugo won my Player of the Day trophy for his score (he is only in Year 1) and attitude.

In the top section Olga also got 4 points, only losing to the players who finished 1st and 2nd.

The whole tournament took place in a great spirit of competitive enjoyment which was a credit to the players and to everyone involved with the smooth running of the event.

 Hugo and Shrishti with their trophies.

 Shrishti in action against Gus (also from Chelmsford).

 The U11 Sections (for all those in Year 6 and below). Quite a few CJCC faces to spot.

The top section where Olga scored 4/6 with international rating points at stake.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Good Luck!

Good luck to all our players taking part in the Brentwood Open on Sunday. It has a section specifically for younger players without a grade so is an ideal first tournament. Still (just) time to enter at www.britishchess.co.uk

Good luck also to the CJCC players selected to represent Essex next month. Olga, Maheep, Evan and Charlie have been selected to play for the U11s and Xander and Luoke for the U9s. Olga will also be leading the Essex U11 Girls Team (the current National Champions).

This week it will be the turn of the younger players at the club. I have composed a nice position for us to look at with a fork, discovered check, pin and checkmate.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Southend tournament and new half-term dates

Another weekend, another chess tournament. Below are Solan and Joshua playing each other and looking focussed at the Essex Junior Chess Association Southend Grand Prix today.

The next Essex junior tournament is the British Chess Brentwood Junior Open on 1st March. This one unusually has a section just for players without a grade. Details at www.britishchess.co.uk

This week (11th) is our last meeting before half-term. We'll meet back on 25th February with the younger group. Our dates up to Easter will be...

Younger Group - 25/2, 10/3, 24/03
Older Group - 3/3, 17/3.

We will return after Easter on Tuesday 21st April.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Chess Weekend and Twitter

This has been a full chess weekend sandwiched by chess at Elm Green (Friday) and St Cedd's tomorrow (Monday).

Saturday saw the local qualification stage for the National Primary Schools Chess Championship with 26 teams from Essex and London. CJCC players represented St Anne's, St Cedd's and Moulsham.

I was with St Cedd's who did splendidly to qualify for the National semi-finals in the U9 and U11 competition. CJCC's Maheep (Year 6) and Sid (Year 2) led the teams. Moulsham U9's did even better and finished 2nd overall with CJCC's Sachin and George on the top two boards.

Sunday saw the latest Coaching Day organised by the Essex Junior Chess Association. The EJCA are responsible for much of the junior chess in Essex. They can be found at www.essexjuniorchess.co.uk and @essexchess.

I've also started to tweet on CJCC and the junior chess I'm involved with @robinslade65.

In action from Sunday below are two CJCC players. Hugo (Year 1) had a full weekend as he was part of the St Cedd's U9 team on Saturday as well which was his first chess competition.

 Hugo about to move against Ruqayyah. Neili is poised with her pencil behind.

Joshua (on the right) against Neili's brother Viru. Fellow CJCC player Xander is next to Joshua.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

New Grades,Tournament Standings and Future Dates

The new chess grades are out. Click at http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/new/menu.php if you are brave enough.

4 weeks into term and 68 children have played a total of 90 games in our UK Chess Challenge tournament. Next week I'll hand out chess mascots to everyone who has reached 11 points.

In our challenge match this week a combined St. Anne's / KEGS Year 7 team beat the rest of the club by 5 wins to 4 with one draw.

Congratulations to Luoke (Year 3) who is the first player to complete 7 rounds and is our tournament leader on 17 points. Luoke has also just got his first chess grade.

On 1st March at the Brentwood Junior tournament there is a section specifically for players in Year 6 and below who haven't got a grade. No other junior tournament in Essex has such a section. This makes it an ideal first tournament for anyone who can confidently move the pieces on their own. Details at www.britishchess.co.uk

Good luck to CCJC players representing their junior schools this Saturday (St. Anne's, St. Cedd's and Moulsham) at the National Primary School Chess Championship.

Up to half-term we have the younger half on 4th February and the older half on 11th February. We'll meet back after half-term with the younger half on 25th February.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Younger Group Photos

This week (21st January) was the turn of the younger players. We had a busy week at the club with over 30 players including Mason and Owen along for the first time.

Shaasvath was our Player of the Week for winning his first ever game at the club after stalemating Janet (4 queens were too many!) and losing in 4 moves to Louis. On the giant board we looked at the Louis Mate and the Hugo Mate (Hugo won in 2 moves at school).

Special thanks to Elizabeth for her patience in helping Hannah and Kamilla play a whole game. Well done to Rhys as well for managing a full game on his own against Owen.

Luoke (Year 3) has moved into the overall lead among the younger players with 3 wins and 2 draws from his 5 games. Sebastian and Shrishti are close behind. John remains the overall leader (one point ahead of Luoke). Sid and Maya are among those who started with 2 wins this week.

In between shuffling the players and patching up Arjun (chess finger wound) I took the photos below.

Samira and Joshua had a long game. Sid, Ben and Rishi are also in the picture.

Robert is playing Owen closest to the camera.

Kamilla and Hannah had a game that lasted all afternoon (helped by Elizabeth).

Lawrence about to move against tournament leader John (watched by Ethan).

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

UK Chess Challenge and New Members

We are two weeks into the new term at CJCC.

Already we have welcomed 9 new members - Hannah, Sachin, Arjun, Shaasvath, Hugo, Amelia, Henry, Yashas and Daniel. I think that is all of them!

We are also two weeks into the UK Chess Challenge - our 7-round tournament running up to Easter.

Adam is leading with 9 points (3 wins) from John with 8. Most players have only played 2 rounds (you can only play 2 rounds a week) and of these only Joshua O, Evan and Shristi have 6 points.

Shristi (Year 3) was a checkmating machine the first week and won the Player of the Week trophy.

Already we have played over 40 games and 50 children have taken part.

All of which means no photos yet this term - I've been too busy pairing the tournament and doing some group learning on the demonstration board.

Yesterday the older players watched World Champion Magnus Carlsen get it wrong (Eddie and his glove puppet guessed the right move) while the previous week the younger ones learned about pins and forks.

It is the turn of the younger players next week (21st).

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com