CJCC Spring Dates

 Spring Chess Club

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club will meet on the following Saturday mornings from 9.15am to 12.15pm in Christ Church in London Road (CM2 0AW).

22/01, 19/02, 05/03, 19/03, 02/04

The younger club (Years 1 to 5) will meet from 9.15am to 10.30am. 

The older club (Year 6 and above) from 10.45am to 12.15pm.

The times are fluid as the clubs merge into each other and the stronger, younger players are welcome to stay on.

Numbers are limited and sessions will need to be pre-booked at chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Covid precautions will be in place.

The cost will be £5 per week attended, which will be a mix of playing and coaching.

Payment in cash on the day or online marked CJCC.

Further details will be emailed out.

Online Chess

Sorry for the lack of postings. It is not lack of chess but lack of time through a busy term of chess. 

It has been great to get Chelmsford Junior Chess Club back in person as well as continuing online. 

CJCC play fortnightly competitions at www.lichess.org that everyone is welcome to join in with. You just need an account that I will set up and to join our team - https://lichess.org/team/cjcc-coaching

Why not join Essex Junior and Essex Girls as well so you can represent Essex in their monthly Inter-County Battles? https://lichess.org/team/essex-juniors , https://lichess.org/team/essex-girls

For the younger players in particular, I can set up accounts at www.chesskid.com 

The sites have some great learning material as well as giving the chance to play so it is a world well worth exploring.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

Autumn Club - 2nd October

Thank you to Adam for bringing doughnuts to celebrate his birthday. I thought 36 doughnuts was far too many but I was wrong.

A couple of photos from the older half. We will meet back on Saturday 16th October. Please email for details and to reserve a place.

Byon concentrating hard against George.

Prady, Barathan, Alex and Xander getting ready to start Exchange Chess.

Chess is a mix of physical and online play at the moment. Club today, Brentwood Blitz online tomorrow.

Brentwood October Sunday Arena #CVBUmcxG • lichess.org

Best Wishes

Robin Slade 

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Autumn Chess Club

CJCC had its first ever Saturday morning meeting this week. Below are a couple of photos from the younger half. No photos of the older half because I got distracted by the chess. 

Thank you to Madison and Alice for coming down to help out with the younger players.

                  

Madison helping out new player Emily against Edward. Simran is playing Oli next to them.

                                    

Kai engrossed by Sid's game with Evan. 

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club will meet on the following Saturday mornings from 9.15am

to 12.15pm in Christ Church in London Road (CM2 0AW).

11th September, 2nd October, 16th October, 30th October, 27th November, 11th December.

The younger club (Years 1 to 5) will meet from 9.15am to 10.30am. 

The older club (Year 6 and above) from 10.45am to 12.15pm.

Numbers are limited and sessions will need to be pre-booked at chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Covid precautions will be in place.

The cost will be £5 per session, which will be a mix of playing and coaching.

More Summer Photos

 

Ben (hiding his king in his hand) playing George. Alex (standing) part of the training group behind.

Ben (Year 13 at KEGS) looking at some chess with new KEGS students Arjun, John and Alex

Evan and Anna in a long game. Ollie (in the hat) and Ellen closest behind.

Amelia is helping Edward and Dylan while Yishai (facing the camera) plays James.

Over the Board Junior Tournament

It is not just CJCC that is returning to over the board chess - some smaller tournaments are also popping up.

On Saturday 4th September, there is one hosted by the Essex Chess Association in Wanstead that I am helping to organise.

https://www.essexchess.org.uk/activities-2/essex-back-to-real-chess-fest-part-2/

It should be a pleasant and social afternoon's chess.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

CJCC Autumn Term

 Autumn Chess Club

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club will meet on the following Saturday mornings from 9am to 12.15pm in Christ Church in London Road (CM2 0AW).

11th September, 2nd October, 16th October, 30th October, 27th November, 11th December.

The younger club (Years 2 to 5) will meet from 9am to 10.30am. 

The older club (Year 6 and above) from 10.45am to 12.15pm.

Numbers are limited and sessions will need to be pre-booked at chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Covid precautions will be in place.

The cost will be £5 per session, which will be a mix of playing and coaching.

Payment in cash on the day or online marked CJCC.

Further details will be emailed out.

Week Two - 4th August

It was the turn of the older players this week. Thank you to Scott Shelley and Ben Bishop for coming along to help out.

Anna playing Ben Bishop (which took most of the afternoon) and Joshua playing Adam closest to the camera.

Harel (facing the camera) had a close game with Sushant - coming down to King vs King and Pawn. Both boys are in the same year at KEGS. Veer is playing Christian next to them.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

Day One - 28th July 2021

It was great to take Chelmsford Junior Chess Club back to Christ Church. We had 20 children in Year 5 and below making new friends and catching up with old ones. 

Thank you to Ben Bishop for returning to help out. It was also good to see Luoke who yesterday finished 2nd in the Under 10 British Online Chess Championships. We gave him a special trophy and looked at the finish of one of his games.

Aarushi and Janet are playing as a team. Amelia looks serious next to them.

Sid (standing), Jeremy, Isaac and Aditya in the foreground.

CJCC returns to Christ Church this Summer

 Summer Chess Club

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club will meet on the following Wednesday afternoons from 2.30pm to 4pm in Christ Church in London Road (CM2 0AW).

28th July, 11th August, 25th August - up to Year 5.

4th August, 18th August, 1st September - Year 6 and above.

Numbers are strictly limited and sessions will need to be pre-booked at chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

The cost will be £5 per session, which will be a mix of playing and coaching .

Payment can be made online in advance.

It will be great to see old and new players alike in person. I'll send out more details to those who enquire.

Best Wishes

Robin (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

London Chess Festival

There is a great (and free) family chess event taking place in Trafalgar Square on July 18th organised by Chess In Schools. All the details are at www.chess-fest.com 

It should be a fun day out (and a nice reason to visit London again). Do let me know if you are going and I'll keep an eye out for you.

Best Wishes

Robin (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

Over The Board Chess?

Currently, chess in Primary Schools is across the board in year bubbles while chess in senior schools is still virtual. I am currently involved with chess at Brentwood School, KEGS, St Cedd's and Widford Lodge.

Pupils at St Cedd's and Widford Lodge have physical chess within year bubbles. This week at St Cedd's we've enjoyed outdoor chess under the trees with a giant chess set.

Pupils at Brentwood Senior School have a physical weekly club within year bubbles but play each other on iPads. Pupils at KEGS do all their chess remotely.

There is a great variety of online chess available and using Zoom alongside www.chesskid.com and www.lichess.org allows for interactive coaching. 

This will carry on regardless of the latest easing (or not) of covid restrictions. This weekend Essex Juniors take on Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen football clubs in their first International Battle.

Essex-Suffolk-Werder-HSK-FCB Team Battle #aYJvCgPQ • lichess.org

Hopefully CJCC along with the rest of the chess world will be able to move to a mix of over the board and online chess over the summer. I am looking to run some physical chess in Christ Church in Chelmsford along with weekly online coaching and tournaments. 

Chelmsford adult club is looking to return physically at the end of June.

Like everyone else, I will be looking at what is allowed and what feels sensible before making a decision. Fingers crossed though....

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Half-Term Coaching and chess round-up

CJCC continue to have regular tournaments at www.chesskid.com and www.lichess.org.

Our Saturday morning ChessKid tournaments are split into sections, with some coaching ahead of the tournament for the least experienced players.

We also have Team Battle Blitz and/or Individual Arena Tournaments on www.lichess.org every week.

The sites have some great learning material. As players get stronger, the puzzles on lichess are the best way to hone skills.

Over half-term, I will run some group coaching sessions over Zoom. These will be split by ability and age, with our theme this holiday the very start of the game.

Looking ahead to the summer holidays, I am looking to run a Zoom coaching day once a week and (fingers crossed) get us together for some actual, over the board chess.

The Essex Junior Battle Blitz Team at www.lichess.org now has over 170 members. As well as taking on other counties, we also have our own tournaments. 

This week we have a Swiss Blitz on Wednesday while on Thursday I have a meeting with Bayern Munich Football Club ahead of some European Battles for Essex Juniors with different football clubs!

Every junior chess player in Essex is welcome to join. Essex Juniors • lichess.org

It has been great to see so many CJCC players representing the Essex U9s, U11s, Essex Girls, U18s or their schools (and us!) in online competition. Congratulations to everyone involved.

The Essex U9s and Essex U11s have done brilliantly to finish 2nd and 5th respectively in the National Finals over the last month. The Essex Girls Team currently lead the National Standings.

If your children would like to join Chelmsford Junior Chess Club or if you would like to know more about any aspect of junior chess, please get in touch.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Online Chess

 It is great to see how many juniors have embraced playing online. It is not better or worse than playing over the board - just different.

Tonight over 50 juniors represented Essex in the latest monthly Inter-County Battle Blitz. Essex swept to victory in Division Two and return to Division One at the first attempt.

16th Inter-County Division 2 Team Battle #IiqhOtPw • lichess.org

There is also a separate monthly Inter-County Battle Blitz competition just for girls. Essex have won both events so far.

CJCC will be in action in a National Team Battle Blitz on Thursday and an Essex Team Battle Blitz next week. 

Next week we will take on Colchester Juniors, KEGS, Colchester Grammar School, Brentwood School, Wanstead Juniors as well as an Essex Junior and Suffolk Junior Team.

In all these Team Battle Blitz events, teams can be of any size and players can play all or part of an event with no prior commitment. Any player who wants to can join a Zoom session during play to share the ups and downs of the competition.

CJCC also has a programme of individual tournaments at www.lichess.org and www.chesskid.com along with coaching sessions. They all run with Zoom alongside.

All juniors are welcome to join our club. I will also create student accounts within CJCC for anyone who would simply like to explore the online chess world independently in a safe environment. Please get in touch for more details.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

March Chess

Great for the children to get back to school this week. I've enjoyed seeing the chess players in person again in the schools I visit.

CJCC will be continuing online for now though. We have tournaments and coaching at www.chesskid.com and www.lichess.org. I run Zoom alongside our events for the social and coaching elements.

We also take part in Battle Blitzes on lichess. Last night was the latest fortnightly Battle linked to the Junior 4NCL (the National Junior Chess League). Next week, we take part in a Battle with other Essex teams.

Many of our players represent Essex online. We have monthly inter-county Battles for the Essex Junior and Essex Girls Teams. Everyone is welcome to sign up. Essex have also won through to the National Finals at Under 9 and Under 11 levels.

Overall, more children are involved with online chess than were with physical chess. Whatever happens with the traditional game, online chess will continue.

Please get in touch if you have any questions about junior chess as well as our club.

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Half-Term Chess and Camel Success

CJCC will be continuing their online chess through half-term week and up to Easter. 

Last Friday CJCC's Battle Blitz Team (led by SereneCamel George) won promotion to Division Two of the National Battle Blitz League. These Battles take place on www.lichess.org every fortnight and everyone is welcome to join the CJCC Team and take part.

This week our Battle Blitz Team will take on Essex, Suffolk, KEGS, Brentwood School and Colchester Juniors in a Six-Way Shootout on Saturday 20th at 7pm. 

Six-Way Shootout 20th February Team 200221 #wxo9csUS • lichess.org

Also this week we have a Coaching Day on Tuesday involving 32 children split over 4 sessions. These book out quickly and I'll be running more over the Easter holidays.

On Wednesday evening we have our Arena Blitz on www.lichess.org

CJCC Wednesday Evening 170221 Arena #N2V12sQf • lichess.org

On Saturday morning we will have a pair of tournaments split by rating with coaching for the less experienced players on www.chesskid.com  

We'll continue with a mix of individual tournaments, Battle Blitz Team Tournaments and coaching through the next half-term. 

All our chess sessions have Zoom running alongside to add to the social and coaching elements. 

www.chesskid.com and www.lichess.org have great learning material and I would encourage all junior players to have fun exploring both sites.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com) 

January Chess

 A lack of posts does not mean a lack of chess. It is more the opposite - too much chess to organise to get around to posting.

We have our With Kindness Saturday tournaments on ChessKid (with coaching). The stronger players have to play with kindness against those with less experience. We are all on Zoom together in case any reminding is needed!

Also on ChessKid we had a special tournament (with chess cake!) for Hugo's birthday.

On lichess, we've had our latest blitz tournament tonight with 40+ entries. Results below.

CJCC Saturday Evening 230121 Arena #jb8hZeK8 • lichess.org

Our CJCC Battle Blitz Team will be in action this Thursday in a new fortnightly competition against clubs from around the country. All CJCC members on lichess are welcome to join the Team.

CJCC Coaching • lichess.org

We also have a Girls Battle Blitz Team who will be making their competitive debut in February.

CJCC Girls • lichess.org

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail,com)