CJCC players at Brentwood Junior Open

The 10th Brentwood Junior Tournament had a record entry and was the biggest junior tournament in Essex for many years.

Over 140 players took part including over 40 from CJCC. It was the first tournament for some and it was great to see so many playing.

Among our trophy winners were Sachith (U18 Minor winner), Aarav (U18 Minor third place), Digby (U11 Open winner), William Dawson (U11 Open third place), Samaren (U11 Minor winner) and Jayden (U11 Minor runner-up).

Here are three of our trophy winners  -  KEGS students Aarav, Rahul and Sachith.

The crosstables from the tournament are at Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - The 10th Brentwood Junior Tournament and a few photos of CJCC players are below.

Ani - the youngest player in the tournament.

Ethan on the left facing James with Arjun and George on the next table

William vs Didgy at the top of the U11 Open

U18 Minor winner Sachith facing the camera

A selection of prize winners. Many CJCC players among them.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Closed Dates, Easter Workshop and Club Photos

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club is open on Saturday 21st March but will be closed on Saturday 28th March and Saturday 4th April.

We reopen as usual from Saturday 11th April.

There are two half-day CJCC workshops on Tuesday 7th April with a mix of coaching and match play.

9.30am - 12.30pm Chess Foundation

1.30pm - 4.30pm Chess Superstars

Limited numbers. £25 per child. Bookable in advance via chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

There are some recent club photos below. 

Best Wishes

Robin

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Photos

We had a chess celebration at the club today after the success of all our players who played for the Essex U11 team and who did so well at Colchester last weekend.

No photos of all our trophy winners but some random photos below.

The next junior tournament in Essex is at Brentwood School on Sunday 8th March

Events & Results | British Chess

My iPad got kidnapped for a selfie

Siyon and Samaren photo bombing

Malhar thinking hard against Joshua in our mini-tournament

Too many cooks trying to set the clock

Best Wishes

Robin (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

January 2026

CJCC returned on Saturday 10th January. It was great to see so many players back at the club.

Joshua (x2), Jacob and Digby organised a tournament for the younger players while George, Jim, Arianna and Tekshan were there to help everything run smoothly.

Sophie too excited to sit down while Eva seems to be playing without any chess pieces.

Great interest in the final first round match of the tournament.

We have two Essex Junior tournaments coming up in Essex (Colchester on 25th Jan, Brentwood on 8th March). 

Entry details for both are here - https://essexjuniorchess.co.uk/tournaments/

Best Wishes

Robin (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Christmas Photos

We had a fun Chrismas meeting on Saturday 20th December. The club will reopen after Christmas on Saturday 10th January.

Thank you to everyone who dressed up for the occasion and bought food along for the buffet.

Thank you as well to Mel for taking some photos of the second half of the club. Some of Mel's other chess photos can be found here - https://melindawildephotos.com/

Happy Christmas everyone and Best Wishes for 2026

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Christmas Hours

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club will finish 2025 with the Christmas Buffet on Saturday 20th December.

Everyone is encouraged to bring in a little something (nut-free) to share and dress in suitably festive attire.

It is the regular club timings (9.15am - 10.45am and 10.45am to 12.15pm) and there is on charge for this week.

The club reopens on Saturday 10th January 2026.

Happy Christmas!

Robin

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

London Chess Classic

Some of our stronger players took part in the London Chess Classic at the Emirates Stadium last weekend.

There were blitz and rapid plays that were running alongside the week-long Elite tournaments featuring some of the world's top players.

Well done to everyone who took part - there were some great individual performances and it was an excellent day out. 

Former CJCC player FM Max Pert won the Sunday rapid play with 7/7 (beating GM Georg Meier in the last round).

Best Wishes

Robin Slade

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com