Chess Club and Chess Success

It was good to be back for our first meeting of the new school year on Saturday.

George, Zach and Tanvi came along for the first time with their older brothers and were made to feel at home by some of our more experienced juniors.

Arthur concentrating against Reva

Maansi is helping Zach and Tanvi

On Sunday, a group of Chelmsford Juniors played in the UK Open Blitz qualifying tournament at Harrow School. 15 rounds of chess at 3+2.

They did excellently in a ridiculously strong tournament. Special congratulations to George Scola who beat a Grandmaster in a tournament for the first time.

George N, Jack, Joshua, Jim, George and Shervin

George in play earlier in the summer

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Brentwood Rapid Play 29th August

No club on Saturday 29th August because of the 5th Brentwood Bank Holiday Rapid Play I was involved with organising at Brentwood School.

There was plenty to celebrate in the performances from past and present CJCC players.

In the Open, there were fine performaces by former CJCC players Max (the overall winner) and Olga (runner-up) as well as current players Anushka, Digby, Joshua B, Aryav and Jacob.

Anushka on the right aganist fellow Brentwood student Akaash.

Olga deep in concentration

In the Minor, there were equally fine performances by CJCC players William (the overall winner), Aarav, Josh M, Owen, Shervin, Riansh, Ani and Kabir.

Ani (moving and facing the camera) would beat an adult in a later round one week after his 5th birthday

Owen - facing the camera - scored 4.5/6 in his first tournament

Deshauna played as a guest player in the tournament hall 

A proud Riansh with Mr Justham from Brentwood School

We will have plenty to celebrate from these and other players at the club on Saturday.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

August Chess News

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club continues to meet on Saturday mornings in between chess events at Brentwood School (see previous post!).

It was good to see some of our juniors playing their first Standard Play tournament (and in some cases their first tournament) at Brentwood School on 31st July and 1st August.

Congratulations in particular to our debutants and our prize winners.

George and Joshua (below) played one day of the Standard Play to warm up for the British Championships so a busy chess week for both of them.

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club is back open this coming Saturday (22nd) ahead of the 5th Brentwood Bank Holiday Rapid Play on Saturday 29th August.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

August Dates and WhatsApp

 

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club - Dates in August

Sat 1st Aug - Closed (Brentwood Standard Play Tournament)

Sat 8th Aug - Open as usual

Sat 15th Aug - Closed

Sat 22nd Aug - Open as usual

Sat 29th Aug - Closed (Brentwood Rapid Play Tournament)

Tuesday 4th August - Chelmsford Chess Workshops (at CJCC venue)

9.30am - 12.30pm Chess Foundations

1.30pm - 4.30pm Chess Superstars

Limited numbers. £25 per student. Book your place by emailing chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

All upcoming chess as always is on the live Google Doc

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-F8SAJkWRhlj01L4FwNFkfCeIj16YKNJ7WM4H-eckf4/edit?usp=sharing

CJCC WhatsApp Group - https://chat.whatsapp.com/FuhlWovOarpLKAi50AWoqM

Essex Chess Parent WhatsApp Group - https://chat.whatsapp.com/K88AtRj8QxkDGq8kTxh9tI

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Southern Gigafinal

Well done Essex Junior and Chelmsford Junior Chess Club players who qualified for and played in the Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge Southern Gigafinal at Sandown Park Racecourse last weekend.

Special congratulations to Joshua from CJCC who qualified for the Terafinal at Blenheim Palace in October from the U10 Boys Section after a five-way play-off.

Fellow CJCC player Digby qualified for the Challengers with 5 wins from 7 games.

Joshua is pictured centre with his entry ticket and medal.

What a brilliant venue. Plenty of room for everyone and perfect weather to sit in the sunshine looking down on the Parade Ring.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Facebook

Chelmsford Junior Chess Club now has a Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2060120884591450

Please also follow Essex Juniors on Facebook to help stay informed about upcoming chess

https://www.facebook.com/essexjuniorchess

Follo these links to find out about what tournaments are running in the summer holidays.

https://essexjuniorchess.co.uk/tournaments/

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/events/

Above is the Wessex Auditorium at Brentwood School ahead of last summer's tournaments.

Best Wishes

Robin (chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com)

Chelmsford Summer Tournament 28th June

It was great to see so many CJCC players taking part in the Essex Junior Chess Association Summer Tournament in Chelmsford last Sunday.

It was particularly nice to see some making their tournament debuts alongside our more experienced players. I managed to gather most of them for a club photo.

This was the final EJCA Grand Prix tournament of 2025/2026 which combine to decide our County Champions. 

Particular congratulations to our new Under 9 and Under 11 Essex Champions.

William (above) is the Essex Under 9 Champion. This is particularly impressive as William is in Year 2 so two years younger than some of his competitors.

Digby (on the left below) is the new Essex Under 11 Champion. He is pictured at the club with Essex Under 11 runner-up Joshua and last year's Under 11 Champion Vidwath.

Digby will be joining Vidwath at KEGS in September.

KEGS and Brentwood School took part in the English Chess Federation National School Finals in Nottingham just ahead of the Chelmsford tournament.

Over half the KEGS and Brentwood players were current or former CJCC players. It was great to see both schools perform so well on the national stage.

Best Wishes

Robin Slade

chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com