Chess Event Calendar

Plenty of junior chess coming up in the next couple of months. I have more details for all of the events below so please get in touch for an entry form etc.

It has been great to see so many juniors taking advantage of the holidays to attend the adult club in Chelmsford on Thursday evenings.

Tuesday 16^th August – mid-summer CJCC meeting.

Saturday 20^th August  - CJCC Coaching Workshop.

20^th/21^st August – Terafinal Weekend in Loughborough (qualifiers only).

Tuesday 6^th September  - CJCC restarts. Everyone welcome.

Sunday 11^th September – First U12s Train and Play at Brentwood.

Saturday 17^th September – one day mixed tournament at Bures (Essex/Suffolk border).

Sunday 18^th September – Eton College secondary school competition (KEGS entered).

Saturday 24th September - Essex Blitz Championship.

Sunday 25^th September – First EJCA training day at Writtle.

Saturday 8^th October – First EJCA Grand Prix tournament in Chelmsford.

Best Wishes

Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Brentwood Chess Train and Play 11th September

On Sunday 11^th September will be the first Brentwood Train and Play. This is an exciting new chess event I’m organising with IM Richard Pert and will combine coaching sessions aimed at players of different standards and rated match play against opponents of similar standard. There is a strong CJCC flavour to the day with fellow CJCC parent (and former Essex Champion) Russell White part of the coaching team.

Richard and I have spent a fair amount of time deciding on the format and putting the day together and plan to run a series of these events in the future. The Essex Junior Chess Association are also planning a series of coaching events which I’m also involved with. Details of these will appear at www.ejca.co.uk

Also on the EJCA website is the entry from to the first of the Grand Prix tournaments to be held in Chelmsford on 8^th October.

Next week (16^th) CJCC will meet for mid-holiday chess and I’m running an invitational coaching morning on Saturday 20^th.

Best Wishes

Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Another British Champion

I’m delighted to tell you that Chelmsford Chess Club’s Elliot Cocks is the new British U16 Champion. His score of 5.5/7 put him half a point ahead of a tough field (he was seeded 7^th).

Before playing at the British Elliot represented England at the European Schools Championships in Greece and in the Glorney Cup so has not been short of match practice. Tomorrow (Sunday) he starts in the U15 Championships and is midway through the Major Open.

Elliot was a key part of the Chelmsford A team who won the North Essex Chess League this season and has been coming along to the adult club since he started at KEGS. Back then I used to share chess ideas and interesting games with him. These days it is the other way round.

Elliot also has a unique place at CJCC despite being too old and too good to come along because he designed our poster.

Best Wishes
Robin Slade
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

British Championships - and a CJCC National Champion

The British Championships are in full swing now but the main focus for CJCC was the U8s and U9s sections which have now finished.

Olga (3/6), Nina (4/6), Max (3/6) and Harry (3/6) all played in the U8s and can all be very pleased with themselves. Harry deserves a special mention for scoring 3/6 at the age of 5.

Nina (4/6) and Harry (2.5/6) also played in the U9s and were joined by Harry’s older brother Jerry (3/6) and brothers Ethan and Max Yau (both 2/6) who came along to the last CJCC coaching workshop.

These scores alone are excellent but Nina was also the joint highest scoring girl in the U8s and U9s making her U8 and U9 National Girls Champion. On behalf of CJCC many congratulations to Nina and all the other players. We are very proud of you.

Below are a couple of photos of Nina in the playing hall and (for balance) one of Jerry, Harry, Ethan and Max on the beach. Also one of Ethan at the Gigafinal where he scored 4/6 to qualify for the Plate competition.

All the details are available via the link on the English Chess Federation website. Also on the website is a link to the new grades which reflect the fine progress made by our tournament players. www.englishchess.org.uk

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Thursday evening chess

Although CJCC has now closed for the summer (with the exception of 16^th August) the adult chess club in Chelmsford remains open. We meet every Thursday evening and junior players are very welcome.

 

Pictured here on Thursday is CJCC Club Player of the Year Josh Pooler sporting his medal and (non-chess) book prize. In the few weeks of the year the weather allows we play our chess in the garden of Chelmsford Social Club instead of the hall.

 

Best Wishes

Robin

This Week at CJCC

This week was our final regular week until September although the club will be open on Tuesday 16th August for mid-holiday chess. Everyone not on holiday is welcome to come along. Also in August (on the 20th) will be the next CJCC coaching workshop.

The adult club in Chelmsford will stay open all summer however and a number of the junior players come along. Details via www.necl.org.uk/chelmsford

Even Jake - who has just returned from Antigua - thought it was hot today so I was pleased to see so many players come down. Here are some photos from today including one of Cody with Olga and her trophy which he turned into a piece of chess art.

One important thing I did was announce that our Club Player of the Year was Josh Pooler. Josh has been along nearly every week and helps out with the younger players as well as sorting out the refreshments. Along the way, also helped by coming along to the adult club on a Thursday evening, he has become a fine player as well. He is the proud owner of a rather fine chess medal engraved with his name.

Good luck this weekend to our 5 players competing in the U8s and U9s British Chess Championships.

Best Wishes
Robin
chelmsfordjuniorchess@gmail.com

Gigafinal Part Two

A quick Gigafinal update…

Congratulations to Olga who won the U7 girls and Nina who came 2^nd in the U8 girls. A couple of pictures below courtesy of Yegor of the two girls together and Olga with her trophy.

 

Congratulations also to Elliot and Findlay who both play at the adult club in Chelmsford. Elliot scored 5/6 in the U15s and Findlay 4.5/6 in the U11s.

 

All 4 players qualify for the Terafinal – Findlay in the Challengers section and Olga, Nina and Elliot in the Champions.

 

This is the National Final with a top prize of £2000 for the overall Champion!