London Junior Chess Championships - December 2004

LJCC Week 2 28th - 30th December 2004

Sussex took possession of their usual table at the second part of the London Junior Championship, ready for the performance of a large group of Sussex Players, most of whom were taking part in the U12 Major tournament - a qualifier for the England Trials.

David Grant led the charge during the nine rounds. After 4 rounds, he was on 4 points, alongside Yang Fan Zhou, and the two were paired for round 5. They drew. David then wen on to draw with Craig Whitfield (who also drew with Yang Fan) and Shiela Dines, leaving David half a point behind as they entered the final round. David was drawn against Jessica Thilaganathan, whilst Yang Fan met Sussex regular Anthony Gregory. Anthony managed to hold Yang Fan to a draw and 7.5 points, meaning that a win by David would secure him a share of the championship title. Unfortunately, the game did not go his way, and David and Anthony both finished on 6.5 points, and joint 4th with 2 other players. Farris Ziyada finished just a half point behind David on 6 points.

Rhys Cumming finished on 5.5 points, and Ben Blundell on 5, both securing their full qualification to the England trials. Alex Galliano also played magnificently and finished on 5, securing a half qualification for the trials. Also on 5 points were George Salimbeni and Elliot Aukland, who both narrowly missed the 5.5 they required to qualify for the England team as U12s, and Jude Lenier, who as an U9 is still too young to qualify for the trials. Also competing were Andrew Turner (4), Joe Quinn (3.5) and Ben Rudling (3).

In the U12 Minor, Sam Amis scored 4.5 and Barnaby Paul scored 4. In the U8s Robert Fitzgerald scored 3 out of 7.

LJCC Week 1: 11th - 12th December 2004

A number of Sussex players took part in the first part of the London Junior Chess Championships in Harrow in NW London. Tristan Blundell took the U14 Minor championship with an impressive 5.5 out of 6 points, clearly full of confidence after securing his place in the England Squad. George Salimbeni scored 3.5. In the U14 Major tournament, Andrew Tucker came 4th with 4.6 from 6 points. David Grant and Farris Ziyada both scored 2.5.

In the U10 Minor Tournament, 4 players drew for 2nd place, with three of them coming from Sussex, namely Charlie Mills, Ben Rudling and Matthew Payne, all scoring 6 out of 7! Polly Lambert scored 5. In the U10 Majors, both Jude Lenier and Andrew Turner scored 4.5 from 7. Joe Quinn scored 4 and Barnaby Paul scored 2. Well done to all those who took part.