NYCA U12 & U16 Team Championships: 24th September 2006, SolihullSussex had a successful day in Solihull on Sunday at the Under 12 and Under 16 Youth Chess Association Championships.
Eight youngsters on the Under 16 team fought a close battle throughout the day. At the end of the first round, they had notched up 5.5 points and were joint second with Kent, just 1.5 points behind Warwickshire. In the second round they gained another 5.5 points but Kent had a good round and moved narrowly into the lead, leaving Sussex in third place. The team rallied and scored an excellent 6.5 out of a potential eight in the third round and whilst hey were still third, they went into the final round with only one point between Sussex and Warwickshire, who were leading. It proved to be their toughest round and they gained a further 4.5 points. This left them with a total of 22 points and gaining an impressive third place, only two points behind Kent, who were second and only three points behind the winners, local team, Warwickshire. Alex Galliano had an especially good day, winning all four of his games, and Andrew Tucker, George Salimbeni and Rhys Cumming all came away unbeaten, with three wins and a draw. Twelve of our Under 12’s took part and kept up a steady pace throughout the tournament. At the end of the first round they had scored an impressive ten out of a potential twelve points, putting them straight into the lead, ahead of Kent who were on 8.5 points. The second round produced a further ten points but Kent also scored ten and so the Sussex team knew that they had to stay focused to stay in the lead. A team talk kept them heading in the right direction and determined not to lose their lead they secured a further 10.5 points in the third round. The last round was tough on the parents! They went in a full four points ahead of Kent, who were in second place but they team needed to hold their focus or all could be lost. Stress and strain was definitely in the team room as we waited for the children to return. It was the longest wait of the day but sure enough they pulled out all of the stops and brought back another ten points putting them firmly in first place. It was a fantastic result with the Sussex under 12’s achieving 40.5 points out of a potential 48, a full five points ahead of Kent who were second and a massive 16.5 points ahead of South Wales, who finished in third place. Congratulations to Jude Lenier, Zi-Yuan Qu, Matthew Payne, Ram Mohan, Sean Lintott-White and Marcus Campopiano who all won all four of their games and to Polly Lambert and Barnaby Paul, who were both unbeaten with three wins and a draw.
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