| British Chess Championships 2009, 26th July - 8th August, Torquay The British Chess Championships are one of the most prestigious events in the UK chess calendar. Running over two weeks, the event comprises 24 different events.
The premier event is the British Championship itself, entry to which is by qualification only. Ex-Sussex Junior, now Grandmaster, David Howell won the event with a score of 8.5.
David Grant (age 16), Rhys Cumming & Matthew Payne (age 14), and Jude Lenier (age 13) entered the gruelling Major Open, an 11-round event spanning both weeks. Sussex scooped 6th, 7th and 8th places with 7 out of 11 - well done to Grant Bucher, Rhys Cumming and David Grant. Jude and Matthew both finished on an excellent 4.5 in this very strong adult tournament.
Under 13: Well done to Felix Haxby (age 12) who finished on a very commendable 4 out of 7.....and then went on to compete in the U12 event the following week!
Under 12: A large and strong Sussex contingent in this competition; Ram & Shyam Mohan, Amy Hoare, Felix Haxby, Daniel Sutton and Toby Harris - that's 5 England Squad players! Congratulations to Felix and Ram, 7th and 8th respectively with 4.5 out of 7. At their heels were Shyam on 4, Amy and Daniel on 3.5 and Toby on 2. Under 11: Congratulations to Robert Fitzgerald, who took 2nd place with 5.5 out of 7.
Under 9: A very strong field contested this 2-day, 7-round event. Well done to Billy Twigge-Molecey and David Liu who finished on 3.5 and 4 respectively. Under 8: Well done to Ollie Howell, aged only 6, who scored an excellent 3 out of 6 in this one-day event. Finally, congratulations to SJC coach Chris Jones who competed in the Week 1 5-day Open, finishing 6th with 3 out of 5. Apologies if I have left anyone out - please let me know HERE. Full details are available on the British Chess Championships website. |
Under 10: The Sussex contingent was led by England player Otto Pyper who finished 8th with 4.5 out of 7. Again, this was a very strong field with several nationally renowned juniors competing, so well done also to Tom Haxby and Matthew Howell.