EPSCA U9 ChampionshipThe English Primary Schools' Chess Association (EPSCA) exists "to advance the education of primary school aged children by teaching, supervising and developing the playing of chess by those children." E.P.S.C.A. holds three annual championships for member associations - Under 9, Under 11, and Girls Under 11. The U9 Championship is for teams of 12, plus 4 reserves. The Championships have two stages; heats (known as zones), followed by the final. To prepare the players, Sussex U9s compete in a local "4-Counties friendly" before the zonal stage. Results and reports from the games can be found below. Team Manager John Higgs sums up the season: "In a moment of weakness I ‘volunteered’ to be the Team Manager for the U9s 2008/9 season. I was assured that it was nothing more than the odd email and phone call. Well it was a lot more than that but strangely it became quite an addition and a lot of fun! Our talented team of 16 (15 boys and Cassie) stayed as one for the season and it was good to see all the players supporting each other and enjoying each other’s company over the year. We had some very exciting times, in particular the third round at Swindon was quite hard on the heart, and it was a proud moment that we qualified for the finals in Northampton. The outcome, 7th out of 50 counties that entered, was quite respectable but we were really hoping for a place in the top three. We pass that challenge to the 2009/10 squad!" Results:- National Final, 25th April 2009, Northampton Southern Zonal, 14th March 2009, Swindon 4-Counties Friendly, 11th January 2009, St. Piran's Prep School, Maidenhead, Berkshire National Final, 25th April 2009, Northampton Results:
Team members: Billy Twigge-Molecey, Edward Critchley, Joseph Tomy, David Liu, Jamie Lear, Josh Higgs, Michael Stockham, Toby Barden, Daniel Manvell, Kiran Gopinathan, Joe Thorley, Cassie Graham, Sebastian Pollard, Josh Rowe, Hamish Milne-Skillman, James Reid. Another Saturday, and time to set the satnav again, this time for Northampton. It was a full-strength side, and a full-strength management and coaching team (John, Gary, Dave, Trevor & Jonathan)! The venue was good, the tournament was well organised, and the opposition strong! Sussex started off really well and found themselves in third place after 2 rounds so hopes were high going into the final round. Unfortunately, however, they suffered an English cricket team style wobble and ended up in 7th place! Special mention for Josh Higgs who won all his games and Billy Twiggy-Molecey who scored 2 wins and a draw on top board. It was another really long day and a great effort from all the children
- the reserves acquitted themselves well too. The jamboree system makes
individual results difficult to compare and so well done to everyone,
it has been a really enjoyable season. Southern Zonal, 14th March 2009, Swindon Results:
Team members: Billy Twigge-Molecey, Edward Critchley, Joseph Tomy, David Liu, Jamie
Lear, Josh Higgs, Michael Stockham, Toby Barden, Daniel Manvell, Kiran
Gopinathan, Joe Thorley, Cassie Graham, Sebastian Pollard, Josh Rowe,
Hamish Milne-Skillman, James Reid.
The Under 9s played in the Southern Area zonal at Swindon on Sat 14th March. There were 8 counties in all and Sussex qualified for the national final in 2nd place behind a very strong Wey Valley side. It was a good venue and the tournament was well organised. The children had a great day out and it was lovely to see their smiling faces as they collected their hard-earned silver medals on stage. Many thanks to John Higgs for managing the team; also to Jonathan and Trevor for the chess support, coaching and the legendary team-talks! I found myself acting as a board steward and this was a frightening experience! Happily there were experienced arbiters around as illegal moves, false claims for checkmate and clock problems came in thick and fast. There were about 120 children at the event (most sides had reserves) and the noise as the games started with resounding thumps of the clocks was a wonder to behold. Sussex scored well in round 1 with Sebastian and Joe playing particularly well. Some of the games were played at lightning speed, much to the dismay of the watching team managers, but you just had to smile at the eagerness and enthusiasm. The top 4 teams were firmly established already with 3 teams on 8.5 points and Berks leading on 9.5 Round 2 went even better - Edward notched up his second win in a row on board 3 and Jamie bounced back from a tough first round with a great win on board 8. Wey Valley really came to the fore in this round – our score of 9 looked good but they clocked up 11. Onto round 3 and the standard of play dropped off across all teams. To be honest, I feel the time limit was too long for children of this age (40 mins each) as very few games go beyond 30 mins in total and the children have a long wait between games. This was certainly the consensus among the other team managers I spoke to - parents' views would be welcomed on this. Anyway, we still scored 7.5 points in round 3, overtaking Berks. Joseph, Toby and Cassie notched up their 3rd straight win but there was no touching Wey Valley as they clocked up another impressive 11 out of 12. Overall, it was a terrific team effort with points scored on all boards. Well done to everyone, I feel we have a great chance in the final. Report by Dave Graham. 4-Counties Friendly, 11th January 2009, St. Piran's Prep School, Maidenhead, Berkshire The counties competing were Sussex, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and the hosts, Berkshire.
So Sussex and Berks tied for joint first having scored 5 match points each and 22.5 board points each. If they took into account the reserve boards, we would have won by a mile!
The Sussex team were: Billy Twigge-Molecey, Edward Critchley, Joseph
Tomy, David Liu, Jamie Lear, Josh Higgs, Michael Stockham, Toby
Barden, Daniel
Manvell, Kiran Gopinathan, Joe Thorley, Cassie Graham, Sebastian
Pollard, Josh Rowe, Hamish Milne-Skillman, James Reid. If the team were daunted by the size of the accompanying Sussex coaching team (Jonathan Tuck, Trevor Norton, Gary McCulloch, Dave Graham and Brian Stockham) they showed no sign of it – the odd practice game being played between visits to the chocloate box. This was the first experience for many in a team and / or county match and Jonathan took the time out in his traditional pre-match team talk to emphasise the importance of playing for the team. This is best illustrated by Billy and Edward (who is an under 8) who took on very strong opposition on the top 2 boards which enabled Joseph and David to clean up on boards 3 and 4. The first round saw a series of long games and a comfortable win for us. By the second round, the pre-match pep talk was about the same size as the average game but the result was the same, another comfortable win. James Reid made a piece of chess history by delivering the shortest possible checkmate – 2 moves with Black – here is the entire game with the finish position for posterity:
On this occasion, the coaching team forgave him for bringing his queen out early and finishing quickly ! Going into round 3, we were level with Berkshire and it was a winner-take-all match. We raced into a 6-2 lead and knew we had at least a share of the title but, despite heroic efforts in the final 4 games, Berkshire pulled it to back to 6-6 and it was honours even. James Reid took his time to win in round 3; a 4-move Scholar’s Mate ! I told him afterwards not to tell the coaches as attempting Scholar’s Mate is a no-no (sorry James, you’ll have to face the music now at the next training session !). Our strength in depth was highlighted by the reserve boards who scored very heavily - 11 out of a possible 12. Really well done to all the players, we have a strong team and can look forward to the serious part of the competition that starts with the zonal tournament in March. Thanks to John Higgs who organised the team and transport arrangements – not to mention the essential brain food! Many thanks too to the parents on a very long day out – it was just great to see the players so well supported on the day. |
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