Southern Gigafinal
Saturday/Sunday 4th-5th July 2009
Wellington College, Berkshire

The UK Chess Challenge journey started back in January in school chess clubs across the county. Nearly three hundred and fifty Sussex players qualified for the Megafinal, held in Cuckfield in May. Of them, just over one hundred qualified for the penultimate stage of the competition - the Gigafinal.

So - the weekend of 4th & 5th July saw over 70 Sussex families join hundreds of others from the South and West of England converging on Wellington College. The Sussex players also had a loyal supporter, in the shape of Jonathan, who heroically attended both days!

Younger boys (U7 - U10) competed on the Saturday, while all other age groups and all girl sections competed on the Sunday.

Attending for the first time, I had imagined enjoying beautiful surroundings while my children played chess in an inspirational and historic setting. It was a little disappointing therefore, to find that the venue was in fact a modern sports hall in the grounds of the College, with the playing area separated from the parents pen by a curtain!

However, the tournament ran smoothly and kept to time - no mean feat with over 1000 competitors.

Players who scored 3.5 points or more earned a rosette. Group winners earned the title Ultimo (boys), or Ultima (girls) and qualified for the final stage of the competition - the national Terafinal in August. Those coming second or third qualified for the 'Challengers' competition which runs alongside the Terafinal.

Well done to all the Sussex players who competed - just to qualify for the Gigafinal is an achievement in itself.

Full results will appear on the UK Chess Challenge website in due course.

Photos from Sunday's prizegiving can be found HERE. If you were at Saturday's event and would like to contribute a photo or an anecdote, please contact us.

In addition to our qualifiers who are listed opposite, special mention should go to Joseph Allin (U7), Josh Higgs (U9), Rosie Hennessy & Daniela Parada-Sanchez (U10), Ben Simpson (U10), Jonny Burch (U13) and Sean Lintott-White (U14) who all scored 4, narrowly missing out on qualification.

Congratulations to: