EPSCA U9 Championships
The 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 team 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 usually compete in a local "4-Counties match" kindly organised by Berkshire, before the zonal stage.
Final - 24th April 2010
Southern Zonal - 13th March 2010
4-Counties Match - 24th January 2010
National Final - 24th April 2010 - Cuckfield
This year it fell to Sussex to host the final and we were blessed with great weather so all the children could get lots of fresh air between matches. All teams arrived in good time, which was remarkable considering the distances some had to travel. Some teams were still suffering the effects of the volcanic ash, but luckily for Sussex Hamish made it back just in time!
The Headlines:
TeamName |
Points |
Position |
Wey Valley |
27 |
1 |
Kent |
26.5 |
2 |
Barnet |
26 |
3 |
Sussex |
22 |
4 |
Nottinghamshire |
21 |
5 |
Hertfordshire |
17.5 |
6= |
Oxfordshire |
17.5 |
6= |
Essex |
16.5 |
8 |
Hampshire |
15.5 |
9 |
Berkshire |
13 |
10 |
Cheshire & N Wales |
7.5 |
11 |
Yorkshire |
6 |
12 |
The final round was incredibly exciting with the top three places riding on the outcome of the very last 2 matches playing! Congratulations to Wey Valley, Kent and Barnet - only 1 point separated them in the end!
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The Reserves Tournament was also very close. Wey Valley did the double, coming equal first with Nottinghamshire on 8 points. Third were Sussex with 7.5 points. Special mention should go to Harry Elliot (Barnet) and Stephen Banh (Wey Valley) who earned medals for scoring a maximum of 3 points.
The best team room was very close with several strong contenders, but in the end Berkshire won out.
Report:
I had been looking forward for some time to the final to see how we’d get on against the best in the country. We were just about at full strength - Hamish made it back from Abu Dhabi on Friday after an unscheduled extra week on holiday but unfortunately Archie was ill and couldn’t play.
The team:
Joseph Allin, Scott Borland, Freddie Coleman, Edward Critchley, Thomas Finn, Freya Finnegan, Matthew Forster, Daniel Gooda, Cassie Graham, Poppy Haward, Oli Howell, Jamie Lear, Hamish Milne-Skilman, Freddie Smith, Hannah Sutton, Brian Tarhon, and Indie Udsholt-Clayton
The tournament was incredibly strong and there were no easy games – the 4 London based teams are always strong and we knew that Notts, Oxford and Berkshire had good squads too.
As I watched the games develop in the first round I could see just how hard we’d have to work to get a decent placing. The level of opening knowledge displayed by our opponents was exceptional and we had much the worse of the early exchanges. As the round developed, our positions gradually improved and it looked like we were heading for about 6.5 points before Hamish and Matthew brilliantly turned around lost positions to win.
8.5 out of 12 left us very well placed but in round 2 our luck deserted us and we could only rack up 5 wins with Cassie and Freya particularly unlucky – I have explained the incidents here as it is very important we learn from these experiences.
We found ourselves back in 5th place now and, with a top 3 place out of reach, everyone was feeling a little down. However, the children responded brilliantly in the last round racking up another 8.5 out of 12 to finish 4th. Thanks very much to Chris and Mike who had the great idea of rewarding the kids with a medal for their efforts to recognise how well they’d done over the season.
The reserves were terrific too – it was a really tough competition with the top teams supplying strong squads and swapping their reserves in and out of their main side - 9.5 points out of 15 was a great return.
All 17 children scored at least 1 win and Brian (3 out of 3) and Matthew (2.5 out of 3) were outstanding. With 7 of the players being under 8, we have a tremendous base to build on for next season.
After the event it was off to the local Harvester for a team meal which was really enjoyable - thanks very much Victoria for organising this, especially the 36 ice creams !
Thank you to all parents and helpers through the year for your support at events and training – it has been much appreciated.
Report by Dave Graham.
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The Credits:
It just remains to thank Warden Park School for the spacious venue and the army of people who arrived early and stayed late to make the day a success:-
EPSCA: Nigel Dennis, and Chief Arbiter Mike Adams
Tournament set-up and clear up: Giles Critchley (on his birthday too!), Andy Payne, Dave Graham, Chris Lear, Gary McCullough, Jonathan Tuck
Catering: Angela Higgs, Ed Gooda, and Team Ferguson (Derek, Robin and Eleanor)
Welcome Desk: Stella Coleman
Results: Chris Lear & Paula Payne, assisted by Matthew Howell and Josh Higgs
Reserve Tournament: Dan Sutton, Will Graham, Brian Stockham, Chris Jones
We are really proud of our teenagers - Robin, Eleanor, Will and Dan - for giving up their Saturday to help and working hard with minimal supervision.
We would also like to thank Pat Armstrong of Wey Valley for willingly sharing with us her experience of running events.
Finally, thanks to Victoria Finnegan for all her hard work co-ordinating the team this season.
Southern Zonal - 13th March 2010 - Leatherhead
On Saturday 13th March, the Sussex Junior Chess under 9 team travelled to Leatherhead to face 7 other counties in the Southern Zonal. It was a great day out and the children were brilliant coming 2nd behind Wey Valley, who were very strong on home ground.
Final Team Standings:
1st |
|
Wey Valley |
|
31½ |
|
2nd |
|
Sussex |
|
28 |
|
3rd |
|
Oxfordshire |
|
22 |
|
4 |
|
Hampshire |
|
16½ |
|
5 |
|
Berkshire |
|
15½ |
|
6 |
|
Birmingham |
|
12 |
|
7 |
|
Richmond |
|
9½ |
|
8 |
|
Wiltshire |
|
9 |
|
Great credit goes to our reserves who performed really well in the Swiss-style reserve competition which was packed with 8 (!) Wey Valley juniors all playing for the chance to play for their team in the final.
The Sussex team:
Joseph Allin, Scott Borland, Freddie Coleman, Edward Critchley, Thomas Finn, Freya Finnegan, Matthew Forster, Daniel Gooda, Cassie Graham, Oli Howell, Jamie Lear, Archie Lindsay, Hamish Milne-Skilman, Freddie Smith, Hannah Sutton, Brian Tarhon, and Indie Udsholt-Clayton.....plus our new team mascot, Freddie S's dog!
What a strong team! There were several other under 9s who were very unlucky not to be included and whose contribution to SJC training and Grand Prix events has helped give us such a strong deep, pool of talent.
Big thanks to the friends and relations of the children – everyone turned-up in good time and was well supported – the atmosphere and team spirit was great and this makes a big difference to how the children perform on the day. Thanks to Victoria Finnegan for organising the team, and the brain food.
Great support came from Gary McCullough and Jonathan Tuck who helped with coaching and encouragement between rounds. Well done and thanks to Mike Forster too – not only for being our Board Steward but also for finding several anomalies in the EPSCA rules!
Therfield school at Leatherhead was a good venue – excellent playing conditions and we were well looked after by our hosts. The fixed seating positions did, however, make for a lively start to each round. Desperate attempts by the children to shuffle and fidget in their seats failed to have any effect and the nett result was an amusing crashing and banging of tables with many pieces taking a tumble.
All the children scored well and there were some exceptional individual performances:
-
Edward Critchley – 2.5 out of 3 on top board
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Joseph Allin and Freddie Coleman – 3 out of 3 and now 6 out of 6 for the U9 team, incredible, especially since they are both under 8s
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Matthew Forster – 3 out of 3 from another under 8
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Hannah Sutton – an under 8 scoring 2 out of 3 having just recovered from a spell in hospital, fantastic
Very well done to Brian, Jamie, Hamish and Daniel who all came through unbeaten.
The children gave us some special moments as always:
-
Scott Borland doing a great job of looking like the world’s no. 1 rated player, Magnus Carlsen
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Jamie Lear whose constant winning smile seemed to bedazzle an opponent into losing a Rook and King versus Rook and King ending
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Cassie Graham – for taking the trainer's "never give up" message to its ultimate extreme and delaying the prize giving for over half an hour by going the full 1 hour 20 minutes in the last round
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Hamish Milne-Skilman – the coaches were all ready to say "How come you only drew in round 1?" before realising that this was somewhat churlish given Hamish was the only person from any team who scored anything against Wey Valley in that round!
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On to the final now and it is not far away. If you are able to offer assistance with setting up and welcoming (you will be free by 11:00am), we would really like to hear from you.
It would be great to hear from players and parents their thoughts on the day – feedback is welcomed, good and bad.
Report by Dave Graham.
4-Counties Match - 24th January 2010 - Thatcham
On Sunday 24th January, the Sussex Junior Chess under 9 team travelled to Thatcham, near Newbury for the traditional "4-Counties Match". This event is excellent preparation for the qualifying round (March 13th at Leatherhead) and the final which this year is being hosted by SJC on April 24th at Cuckfield.
We are very grateful to Nigel Dennis and Berkshire who host these events which give a chance for the players to gain valuable experience. Thanks also to Oxford who provided additional players and generously shared them with Hampshire, ensuring all our players got games.
We are very lucky to have a wealth of talent in this age group and selecting the side had proved very difficult. However, although strong, it was very inexperienced – half of the team being under 8s and only 5 with any previous county match experience. However, Hannah, Freya and Cassie were warmed-up from their successful outing to Reading the previous week in the U11 girls championship.
The event was a resounding success for Sussex!
|
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Total |
Sussex |
12 |
9 |
9 |
30 |
Oxford |
6 |
9 |
3 |
18 |
Berkshire |
6 |
3 |
7.5 |
16.5 |
Hampshire |
0 |
3 |
4.5 |
7.5 |
In the first round we were up against a depleted Hampshire side and the coach watched with great pride as the team bashed out win after win. It was great to see all the players focus on the basics of development; castling and then attack.
Round 2 and we were facing Berkshire whose strength at the top meant the first 6 boards were shared 3-3. However, the Sussex strength in depth told as we won all the lower boards which was fantastic. Our 4 reserve boards from the first round had all come into the main side and won – brilliant!
In the last round we just had to guard against complacency and did so effectively – it was a kind of mirror image of round 2 with Oxford matching us in depth and holding us on the lower boards but this time our top 8 boards all won!
Incredibly, no less than 8 Sussex players came away with maximum scores – very well done to Brian, Freddie C, Hamish, Indie, Joseph, Poppy, Scott and Thomas. However, the standard of play and concentration was high from everyone.
Full results can be found on the Berkshire Junior Chess website.
Congratulations to the team:
Joseph Allin, Scott Borland, Freddie Coleman, Thomas Finn, Freya Finnegan, Matthew Forster, Daniel Gooda, Cassie Graham, Poppy Haward, Oli Howell, Jamie Lear, Hamish Milne-Skilman, Freddie Smith, Hannah Sutton, Brian Tarhon, Indie Udsholt-Clayton.
Many thanks to U9 Team Co-ordinators Team Finnegan (I had to say that - but it was all Victoria's work really) who coped seamlessly with the weather induced cancellation and the re-arrangements for the 24th. The team looked great in their new, bright blue SJC tops and proudly displayed their new Under 9 badges - a great idea from the Finnegans.
Thanks to Oli’s dad who stepped in and averted a clock crisis (there weren’t any!) in the first round – we won't enquire further as to what kind of sad person carries around a supply of chess clocks in the back of their car.
In conclusion, a really enjoyable day out and terrific preparation for the zonal where the side will be further strengthened with Edward’s return. Competition for places will be hotter than ever so keep practicing guys! Another difficult selection meeting awaits the coaches in March, but it is a great problem to have.
Please note that questions, or feedback on the day are always welcome - Contact Us.