London Junior Chess Championships (LJCC)

The LJCC originated in 1924 as the London Boys Championship and is one of the premier events on the junior circuit. Titles are awarded for seven age groups, Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, Under 18 and Under 21. The U10 and U12 sections are hotly contested by those aspiring to selection for the England squad.

U8, U12, U16 Championships: 28th - 30th December 2009
U10, U14 Championships: 12th - 13th December

U8, U12, & U16 Championships, Harrow: 28th - 30th December 2009

An excellent tournament for SJC! 

11 players spent 3 long days ‘locked’ in the vaults of the University of Westminster at Harrow and produced some amazing results.

It was agreed by the organisers and the visiting England U11 team manager that the U12 Majors produced the toughest field for many years, and for two of our players - Toby Harris & Cosima Keen - to achieve a half-norm was amazing. 

For Toby, this was his second half-norm, so as an U12 he is now qualified for the prestigious England Squad - well done Toby!

Cosima also walked off with the additional title of SCCU Girls U11 Champion!

The table below shows how well our other players fared - The Fitzgerald brothers putting in typically strong performances; Oliver Howell (still U7) scoring 3.5 in the U8 Championship; and a very strong crop of U10s just missing out on half-norms in the U12 Major championship and performing strongly in the U12 Minor championship. Commiserations to David Liu who had to withdraw due to illness after day 2 on a very promising 3 out of 6.

The arbiters and scorers kept everybody on their toes and up to date, and the food wasn’t bad either. 

Many thanks to Trevor Norton for spending 2 days with us and encouraging all the players to enjoy their long play.

Report by John Higgs with contributions from others.

SJC Results:

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U10 & U14 Championships, Harrow: 12th-13th December 2009

A strong contingent of Sussex hopefuls travelled to Harrow, having qualified either at our own Worth tournament, or at various other qualifying events in the Home Counties. Some of our contestants had qualified more than once!

Amy Hoare and Robert Fitzgerald flew the flag in the U14 major. Unfortunately illness meant that Amy had to withdraw, but Robert, still only aged 11, finished an excellent 9th overall with 4 out of 6.

The U10 Major was contested by Billy Twigge-Molecey, David Liu, Joshua Higgs, Edward Critchley and Michael Stockham. Congratulations to Billy who came 3rd overall (out of 74) scoring 6 out of 7, and qualifying for the U12 Major Championships at the end of the month.

Joe Thorley, James Reid, Jamie Ward and Freya Finnegan competed in the U10 Minor and all finished in the top half of the placings. Quite an achievement considering this was the first time in a national event, and a two-day one at that, for most of them. Joe was our highest placed player, finishing 4th out of 80 with 6 out of 7 points.

Congratulations to all, and thanks to the organisers - my spies tell me this was a well-organised event with results kept up to date and plenty of suitable provisions.

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