Sussex Juniors On Tour 2009-2010!This page records the adventures that some of our players have when competing in events outside of Sussex....and sometimes outside of the UK! Matthew Forster wins Horsham Chess Club Junior Championship 2009-10 UK Chess Challenge Terafinal and Challengers - Aug 2010 e2e4 Uxbridge Autumn Women's International - Aug 2010 British Championships, Canterbury - July/Aug 2010 Kent Individual Rapidplay, Snodland - 17th July 2010 St Lawrence School and Billy Twigge-Molecey in the Mid Sussex Times - 30th June 2010 KJCA Sevenoaks GP - 20th June 2010 England Squad Trips - May/June 2010 SE England v. Wales - 5 June 2010 KJCA Maidstone GP - 30th May 2010 National Junior Squad Championships, Wolverhampton - April 9 - 11 2010 Maidenhead Junior Chess Congress Results, 14-15 April 2010 33rd Surrey Chess Congress Junior Championships / Coulsdon Rapidplay - April 5th 2010 Tournament of Young Talents, Czech Republic - April 1st - 5th 2010 Kent Junior GP, Dulwich - March 7th 2010 Horsham CC 130th Anniv - Oct 2009 Matthew Forster wins Horsham Chess Club Junior Championship 2009-10
UK Chess Challenge Terafinal & Challengers, Aug 21-22, Warwick School
Sussex had 16 children qualified to play. On the day, Joseph Allin (U8) and Cassie Graham (U9) entered the Terafinal; while Callum Brewer (U9), Ben Simpson (U11) and a very brave Yelena Finnegan (U7) played in the Challengers. Cassie and Yelena were supported by their siblings who were able to take part in a "Relaxed" chess tournament running alongside the main event. Thus far in the competition the players had competed in sections against children of the same gender and age. At the Terafinal/Challengers, all competitors play in one section - so it is technically possible for an U7 to play an U18. All players felt some trepidation going into the first round facing opponents who had a grading advantage of typically 50 points or more. However, Cassie pulled off a shock result, managing to draw to her 171 graded opponent. She can dine off that one for years to come! At the end of a very tiring weekend all the children were still in good spirits and could reflect on the experience they had gained. All played good long games, picking up points where they were able, only losing to more experienced and higher graded opponents. Callum was our top scorer with 2 wins and a draw, followed by Joseph and Ben with 2 wins, and Cassie with a win and a draw. Full results and crosstable are available on the UK Chess Challenge website here.
e2e4 Uxbridge Autumn Women's International - Aug 2010
Lawrence Cooper, ECF Director of International Chess, writes "The real star of the tournament though was 13 year old Amy Hoare. Despite being the joint lowest rated player and coming off the back of a below par Major Open she played very solidly in the early rounds and then as her confidence grew she started to play more aggressively and this resulted in three wins and five draws and just one defeat against Susan with black who is almost 400 points above her. She gained around 40 rating points and performed at 2130, over 200 points above her own rating of 1904." Read his full report on the ECF website here. British Championships, Canterbury, 25th July - 7th Aug 2010
Sussex can claim 5 qualifiers for the prestigious Championship this year - Grant Bucher, Rhys Cumming, Alex Galliano, David Grant and George Salimbeni. Not forgetting SJC alumnus IM Thomas Rendle whose father, Colin, was instrumental in setting up Sussex Junior Chess in the mid 1990's. George played a marathon 8-hour 160-move draw against experienced Grand Master Keith Arkell in Round 5. After 11 rounds, Rhys finished on 4.5 points; Grant, David, George and Alex on 5, and Thomas Rendle on 7. George also came joint second in the week 1 Sunday rapidplay with 5 points, just ahead of 15 year old Matt Payne on 4.5 points. Matt, along with Amy Hoare and Jude Lenier, chose to compete in the Major Open - an event which also had 11 rounds over the two weeks. Jude was the highest placed Sussex player with 6 points. Moving on to the age-group championships, where Robert Fitzgerald finished an excellent 4th= in the Under-13 competition with 4.5/7, followed by Ollie Willson (3.5), Toby Harris (3), and Charlie Keen (1.5). Robert then went onto challenge for the Under-12 title in the second week, where he came 2nd= with 5 out of 7. Also competing were Otto Pyper and Cosima Keen - both "playing up" an age group. Cosima also saw action in the Under-11 competition, as did Matthew Howell and Billy Twigge-Molecey. Billy was the highest placed Sussex player in this section with 4/7. Matthew's brother Oli competed in the Under-8s where he scored a very good 3.5/6. Matthew and Oli's Dad, Chris - better known to Sussex juniors as an arbiter - led from the front by winning the Week 1 5-Day Morning competition with an impressive 5/6. The field contesting the Under 14 title was very strong, including leading players such as Felix Ynojosa! Ramsay Pyper and Daniel Sutton did very well to finish on 3.5 and 3 respectively. Well done to David Liu, our only representative in the Under-10 Championship, who finished 2nd= with 5.5 out of 7. Finally the Under-9 event took place over the middle weekend, and once again Sussex, in the shape of Brian Tarhon were 2nd=! Also competing were Hannah Sutton and Oli Howell, both "playing up" an age group. Well done to all those who competed - if anyone would like to contribute anecdotes, interesting games or photos, please contact us. Glorney Cup - July 2010Each year, England compete against Scotland, Wales and Ireland for the Glorney (U18 boys) and Faber Cups (U18 girls). There are also competitions for under 14s (The Stokes Cup) and U12s (The Robinson Cup). This years event was hosted by Wales. Congratulations to Sussex players David Grant (U18) and Robert Fitzgerald (U12) who were both selected as board 1 for their respective teams. In both events, England emerged the winners. Kent Individual Rapidplay, Snodland - 17th July 2010
St Lawrence School & Billy Twigge-Molecey in the Mid Sussex Times - 30th June 2010Chess in the News! Those of you in Mid-Sussex may have seen the St. Lawrence primary cup team and Billy Twigge-Molecey featured in the Mid-Sussex Times....read the articles here. KJCA Sevenoaks GP - 20th June 2010
Many thanks goes to KJCA for the warm welcome and well run event.
England Squad Trips - May-June 2010What a busy week!
SE England v. Wales - 5 June 2010Ollie Willson, Felix Haxby, Cosima and Charlie Keen, and Billy Twigge-Molecey were all selected to represent SE England against Wales. Ollie Willson even featured in the Mid Sussex Times. If anyone has the results from this match, please could they send to me. KJCA Grand Prix, Maidstone - May 30th 2010 National Junior Squad Championships, Wolverhampton - April 9th-11th 2010Several Sussex players competed in this important national event - well done to Chris Yates (U16s); Amy Hoare, Johnny Burch & Toby Harris (U14s), and Cosima Keen (U12s). Maidenhead Junior Chess Championships - April 14th-15th 2010Congratulations to siblings Charlie (U12) and Cosima (U11) Keen who came joint third in the U13 section. 33rd Surrey Chess Congress Junior Championships / Coulsdon Rapidplay - April 5th 2010
Thomas Finn played in the U9, scoring 3/5; Meanwhile, just down the road in Coulsdon, the Graham family were competing en masse and very nearly broke even financially on the day! Dave led from the front by winning the Open, Arthur was second in the U110 section, and William shared the U130 grading prize in the U150 section. Cassie rather let the family down by coming away empty-handed with a lowly 2.5/6 - but she was the youngest by 4 years! Another Sussex junior, Adam Squibbs, shared the U175 grading prize in the Open. So, overall, a good day for Sussex! Tournament of Young Talents, Czech Republic - April 1st - 5th 2010Well done to Amy Hoare, Otto & Ramsay Pyper who were all selected for the 18-strong England team which travelled to the Czech Republic to take part in the Tournament of Young Talents. Congratulations to Amy who achieved 2nd place in the U14 girls. The Pyper brothers were featured in the West Sussex County Times - the article is reproduced here by their kind permission. Kent Junior GP, Dulwich College - 7th March 2010Congratulations to Josh Higgs who travelled to Dulwich College to compete in the Kent Junior GP. Maybe inspired by playing in the shadow of Shackleton's boat the James Caird, Josh came 2nd= in the U11, scoring 5/6. Well done Josh!
Horsham Chess Club 130th Anniversary Celebrations - Oct 2009
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Congratulations to Matthew Forster, aged 8, on becoming Horsham Chess Club Junior Champion for 2009-10! Matthew scored a impressive 10/11 points to take the Peter Alford Cup. 
The UK Chess Challenge is the largest junior tournament in the UK which starts in school chess clubs in January, progresses through regional qualifiers (Megafinals and Gigafinals) to culminate in a National Final in August. The regional winners in each age group play in the Terafinal, those coming second or third compete in the Challengers tournament. Both events are six longplay rounds, over two days.
Fresh from competing at the British Championships, Amy Hoare went on to compete in the e2e4 Uxbridge Autumn Women's International - a 9 round, all-play-all. The field was headed by IM Susan Lalic and included two Womens International Masters and three Womens FIDE Masters. Despite being the youngest player at only 13, Amy finished an amazing 3rd= with 5.5 - a performance well above her grading. Amy only lost one game and that was to IM Lalic - no disgrace there! Amy is now qualified for the 2010 London Chess Classic Women’s International in December, and the British Championships next July. Well done Amy!
Ever in search of new opportunities for chess, the intrepid Josh Higgs travelled to Snodland Chess Club to take part in the Kent Individual Rapidplay. Despite being the youngest player he earned a share of the U120 grading prize and the U10 prize. Well done Josh.
Members of SJC travelled to Sevenoaks School in Kent today to compete in the final Grand Prix of the KJCA season. Scott Borland and Brian Tarhon competed in the U9 competition, while Josh Higgs and Ewan Borland competed in the U11 competition. All players worked very hard and Josh was placed 3= in the U11 competition, winning the princely sum of £1, despite the presence of 7 England squad members.
Well done to Brian Tarhon and Joshua Higgs who competed in the above tournament and came 2nd= with 4.5 out of 6.
Three brave SJC players crossed the county line to compete at Sutton;
As part of their 130th anniversary celebrations, Horsham Chess Club held an open air simultaneous in Horsham Town Centre. Freya Finnegan, 8, took part challenging anyone from the general public (children and adults) to a game. She won 5/6 games - well done!