SCCU U18 Jamboree, 21st March, Wilson's School, Surrey

Sussex finish 2nd in both Open and Minor sections.

Thanks to Neill Cooper, of the Southern Counties Chess Union, for organising this event, a 2-round longplay jamboree with 2 sections: an 8-board U18 Open, and a 6-board U18 Minor. In the Minor, players must be under 140 grade with the average grade of the team under 110.

This year’s event hosted by Surrey was between 3 Counties in the Open:- Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
And 4 teams in the Minor:- Kent, Surrey A, Surrey B and Sussex.

After losing one of my players on the eve of the event to illness (get well soon Ram), I was struggling to find a replacement. Cassie Graham, who had played in Oxford the previous day with the Under 11’s Team, either agreed or was "press ganged” into accompanying her brothers as our stand in player - thanks Cassie.

A quick re-arrangement of the Teams; Daryl Brooks moved to the Open on Board 8 and Cassie Board 6 in the Minor Section.
We knew we were in for a tough competition in the Open - Kent had brought along their top 3 junior players William Jones, Victor Jones and Robert Maguire.

It was agreed before the start of Round 1 that the Open Section would use Fischer Timings and the Minor Section use the time stated on the Entry Details.

Round 1: As results filtered in, we scored 4pts from 8 Boards in the Open Section, and 3 pts from 6 Boards in the Minor Section.
Open: Round 1: Kent 6pts, Sussex 4pts and Surrey 2pts
Minor: Round 1: Surrey A 4.5pts, Sussex 3pts, Kent 2.5pts and Surrey B 2pts

Round 2: Started on the scheduled time and was completed earlier than expected. Once again we scored 4pts from 8 Boards in the Open Section, and 3 pts from 6 Boards in the Minor Section! Highlights were Amy's quick win against Jasdeep (click here to see more) and Cassie beating the Surrey A player, much to the surprise of her Dad and brothers.
Open: Round 2: Kent 6pts, Sussex 4pts and Surrey 2pts
Minor: Round 2: Surrey A 4.5pts, Sussex 3pts, Kent 3pts and Surrey B 1.5pts

Final Result Open: 1st Kent 12pts, 2nd Sussex 8pts and Surrey 4pts
Final Result Minor: Surrey A 9pts, Sussex 6pts, Kent 5.5pts and Surrey B 3.5pts

Well done in the Open to Amy Hoare (Board 4), Sam Aggarwal (Board 5) Jonny Burch (Board 6) and Felix Haxby (Board 7) and in the Minor to Arthur Graham (Board 1), William Graham (Board 4) and Cassie Graham (Board 6) who all remained unbeaten on the day.
Thanks go to Neil Cooper and Sue Maguire for running a well organised event, and our players and parents.

Just a quick plug for a future Team Event, date for your Diaries:
ECF U18/U3 County Championships 2010, will be held at Wilson’s School, Wallington Surrey on Sunday 27th June, starting at 11am alot shorter journey than normal to Heanor, in Derbyshire

Andy Payne
Team Manager