Uckfield Academy
About Chess Academies
Sussex Junior Chess established the Chess Academy concept as a way of encouraging wider participation in chess.
The programme seeks to liaise with schools within a geographic area and then to tailor fun, innovative, and age and experience appropriate chess events to suit that community. It is hoped that this will bring chess to a new audience, encouraging them to learn to play chess and offering them a path for progression through local clubs to County and even National level events.
Brian Stockham, a coach with many years experience in junior chess is the Academy Director for the Uckfield area.
Holy Cross CEP School - Academy Event - 31st August 2011
Holy Cross CEP School - Academy Event - 31st May 2011
Holy Cross CEP School - Press Report - May 2011
Holy Cross CEP School - Academy Event - 18th April 2011
Holy Cross CEP School, 31st August 2011
The idea of holding a Summer Championships now seems central to an Academy programme, affording all schoolchildren involved in their in-school training to battle it out in full rapid play games of chess to decide who will be the Academy champion(s) for that year. Of course as happens in any holiday activity, the risk is run that some players will certainly be lost due to family-booked holidays and events. After consultation this event went ahead and was fitted in before chess year groups changed on 1st September, so that players just about to start in their new schools could still represent for one last time their primary schools. The ideal would have been to hold this event right after schools closed, which will be the plan for the future – unfortunately this year the Academy Director was called for jury service and that was not possible.
This event still attracted 28 who registered with 25 playing on the day which allows some scope for improvement in future years. However the quality of play in this mini-tournament was still extremely high and certainly on the top four boards. The results were as follows :-
1st |
Michael Stockham |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
6/6 |
2nd |
George Richenberg |
U14B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
5/6 |
3rd |
Connor Gunn |
U15B |
UCTC |
4/6 (14/14) |
4th |
Leia Derrick |
U9G |
Holy Cross |
4/6 (14/12) |
5th |
Joseph Light |
U10B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
4/6 (14/7.5) |
6th |
Will Walshe-Grey |
U8B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
4/6 (13/12.5) |
7th |
Theo Richenberg |
U12B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
4/6 (13/11.5) |
8th |
Richard Kay |
U14B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
4/6 (12) |
9th |
Angus Paterson |
U8B |
Framfield |
3.5/6 (16/11.75) |
10th |
Felix Coates |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
3.5/6 (16/8.25) |
11th |
Harry Coldbreath |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
3/6 (15) |
12th |
Alisha Gunn |
U11G |
Holy Cross |
3/6 (10) |
13th |
Helena Renshaw |
U9G |
Holy Cross |
3/6 (9/6.5) |
14th |
Tallis Groves |
U8G |
Framfield |
3/6 (9/4) |
15th |
Timon Walshe-Grey |
U12B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
3/6 (8) |
16th |
Gemma Stockham |
U19G |
UCTC |
3/6 (7) |
17th |
Ben Chevassut |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
2.5/6 (11) |
18th |
Duncan Paterson |
U7B |
Framfield |
2.5/6 (10) |
19th |
Archie King |
U9B |
Harlands |
2.5/6 (4.5) |
20th |
Emily Chevassut |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
2/6 (9) |
21st |
Nathan Dowding |
U8B |
Rocks Park |
2/6 (8) |
22nd |
Rosie Newman |
U8G |
Framfield |
2/6 (7) |
23rd |
Owen Gibson |
U7B |
Harlands |
2/6 (5) |
24th |
Theo Light |
U6B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
1.5/6 |
25th |
Max Coates |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
1/6 |
|
|
Progressive scores were used firstly as a tie break, followed by the standard of totalling the scores of players beaten and half of those drawn against. This is the only Academy event of the year where full rapid play chess of 30 minutes each on a clock in a 6-round Swiss format will be played. The difference between this and other training events, which are currently based on speed and both acquisition and demonstration by practice of recent relevant coaching is that the players have the luxury of greater time to think. It is well recognised that junior chess is far too fast and the coaching throughout the day therefore concentrated on slowing down and tips for structured planning.
The concept of age and size making no difference to the ability to play chess was heavily emphasised during the day (we had players aged from 6-15 !!) and it is a fact that those in the lower half of the above list have broadly speaking less experience in the game, but hopefully will have learned a great deal. From a coaching perspective it was gratifying to see so many new players demonstrating that they had absorbed the coaching.
Additional prizes were given for year groups as follows:-
Age Group |
Name |
School |
Under 6 |
Theo Light |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 7 |
Felix Coates |
Little Horsted |
Under 8 |
Will Walshe-Grey |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 9 |
Leia Derrick |
Holy Cross |
Under 10 |
Joseph Light |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 11 |
Alisha Gunn |
Holy Cross |
Under 12 |
Theo Richenberg |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 14 |
Richard Kay |
Lewes Old Grammar |
6th Form |
Gemma Stockham |
UCTC |
The tournament winners can now rightly claim to be the top three Under-18 players in the Uckfield Academy area, whilst each of the year group winners can claim to be the best in their own year group (checking off firstly against the tournament winners of course). It is known that there are other players in the area who have achieved high recognition in chess and some may have been affected by holidays, but these are the youngsters who have turned up for the contest and therefore this year rightly and richly deserve those titles. All competitions are always open to eligible players and if any fancy their chances to compete, then please do so. Titles have to be earned.
In addition, Angus Paterson (U8 – Framfield) was awarded a special prize for a high score of 3.5/6 and some excellent long play, and Tallis Groves (U8 – Framfield) was given a special prize for scoring an excellent 3/6 in her first ever tournament and even without having attended her school’s chess coaching sessions.
Finally the schools trophy was awarded. Most competitions rely on the scores of the top three players from each school to differentiate between schools as a single criterion. Whilst this was retained as one criterion the design for my Academy areas is that schools with a large number of entrants should also be rewarded as we are seeking to constantly expand the number of children in each area playing and developing in the game, so this was also added as a criterion, together with total points scored and then the average score per player from each school. If a tie occurs, which has not happened yet in this process, then there would be a final split on the basis of each school’s top scorer, i.e. the Captains Challenge, including if necessary the result between the two. Rocks Park came 7th, which might be expected with just one valiant player; five placements above them were Harlands in 6th, with again 5 placements above them UCTC in 5th, both schools with only two players; four placements above in 4th were Framfield which is a great improvement, since they were only one placement behind Little Horsted, who were 3rd – this again was a great achievement as they did not have chess coaching at all in the summer term; so the contest at the top was between Holy Cross and Lewes Old Grammar, and the former were let down by a much smaller team. The difference was only two placements, but hearty congratulations to Lewes Old Grammar for winning their first ever chess trophy, which was ultimately due to fielding such a strong team, many of whom will grace Sussex tournaments in the coming months.
The day proved again a success from the instant feedback received from children and parents. The only advantage from its late fixture in the holiday is that it was closer to the start of the new Sussex season and all players were encouraged to convert the practical experience gained from today into attendance at the coming Sussex events.
Finally thanks are due again to Holy Cross for the use of the school as a venue and particularly to their Caretaker Bob as always for his assistance – on this occasion we were visited by Mr. Justin Heath, the Head Teacher, who welcomed all players to the school and congratulated them on their enthusiasm for the game; also to our County Co-ordinator John Higgs for his smooth and efficient as always preparations for the event. This was a family-run event for families and I also thank my wife Tessa for help in preparation and registration and support through the day.
Brian Stockham - SJC Academy Director – Uckfield
Holy Cross CEP School - Academy Event - 31st May 2011
After a few dull days, the sun came out on the morning of our second Uckfield event, but it did not stop a record number of 41 pupils attending from eight schools.
A special invitation had again been extended to Lewes Old Grammar School, who have just started a chess club but do not as yet have an Academy area to join with – this time they came in larger number and with some purpose. The morning session was entitled `Bishop Botherer’ and linked to training sessions provided by the Director on pawn structure and development, together with the use of a single Bishop in attack and defence supported by the King – this was problematic even for experienced players as the single Bishops were on their own colour squares and could not directly combat each other.
Interestingly but perhaps not surprisingly, even between experienced players there were few draws as every player went for the win. Playing in a lightning tournament also enabled the children to test their expertise in a fast competition, within which the object was to promote a single pawn or eliminate all of the opponent’s pawns, though this proved much rarer!
Further coaching and advice was available preparing the attendees for tournament play and the use of clocks, some of whom were playing with them for the first time.
By way of encouragement, whether win draw or lose, a range of scores were available from 1-5 in each match and it was again pleasing that no-one scored the minimum. Trophies were awarded for the first three in the tournament, full results as follows:-
Position |
Name |
Age |
School |
Score |
1st |
Michael Stockham |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
28 |
2nd |
George Richenberg |
U14B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
26 |
3rd |
Harry Coldbreath |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
25 |
4th |
Daniel Manvell |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
24 |
5th |
Robert Ross |
U10B |
Rocks Park |
23 (85 Tie-break) |
6th |
Theo Richenberg |
U12B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
23 (79) |
7th |
Ben Chevassut |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
22 (85)(61 2nd tie-break) |
8th |
Will Walshe-Grey |
U8B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
22 (85)(58) |
9th |
Harry Slinn-Hawkins |
U8B |
Blackboys |
22 (77) |
10th |
Emily Chevassut |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
21 (80) |
11th |
Joseph Light |
U10B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
21 (79) |
12th |
Sam Crawford |
U10B |
Little Horsted |
21 (68) |
13th |
Jason Lyons |
U9B |
Blackboys |
20 (71) |
14th |
Gemma Stockham |
U19G |
UCTC |
20 (63) |
15th |
Timon Walshe-Grey |
U12B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
20 (59) |
16th |
Angus Paterson |
U8B |
Framfield |
19 (79) |
17th |
Amy Manvell |
U9G |
Holy Cross |
19 (70) |
18th |
Rosie Newman |
U8G |
Framfield |
18 (69) |
19th |
Stephanie Babb |
U8G |
Holy Cross |
18 (65) |
20th |
Nadia Bral |
U11G |
Holy Cross |
18 (53)(46) |
21st |
Thomas Lyons |
U6B |
Blackboys |
18 (53)(32) |
22nd |
Owen Gibson |
U7B |
Harlands |
17 (67) |
23rd |
William Harris |
U12B |
UCTC |
17 (55) |
24th |
Philip Fletcher |
U14B |
UCTC |
16 |
25th |
Alex Noakes |
U9B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
15 |
26th |
Rohan Huxley |
U7G |
Holy Cross |
14 (57) |
27th |
Ben Figg |
U10B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
14 (53) |
28th |
Abbie-May Crawford |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
14 (49) |
29th |
Milly Wallis |
U7G |
Harlands |
14 (45) |
30th |
Duncan Paterson |
U7B |
Framfield |
14 (43) |
31st |
Joseph Carpenter |
U8B |
Little Horsted |
14 (41) |
32nd |
Mercy Gott |
U9G |
Harlands |
12 |
33rd |
Tiago Bral |
U5B |
Holy Cross |
10 (45) |
34th |
Adam Bolam |
U8B |
Holy Cross |
10 (37)(14) |
35th |
Zoe Bolam |
U10G |
Holy Cross |
10 (37)(12) |
36th |
Tina Gott |
U7G |
Harlands |
8 |
|
|
The concept of age and size making no difference to the ability to play chess was heavily emphasised during the day (we had players aged from 4-19!!) and it is a fact that those in the lower half of the above list have broadly speaking less experience in the game, but hopefully will have learned a great deal.
From a coaching perspective it was gratifying to see so many new players demonstrating that they had absorbed the coaching with some of the results above surpassing more experienced players who had not been so recently trained or who, despite knowing this tournament’s theme, had failed to practice sufficiently the tactics necessary for success.
Additional prizes were given for year groups as follows:-
Age Group |
Name |
School |
Under 5 |
Tiago Bral |
Holy Cross |
Under 6 |
Thomas Lyons |
Blackboys |
Under 7 |
Ben Chevassut |
Little Horsted |
Under 8 |
Will Walshe-Grey |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 9 |
Emily Chevassut |
Little Horsted |
Under 10 |
Robert Ross |
Rocks Park |
Under 11 |
Daniel Manvell |
Holy Cross |
Under 12 |
Theo Richenberg |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 14 |
Philip Fletcher |
UCTC |
6th Form |
Gemma Stockham |
UCTC |
In addition, Harry Slinn-Hawkins (U8 - Blackboys) was awarded a special prize for a very high score in his first tournament with only one term’s coaching, and Tina Gott (U7 - Harlands) was given a special prize for her sporting behaviour in losing so gracefully. Learning to lose is an important part of playing chess and a lesson for life, particularly if one learns to rise above the concept of defeat so that it has no effect to your temperament. This was well evidenced today with a theme advanced to all from Winston Churchill – “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm” – which Tina epitomised, showing fun can still be there with the learning even when at the bottom end of the ladder.
The schools trophy was always designed to be an overall trophy for performance through the day, but it was apparent from the morning session that on the criteria (see below) previous winners Holy Cross, even with three Sussex players and a Megafinal Suprema competing, were being pressed hard by both Little Horsted and Lewes Old Grammar. In fact LOGs were three placements ahead after the morning and Holy Cross were only three placements in front of Little Horsted.
The afternoon session was entitled `Speed Star’ and was an opportunity rarely offered in school coaching sessions because of time restrictions to play a lightning form of fun chess with all of the pieces in a tournament context – this being a real test of mental agility and concentration. Coaching was again given on the use of clocks but in continuing advice and encouragement, the children were urged to check for their own mistakes and capitalise swiftly on the mistakes of opponents, with otherwise the full normal rules of chess applying, which were also enforced. In the afternoon UCTC (Uckfield Community Technology College) were reinforced by the arrival of Connor Gunn (formerly Holy Cross and second at Under-15 in the Sussex Grand Prix this season) and Toby Harris (U13), who is the only player to our knowledge in the Uckfield Academy area who is in the England squad. Both were held up to all attending as examples and role models and if drawn against them, to see it as an opportunity to learn and challenge.
The same points system was in place and again the first three won trophies, results being as follows:-
Position |
Name |
Age |
School |
Score |
1st |
Toby Harris |
U13B |
UCTC |
29 |
2nd |
Daniel Manvell |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
26 |
3rd |
Connor Gunn |
U15B |
UCTC |
25 |
4th |
Michael Stockham |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
24 |
5th |
George Richenberg |
U14B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
22 |
6th |
Harry Coldbreath |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
21 |
7th |
Alisha Gunn |
U11G |
Holy Cross |
20 (75) |
8th |
Gemma Stockham |
U19G |
UCTC |
20 (60) |
9th |
Joseph Light |
U10B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
20 (57)(57) |
10th |
Theo Richenberg |
U12B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
20 (57)(42) |
11th |
Nadia Bral |
U11G |
Holy Cross |
19 |
12th |
Zoe Bolam |
U10G |
Holy Cross |
18 (63) |
13th |
Adam Bolam |
U8B |
Holy Cross |
18 (59)(51) |
14th= |
Will Walshe-Grey |
U8B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
18 (59)(50) |
14th= |
Philip Fletcher |
U14B |
UCTC |
15 (59)(50) |
16th |
Emily Chevassut |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
17 (66) |
17th |
Timon Walshe-Grey |
U12B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
17 (62) |
18th |
Angus Paterson |
U8B |
Framfield |
17 (58) |
19th |
Amy Manvell |
U9G |
Holy Cross |
16 (70) |
20th |
Owen Gibson |
U7B |
Harlands |
16 (66) |
21st |
Felix Coates |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
16 (57) |
22nd |
Jason Lyons |
U9B |
Blackboys |
15 (65) |
23rd |
Sam Crawford |
U10B |
Little Horsted |
15 (51) |
24th |
Abbie-May Crawford |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
15 (45) |
25th |
Ben Chevassut |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
14 (56) |
26th |
Joseph Carpenter |
U8B |
Little Horsted |
14 (50) |
27th |
Max Coates |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
14 (48) |
28th |
Rosie Newman |
U8G |
Framfield |
13 |
29th |
Milly Wallis |
U7G |
Harlands |
12 |
30th |
Duncan Paterson |
U7B |
Framfield |
11 |
Again additional prizes were given for year groups as follows:-
Age Group |
Name |
School |
Under 7 |
Owen Gibson |
Harlands |
Under 8 |
Adam Bolam |
Holy Cross |
Under 9 |
Harry Coldbreath |
Little Horsted |
Under 10 |
Joseph Light |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 11 |
Michael Stockham |
Holy Cross |
Under 12 |
Theo Richenberg |
Lewes Old Grammar |
Under 14 |
George Richenberg |
Lewes Old Grammar |
6th form |
Gemma Stockham |
UCTC |
 |
 |
This time special awards were given to Felix Coates (U7 - Little Horsted) who narrowly missed out on the Under-7 award but had played really well. A special award was also given to Milly Wallis (U7 - Harlands) for her sporting behaviour, which matched Tina in the morning session.
Finally the schools trophy was awarded. Most competitions rely on the scores of the top three players from each school to differentiate between schools as a single criterion. Whilst this was retained as one criterion the design for my Academy areas is that schools with a large number of entrants should also be rewarded as we are seeking to constantly expand the number of children in each area playing and developing in the game, so this was also added as a criterion, together with total points scored and then the average score per player from each school. If a tie occurs, which has not happened yet in this process, then there would be a final split on the basis of each school’s top scorer, i.e. the Captains Challenge, including if necessary the result between the two.
UCTC’s boosted afternoon performance affected every other school greatly and they won in two of the criteria, but needed some more players to win the afternoon session, which went to Holy Cross, who had themselves been reinforced with another Sussex player. So Holy Cross managed to retain the Top School trophy, but were only two placements in front of worthy runners-up Lewes Old Grammar, who were five placements in front of Little Horsted in third.
UCTC were 4th (6 further placements behind); Blackboys 5th, Framfield 6th, Harlands 7th and Rocks Park 8th.
We were joined by Stephan Butler from Uckfield FM just in time for the presentations for the morning session, and he clearly enjoyed himself so much that he stayed right to the end of the afternoon presentations. Check out his piece on the event at http://www.uckfieldfm.co.uk/uckfm/index.php/2011/06/01/uckfield-chess-academy/
The day proved again a success from the instant feedback received from children and parents. There are many Under-7s who attended today who will be encouraged from their performance and should now seek to play in the last Sussex tournament at East Grinstead on 11th June and all were encouraged for the last Sussex training session and to await the Sussex agenda for next season with enthusiasm.
Finally thanks are due to Holy Cross for the use of the school as a venue and particularly Caretaker Bob for his usual great assistance. This was a family-run event for families and I also thank my wife Tessa for help in preparation and registration and support through the day particularly with work on the running score charts. Also thanks to both daughter Gem and son Michael for help between rounds and in the set-up and clearance with Bob, without which these days might not be possible, and certainly even more tiring!!
Clearly for the future with growing numbers, Academy events in the holidays will be worth continuing, accepting that some will always be missing through family holidays and events. There will now follow a consultation with current parents on further extensions to the Academy programme:-
-
Should we have a `summer champs’ for the existing year group before they start in their new year or school? The ideal would be for a full day tournament of six rounds to finally prepare our Academy members for the new Sussex season, which starts in September and usually not long after schools return.
-
Mid school term sessions after school at one Holy Cross club session – this would be a themed coaching as in our two morning sessions to date with a mini-tournament, to be completed in just a few hours.
If anyone else wishes to contribute to that consultation, views will be welcomed.
Brian Stockham
SJC Academy Director – Uckfield
Holy Cross CEP School - Press Report - May 2011
Holy Cross CEP School, 18th April 2011
This was the first ever event for this new Academy and it was highly pleasing that we had a total of nine schools represented on the day. Though held in April, this was a hot summer’s day but we had a total of 35 children who had expressed an interest in attending and 27 actually attended either or both of the sessions in the morning or afternoon.
The morning session was entitled `Pawnstormer’ and linked to training sessions provided by the Director on pawn structure and development, together with the use of the King in attack and defence and positional awareness. A lightning tournament enabled the children to test their expertise in a fast competition, within which the object was to promote a single pawn – however further coaching and advice was available preparing the attendees for tournament play and the use of clocks, many of whom were playing with them for the first time.
By way of encouragement, whether win, draw or lose a range of scores were available from 1-5 in each match and it is interesting that no-one scored just 7 points. Trophies were awarded for the first three in the tournament, full results as follows:-
1st |
Michael Stockham |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
- 29 points |
2nd |
Alisha Gunn |
U11G |
Holy Cross |
- 26 |
3rd |
Toby Barden |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
- 23 |
4th |
Harry Coldbreath |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
- 22 (Tie-break 81 wo 5) |
5th |
Leia Derrick |
U9G |
Holy Cross |
- 22 (81) |
6th |
Robert Ross |
U10B |
Rocks Park |
- 22 (77) |
7th |
Gemma Stockham |
U19G |
UCTC |
- 22 (69) |
8th |
Thomas Langford |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
- 22 (61) |
9th |
Ben Ricketts |
U11B |
Rocks Park |
- 20 |
10th |
Emily Chevassut |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
- 18 (81) |
11th |
Max Coates |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
- 18 (65) |
12th |
Ben Chevassut |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
- 18 (63) |
13th |
Jake Fisher-Dunford |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
- 18 (61) |
14th |
Jake Bartlett |
U11B |
Manor |
- 18 (49) |
15th |
Billy Funnell |
U11B |
Framfield |
- 17 (55) |
16th |
Abbie-May Crawford |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
- 17 (42) |
17th |
Ewan Thornicroft |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
- 16 (65) |
18th |
Felix Coates |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
- 16 (59) |
19th |
Archie King |
U9B |
Harlands |
- 15 |
20th |
Connor Filsell |
U8B |
Blackboys |
- 14 (65) |
21st |
Philip Fletcher |
U14B |
UCTC |
- 14 (57) |
22nd |
Sam Crawford |
U10B |
Little Horsted |
- 14 (57) |
23rd |
Owen Gibson |
U7B |
Harlands |
- 13 |
24th |
Laurie Beebee |
U7B |
Blackboys |
- 12 |
25th |
Yazzmyn Funnell |
U7G |
Framfield |
- 10 |
The concept of age and size making no difference to the ability to play chess was heavily emphasised during the day and it is a fact that those in the lower half of the above list have broadly speaking less experience in the game, but hopefully will have learned a great deal.
Additional prizes were given for year groups as follows:-
Under 7 |
Ben Chevassut |
Little Horsted |
Under 8 |
Connor Filsell |
Blackboys |
Under 9 |
Harry Coldbreath |
Little Horsted |
Under 10 |
Robert Ross |
Rocks Park |
Under 11 |
Ben Ricketts |
Rocks Park |
| Under 14 | Philip Fletcher | UCTC |
| 6th Form | Gemma Stockham | UCTC |
In addition, Leia Derrick (Holy Cross) was awarded a special prize as Top Girl, and Jake Bartlett (Manor) was given a special prize for being the `lone wolf’ from his school attending this event.
Learning to lose is an important part of playing chess and a lesson for life, particularly if one learns to rise above the concept of defeat so that it has no effect to your temperament, and whilst there were some incidents during the day for the most part this learning became embedded as the day wore on.
The schools trophy was always designed to be an overall trophy for performance through the day, but it was apparent from the morning session that on the criteria (see below) Holy Cross, even with three Sussex Under-11 players competing, were being pressed hard by the large team from Little Horsted.
The afternoon session was entitled `Speed Star’ and was an opportunity rarely offered in school coaching sessions because of time restrictions to play a lightning form of fun chess in a tournament context – this being a real test of mental agility and concentration. Coaching was again given on the use of clocks but in continuing advice and encouragement, the children were urged to check for their own mistakes and capitalise swiftly on the mistakes of opponents, with otherwise the full normal rules of chess applying, which were also enforced.
 |
 |
 |
The same points system was in place, having been trialled successfully, and again the first three won trophies, results being as follows:-
1st |
Michael Stockham |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
30 points (the maximum !!) |
2nd |
Alisha Gunn |
U11G |
Holy Cross |
26 |
3rd |
Toby Barden |
U11B |
Holy Cross |
22 (85 tie-break) |
4th |
Robert Ross |
U10B |
Rocks Park |
22 (74) |
5th |
Oscar Richardson |
U12B |
UCTC |
20 |
6th |
Thomas Langford |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
19 (72) |
7th |
Harry Coldbreath |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
19 (64) |
8th |
Max Coates |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
18 |
9th |
Felix Coates |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
17 (63) |
10th |
Emily Chevassut |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
17 (56) |
11th |
Billy Funnell |
U11B |
Framfield |
17 (53) |
12th |
Gemma Stockham |
U19G |
UCTC |
16 (62) |
13th |
Archie King |
U9B |
Harlands |
16 (58) |
14th |
Ben Chevassut |
U7B |
Little Horsted |
16 (47) |
15th |
Jake Fisher-Dunford |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
15 (60) |
16th |
Ewan Thornicroft |
U9B |
Little Horsted |
15 (47) |
17th |
Sam Crawford |
U10B |
Little Horsted |
14 |
18th |
Abbie-May Crawford |
U9G |
Little Horsted |
13 (45) |
19th |
Yazzmyn Funnell |
U7G |
Framfield |
13 (43) |
20th |
Aaron Vincent |
U13B |
Lewes Old Grammar |
7 (Two rounds only) |
Again additional prizes were given for year groups as follows:-
Under 7 |
Felix Coates |
Little Horsted |
Under 9 |
Thomas Langford |
Little Horsted |
Under 10 |
Robert Ross |
Rocks Park |
Under 11 |
Billy Funnell |
Framfield |
| Under 12 | Oscar Richardson | UCTC |
| 6th Form | Gemma Stockham | UCTC |
This time special awards were given to Emily Chevassut (Little Horsted) as Top Girl, albeit she also showed great promise by beating one of the Sussex players in the room ! A special award was also given to Sam Crawford (Little Horsted) who was a shining example throughout the day of how to behave in handling defeat well.
Finally the schools trophy was awarded. Most competitions rely on the scores of the top three players from each school to differentiate between schools as a single criterion. Whilst this was retained as one criterion the design for my Academy areas is that schools with a large number of entrants should also be rewarded as we are seeking to constantly expand the number of children in each area playing and developing in the game, so this was also added as a criterion, together with total points scored and then the average score per player from each school. If a tie occurs, which has not happened yet in this process, then there would be a final split on the basis of each school’s top scorer, i.e. the Captains Challenge, including if necessary the result between the two.
The events of today saw a battle over each of the criteria between Holy Cross, whose team was small in number but had three Sussex players in it and Little Horsted, who had a massive team of ten, but have only had a Club from this year and no prior relationship with Sussex Junior Chess. The latter makes it all the more creditable for Little Horsted that whilst they emerged as runners-up they finished only three points behind Holy Cross. UCTC (Uckfield Community Technology College) had a similar battle with Rocks Park through the day, with both schools coming third in one session, but UCTC finally achieved third place overall, by just one point ! Framfield were 5th, Harlands 6th, Manor 7th, Blackboys 8th and Lewes Old Grammar School, who were invited as guests, barely registered with one player only playing two rounds.
The day proved a success from feedback received from children and parents and it would seem from the number who apologised for non-attendance as they were away from home the event could increase still further in the future, regardless of the number of new players we can attract. At the start of the day those who had greater experience in that they had represented Sussex or had played in Sussex tournaments were asked to stand and marked out as targets for the rest of the players. From the number of games played well against those players, there are many who attended who will now be encouraged to take the next step of attending full Sussex Junior Chess events. Those qualifying from their schools for the UK Chess Challenge Sussex Megafinal on 30th April were also given final tips for that day.
Finally thanks are due to Holy Cross for the use of the school as a venue and particularly Caretaker Bob for his great assistance. This was a family-run event for families and I also thank my daughter Gemma for her support on tournament preparation and my wife Tessa for help in preparation and registration and support through the day particularly with work on the running score charts. Also thanks to both of them plus Michael and Bob for help in the set-up and clearance, without which these days just would not be possible, and even more tiring !!
The next event is already being planned – details will be notified shortly via the SJC website.
Brian Stockham
SJC Academy Director – Uckfield