|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Headline Results |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
The first round was played in regions in the Autumn Term and the top teams were invited to play a second round in the Spring Term to determine if they would play for the prestigious Butler Cup or the new Butler Plate on Finals Day.
The warm sun shone brightly in the beautiful surrounds of Great Walstead School on Monday 9th May – The U14 Butler Finals Day. A sense of anticipation was in the air as some of the teams gathered to picnic on the grass. Two rounds were to be played and the competition was bound to be keen with three England players and many Sussex Team players present.
The four teams vying for the Butler Cup were Ashdown House, Copthorne Prep, Great Walstead, and Windlesham House.
After an extraordinary blitz finish in the first round between Ashdown House’s Cosima Keen and Windlesham House’s Otto Pyper, the positions were close. Copthorne Prep and Ashdown House would be playing for the Butler Cup itself, and Windlesham House and Great Walstead were now playing for third and fourth position. The second round also produced plenty of exciting, hard-fought chess. After one victory apiece (to James Reid of Copthorne Prep and Charlie Keen of Ashdown House) the battle for the Butler Cup boiled down to a complicated and fluctuating encounter on board 3, where both kings were under intense pressure. Freya Finnegan (Copthorne), realizing that a win was required, played on aggressively but eventually succumbed when very short of time, giving William Douglas (Ashdown House) a well-earned victory. Following a remarkable turnaround on board 2 by Great Walstead's Hannah Sutton, the struggle for third place was eventually resolved on board 1, where Great Walstead's Edward Critchley enjoyed a small advantage out of the opening against Otto Pyper but ultimately ran short of time and had to resign after losing material. Great Walstead's fourth place was nevertheless a remarkable achievement for such a young team.
Meanwhile, playing for the Butler Plate were Bishop Bell, Burgess Hill School for Girls, Handcross Park, and The Angmering school.
After the first round of the Butler Plate competition, there was still everything to play for for all schools. Handcross Park progressed smoothly to victory in the second round, winning on boards 2 and 4 against Burgess Hill School for Girls but ultimately losing in a closely-contested game on the top board. There was an even tighter struggle on board 1 between Ben Simpson of the Angmering School and Jonathan Finn of Bishop Bell. Ben won a piece in the early middle game, but the position remained complex and Jonathan later regained the material deficit. This left a rook and two pawns each, Ben's advantage being a passed a-pawn. Eventually Jonathan was forced to sacrifice his rook for both Ben's pawns, leaving him with connected pawns against Ben's rook. The pawns were not sufficiently advanced to pose a threat, and Ben was ultimately able to capture both and win an excellent game.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It only remains to say that the standard and competitiveness of the chess across all boards did the players credit. Behaviour was commendably sporting, and all players displayed excellent chess etiquette.
Thanks must go to Colin Harding and Great Walstead School for running and hosting Finals Day, to Trevor Norton our Chief Arbiter and to Tom Borland (newly appointed SJC Chairman) for presenting the prizes.
Report by Lesley Simpson.
Round 2 - Spring Term 2011
The qualifying teams from Round 1 were re-grouped. The winning team in each group will go on to compete for the Butler Cup on Finals Day in the Summer term. The second placed teams will compete for the Butler Plate.
| Group 1 | Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Match Points |
Game Points |
Place |
| Windlesham House School | 1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
| Handcross Park School | 0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Group 2 | Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Match Points |
Game Points |
Place |
| Ashdown House School | 1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3.5 |
1 |
| Bishop Bell A | 0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.5 |
2 |
| Group 3 | Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Match Points |
Game Points |
Place |
| Copthorne Prep School | 1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
| The Angmering School B | 0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Group 4 | Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Match Points |
Game Points |
Place |
Great Walstead |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2.5 |
1 |
Burgess Hill School for Girls |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.5 |
2 |
Round 1 - Autumn Term 2010
The draw for the first round is published below. The top 3 teams from each of the North and West zones, plus the top team from the East zone, plus one other team chosen from the results of the first round will go into a second round.
Result will be published here as zones finish their games.
| North Zone | Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Match Points |
Game Points |
Place |
| Copthorne Prep School | 3 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
13.0 |
1 |
| Ashdown House School | 3 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
12.0 |
2 |
| Handcross Park School | 2 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
6.0 |
3 |
| Great Walstead School | 1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
7.5 |
4 |
| Brambletye School | 0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1.5 |
5 |
| West Zone | Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Match Points |
Game Points |
Place |
| Burgess Hill School for Girls | 3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
9.0 |
1 |
| Windlesham House School | 2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
8.5 |
2 |
| The Angmering School B | 0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3.5 |
3 |
| The Angmering School A | 0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3.0 |
4 |
| Chatsmore Catholic High School | WITHDRAWN |
|||||
|
|
|
East Zone |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Match Points |
Game Points |
Place |
| Bishop Bell A | 2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
1 |
| St.Richards Catholic College | 0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |