Worthing Grand Prix - 21st May 2011 - Thomas A Becket Middle School

What a fantastic end to the season - 97 children, the youngest aged 4 and the eldest 16 travelled to Worthing for the final grand prix.

We were very pleased to welcome a lot of first time players, fresh from the Megafinal or the Academy Schools program. Despite this particular event being a tough place to start as it is popular with all the experienced competitors, our newcomers all coped very well showing good attitudes and perseverence as well as good chess. In particular, it was very exciting to see so many girls at the tournament - just under a quarter of the entry - with representation in all sections. The girls were particularly successful in the U11 Minor where they made up a third of the entry, and took 6 of the top ten places.

Thanks as always to our stalwart team of volunteers - Andy and Paula Payne for organising the venue and helping everywhere on the day; Angela Higgs on registration; Ed, Derek, Debbie and Linda on catering; Mike Forster and Matt Payne for running the analysis room and Sue Howell and Chris Lear for running the tournament. We were without a couple of our usual board stewards and faced with a bumper entry list so thanks especially to Catherine Finn, Chris Jones and Shaun Brewer for stepping in at short notice to supplement regulars Brian Stockham and Gary McCulloch.

Headline results below, cross tables here, updated Grand Prix placings here and photos here.