Horsham Grand Prix, 20th November 2011

Sunday dawned a true autumnal day of mist and mellow fruitfulness. Nevertheless 86 stalwarts made it through the gloomy mid-Sussex countryside to Farlington School. Thanks to longterm chess advocate Joy Baggs, Head of Farlington Prep School, for the excellent venue and for presenting the prizes.

The U11 Minor section was hotly contested with a good mixture of age and experience. Experience won out in the end with first place being shared by two veterans of last years Sussex U9 squad who will now be elevated to the Major section. However, rapidly improving Hugo Westwood-Dunkley was a clear 3rd with an excellent 5 points.

Home advantage was also a factor with very good performances by Horsham players James West and Joshua Francis. Our girls are also rapidly gaining in confidence - 12 girls entered the U11 Minor (25% of the entry) - Madeleine was unlucky to just finish just outside the major prizes and Grace put in a strong performance.

However, there were many for whom this was their first grand prix event - don't be discouraged - the first major event is always a huge learning curve and is as much about sportsmanship, stamina and resilience as chess skill. The arbiters are experienced enough to know that the score doesn't always reflect the effort and skill put in; hence the number of arbiters' prizes awarded to this section.

Finally for this section, mention should go to Alec Hedger, Oliver and Thomas Manchester, Edward Gray and Laura Borland who all scored 50% or more yet are still only Under-7. Keep it up!

The U11 Major was small....but as always very strong, populated by experienced County players and those aspiring to play for England. Credit should be given to Alex Miller, Chris Hill, Poppy Haward, and Ami & Yelena Finnegan for taking on the challenge of promotion from the Minor. Alex did very well to finish on 50% and was rewarded with an arbiters award for his determination and good play. At the top, regular readers will be pleased to see Freya Finnegan in clear first place - Freya has gained a reputation over the years for just missing out!

Finally the U18 section, which due to small numbers in the Major was run as one section. Well done to our England players for a hard fought Major section. Well done to Robin Ferguson for his hard earned win in the Minor in the face of a challenging draw; playing 4 opponents from the Major section.

Thanks to Joe Widdowson and James West who had the misfortune to arrive early....and so were recruited to help set up the playing hall. Also to Thomas Packham who volunteered to help tidy up and proved himself very efficient. The tournament control team was Sue Howell and Dave Graham, assisted by Arthur, and supported by arbiters Brian Stockham, Trevor Norton, Gary McCulloch, Mike Forster, Peter Finn and Tom Borland. Catering as always was run smoothly by Ed, Derek and Debbie, despite the slightly cramped conditions.

Below are the headline results; full crosstables are here ,updated Grand Prix placings here, and photos here.