SCCU U14/U130 Championship 2011-12This grade-limited competition, run by the Southern Counties Chess Union, was formerly known as the "U14/U140", and before that the "U14/U90". There are 12 players per side plus reserve boards. Each player plays 2 games and the time limit is 59 minutes each. This year we have been drawn in the ‘East’ group with Essex, Kent and Surrey. Should we win our group we would go on to play a final against the winners of the ‘West’ group (Berks, Hants, Middlesex and Oxon). Sussex v Essex - 3rd March 2012 Sussex v Surrey - 21st January 2012 Sussex v Kent - 11th December 2011 Sussex v Essex - 3rd March 2012
Headline Results:
The Team: Tanith Davies, James Fallon, Robin Ferguson, Jonathan Finn, Niroshan Ganeshan, Xavier Gordon-Brown, Toby Harris, Luke Herlihy, Josh Higgs, Matthew Howell, Rhiannon Jones, Josh Ralph, Michael Stockham, Joe Thorley, Jamie Ward, Jimmy Warwick Report: Our last group match of the season took us to Chelmsford in a fixture against last year's finalists, Essex. After a few navigational incidents which gave some team members a tour of the local housing estate with occasional glimpses of the venue, we all managed to assemble in time for the team photo and pre-match team talk. Team captain Josh Higgs lost the toss but was pleased to find that Essex chose to play white in round 1 as he was going to choose black for Sussex in round 1 in any case. Essex appeared to have a team very similar in strength to ourselves, and in line with predictions the matches proceeded for the first 30 minutes or so with little or no advantage for either team and all matches pretty evenly poised. Then some of the games began to swing to one team or the other. Joe Thorley found himself emerging from the opening a couple of pawns down and with his opponents advanced d6 pawn causing some difficulty. Xavier Gordon-Brown had manoeuvred himself into a comfortable three pawn advantage, while Niroshan Ganeshan also appeared in a strong position. Xavier claimed the first victory on the main boards but this was swiftly followed by a defeat for Jimmy Warwick and then a loss for Joe. Toby Harris, on board 2, had however gained a clear piece advantage and steady play from Michael Stockham allowed him to snap up a few pawns. Unfortunately we went 3-1 down in the main match after Niroshan made a mistake when he appeared to be about to continue his great run of recent form with another win. As we entered the last 30 minutes of play, Josh Higgs was first to win, followed by Matthew Howell who calmly finished off a rook and pawn(s) endgame. Josh Ralph was struggling to find a final attack but asked enough questions of his opponent to ensure that he eventually ran out of time. The final game to finish was Jamie Ward's, where Jamie's 3 pawns and rook and his opponents 5 pawns and bishop were eventually reduced to a dead drawn pawn v pawn position to give us the excellent Round 1 result of 8-4. In the reserves, good play from Rhiannon Jones put her a knight up with some nice looking attacking opportunities, but this advantage eventually fell away and Rhiannon lost under time pressure. Luke Herlihy rejected his opponents draw offer, swiftly snapped up a pawn, and then progressed smoothly to a well deserved victory. James Fallon struggled for a while a couple of pieces down before defeat while Tanith Davies's opponent had defaulted due to sickness on the way to the venue and she found herself playing and eventually losing to one of the Essex parents. After a short break where everyone had the opportunity to enjoy the Essex catering, the team started the second round after being warned about complacency with a reminder of how close most of the games in Round 1 had been. Unfortunately we started badly when an error by Robin in the opening led to a swift defeat. This was quickly followed by a defeat in the reserves as Luke was surprised by his opponents attack. However to compensate for this Michael and Xavier soon established a clear advantage and Joe also seemed to be better placed with an extra pawn. In the reserves it was James’s turn to play an adult on the defaulted reserve board and he quickly gained a decent material advantage. Several of the other games also seemed to be going our way. Josh Higgs’s opponent then blundered his queen to really give us some momentum, but Matthew managed to even things up by losing his queen soon afterwards. Play progressed for quite a while before Xavier and then Josh Higgs gave us our first wins in Round 2. The next results were all on the reserve boards as James’s adult opponent fought back after a great battle to checkmate him. Tanith also lost and Rhiannon eventually accepted her opponent's draw offer in an even endgame position. Jimmy defended valiantly in a very tricky position with his King attacked in the corner by his opponent’s Queen and Bishop, but eventually succumbed. Michael overcame his disappointment in the first round by forcing a second round win and another win by Jonathan soon followed. Joe eventually lost after having a small advantage but no clear way to progress, but then Niroshan gained the vital half point to ensure that we could not be overtaken by Essex in the match. Josh Ralph paid the penalty for slightly overpressing with a premature pawn advance to allow an opening for his opponent's attack which resulted in a forced exchange of Queen for Rook to delay (but not avoid) checkmate. Toby confirmed his return to form, with his second win of the match and Jamie, last to finish again, achieved a second draw to give a Round 2 result of 6-6 and an overall result of 14-10 in our favour. Thanks to Essex for their excellent hospitality and sportsmanship throughout the day. Thanks also to all parents who transported the team and to Brian Stockham and Sue Howell for helping out in the match room during both rounds and to John Higgs for the team photo! Unfortunately this excellent result was not enough to give us a chance of getting to the final but we still can finish in second place in the group depending on the outcome of the final match between Kent and Surrey. The match was a great way to finish another very enjoyable SCCU U14/U130 season. It’s been good to see so many new players both experienced and relatively inexperienced come through and develop further through competing at county level against teams of similar strength. Finally, good luck to veterans Toby Harris, Josh Ralph, James Fallon and Robin Ferguson who will all be too old to play next year and also to those younger players who will progress to 130 grading or above in the August 2012 grading list. Mike Ralph U14/U130 Manager Sussex v Surrey - 21st January 2012
Headline Results:
The Team: James Fallon, Robin Ferguson, Jonathan Finn, Niroshan Ganeshan, Xavier Gordon-Brown, Alisha Gunn, Toby Harris, Luke Herlihy, Josh Higgs, Chris Hill, Josh Ralph, Josh Rowe, Alistair Smith, Michael Stockham, Esther Sturch, Mary Sturch, Joe Thorley, Timon Walshe-Grey, Jimmy Warwick Report: After a very good win against Kent before Christmas we readied ourselves for the visit of last year's champions Surrey at Hurstpierpoint Village Centre. Joe Thorley, Alistair Smith and Robin Ferguson made their first appearances for the team this season. Captain Toby Harris chose white for Sussex in Round 1 after Surrey lost the toss and the match started with the strong smell of varnish in the playing area (due to some over enthusiastic cleaning the previous evening) beginning to dissipate through the open windows. Josh Higgs, having arrived at the venue directly from school, was soon under pressure as he and his opponent quickly arrived at the endgame and unfortunately a small mistake meant that we were 1-0 down. At this point a quick wander round the boards showed most of the games relatively even, but with Robin Ferguson, Jonathan Finn and Joshua Rowe in some difficulty and Niroshan Ganeshan and Jimmy Warwick with a slight advantage. Niroshan soon brought the scores level taking full advantage of his extra pawns in the (speedily arrived at) endgame. Unfortunately Robin then lost a game he was always struggling to hold on board 10 but Jimmy soon brought the scores level again with an excellent win on board 11. Alistair, Josh Ralph and Michael Stockham were all managing to gain a small advantage after some tough chess in the opening and middlegame. Meanwhile Josh Rowe had a few chances to get back into his game but eventually could not avoid defeat. Michael Stockham then made the match score 3-3 by converting a bishop, knight and pawn against rook advantage. With six games left to complete, the match situation was very close. Josh Ralph and Alistair were improving their positions but Joe Thorley on board 3 was two pawns down and Jonathan and Xavier Gordon-Brown were also beginning to come under pressure. While all other games were either in the endgame or approaching it, Toby and his opponent on board 1 were grappling with a complex middle game in a very closed position with no clear gain for either player. Xavier's opponent was soon escorting a pawn down the board to Queen and then win the game. Joe lost not long after this to take the match score to 5-3 to Surrey. Josh Ralph having worked hard to go a pawn up with some positional advantage as well in a rook and pawns endgame, made a small slip to allow his opponent to attack the base of his pawn chain and a draw was promptly agreed. Jonathan, already a bishop down, made one final mistake to give Surrey the round 1 win 6.5-3.5. Soon after this, Alistair completed an excellent game with a well deserved victory. As the clocks ran down, Toby's game was still in a complex middlegame with neither player able to make much progress but unfortunately Toby was a few minutes down on time and this was to be the determining factor as his opponent continued to probe for a weakness and eventually Toby's flag fell. The final round 1 score was 7.5 to 4.5 against us. The team talk between rounds reminded the team that were in a similar position against Kent at this stage of the match and that we again had an opportunity to fight back with the black pieces in round 2. Niroshan gave us a great start, playing even more quickly than in the first round (!), for a very early win. Unfortunately Josh Ralph soon lost while Robin gave up a rook. Josh Rowe and Robin were soon defeated as well leaving us in a very tough position losing 5.5 against 10.5 overall. There were still glimmers of hope as Xavier executed a well thought out checkmate, Alistair seemed to be fighting back after early setbacks and Josh Higgs had gained the upper hand in his game. Toby, Jonathan, Joe and Michael's games were all pretty even and only Jimmy's position looked irretreviable. But while Jimmy hung on against his frustrated opponent, Alistair and Michael lost and Jonathan agreed a draw to put Surrey in an unassailable position overall. Josh Higgs completed a thoroughly deserved victory on board 2. Joe's game had entered a very tricky endgame where he had a knight, rook and 4 pawns against his opponents rook and 7 pawns. This quite quickly became knight against 3 pawns and Joe did very well to manage to calculate the right moves to achieve a draw. While this was going on, Jimmy finally lost and only Toby's game remained unfinished. This was almost a carbon copy of his first game as neither player could make much progress in a very closed position and unfortunately Toby's lack of time at the end of the game led to another defeat. The round 2 score was 8-4 to Surrey and the overall match result 15.5-8.5. In the reserve match we welcomed three new players, Mary and Esther Sturch and Timon Walshe-Grey alongside James Fallon, Alisha Gunn and Luke Herlihy. Also, as Surrey were a reserve short due to last minute illness, we borrowed Christopher Hill from the SJC training event next door as a stand-in Surrey player. I was very pleased to see that all four debutants (including Christopher) took advantage of the opportunity to gain good experience in match conditions by playing some very long and interesting games. As a team we struggled against some very strong Surrey reserves. Luke achieved an excellent win in round 1 but our only other wins were when Mary managed to defeat Surrey stand-in Christopher in round 1 and then Christopher won against Luke in round 2! Home matches are always more stressful than away matches for the team manager as you have to worry about the venue and all the logistics of the whole event as well as the chess team and the match itself. Thanks are due to Surrey for a friendly and sporting approach to the match on the day. I would like to offer thanks for all the help given prior to and on the day itself. In particular Josh Ralph for helping to set-up the venue and clear up afterwards, Derek Ferguson and everyone else who helped out with the catering, Brian Stockham for supervising in the game area and finally Brian, Derek and Robin Ferguson for help clearing the venue at the end of a long day! Mike Ralph U14/U130 Manager Sussex v. Kent - Amherst School, 11th December 2011Headline Results:
The Team: James Fallon, Jonathan Finn, Thomas Finn, Tanith Davies, Xavier Gordon-Brown, Alisha Gunn, Rhys Harmour, Toby Harris, Luke Herlihy, Josh Higgs, Isabel Jones, Rhiannon Jones, Seb Pollard, Josh Ralph, Phoebe Ralph, Theo Richenberg, Josh Rowe, Ben Simpson, Michael Stockham, Jamie Ward, Jimmy Warwick Report: The SCCU U14/U130 season finally started with an away fixture against Kent at Amherst School, Riverhead. There were a lot of new faces in the first team with only Ben Simpson, Josh Ralph and Jonathan Finn playing for the first team in the same fixture last season. After a quick team talk we assembled in the playing area, which was quite chilly as there was a problem with the heating (it wasn't on). We won the toss and team captain Toby Harris decided that we would play white in round 1. Toby quickly gained a morale boosting win on the top board to give us an excellent start, but then things started to go wrong. Xavier Gordon-Brown lost his queen early on but managed to hang on tenaciously for quite a while before eventually losing. Rhys Harmour and Sebastian Pollard slowly succumbed to steady play from their opponents. Josh Ralph's opponent, having arrived directly from a rugby match, dressed in his match kit and with muddy knees, offered a draw in an even endgame which was accepted. (He then rushed off to get changed and showered before the second round). Joshua Rowe and Jamie Ward both lost soon afterwards. We had slumped from 1-0 up after 30 minutes to losing 5.5-1.5, with the rest of the games fairly even or to Kent's advantage. Fortunately Josh Higgs on board 2 won the next game to finish and Jimmy Warwick played very carefully to successfully convert one of those winning rook and pawns v rook and pawns endings that can be harder to win than you think (well in my experience anyway). This left Ben, Michael Stockham and Jonathan playing with the clocks running down. It was vital that we didn't fall any further behind. Michael was just squeezed out in the endgame after a long battle with his opponent and the cold, while Ben was not only losing on the board but was also about to run out of time. He then seemed to play a desperate and pointless pawn advance, which actually laid a trap for his opponent, and he managed to come up with a last gasp swindle to draw with perpetual check. Jonathan was in control for a large part of his match but had to endure some tricky moments from a resilient opponent before gaining a very important win leaving us losing 5-7 at the end of the first round. The team donned further layers of clothing for the second round as there was still no sign of the playing areas warming up. Unfortunately Jonathan Finn wasn't feeling too well, probably not helped by the cold conditions, and his brother, Thomas, took his place as an emergency substitute. This time Kent claimed the first win as Rhys lost early on. There was then a long period of excellent competitive chess as both teams sought advantages. After a while Sebastian, Ben and Joshua Rowe converted increasingly superior positions to level the overall score at 8-8. At opposite ends of the team order Toby and Jimmy were resourcefully trying to defend inferior positions but eventually couldn't hold on or find a Ben Simpson style trick for a draw. On the other hand, Xavier and substitute Thomas Finn were clearly ahead in their games and methodically completed the wins. This left Josh Higgs, Josh Ralph and Michael Stockham playing three subtly fluctuating games with the clocks beginning to become a factor and the overall score even at 11-11. Josh Higgs and his opponent finally agreed a draw after much manueovering around well defended pawn chains. Josh Ralph had a small material advantage for much of his game but couldn't find a way to break through his opponents defences. Eventually the position was simplified to a rook and bishop for Josh versus rook and advanced pawn for his opponent who eventually claimed a draw under the two minute rule after bishop and pawn were swapped. Michael's match had ebbed and flowed but he managed to extract himself from a slightly inferior position to press for a win and his opponent ran out of time to give us the vital final point to seal the match 13-11. In the reserve match, James Fallon, Alisha Gunn, Luke Herlihy, Tanith Davies and Phoebe Ralph (with a last minute chance to play an unexpected nineteenth Kent player) all made their debuts. We lost the first round 2-5 with good wins from Theo Richenberg and Luke and some fighting play further down the board order. Our standard of play improved in the second round and there were wins for Luke again, James and Rhiannon Jones as we went down 3-4 in the second round to lose 5-9 overall. The standard of chess on the day was high and the younger players impressed with the way they quickly adapted to the 59 minute time control. As you often find in this excellent competition the majority of the games were finely balanced with the opposing players well matched. Both teams should be commended on the good sportsmanship and level of concentration displayed throughout the match. Thanks to Kent for their friendly welcome and hospitality on the day, to Brian Stockham for sterling duty in the playing area, Angela Higgs for keeping the match score up to date in the team room and for all parents for transporting and supporting the team. Our next scheduled match is against last year's champions Surrey at home in Hurstpierpoint on January 21st. Mike Ralph Back to Top |
