The Agenda for this post;-
- Elstead Hotel
- Winchester Junior Competition
- Children In Need
- Ladder Positions
- The Sicilian Opening
Elstead Hotel
Saturday at the Elstead Hotel saw 18 very keen Juniors joining in the fun filled morning, with plenty of puzzles and games analysed and played. Top marks this week go to Daniel and Nathaniel, both winning all their games played and topping the charts in the ‘Kings’ groups, whilst Shriya and Rafan keen their noses in front in the ‘Queens’ groups, with Noah and Lathujan hot on their heels.
We still have a few more weeks to go in the Ladder competition so plenty of time to climb up.
Winchester Junior Competition
Hampshire Junior Open Chess Congress – 13/11/22
9 players from the Bournemouth junior chess club entered and took part which was a huge event with 98 entrants of all ages from 6 -18. The competition was fierce as I walked around the games, the general standard was very high especially in the under 18’ section.
Great results from Finn, Zander, Leo and Harry, who all qualified for the London chess classic in December and I was so pleased that Tristan, Nathaniel, Daniel, Joey and Woody all scored some points and improved their starting rank in their first competition.
The experience gained from competing against juniors from the Hampshire area in a big event hopefully will benefit all in the future.
Chess is infinite and we are determined to play to win, however even Magnus Carlson the world champion loses games as other GM’s do frequently so it’s the knowledge and learning from lost games that benefit you in the future. All that took part were winners in my opinion.
Individual scores
Under 18 section
Finn Schell = 5/6
Daniel Liubchenko = 2/6
Under 12 section
Zander Booth = 4.5/6
Leo Campoy = 3.5/6
Harry Mercer = 3.5/6
Tristan Alsford = 2/6
Joey Li = 2/6
Woody Manby Whiting = 1.5/6
Under 8 section
Nathaniel Pua = 3/6
Congratulations to all
Whilst wandering around yesterday I met Lucas who is the designated Hampshire junior chess representative and we are discussing setting up a match between our club and a Hampshire team in December between 19-23 December at their own facilities at Badgers Farm. Details to be posted later.
Lucas has also advised during that week he is running a daily chess camp if anyone is interested in daily coaching, playing and spending time there. Please let me know if anyone is interested in going.
A special mention to John Upham and his team in organising this event which went off smoothly and is a huge amount of work to make all possible
Eric Sachs
Photo’s of the day:-
Children In Need
We would like to make a good contribution to the Children In Need charity, which we have done so in the past. So if any parents, friends or even the children want to donate, then pass the money on to Eric and at the final total the Junior Chess club will match whatever has been collected.
To date we have collected £75 from our very generous mums & dad’s & the club has matched it to give us a total of £150.
I am hoping we can all add a little more by the weekend including this Saturday, to give this great cause to under privileged children some joy & benefit for their future.
Many many thanks for those that have contributed & we will let you know our grand total by Sunday.
Ladder Positions after 12th November
The Sicilian Opening – a 10 minute YouTube video
The Sicilian opening by Black in response to White’s e4 is worth looking at and understanding it’s logic, here is a short video by Levy Rozman (Gotham Chess) who explains the theory and different lines in this opening. * Ignore the comment that you should have a rating of 2000, anyone can play it at any level!