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| Paul Plant | 0 - 1 | Josef Bebiak |
| Marian Jurcik | 1 - 0 | Simon Fowler |
| Paul Lam | 0 - 1 | Gabor Farkas |
| David Varga | ½ - ½ | Balvinder Grewal |
| Michael Keetley | 1 - 0 | Tamas Petenyi |
| Joost Michielsen | 1 - 0 | Paul Plant |
| Simon Fowler | ½ - ½ | Daron Brandenberg |
| Sander van Eijk | ½ - ½ | Paul Lam |
| Balvinder Grewal | ½ - ½ | Struik Tjapko |
| Ali Bitalzadeh | 1 - 0 | Michael Keetley |
| Paul Plant | ½ - ½ | Matthew Dignam |
| Simon Jeffares | 1 - 0 | Simon Fowler |
| Paul Lam | 0 - 1 | Karl McPhillips |
| Killian Delaney | ½ - ½ | Balvinder Grewal |
| Michael Keetley | 1 - 0 | Steven Branigan |
| Ioan Rees | 1 - 0 | Paul Plant |
| Simon Fowler | 0 - 1 | Jonathan Blackburn |
| Christopher Arnold | 0 - 1 | Paul Lam |
| Balvinder Grewal | 1 - 0 | Douglas Spencer |
| Gruffydd Johnston | 0 - 1 | Michael Keetley |
| Paul Plant | 1 - 0 | Thibaut Maenhout |
| Luc Vanstreels | 1 - 0 | Simon Fowler |
| Paul Lam | 1 - 0 | Flarion Mottart |
| Tom Van De Perre | 0 - 1 | Balvinder Grewal |
| Michael Keetley | 1 - 0 | Peter Colin |
| Robyn Smith | 0 - 1 | Rieke van Run |
| Gilian Visschedijk | 0 - 1 | Karen Bradley |
| Charlotte Wilcox | 1 - 0 | Henriette Springelkamp |
| Robyn Smith | 1 - 0 | Hannah Lowry-O'Reilly |
| Emily Alfred | 0 - 1 | Karen Bradley |
| Charlotte Wilcox | 1 - 0 | Deidre Gleeson |
| Anna Balkova | Robyn Smyth | |
| Karen Bradley | 0 - 1 | Jana Zavadilova |
| Martina Mareckova | Charlotte Wilcox |
| Robyn Smith | 0 - 1 | Olivia Smith |
| Suzie Blackburn | ½ - ½ | Karen Bradley |
| Charlotte Wilcox | 1 - 0 | Henriette Springelkamp |
| Daphne Salle | 0 - 1 | Robyn Smith |
| Karen Bradley | 1 - 0 | Elena van Hoecke |
| Marigje Desrande | 0 - 1 | Charlotte Wilcox |
A staggering 1,800 children took part in the 3rd stage of the The British Land UK Chess Challenge 2003, the National Gigafinal, which was held in the Keele University Leisure Centre in Staffordshire during the weekend of 12th and 13th July. The children's ages ranged from 5 up to 18 years old, with the younger ones (under 10s) playing on the Saturday, and the older ones (10 and over) on the Sunday. The majority of players hailed from the English counties, but there were also 71 players from Scotland, 45 Welsh entrants, 15 Northern Ireland players and two from Jersey. Due to the size of the event, the children were accommodated each day in two halls seating 400 players each, and one hall of 200 capacity for the girls. Overall, conditions at Keele were excellent with plenty of space to play, and good ventilation in the halls, despite the blistering heat of the weekend. There were 12 different age categories, which made 24 sections, as these were split into boys and girls groups. But some of these groups were further subdivided into sections, because some age ranges attracted hundreds of players. There were no less than five under 10 boys sections and five under 11 boys sections, each with about 60 players in them. During the weekend, more than 350 girls took part, a considerably higher percentage than is normal in chess events, and this was largely due to the policy of giving girls separate sections, to encourage more of them to take part. In all, there were 44 section winners, called the Ultimi (Ultimo for boys and Ultima for girls). Each of the Ultimi received a winner's cup and a cheque for £100, unless there was a tie for first place. In that case a playoff was held and the prize money was split but not the winner's cup and the title. The Ultimi also gained the coveted right to compete in the final stage of the competition - the TERAFINAL - which will be held on 23rd and 24th August at the Source, an educational centre established by The British Land Company PLC next to its extensive Meadowhall shopping complex in Sheffield, Yorkshire. Table of Ultimi UK Chess Challenge - Ultimi 2003 First Name Last Name Age Sex School County 1 James Abrams U 7 B Letchworth & Hitchin JCC Herts 2 Mishael Knight U 7 B Camberley JCC Surrey 3 Briony Brock U 7 G Gateway Bucks 4 Jack Harding U 8 B Mall Middx 5 Saravanan Sathyanandha U 8 B Haberdashers Herts 6 Craig Whitfield U 8 B Hassell Staffs 7 Stephanie Hale U 8 G Millfield Somerset 8 William Boulton U 9 B Norwich JCC Norfolk 9 Toby Thurgood U 9 B St Joseph's Notts 10 George Tunstall U 9 B Nine Mile Ride, Finchampstead Berks 11 Andrew Willis U 9 B Magdalen College Oxon 12 Rhian Hughes U 9 G South Morningside Midlothian 13 Dominic Foord U 10 B Christchurch Middx 14 David Grant U 10 B East Grinstead JCC Sussex 15 Christopher Linnett U 10 B Crowborough JCC Sussex 16 Robert Marx U 10 B Haberdashers Herts 17 Michael Rabbitte U 10 B Monton Green Lancs 18 Sheila Dines U 10 G Old Palace Surrey 19 Jessica Thilaganathan U 10 G L E H Surrey 20 Charlie Court U 11 B Aldro Surrey 21 Eugene Geidelberg U 11 B Basingstoke CC Hampshire 22 Jeffrey Levicki U 11 B New College Oxon 23 Richard Lobo U 11 B Holy Innocent's Kent 24 Kaiser Malik U 11 B Checkmate Warks 25 Gwenaelle Francis U 11 G Sketty Glam 26 Amisha Parmar U 11 G Stapleford C.C Notts 27 Michael Compston U 12 B 3 Cs Lancs 28 Dana Hawrami U 12 B Ilford County High Essex 29 Ankush Khandelwal U 12 B Nottingham High Notts 30 Selina Khoo U 12 G L E H Surrey 31 Charles Evans U 13 B Hazlemere JCC Bucks 32 Peter Poobalasingam U 13 B Millfield Somerset 33 Molly Moruzzi U 13 G St Edward Staffs 34 Peter Constantinou U 14 B Bedford Modern Beds 35 Li Wu U 14 B Bancroft's Essex 36 Katherine Rattle U 14 G Holy Cross Sussex 37 E Josiah Lutton U 15 B Basildon JCC Essex 38 Jemima McGraw U 15 G Notre Dame, Lingfield Surrey 39 Matthew Harborne U 16 B Basingstoke CC Hampshire 40 Sabrina Chevannes U 16 G Checkmate Warks 41 J Ezra Lutton U 17 B Basildon JCC Essex 42 Carola Rotermund U 17 G Woodbridge Suffolk 43 Lorin D'Costa U 18 B John Henry Newman Herts 44 Heather Coupe U 18 G Wickersley Comp. Yorks The 44 Terafinalists will battle for the title of STRAT and a prize fund of about £6,000 including £1,000 top prize, and £500 each for the top girl player and the top Under 11 player. This tournament will be played over two days, with 3 rounds being played on each day, each round being of 2½ hours duration. The longer time limit corresponds to the higher quality of play in the last stage of the competition: in the Gigafinal the duration of rounds was 1 hour. The scoring system in the Terafinal will be 3 points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss. This is the same scoring system as used in the football league and is particularly important in chess events where the scourge of grandmaster draws, premature draws and even pre-arranged draws often reaches epidemic proportions in strong events. It is important that our young players should learn to fight for victory at every opportunity rather than distort the nature of the game by suing for peace! The Terafinalists will be joined at the Source by up to 150 CHALLENGERS. These are the players who came 2nd or 3rd in their Gigafinal section, and these will compete in two separate sections on similar lines to the Terafinal, each with a top prize of £500. Table of Challengers UK Chess Challenge - CHALLENGERS 2003 First Name Last Name Age Sex School County 1 Adam Burroughs U 7 B Lawn Wilts 2 Oliver Demeger U 7 B Abbey Devon 3 Samuel Howard U 7 B John Betts Middx 4 Harry Mason U 7 B Strike Lane Lancs 5 Thomas Mavin U 7 B Yarm Yorks 6 Rahul Shah U 7 B Homefield Surrey 7 Jessica Smart U 7 G Yateley Manor Hampshire 8 Afira Sutanto U 7 G Carlton Middx 9 Michael Brook U 8 B Milborne Port Somerset 10 Jamie Craik U 8 B Buckingham JCC Bucks 11 Christopher Dunne U 8 B Homefield Surrey 12 Daniel Fernandez U 8 B Littleheath JCC Herts 13 Nathan Gittens U 8 B 3 Cs Lancs 14 Tom Huband U 8 B Sir Robert Hitcham Suffolk 15 Alexander Jelicic U 8 B Homefield Surrey 16 Nikhil Lal U 8 B QEGS, Wakefield Yorks 17 Robert Lobo U 8 B Holy Innocent's Kent 18 Cameron Maher U 8 B Aughton St Michael's Lancs 19 Nnamdi Obiekwe U 8 B Hall Middx 20 Yang-Fan Zhou U 8 B Wimbledon Col.prep Surrey 21 Holly Carter U 8 G Ruskin Wilts 22 Danae Kokossis U 8 G Guildford High Surrey 23 Francesca Lloyd U 8 G Atti Flintshire 24 Joanna Wu U 8 G North London Collegiate Middx 25 Ben Blundell U 9 B St Lawrence Sussex 26 Robert Darby U 9 B Dulwich College Surrey 27 Samuel Durno U 9 B Knaphill Surrey 28 Ted Eales U 9 B Wellington Junior Somerset 29 Mischa Frankl-Duval U 9 B University College Middx 30 Adam Freeman U 9 B Tameside Lancs 31 Alexander Ho U 9 B Eltham College Kent 32 James Hopkinson-Hughes U 9 B Kings College Cambridge 33 Alex Leverson U 9 B NHS Prep Notts 34 Peter Mellor U 9 B Ladygrove Shrops 35 Samuel Milson U 9 B Grimoldby Lincs 36 Vishaal Patel U 9 B Haberdashers' Aske's Middx 37 Patrick Reeves-Dienes U 9 B East Grinstead JCC Sussex 38 Elyes Rigby Zeghlache U 9 B William Patten Middx 39 Oliver Schofield U 9 B King Edwards Somerset 40 Nipuna Senaratne U 9 B QEGS, Wakefield Yorks 41 Peter Watt U 9 B Magdalen College Oxon 42 Fay Birch U 9 G Claremont Surrey 43 Stephanie Dye U 9 G Warren Mead Surrey 44 Sabrina Salhi U 9 G Broomgrove Essex 45 Sophie Williams U 9 G Aughton St Michael's Lancs 46 Rhiannon Williams U 9 G East Grinstead JCC Sussex 47 Jonathan Andrew U 10 B Ibstock Surrey 48 Harvey Birch U 10 B Claremont Surrey 49 William Cheung U 10 B St. Cedd's Primary Essex 50 Jack Cleeves U 10 B Lethbridge Wilts 51 Benjamin Dangoor U 10 B Colet Court Middx 52 Matthew Dent U 10 B Bedford JCC Beds 53 Amit Desai U 10 B Brookland Middx 54 Jonathan Edwards U 10 B Deanpark Midlothian 55 Robert Glover U 10 B 3 Cs Lancs 56 Or Goldreich U 10 B Chandlers Ridge Yorks 57 William Gonsalves U 10 B Homefield Surrey 58 Andrew Goodman U 10 B Bishopsgate Surrey 59 Anthony Gregory U 10 B Horsted Kent 60 Daniel Lin U 10 B Bramcote Notts 61 Paul Long U 10 B Checkmate Warks 62 William Mitchell U 10 B Aldro Surrey 63 Julian Ryan U 10 B Colet Court Middx 64 Athman Sivakumar U 10 B St Christopher's Middx 65 Luka Sugita U 10 B Brookland Middx 66 David Thorne U 10 B Wellington Junior Somerset 67 Sam Turner U 10 B Grange Mon 68 Rory Williams U 10 B Roundwood Herts 69 Charlotte Desouza U 10 G Sutton High Surrey 70 Zoe Geidelberg U 10 G Basingstoke CC Hampshire 71 Anjali Lakhani U 10 G NHS Girls Notts 72 Melissa Thomas U 10 G Dormer House Glos 73 Sam Austin U 11 B All Saints Northants 74 Tom Beckwith U 11 B RGS Newcastle Northumberland 75 Tristan Blundell U 11 B St Lawrence Sussex 76 Alexander Cheung U 11 B Garden Suburb Middx 77 Jamie Eales U 11 B Wellington Junior Somerset 78 Rohan Gupta U 11 B St Mark's S Of C Surrey 79 James Hoad U 11 B Aldro Surrey 80 Ben Jacobs U 11 B Woodridge Middx 81 Matthew Kinloch U 11 B Monmouth Mon 82 Kishan Lakhani U 11 B NHS Prep Notts 83 Robert Lydiard U 11 B Cranmore Surrey 84 Ian MacGregor U 11 B Jordanhill Lanarkshire 85 Thomas McFaul U 11 B Binfield Primary Berks 86 Michael Migan U 11 B Chingford C of E/Chessmates Essex 87 William Perera U 11 B St Boniface Surrey 88 Lewis Turner U 11 B Newtown Lindford Leics 89 Tom Whitaker U 11 B Sitwell Yorks 90 Andrew Winchcombe U 11 B Ridgeway, Maidenhead Berks 91 Poppy Maxwell U 11 G Cowley Chess Club Oxon 92 Catriona Meechan U 11 G Stepgates Surrey 93 Lateefah Messam-Sparks U 11 G NHS Girls Notts 94 Amy Officer U 11 G Perth Academy Perthshire 95 Rebecca Seavers U 11 G St Peter's Leics 96 Christopher Bellin U 12 B Queen Mary's Grammar Staffs 97 David Donaghy U 12 B St Alban's Suffolk 98 Eren Kilich U 12 B Queen Elizabeth's Herts 99 Daniel Lai U 12 B RGS Newcastle Northumberland 100 Liam Rabbitte U 12 B Swinton Lancs 101 Daniel Rey U 12 B Magdalen College Oxon 102 Beau Schofield U 12 B Magdalen College Oxon 103 Benedict Scholl U 12 B Ashtead JCC/Danes Hill Surrey 104 Beaummont Tang U 12 B Dr Challoners Bucks 105 Victoria Crompton U 12 G Hulme Grammar Cheshire 106 Natalie Donohue U 12 G St Aidan's Lanarkshire 107 Sally Fletcher U 12 G Bury Knights JCC Suffolk 108 Anita Tse U 12 G Old Palace Surrey 109 Claire Wu U 12 G North London Collegiate Middx 110 Sam Cloake U 13 B Grappenhall Cheshire 111 Richard Glover U 13 B 3 Cs Lancs 112 Tom Harbour U 13 B Bedford Modern Beds 113 Calum Kinloch U 13 B Monmouth Mon 114 John Terry U 13 B Hereford Cathedral Here 115 Naomi Miller U 13 G Oxford High Oxon 116 Deepa Patel U 13 G Sutton High Surrey 117 Similan Anandajeyarajah U 14 B Tiffin Boys Surrey 118 Anton Chernikov U 14 B Tiffin Boys Surrey 119 Alexei Chernikov U 14 B Tiffin Boys Surrey 120 Gavyn Cooper U 14 B Adams Grammar Shrops 121 Edward Devonshire U 14 B Yateley Manor Hampshire 122 Josh Smith U 14 B Magdalen College Oxon 123 Yangshi Yu U 14 B St Edward Staffs 124 Charlotte Hughes U 14 G Torquay Devon 125 Emma Nash U 14 G Norwich JCC Norfolk 126 Sophie Seeber U 14 G Tynemouth CC Northumberland 127 Lynsey Shovlin U 14 G Perth Academy Perthshire 128 Yangshan Yu U 14 G St Edward Staffs 129 William Bennet U 15 B Oakham Rutland 130 Callum Gordon U 15 B King Edward VI Camp Hill Warks 131 Tariq Oozeerally U 15 B Whitgift Surrey 132 Chris Wallis U 15 B Ipswich JCC Suffolk 133 Deborah Margolis U 15 G Brighton & Hove High Sussex 134 Soraya Maxey U 15 G Fitzalan Glam 135 Christopher Dorrington U 16 B Stamford Lincs 136 Jonathan Lappage U 16 B Magdalen College Oxon 137 Emma Atkins U 16 G Westwood Staffs 138 Lisa Higenbottam U 16 G Waterlooville JCC Hampshire 139 Krunal Kahar U 17 B Cleeve Glos 140 Ammar Karim U 17 B Lordswood Warks 141 Lawrence Lim U 17 B St Dominic's VI Form Middx 142 Catherine Wasilewski U 17 G Chancellors Herts 144 James Buchanan U 18 B Cowley JCC Oxon 145 Samuel Rignall-Tolson U 18 B King Edward VII Yorks 146 Aline Sauze U 18 G Helston Cornwall The UK Chess Challenge is now in its 8th year and has grown every year since it began. The original entry of 23,000 children from 700 schools has swollen to 66,000 from almost 2,000 schools. Under the sponsorship of The British Land Company PLC the tournament has grown rapidly in the last four years, giving thousands of children the opportunity to be introduced to the historic game of chess. The best players from each school have the chance to further hone their skills against the strongest players in their county or region and later nationwide. Full details of the results of the Gigafinal can be found on the UK Chess Challenge website www.ukchesschallenge.com and further information can be obtained from Mike Basman - mobile 0771 504 1320.
Piekary Slasky 2003 Saturday With a civilised take-off time of 10.40, for once we woke up after the dawn chorus - a fact not easy to verify in an airport hotel room. A change of scenery for this morning - Terminal 1. Despite the Bank Holiday crowds we boarded the plane in plenty of time only to sit motionless on the tarmac for 40 minutes after which we heard the following message, "We apologise for the delay, we are waiting for our flight documents." The flight itself was smooth and we all enjoyed the vegetarian meal - cheese in mushroom sauce followed by spinach lasagne. We avoided the queue at the railway station by buying our rail tickets at the airport Orbis desk. The waiting 175 articulated bus had a scrolling LED display showing the next stop and a London Underground style map on which to follow the route. After getting off at the Central Railway Station, we were able to get in some retail therapy by shopping in the subway galeria. Several team members descended on a shop selling traditional Chinese souvenirs of Warsaw. Despite the attempt to confuse us by clearing the electronic sign before our train arrived, we successfully boarded the train and settled down for a two and a half hour journey. A train with a restaurant car with English translations on the menu was a luxury, however the semi-automatic doors caused one party to abandon the attempt to eat until the technology was explained to them. After a delayed rendezvous with Andrzej Danusz at Katowice station, we were taken by mini-bus to our hotel on the outskirts of Chrzanow. For some, combining the sheets with the duvets proved a little tricky but we soon collapsed gratefully into bed. Sunday At 9 o'clock we were packed and ready to board the bus; breakfast was at a different hotel. We were issued with room keys and TV remote controls. The cold buffet breakfast with boiled eggs, ham, cheese, rolls, juice and coffee was devoured and we again boarded the bus. We were guests at the 50th. Anniversary Match in Jaworzne between 100 invited players representing Northern and Southern Silesia. Jacek Bednarski was on top board and Krystyna Radzikowska, introduced as the top lady player in Poland, was on board two. North Silesia had won all the previous encounters and there was no shock result this time either. We ate a delicious lunch in the sports hall restaurant and with the temperature in the high 70's enjoyed ice creams in the town centre. Lyall and Daniel's attempt at the world ice-cream eating record failed but may have spawned another caption competition. A walk around the town of Jaworzne revealed an interesting church, rebuilt in 1937 in a modern style. It contained a guilded painting of the Black Madonna and large oil paintings of the Stations of the Cross. We returned to the chess match in time to witness Dr.Filipowicz officiate at the presentation. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a water park and enjoyed a ride on the paddle boats. Mr. Cross' sailing experience came in handy and great fun was had by all. Monday Today began with an athletics meet. We had competitors in the 60m, 300m, and 1000m and enjoyed the luxury of a tartan running track. Sam gave Mr. Cross some coaching on appropriate tactics for junior 300m runners and the following creditable performances were achieved : First, Dominic & James Snowden 60m, Sam 300m. Second James Porter 1000m. Untrained javelin aspirants were vetoed. The team then retreated from the heat of the unrelenting sun and took part in an informal question and answer session with some Polish students of English. On this evidence, Jeremy Paxman need not fear a Polish threat to his job as we revealed our favourite colours, days of the week etc. We were then taken on a tour of Primary School No.8 by groups of pupils. The two James' were interviewed for local cable TV and achieved an impressive performance rating. After dinner we went swimming in the school pool and enjoyed the flume and jacuzzi. The pool was heated and the temperature in the viewing gallery above reached 36 degrees. It was then down to business with a 10 minute chess tournament over 7 rounds. Our opponents were children from the school's chess classes, including the U-10 Champion of Poland. We reminded ourselves that we had our own National U-10 Champion, but from 3 years ago. Our opponents were younger than us and we played impressively, it was the 4th round before anyone lost to a Pole. Sam Cloake won the event, and a Polish World Cup football shirt, with a score of 6/7 and a performance rating equating to 150 BCF. We presented a Junior Squad shirt to the leading Pole who was placed equal second. Other Polish players received gifts from England and we received maps and wall plaques. We dined at the school and remarked that the dinner lady's ability to provide almost unlimited supplies of bread would have rivaled Moses. Tuesday Today was the day of the big football match, Poland v. England. We played against teams of chess players and footballers from the school, with as many rotating substitutions as Sven Goran Erikson could only dream about. Mrs. Mortimer trained and directed a team of Polish spectators as cheerleaders and we were regaled with "Give us an E ...", "You're not singing anymore", "David Beckham Rules the World" etc. All the usual ceremonies were conducted with the singing of anthems, shaking of hands and team photographs. We emerged as the narrow victors by 4 - 3. Next came a swimming marathon in which Kasim was brave enough to take part, with the rest of us providing moral support from the spectator banking. More than 40 children swam at once, sharing lanes and the aim was to achieve the greatest distance in the available time. Kasim delighted his army of supporters by covering 500m. After lunch at the school we were taken on a walking tour of Chrzanow where our Hotel, the Moksir was situated. We played on the swing park, practiced on the monkey bars and took a simulated team torture photograph using three rows of suspended tyres for stocks. A shop selling gifts was descended upon and a whole fleet of model ships was purchased. We were then taken by bus to Trzebinia for an 8 board, three round, team all-play-all with 20 minutes per player. As it turned out we played our strongest opponents in round 1, winning 5.5-2.5. This put us in a strong position and a big effort in the last round where we scored 6.5/8 saw us home a point ahead of Trzebinia and well ahead of Alwernia and Chrzanow. As winners we were presented with a trophy and umbrellas each, which must have been considered very appropriate for an English team. We distributed the many gifts we had brought to our opponents and to the organisers and received information booklets about Trzebinia and baseball hats from Chrzanow. After the formalities we collected our barbecued sausages, smothered them in ketchup or mustard and eagerly consumed them with bread. After a meeting with our hosts and a game of table football we headed back to the hotel on the bus. At the team meeting some of the delights in store in Krakow were revealed and we went to bed looking forward to a heady mixture of culture, history and shopping on Wednesday. Wednesday Today we were in tourist and souvenir hunting mode. Our guide for the day was Agnes, fluent in English and a former student in Krakow. She was accompanied by Kate, a young Pole who lives in L.A. for several months of each year with her father, and who proved very popular with the team. The bus collected us at 9.00 but we had to approach Krakow from a different direction because a supermarket fire was causing traffic chaos on the usual route in. The driver used his local knowledge well and we were beginning our walk soon after 10.00 by strolling up the hill past the Archaelogcal Museum. We took some pictures of the statues of the twelve apostles outside the Church of St.Peter & St.Paul and walked through Mary Magdalen Square on the way to the Wawel Castle. The slope up to the castle was full of Polish school children and flanked by barrows packed with over priced souvenirs. We decided to buy tickets for the Cathedral, which were twice the normal cost because we were foreign visitors. At 8 zlotys they were excellent value as Agnes showed us the monuments to the most famous Polish kings and took us into the vaults to see their tombs. Back at ground level the more learned members of the team made an excellent impression by translating an inscription from the original Latin. Who said it was a dead language? After a few moments in the central square of the castle for photographs it was time to head for the river and a rendezvous with a dragon. The fire-breathing sculpture we met on our last visit was still on his rock and still attracting a long line of tourists waiting to have their picture taken with him. We naturally followed suit, but not until we had enjoyed one of the traditional pleasures of a hot summer's day - ice creams. After hearing the story of how the city was founded when the dragon had been tricked into self-destructing, we walked back past the stall selling the most inept copies of football merchandise ever seen and climbed the hill to the city centre. We were now to visit a modern icon of Krakow; McDonald's. The queues were five abreast and there was more lane-changing and barging than rush hour on the M25, but eventually we got served. It was strange to order a meal from an English (well ok - American) menu and still not be understood, but then I don't speak McDonald's as fluently as the players. After lunch we just had time to take in the Barbican before rushing back to the city square for 3 o'clock. We craned our necks to see the towers of the Church of St.Mary and hear the truncated trumpet call which re-enacts a similar one from hundreds of years ago when a trumpeter was signaling a warning of an attack by the Tartars only to stop abruptly part way through when he was shot through the throat by a Tartar arrow. Nowadays they don't actually shoot the trumpeter hourly, but he does play the refrain and stop on the traditional note. It was then time to take in the splendour of the interior of the church. Agnes took us to sit on the pews near the altar with another party of Polish children. We sat open mouthed at the high altar, all the work of one man, Veit Stoss, with twelve apostles so life-like that it is said he modeled them on his contemporaries in Krakow. Somehow it would not be the same in England to look up at images of Tony Blair and Ken Livingstone. This one piece alone took him twelve years to complete and the whole interior was such an awe-inspiring sight as to leave one in wonderment that so much skill, dedication and attention to detail could be lavished on one building. The observation that Bill Gates with all his money could not have something of this magnitude built was a shrewd one. We then indulged in two bouts of souvenir shopping, one in the square itself and one in the indoor market. Thus laden down we made our way along Royal Parade, back to the bus and the hotel. We met at 7pm. in the hotel restaurant for our last evening meal together and attempted to translate the menu. With help from some other guests, and an occasional diversion into German, the task was completed but we couldn't help thinking that if it had been in Latin the team could probably have done it for themselves. After enjoying a delicious meal we agreed on the stage that packing had to reach before the team could watch the Champion's League Final and then it was time for a last meeting with our hosts from Trzebinia and Chrzanow. We discussed future invitations and dates and a mutual appreciation society was convened. Presents were exchanged including a rugby ball from Twickenham, signed by our team. It is destined to be displayed in Primary School No. 8 in Chrzanow. The Champion's League Final proved to be high on tension and technique and low on excitement. It also made the team late for bed, but they could always sleep on the train next morning so everyone watched until the conclusion of the penalty competition and then went straight to sleep. Thursday After the late finish to the football last night, waking up was a problem for most of us. Most of the packing had been done on Wednesday so we were all fed and ready for our 7.30 bus to the station. We were videoed by Kate when presenting gifts to our driver and Mr. Danusz and then headed to the platform. Two regional trains with garish graffiti passed before our train arrived. The various forms of chocolate- based consumables we had been given were shared out and helped to make the journey pass smoothly. We caught the 175 bus within 10 minutes of arriving in Warsaw but it was so crowded we missed the scrumaging technique only a certain second row could have provided. We were making good progress towards the airport when a door refused to close at a stop and the safety system would not let the bus continue. Several attempts were made to start again until someone sitting near us translated the driver's message, "It's broken", and we all had to get out and wait for another bus. The next one made it all the way to the airport and, after we had ascertained that the umbrellas could just be taken on as hand luggage, check-in went smoothly and we had time for some more shopping before going to the gate. Fridge magnets of Warsaw were presented to the winners of the room competition and we joined the queue to board. On this occasion the flight was trouble-free with some beautiful stratocumulus to admire but since we approached Heathrow from the West, we were denied our usual view of London and instead were treated to Staines and the M4 / M25 junction. When a bag got stuck on our luggage conveyer and the warning lights & alarm went off, we thought we had brought the curse of the bus with us, but the delay was only temporary and we were soon reunited with our belongings and our parents. We would like to record our thanks to the players for fine performances in the chess and a memorable visit. Victor Cross, Nancy Mortimer.
The Glorney and Faber Cups are in the Czech Republic from Sunday 13th to Thursday 17th July. The Glorney team is Simon Fowler (Shrops.), Paul Plant (Manchester), Paul Lam (Warks), Balvinder Grewal (Nott.s) and Michael Keetley (Nott.s). The Faber Cup team is Charlotte Wilcox (Staff.s), Robyn Smyth and Karen Bradley (both Manchester)
Hello everyone I am now able to release the selection list for this year. World Junior Championships (Under 20) Azerbijan - 21st June to 4th July Craig Hanley - starts with 1.5/2 drawing with a GM. Hopes to reach his rating qualification for his IM Title European Youth Championships Budva, Montenegro - 11th to 23rd September U18 T Rendle (Sussex) Tim Woodward (London) A. Partington (Surrey) U16 T. Thiruchelvam (Surrey) J. Lappage (Oxon) J. Gilbert (Surrey) S. Hegarty (Surrey) U14 D. Howell (Sussex) P. Roberson (Hampshire) K. Martin (Lancs) U12 S. Pozzo (Sussex) A. Parmar (Notts) A. Officer U10 G. O'Toole S. Sen (both Essex) A. Lakhani (Notts) World Youth Championships Halkidiki, Greece - 21st October to 3rd November U18 S. Buckley (Somerset) L. Trent (Essex) T. Khoo (Surrey) U16 A. Ghasi (Warcs) G. Jones (Italy) J. Gilbert (Surrey) U14 D. Howell (Sussex) Li Wu (Essex) N. Miller (Oxon) C. Sirisena (Surrey) U12 D. Hawrami (Essex) C. Kilpatrick (London) S. Khoo (Surrey) U10 G. O'Toole (Essex) L. Graham (Shrops) S. Dines (Surrey) Peter Turner
Saturday 24th May For the second year running, two trips departed our shores during the Whit half term. The U12 group were heading for pastures new, Helsinki, the first western European visit for a few years. Sixteen players and three leaders met at a somewhat busy Heathrow Airport. Ian Cowen, Peter Purland and David Welch led the players who were Joseph Bloomfield, Michael Compston, Murray David, David Donaghy, Charlie Goddard, Michael Keetley, Jia Shen Lee, Dani Malik, John Meredith, Alex O'Toole, Sebastian Pozzo, Jason Rentmore, Tom Robinson, Noah Schlesinger, Andrew Tucker and Yari Voropayev. It took a long time to get through security but there was no panic and the plane departed on time. The weather was foul when we arrived and we were met by members of the local chess club, our guide and a coach. We then set off for a tour of Helsinki, in heavy rain. This did at least wash away sickness! We only alighted once to see a statue to Sibelius, but it was a comprehensive and well guided tour. We then decided to go to the Linnanmadi Amusement Park, where some of the players rode many of the rides and we also ate (and kept it down!!). Then it was back to the hotel for the night. Sunday 25th May Up for an 0830 breakfast, a large and varied buffet to suit all tastes. We then walked down to the chess school which is by the docks. There was an open international tournament on with 16 English and 18 Finns. It was split into 4 sections of 8 (or 10) with the top 4 from each country playing in group A etc. The tournament started promptly at 1030 and proceeded smoothly through the day, apart from Charlie's migraine, and a lot of good chess was played. Groups A & B were very even although we "ruled the roost" in C & D. Both the top sections went to the last game with a flag fall giving victory each time. Tom won section A with Teemu Pudas runner up. In fact only 2 points separated 7 of the 8 players. Section B was won by Julius Nieminen with Joe Bloomfield 1 point behind. In section C Yuri and Andrew shared top spot with Yari coming first on the toss of a coin. I believe (unofficially) that the money was shared. The final section was won by Jia Shen Lee with John Meredith runner up. After the prizegiving we walked back to our hotel and ate in the burger bar opposite before retiring for the night. Monday 26th May This was to be a quiet morning with an 0900 breakfast and a short coaching session on endings before we were picked up in cars and taken to Esmoo. Here we played in and against a local school (or two). We started off with lunch then our opponents finished school and we settled down to a double round long play match (30 minutes). The first round was won 13.5-2.5 (although we felt the J in one of our players names should not stand for Jonathan). Round two then took place with boards 9-12 and 13-16 swapped and this was won 12.5-3.5. (2.5 all on the top 5 boards). We then returned by car to the hotel. 45 minutes later we were heading for the chess school for an evening of fun chess. This started with a blitz tournament. There were 11 Finns and 16 of us split into 3 groups. Group one was won by Teemu Pudas, group two by Alexey Sofiev and group three by Jia Shen Lee. The next session was a Bughouse (exchange) tournament with 12 teams. Whilst this was on Toivo and I went to a Chinese takeaway. Unfortunately it was closed so we had to buy pizzas, crisps and yoghurt. The chairman was then shown the kitchen and left to his own devices! I know I say I will always look after my players but cooking for them? Anyway they enjoyed the tournament and demolished the food. For the record "Vinners" Teemu and Alexey were first with "Bugs Bunny" Joe and Murray second. We then returned to the hotel. Tuesday 27th May We were up for an 0830 breakfast and then got a tram into the centre. We looked at Senate Square including a visit to the Lutheran Cathedral and the street museum. We then got the bus out to Maunula for a match against the Helsinki Mathematical School. After a school lunch we went up to the library for the match. We were black in round one and won 12.5-3.5 although on the top five boards we were 1.5-3.5 down. The half time team talk was to 5 players! White did not prove an advantage as we won 12-4 and went down 3-2 at the top. We then went back to our hotel, had a quick change and went down to the park for a game of football. 90 minutes activity was followed by a trip to the swimming baths and then, for almost all the party, a leisurely meal in the restaurant. A good end to a pleasant day. Wednesday 28th May The final day was bright and sunny and we were up, breakfasted and packed by 0930. We left our luggage in the hotel and got the tram to the city centre. We visited the Russian Orthodox cathedral then let the kids look round the market and buy souvenirs, presents and lunch. Some even availed themselves of the specialist fish dishes. Then it was tram back to the hotel and coach to the airport. Despite attempts by the Finns to arrange transfers, we managed to get all our players on to the plane and the tour ended smoothly at Heathrow. I would like to thank the Finnish Chess association and Helsinki Chess School for the work they put in to making the trip successful and to Ludmilla and Julie from Eastern European Travel for arranging the trip.
David has recently returned from Budapest, where at the age of 12 years and five months he became the youngest Westerner ever to win an international master tournament, beating Grand Master Luke McShane's record by six months and gaining the first of three IM norms required to become an International Master. Details of David's result can be found on the BCM online website. On Friday 25 April, David was presented with the Best Young Chess Player award by Sir Patrick Moore at the recording of this year's Britain's Brilliant Prodigies programme at LWT studios. Other awards were presented by Robin Gibb, Bob Geldof and Evelyn Glennie. The programme, hosted by Gabby Logan and the Duchess of York under the auspices of Children in Crisis, will be broadcast on ITV1 on Monday 5 May from 6-7.30pm. If you have a video recorder, you may want to learn to programme it now!
I left home at 0420 along with Dave Welch who was to be the chess coach on the trip. We met David Hart at Manchester and flew to Heathrow where we met David Barraclough, Peter Constantinou, John Emanuel, Matthew Harborne, Adam Prescott, Tim Seymour and Jamie Yardley. Everyone was on time and had their passports, the only casualty having been David Hart's nail scissors which had been kidnapped at Ringway. Progress to the departure lounge was smooth but then disaster struck, our plane was delayed by 90 minutes. This necessitated a phone call to Poland and, fortunately, Matthew's German was up to explaining the situation. In the end we got into Warsaw at 1540 and were at the station within an hour. However, the queues were such that we had the choice of tickets or train so we went for the train! We suspect that the ticket collectors were on commission as I ended up getting two tickets for 5, one from each. The extra charge was about 18 pounds. Andrjez was waiting at the station for us, along with Agnes who we had had as a translator last year. We were taken to the OHP Centre at Trzebinia which was to be our base for 3 nights. We had a good meal, registered for the tournament, had a chat and went to bed. The next day dawned bright and early (both were true) and after breakfast we went to the school where the tournament was to be held. Mr Szczesniak, who we had met last year, was the director and we also met the directors from Chrzanow and Jaworzno. After many speeches, the tournament started; there were 5 sections, U18,U16,U14,U12 and U10. Adam was in the U14 and the others in the U16. Early results showed that the tournament would be tough and we only had three wins in the first round. Meanwhile, the leaders were toasting the success of the tournament in the school library and sorting out the programme for the rest of the stay. On the chess front rounds two and three were both very good with 5 and 7 points (the loss in round three being internal). This left Peter on 2.5 and both Davids, John, Jamie and Adam on 2. However, round 4 we only gained 3 points and in round 5 we had three internal games. This left Peter our leading player on 3.5 with John, Matthew and David H on 3. Another good meal, a chat and a quiet night finished off the day. Sunday morning was bright and we were up early having declined the offer of a later breakfast so we were there in plenty of time. By 0815, with many of the players wet from snowballing, we received the message "Der Wagen ist kranke." Shortly after, the director arrived in a Fiat Uno and took our top three players in. Fortunately, he was able to summon help and we were all in the hall by 0904. For the first time there were no internal games and we scored 5 points. Meanwhile I was having another "sort out the future" meeting whilst the players were finding the going hard. Nevertheless we went into the final round with a fair chance of a prize. The players gave of their best and scored 6.5 leaving Peter in a prize position and Matthew, Tim and John just missing out. The players voted the tournament a great success and we hope to return next year. After the prize giving, we went to Krakow by coach and looked round the town and did some souvenir shopping. We also saw Krak the dragon who gave his name to the city! We returned to the hotel for a traditional meal of Borsch and Cephalini (which was enjoyed by the players and management) had a long chat and then retired A slightly later breakfast and packing meant we were ready for 9am. 80 minutes and two phone calls later, two coaches arrived! In the intervening time many snowballs were thrown and a snowman was made. We then set off for Szkola Postawona No 8 Chrzanow. The delay meant some replanning and on our arrival we launched straight into the chess match. I saw none of the match as I was surrounded by the English class, who had had a prep to prepare 8 questions to ask me. They were a little shy at first but soon perked up and proved a great set of kids. We passed a very enjoyable hour. Meanwhile the match was proving much harder than last year, especially for the top 5 boards. A good combination saw Tim win on board 3 and, with wins on 6,7 and 8. saw the match looking like a draw until David B salvaged a draw to give us a 4.5-3.5 win. Next stop was the dining room for soup and cutlets before going to our hotel (the same as last year) for a short break. We then set off for Chrzanow's Culture Hall where we were to play a team drawn from the town's politicians. First of all Peter, Matthew, David H and I were interviewed on TV - we hope it went well! Our resident translators, Agnieszka Gryza and Justyma Poika also appeared, after much persuading! They were a great help at all times as were the other pupils who worked with us. Then it was down to the match. A match against politicians is a first for us - would it be good for local chess if we win? Peter won in 20 minutes and he was followed by Tim and David B. A nice ending by Matthew saw us up to 4 points after which Adam and Jamie saw us to a 6-2 win. Then it was time for the revenge of the Poles. We went to a sports hall to play them at 5-a-side soccer. We were playing the school's sports class not their chess class and, although we tried hard and David B and Jamie performed heroics in goal, we were soundly beaten 2-13. Matthew and Jamie scored our goals. Then it was back to the hotel for a meal and free time before 6 of the players and the 2 leaders went swimming. Then it was the usual leaders meeting before going to bed. The following morning we breakfasted late (0815) and by 0900 the coach was packed and ready to take us to Piekary Slaskie. Agnieszk and Justyma had arranged to accompany us and everything went smoothly. We booked into the town hotel and made our way to a sports complex for the match. After the usual greetings, the match commenced. Every game lasted at least 45 minutes and the final score of 6.5-1.5 flattered us. I think that by now our players had adjusted to Polish timings. We then found we were playing a second round against a slightly different team - although we were presented with a trophy before the start of this round. This proved a much closer affair but we eventually won through 4.5-3.5. We then went off for lunch, soup, meat roll and dumplings. (It is hard for vegetarians in Poland!) After lunch we went to the Liberation Mound, a 30m high artificial mound built to commemorate the independence of Silesia after 700 years of German rule. The icy path defeated some of our group but the view from the top was superb. Having descended safely we returned to the sports centre for another two matches. The players were tiring and, after a draw in round three, the inevitable happened in round four. Nevertheless, the overall score was 17.5-14.5 in our favour. A very pleasant meal was followed by a chat and an early night (except for myself who was sociable with the home group). The final day saw us depart from our hotel at 0715 and Katowice at 0855 where we said goodbye to Andrzej. All connections went smoothly and we arrived at Heathrow on time where we dispersed. I would like to thank our Polish hosts for the way they looked after us and we look forward to hosting them in 2004. I would also like to thank Dave for his help in coaching and the players for their hard work and unfailingly good behaviour.
This annual event was held at Broadgreen School, Liverpool, on
Saturday 25th January. It attracted 300 players from all over the country who
competed in 7 sections for players aged from 11 downwards. There are
championship and non championship sections (B) at each age group except Under
8. Players traveled from as far afield as Wiltshire, Kent and Norfolk although
the majority came from the North West. The championship section was won by
Philip Butler from Reading with 5.5\6. Amisha Parmar (Nottingham), Anuk
Sirisena (Surrey) and Oliver Whitehead (Norfolk) shared runners up spot. Under
10 champion was Craig Whitfield from Hassell Chess Club, Staffordshire whilst
Ben Blundell (Sussex) and Nipuna Senaratne (Yorkshire) shared the U9
championship.
Prize-List
Open 1st Patrick Butler ( Berkshire)
5.5
2nd= Anuk Sirisena ( Wey Valley) 5
Amisha Parmar ( Nottingham)
5
Oliver Whitehead ( Norfolk) 5
NW Champ Todd Brooks ( Oldham) 4.5
U11 B 1st= Michael Gittens ( Oldham) 6
Philip Parkinson ( Wirral) 6
U10
A 1st Craig Whitfield ( Hassell CC, Staffordshire) 5.5
2nd Daniel McCarty (
Manchester) 5
U10 B 1st= Chris Barratt ( Manchester) 5
Tom Cowling (
Manchester) 5
Robert Hughes ( CNW) 5
Phillip Sail ( Liverpool) 5
Ben White ( CNW) 5
U9 A 1st= Ben Blundell ( Sussex) 5
Nipuna Senaratne
( Yorkshire) 5
U9B 1st Nathan Davies ( Manchester) 6
2nd Gavin
Griffiths ( Liverpool) 5.5
U8 1st Henry Graham ( Shropshire) 6
2nd=
Jamie Lamb ( Clevelys) 5.5
Phoebe Price ( Oldham) 5.5
Jack Shields (
Manchester) 5.5
Results of the Junior Squad at Bunratty. Lorin D'Costa 2285 =1st 4.5 / 6 R1 Thomas Hauptmann 2050 1 R2 Brian Kelly I. M 2468 0 R3 Carey Wilman 2056 1 R4 Paul Walsh 1908 1 R5 Mark Orr I. M. 2354 1 R6 Alexander Baburin G. M. 2558 0.5 Thomas Nixon 2191 =10th 3.5 / 6 R1 Paul Plant 2024 0 R2 Monique van de Griendt 2065 1 R3 John Garnett 2054 1 R4 Philip Short F.M. 2301 0.5 R5 John Nunn G. M. 2611 0 R6 Karl McPhillips 2046 1 Paul Plant 2024 =15th 3 / 6 R1 Thomas Nixon 2192 1 R2 Bernd Sorg 2300 0 R3 Peter Jowett 2204 0.5 R4 Stephen Scannell 2155 0 R5 Kees de Kruif 2148 1 R6 Bram van Dijk 2242 0.5 Matthew Dignam 2115 =15th 3 / 6 R1 Alexander Baburin G. M. 2558 0 R2 Karl McPhillips 2046 0.5 R3 Chris Ross 2060 0.5 R4 John Garnett 2054 0 R5 Monique van de Griendt 2065 1 R6 Thomas Hauptmann 2050 1 Stephen Clark 2108 =27th 2.5 / 6 R1 Brian Kelly I. M 2468 0 R2 Thomas Hauptmann 2050 0.5 R3 Suzanne Connolly 2006 0.5 R4 Carey Wilman 2056 0.5 R5 John Garnett 2054 0 R6 Eamon Keogh 2127 1 There were 38 entries in the open which had a lower grading limit of 2000. In the U175-u125 section, there were about 70 enties. Sarah Hegarty 1712 4 / 6 R1 R. Lunn 1602 1 R2 Arlo White 1858 0.5 R3 P. McCarthy 1813 1 R4 D. Path 1841 0 R5 Joseph McDonnell 1797 1 R6 L. O'Brien 1847 0.5 There were approximately 320 entries in the Congress, over 110 in the Under 75 section. Excellently organised, the Congress is very impressive. The Squad did well, and enjoyed their visit. There were no problems and we have been offered the same terms by Bunratty for next year. The Kilkenny Congress has also offered the Squad identical terms for next November if anyone wishes to organise a group of 6 at an awkward time of the School year. Lester Millin.
| Pts after rd 6 | Round: 7 played Thursday | Col | Res | |||
| U18 | 4 | Craig Hanley 2345 fm | W | Dmitry Schnieder 2401im | USA | |
| 3 | Simon Buckley 2280 | B | Nurdin Samakov 2108 | KGZ | ||
| 3 | Teresa Khoo 2138 | W | Lusine Apresyan | ARM | ||
| U16 | 3½ | Gawain Jones 2251 | W | Zhen Yang Wee 2078 | SIN | |
| 4 | Ameet Ghasi 2292 | W | Victor Ianocichin 2221 | MDA | ||
| 4 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 wfm | W | Tania Sachdev 2189 wim | IND | ||
| U14 | 4 | Thirumurugan 2249 | W | Koon Jong Jason Goh | SIN | |
| 3 | Li Wu 2167 | W | Octavian Cartas 2061 | ROM | ||
| 2 | Poppy Aarons | B | Ezgi Yilmaz | TUR | ||
| 2 | Katie Martin | B | Genara Diaz Lopez | CHI | ||
| U12 | 5 | David Howell 2224 fm | B | Dmitri Andreikine 2332 fm | RUS | |
| 2½ | James Hanley | B | Henning Pretorius | RSA | ||
| 2 | Molly Moruzzi | B | Jeslin Tay | SIN | ||
| 3 | Selina Khoo | W | Aices Salvador | PHI | ||
| U10 | 3 | George O’Toole | B | Jamie Flynn | IRL | |
| 3 | Amisha Parmar | B | Anton Hristodoulaki | GRE | ||
| Pts after rd 5 | Round: 6 | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
| U18 | 3 | Craig Hanley 2345 fm | B | 1 - 0 | Jan Smoleen 2157 | SVK |
| 3 | Simon Buckley 2280 | W | 0 - 1 | B. Xiangzhi gm 2601 1st seed | CHN | |
| 3 | Teresa Khoo 2138 | B | 0 - 1 | Sopiko Khlikhashvili wm 2324 | GEO | |
| U16 | 2½ | Gawain Jones 2251 | B | 1 - 0 | Evaggelos Poliviou2114 | GRE |
| 3 | Ameet Ghasi 2292 | B | 1 - 0 | Xavier Beudaert 2282 | FRA | |
| 3 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 wfm | B | 1 - 0 | Elena Otyutskaya | KGZ | |
| U14 | 3½ | Thirumurugan 2249 | B | ½-½ | Rauf Mamedov 2366 5th seed | AZE |
| 3 | Li Wu 2167 | B | 0 - 1 | Koon Jong Jason Goh | SIN | |
| 1½ | Poppy Aarons | W | ½-½ | Stela Untila | MDA | |
| 2 | Katie Martin | W | 0 - 1 | Irina Derbentseva | RUS | |
| U12 | 4 | David Howell 2224 fm | W | 1 - 0 | Chen Peng Wei | CHN |
| 1½ | James Hanley | W | 1 - 0 | Vizktor Moravek | SVK | |
| 2 | Molly Moruzzi | W | 0 - 1 | Aices Salvador | PHI | |
| 3 | Selina Khoo | W | 0 - 1 | Michelle Lee 1838 | AUS | |
| U10 | 3 | George O’Toole | W | 0 - 1 | Leon Szabo 2025 4th seed | HUN |
| 2 | Amisha Parmar | W | 1 - 0 | Marije Degrand | BEL | |
| Pts after rd 4 | Round: 5 | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
| U18 | 2½ | Craig Hanley 2345 fm | W | ½-½ | Simon Buckley 2280 | ENG |
| 2½ | Simon Buckley 2280 | B | ½-½ | Craig Hanley 2345 fm | ENG | |
| 2 | Teresa Khoo 2138 | B | 1 - 0 | Marisa Farias | ARG | |
| U16 | 2 | Gawain Jones 2251 | W | ½-½ | Dmitriy Stativkin 2157 | KAZ |
| 2½ | Ameet Ghasi 2292 | B | ½-½ | Denis Gjuran 2240 | SLO | |
| 2 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 wfm | W | 1 - 0 | Agnija Rogule 2059 | LAT | |
| U14 | 2½ | Thirumurugan 2249 | W | 1 - 0 | Garri Pacheco | PER |
| 2 | Li Wu 2167 | W | 1 - 0 | Luis Ibarra Chami | MEX | |
| 1½ | Poppy Aarons | B | 0 - 1 | Sarah Hegarty | IRL | |
| 2 | Katie Martin | B | 0 - 1 | Silvana Agnello | ARG | |
| U12 | 4 | David Howell 2224 fm | B | 0 - 1 | Ian Nepomniachtchi 2344 fm | RUS |
| 1½ | James Hanley | B | 0 - 1 | Paul Pachta | AUT | |
| 1 | Molly Moruzzi | B | 1 - 0 | Sioned Rees | WLS | |
| 3 | Selina Khoo | W | 0 - 1 | Kajri Pradip Chksi | IND | |
| U10 | 2 | George O’Toole | B | 1 - 0 | Harris Kaufman | CAN |
| 1 | Amisha Parmar | W | 1 - 0 | C. Camacho Cheradee | PHI | |
| Pts after rd 3 | Round: 4 | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
| U18 | 2 | Craig Hanley 2345 fm | B | ½-½ | Bart Michiels 2254 | BEL |
| 1½ | Simon Buckley 2280 | W | 1 – 0 | Robert Schlichthaar 2216 | GER | |
| 1½ | Teresa Khoo 2138 | W | ½-½ | Rabbith Shitsuka | BRA | |
| U16 | 1½ | Gawain Jones 2251 | B | ½-½ | Jean Netzer 2167 | FRA |
| 2½ | Ameet Ghasi 2292 | W | 0 – 1 | Levan Pantsulaia 2450 3rd seed | GEO | |
| 1 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 wfm | B | 1 – 0 | Marisol Caceres | CHI | |
| U14 | 2½ | Thirumurugan 2249 | B | 0 – 1 | Alejandro Ramirez 2421 2nd seed | CRC |
| 1½ | Li Wu 2167 | B | ½-½ | Cyril Monsieux 2022 | FRA | |
| 1½ | Poppy Aarons | W | ½-½ | Tamara Kezele | YUG | |
| 1½ | Katie Martin | W | ½-½ | Zorigt Bayaraa | MGL | |
| U12 | 3 | David Howell 2224 fm | W | 1 – 0 | Davit Benidze | GEO |
| 1½ | James Hanley | W | 0 – 1 | Tong Qiu | CHN | |
| 1 | Molly Moruzzi | W | 0 – 1 | Irina Vatiric | MDA | |
| 2½ | Selina Khoo | B | ½-½ | Yixin Ding | CHN | |
| U10 | 2 | George O’Toole | B | 0 – 1 | Juan Sebastian Camacko | COL |
| 1 | Amisha Parmar | B | 0 - 1 | Zoi Iordanidou | GRE | |
| Pts after rd 2 | Round: 3 | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
| U18 | 1 | Craig Hanley 2345 fm | W | 1 – 0 | Zhuoya Zhang 2148 | CHN |
| ½ | Simon Buckley 2280 | B | 1 – 0 | Nikolay Yordanov | BUL | |
| ½ | Teresa Khoo 2138 | B | 1 – 0 | Riani Pistorious | RSA | |
| U16 | 1½ | Gawain Jones 2251 | W | 0 – 1 | Bojan Radic | BIH |
| 1½ | Ameet Ghasi 2292 | B | 1 – 0 | Davit Zarkua 2178 | GEO | |
| 1 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 wfm | W | 0 – 1 | Karelle Bolon | FRA | |
| U14 | 2 | Thirumurugan 2249 | W | ½-½ | Tornike Sanikidze 2115 | GEO |
| 1 | Li Wu 2167 | W | ½-½ | Garri Dacheco | PER | |
| 1 | Poppy Aarons | B | ½-½ | Miranda Mikadze | GEO | |
| ½ | Katie Martin | B | 1 - 0 | Sarah Hegarty | IRE | |
| U12 | 2 | David Howell 2224 fm | B | 1 – 0 | Ivan Saric 2010 | CRO |
| 1 | James Hanley | B | ½-½ | Mansur Mingatchev 2207 | RUS | |
| ½ | Molly Moruzzi | B | ½-½ | Menexenia Tsarouha | GRE | |
| 1½ | Selina Khoo | W | 1 – 0 | Jeslin Tay | SIN | |
| U10 | 1 | George O’Toole | B | 1 – 0 | Gokhan Gaygusuzoglu | TUR |
| 1 | Amisha Parmar | B | 0 - 1 | B. Caicedo Valencia | COL | |
Katie Martin, Jessie Gilbert (behind) and Poppy Aarons sporting the hats which were part of a 'goody-bag' that all competitors received.
| Pts after rd 1 | Round: 2 | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
| U18 | 0 | Craig Hanley | B | 1 - 0 | Mihail Papadakis | |
| ½ | Simon Buckley | B | 0 - 1 | Bart Michiels 2254 | BEL | |
| ½ | Teresa Khoo | W | 0 - 1 | Talyana Uskova | ||
| U16 | 1 | Gawain Jones | B | ½-½ | Vytautas Vaznonis 2153 | LTU |
| 1 | Ameet Ghasi | W | ½-½ | The Anh Duong | ||
| 1 | Jessie Gilbert | B | 0 - 1 | Tamara Tchistiakova wfm 2223 | RUS | |
| U14 | 1 | Thirumurugan | W | 1 - 0 | Pham Chuong | |
| 1 | Li Wu | B | 0 - 1 | Deep Sengupta 2285 | IND | |
| 1 | Poppy Aarons | W | 0 - 1 | Dulamsu Yabjindulam 2154 | MGL | |
| ½ | Katie Martin | W | 0 - 1 | Laura Ross | USA | |
| U12 | 1 | David Howell | W | 1 - 0 | Emre Can 2185 | TUR |
| 0 | James Hanley | W | 1 - 0 | Jaka Skrlep | ||
| 0 | Molly Moruzzi | W | ½-½ | Sanchez Velasques | ||
| ½ | Selina Khoo | B | 1 - 0 | Juliana Sayum Terao | ||
| U10 | 0 | George O’Toole | W | 1 - 0 | Mikael Drakoulis | GRE |
| 1 | Amisha Parmar | W | 0 - 1 | Catherine Danaher | IRL | |
Murugan in post match analysis with GMs Glenn Flear and Mark Hebden
Peter Turner talking with Mrs Howell before start of play. Also shown David Howell and Amisha Parmar
| Pts | Round: 1 | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
| U18 | Craig Hanley | 0 - 1 | Anthony Bellaiche 2369 | FRA | ||
| Simon Buckley | ½-½ | Mihail Papadakis | GRE | |||
| Teresa Khoo | ½-½ | Nada Skrkar | BIH | |||
| U16 | Gawain Jones | 1 - 0 | Juha Hynninen | FIN | ||
| Ameet Ghasi | 1 - 0 | Default | ||||
| Jessie Gilbert | 1 - 0 | Kristelle Kull | EST | |||
| U14 | Thirumurugan | 1 – 0 | Stefan Leon Els | RSA | ||
| Li Wu | 1 - 0 | Thibaut Maenhout | BEL | |||
| Poppy Aarons | 1 - 0 | Dionysia Polyzou | GRE | |||
| Katie Martin | ½-½ | Marta Nestorow 2050 | SWE | |||
| U12 | David Howell | 1 - 0 | Default | |||
| James Hanley | 0 - 1 | Emilis Pileckis 2189 | LTU | |||
| Molly Moruzzi | 0 - 1 | Alena Tairova wfm 2189 | RUS | |||
| Selina Khoo | ½-½ | Katharina Weiss | GER | |||
| U10 | George O’Toole | 0 - 1 | Levan Bregadze | GEO | ||
| Amisha Parmar | 1 - 0 | Anjali Datta | USA |
Friday 15th - 3.50 p.m. At last we are nearly there, play is due
to start at 4.30 but that is looking increasingly unlikely. Groups are still
arriving and we already know that Turkey and Kenya will be late.
We'll do
our best to be up to date with news of the England team and other bits of
information of general interest and to give a flavour of the Championships.
So far - Gawain arrived on time from Italy and coach Glenn Flear
completed the group just before midnight. All the players has a session with
their coaches this morning, we've enjoyed a good midday meal.
** Time
now 10.30 !! This is the first time since 3.50 that I have come away from the
playing area - absolute chaos has reigned. Some age groups have only just
started!! I feel very sorry for the organisers, clearly something of a complex
and unexpected nature has occurred. Rumours abound, but I will resist
speculating for the moment.
The Results of the Juniors playing in this Congress were far above expectations. The Open
Section was not as strong in depth as in recent years, but with a G. M. and 2 I. Ms taking part, it
was a tough tournament to win. The 70+ entrants included 6 from the Junior Squad, and 2 who came
separately. In the Holiday Section, under 145 grading, there were over 60 entries including 2 from
the Junior Squad plus 2 other juniors. About 40 Dutch players entered the tournament, plus others
from Germany, France, Gibraltar, Georgia, Guernsey, Scotland, Wales, Poland, Ireland and the majority
from England.
The controller, Stephen Boniface, tried to keep players from the same country apart. Hence, none of
the Junior Squad played one another. The magnificent junior results were (names in italics);
Coaches underlined:
Open Section.
1. T. Gelahvili G. M. 2516 Georgia £1200 6 / 7
=2. R. Bellin I. M. 2360 England,
A. Webster I. M. 2415 England,
T. Woodward 2183 England £367 each. 5½ / 7
=5. T. Corkett 2313 England, +2 others 5 / 7 £50 each
R. Mycroft 2053 England Junior Prize £100 4½/ 7
D. Bareham 1920 England =2nd Junior Prize £12-50 4 / 7 Best game prize, Completed Elo Rating
G. Morris 1806 England =2nd Junior Prize £12-50 4 / 7 5 round part rating
P. Plant 2024 England =2nd Junior Prize £12-50 4 / 7
A. Wilson 2029 England =2nd Junior Prize £12-50 4 / 7
L. Hunt 1744 England 3½/ 7 4 round part rating
A. O'Toole 1672 England 3 / 7 7 round part rating
Holiday Section. Under 1760 Elo (145 B. C. F.)
=3. C. Morris 1528 England Ladies' Prize £50-00 5 / 7
=3 G. O'Toole 1504 England Junior Prize £50-00 5 / 7 age 9
S. Alley 1600 England 4½ / 7 Best near miss best game prize
M. Walker 1344 Germany =<1400 Grading prize £12-50 3½ / 7
Parents
J. Seidel 1416 Germany 4 / 7
P. Morris 1208 England 2½ / 7
The tournament ran smoothly, and the juniors were a credit to the Squad. Having 5 parents around
( Mrs O'Toole, Mrs Wilson, and Mrs Woodward did not play) made my job easy. The 2 coaches did far
more than they were expected to do, and the only difficulty came on the Sunday at the end when the
ferries were cancelled because of the high winds. As this only affected Jorg, Maria and me, and we
spent a sunny Monday visiting the Castle Cornet to see the midday gun fired, before visiting the
German Underground Hospital, I quite enjoyed the extra Monday on the Island.
Lester Millin.
We have just come away from the closing ceremony and will try get some rest before being up and ready to leave for the airport at 4.30 in the morning. We ended with three top ten finishes, Callum, David and Lawrence will receive diplomas. The Russians took the vast majority of the medals. In order to give some idea of the success of our team, I have done a count of the top ten finishes. One hundred youngsters will qualify for a top ten diploma. The UK, Western European & Scandinavian countries combined received a total of 10 diploma winners. Of these England received three, France three, Germany, Norway, Denmark & Netherlands one each. Thus overall a most satisfactory championship for us.
 Top Row: Bert Dines, GM Glenn Flear, IM Adam Hunt, GM Neil McDonald, Mrs Dines (hidden), GM Keith Arkell Middle Row: Amy Officer, Jessie Gilbert, Lorin D'Costa, Rafe Martyn, Lawrence Trent, Aly Wilson, Sophie Tidman 2nd Row Simon Fowler, Peter Poobalasingam, Sheila Dines, Louis Graham, Callum Kilpatrick, Chantal Sirisena, Naomi Miller, David Howell, Thomas Pym Bottom Row: Dana Hawrami, Emma D'Costa (Team Mascot) |
| Final Points | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U18 | 4½ | Lorin D’Costa 2254 | W | ½ | Stanislav Zawadski 2416 | POL |
| 4½ | Sophie Tidman 2139 | W | 1 | Victorija Sukhaja 2051 | UKR | |
| U16 | 5½ | Lawrence Trent 2246 9th | B | ½ | Victor Alcazar Jimenez 2326 | ESP |
| 4½ | Rafe Martyn 2201 | W | 0 | Anton Kuzin 2240 | RUS | |
| 5 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 | B | 0 | Elena Tomilova 2253 | RUS | |
| 4 | Alexandra Wilson 2073 | W | ½ | Liis Oja | EST | |
| U14 | 4 | Simon Fowler | B | 0 | Jurijs Mihailovs 2141 | LAT |
| 4 | Peter Poobalasingam 2030 | W | 1 | Atle Boyum Fossum | NOR | |
| 4 | Naomi Miller | W | 0 | Inna Ivakhinova | RUS | |
| U12 | 6 | David Howell 2211 9th | W | 1 | Sergi Matsenko 2114 | RUS |
| 3½ | Thomas Pym | B | 1 | Jose Monton Queralt | ESP | |
| 4½ | Dana Hawrami | W | 1 | Anastasios Pavlidis | GRE | |
| 3 | Amy Officer | W | 0 | Nadezda Somova | LAT | |
| 5 | Chantal Sirisena 8th | W | 0 | Maya Gvilova 2012 | RUS | |
| U10 | 5½ | Callum Kilpatrick 5th | B | 0 | Sanan Sugirov | RUS |
| 3½ | Louis Graham | W | ½ | Quentin Van Thillo | BEL | |
| 3½ | Sheila Dines | B | 0 | Jeanine De Cloet | NED | |
|
 Chantal Sirisena at the start of Round 8  Callum Kilpatrick (on Left) before the start of Round 8 |
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Team points OK after 'Super Sunday', disappointment for the leading players but good news for Simon. He has played 8 rated players so far and seems certain to play another tomorrow, thus he will then have a full international rating in one go. Simon has impressed everyone with his determination. Even after today's loss there may still be the possibility that Callum will be playing for a top 3 finish tomorrow - news on this as soon as the draw is known.
| Points | Round: 9 pairings | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U18 | 4 | Lorin D’Costa 2254 | W | Stanislav Zawadski 2416 | POL | |
| 3½ | Sophie Tidman 2139 | W | Victorija Sukhaja 2051 | UKR | ||
| U16 | 5 | Lawrence Trent 2246 9th | B | Victor Alcazar Jimenez 2326 | ESP | |
| 4½ | Rafe Martyn 2201 | W | Anton Kuzin 2240 | RUS | ||
| 5 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 | B | Elena Tomilova 2253 | RUS | ||
| 3½ | Alexandra Wilson 2073 | W | Liis Oja | EST | ||
| U14 | 4 | Simon Fowler | B | Jurijs Mihailovs 2141 | LAT | |
| 3 | Peter Poobalasingam 2030 | W | Atle Boyum Fossum | NOR | ||
| 4 | Naomi Miller | W | Inna Ivakhinova | RUS | ||
| U12 | 5 | David Howell 2211 9th | W | Sergi Matsenko 2114 | RUS | |
| 2½ | Thomas Pym | B | Jose Monton Queralt | ESP | ||
| 3½ | Dana Hawrami | W | Anastasios Pavlidis | GRE | ||
| 3 | Amy Officer | W | Nadezda Somova | LAT | ||
| 5 | Chantal Sirisena 8th | W | Maya Gvilova 2012 | RUS | ||
| U10 | 5½ | Callum Kilpatrick 5th | B | Sanan Sugirov | RUS | |
| 3 | Louis Graham | W | Quentin Van Thillo | BEL | ||
| 3½ | Sheila Dines | B | Jeanine De Cloet | NED |
In the last round we seem to be taking on the Russian team in key games where we are hoping for high finishes. Players in the top ten will be presented with diplomas. Currently we have 4 in the top ten. Depending on other results Callum could finish 3rd=, Chantal could be 5th=. Simon goes into the last round knowing that he will achieve a full FIDE rating in one go. Advice is that a loss will be a rating of 2160, a draw will be 2203 and a win an impressive 2216 (BCF 202). In addition some excellent individual performances the team performance, after round 8, is exactly 50%. Considering the strength of the opposition this has been a most creditable performance.
| There is a sensible mood of satisfaction after 'Super
Sunday' but a realistic appreciation of the extraordinary challenge of the 8th
round. Unknown to the rest of the group, I have a very difficult decision to
make. Are the clothes I wore yesterday our lucky omens, and should I wear them
today? As yesterday was a Sunday I dressed smartly in shirt & tie for
breakfast and only removed my tie later in the day whilst supervising in the
tournament hall. Today is very hot and really formal dress looks a bit
eccentric - just one of the problems of being team manager, decisions!
decisions! decisions! The team spirit and application is first class. Many of the youngsters, in addition to doing justice to their chess, have some time each day to keep up with their school studies. Two of the girls do flute practice and some of homework tasks to complete. |
 Lawrence Trent analysing with Neil McDonald  Peter Poobalasingam doing homework |
| Pts including this round | Round: 7 results | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U18 | 4 | Lorin D’Costa 2254 | W | 1 | Martin Poulsen 2160 | FAI |
| 3½ | Sophie Tidman 2139 | W | ½ | Viktoria Bashkite 2138 | EST | |
| U16 | 5 | Lawrence Trent 2246 | W | 1 | Vjatsheslav Soskov | EST |
| 3½ | Rafe Martyn 2201 | W | 1 | Steven Tweedie 2104 | SCO | |
| 4 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 | B | 1 | Gillian Visschedijk | NED | |
| 3 | Alexandra Wilson 2073 | W | 1 | Ilaria Clapda | ITL | |
| U14 | 3 | Simon Fowler | W | ½ | Denis Lineykin 2139 | UKR |
| 3 | Peter Poobalasingam 2030 | W | 1 | Gruffydd Johnston | WLS | |
| 3 | Naomi Miller | W | 1 | Tina Bokovec | SLO | |
| U12 | 4½ | David Howell 2211 | W | 1 | Mikhail Zaslavsky | ISR |
| 2½ | Thomas Pym | B | ½ | Alexandros Iskos | GRE | |
| 2½ | Dana Hawrami | W | ½ | Lajos Kiss | HUN | |
| 3 | Amy Officer | B | 1 | Marianne Chierki | ITA | |
| 5 | Chantal Sirisena | W | 1 | Claudia Robles Garcia | ESP | |
| U10 | 5½ | Callum Kilpatrick | W | 1 | Inaria Zamarbide | ESP |
| 2 | Louis Graham | W | ½ | Artjom Morozov | EST | |
| 2½ | Sheila Dines | B | ½ | Alba Ventos Alfonso | ESP | |
8.10 p.m. Wow!! I believe that this is the first time that one of our junior international teams has played a round without suffering a single defeat. A most exhilarating afternoon for everyone concerned. Callum is now in second place just ½ behind the leader, Safarli a 2210 rated player from Azerbijan. More information later, I must get some food.
<ROUND 8 PAIRINGS WERE REPORTED HERE - REPLACED BY ROUND 8 RESULTS ABOVE>
Callum is in 2nd place and has Black against the top seed, Safarli from Azerbijan. Chantal is in 3rd place and has Black against the second seeded player, Tairova from Russian. You can understand the enormity of the task facing these two youngsters when I tell you that their opponents have the equivalent rating of BCF 200!! Lawrence is having a storming tournament and is in 5th place.
|
 Chantal Sirisena  Callum Kilpatrick |
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Callum is back to full fitness and was rewarded with an impressive win to move into 3rd place. I'm amazed at his maturity and 'presence' at the board. Chantal is in 5th place, she became involved in a complex Rook and pawn endgame and after her draw offer was rejected had to endure a further hour of very accurate play to hold the position. She is another youngster who impresses, after the game she reported, "I was shaking so much, I've broken the end of my pen" - this was said with a smile on her face, she is enjoying the experience. Lawrence reported a slight tummy upset in the morning but made no excuse after his battling loss to his highly rated Polish opponent. Jessie's game illustrated the changed nature of some of the endgame play, which the new time control can bring about. An hour before the eventual end, Jessie had only 30 seconds left to her opponent's 20 minutes. Each time I went to observe, I saw her clock counting down to just a few seconds and then go back to 30+ seconds after her move. On one occasion, with Jessie in play and less than 10 seconds remaining, the public address system suddenly burst into life at full volume. Fortunately she realized it was more important to make a move that work on translating the Spanish announcement!! Round 7 pairings for the Girls U12 were delayed because of an appeal hearing. I waited until 1 o'clock in the morning then decided going to bed was a good idea.
<ROUND 7 PAIRINGS WERE REPORTED HERE - REPLACED BY ROUND 7 RESULTS ABOVE>
 |
We appreciated not having to get up for an 8.30 breakfast.
Favorite plan for the day was to have a late breakfast, then go into Peniscola
to shop and visit the old town. After returning for the midday meal, an
afternoon around the pool seemed to be the order of the day. The magnificent Plaza Hotel, opened earlier in the year, is the playing venue and fortunately for the England team also our accommodation. |
 |
Naomi always chooses her presents very carefully. I hope her dad appreciates this one - I wont spoil the surprise by telling what it is!! |
 |
Choosing those presents can be very difficult, Amy and Chantal helped each other decide what was suitable |
 |
"Which shop should we go to now?"
Picture shows Peter Poobalasingam, Chantal Sirisena, Naomi Miller and Amy Officer |
| Pts including this round | Round: 5 results | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U18 | 2 | Lorin D’Costa 2254 | B | 0 | Shi Porar 2369 | ISR |
| 3 | Sophie Tidman 2139 | W | 0 | Katarina Kisonova 2166 | SVK | |
| U16 | 4 | Lawrence Trent 2246 | W | 1 | Andrei Murariu 2401 | ROM |
| 2 | Rafe Martyn 2201 | B | ½ | Christian Jeitz 2070 | LUX | |
| 2½ | Jessie Gilbert 2113 | B | ½ | Suzana Svent | SLO | |
| 2 | Alexandra Wilson 2073 | W | ½ | Gillian Visschedijk | NED | |
| U14 | 2½ | Simon Fowler | W | 0 | Wojciech Moranda 2211 | POL |
| 2 | Peter Poobalasingam 2030 | W | 0 | Marcos Sig Varas 2231 | ESP | |
| 1 | Naomi Miller | W | 1 | Laia Ortega Garcia | ESP | |
| U12 | 3½ | David Howell 2211 | W | ½ | Pavel Potapol 2093 | RUS |
| 2 | Thomas Pym | B | 1 | Dana Hawrami | ENG | |
| 1 | Dana Hawrami | W | 0 | Thomas Pym | ENG | |
| 1½ | Amy Officer | W | 1 | Hanneke Kooloos | NED | |
| 3½ | Chantal Sirisena | W | 1 | Sara Afonso | POR | |
| U10 | 3½ | Callum Kilpatrick | W | 1 | Alberto Chueca Forcen | ESP |
| 1½ | Louis Graham | B | 0 | David Serban | LUX | |
| 2 | Sheila Dines | W | 0 | Volha Salauyova | BLR | |
Congratulations to Lawrence, a fine win over the highly rated
Romanian. Lawrence can enjoy his rest day on 4/5 in 3rd place. Debutant
youngsters Callum and Chantal continue to impress and with wins today are on
3½ out of 5 and lie in 5th place. Team rejoicing on Naomi's win so that
everyone now has points on the board. Tomorrow is a rest day.
Round 6
is Saturday 5th October.
<ROUND 6 PAIRINGS WERE REPORTED HERE - REPLACED BY ROUND 6 RESULTS ABOVE>
| Pts including this round | Round: 4 results | Col | Res | Opponent | Fed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U18 | 2 | Lorin D’Costa 2254 | W | 1 | Joseph Redpath 2174 | SCO |
| 3 | Sophie Tidman 2139 | B | 1 | Corinne Roelli 2039 | SUI | |
| U16 | 3 | Lawrence Trent 2246 | B | 1 | Ioan Rees 2079 | WLS |
| 1½ | Rafe Martyn 2201 | W | 0 | Maximilian Meinhardt 2194 | GER | |
| 2 | Jessie Gilbert 2113 | W | ½ | Monika Seps 2054 | SUI | |
| 1½ | Alexandra Wilson 2073 | B | ½ | Ruta Jakaityte | LTU | |
| U14 | 2½ | Simon Fowler | B | 0 | Rauf Mamedov 2367 | AZE |
| 2 | Peter Poobalasingam 2030 | B | 1 | David Neves | POR | |
| 0 | Naomi Miller | B | 0 | Maria Sanchez Sanchez | ESP | |
| U12 | 3 | David Howell 2211 | B | 1 | Pavel Dimitrov | BUL |
| 1 | Thomas Pym | B | 0 | Christoph Alsheimer | GER | |
| 1 | Dana Hawrami | B | 1 | Brian Tomat | ITA | |
| ½ | Amy Officer | B | 0 | Manuela Mader | GER | |
| 2½ | Chantal Sirisena | B | ½ | Aitana Alameda Gadea | ESP | |
| U10 | 2½ | Callum Kilpatrick | B | 0 | Zbigniew Strzemiecki | POL |
| 1½ | Louis Graham | W | 1 | Goran Antunovic | CRO | |
| 2 | Sheila Dines | B | 0 | Lara Stock | CRO | |
Sophie, Lawrence and David on 3/4 are in the chasing pack behind the leaders. After tomorrow's game we have a rest day. Callum is still far from being 100% fit, and lost for the first time. Hopefully he can get a result in round 5 and use the rest day to recover his strength and vigour. Sheila played another excellent game and had a good advantage in the opening but her very experienced opponent, a world championship player for Croatia, had the resources to eventually turn around a lost game.
<ROUND 5 PAIRINGS WERE REPORTED HERE - REPLACED BY ROUND 5 RESULTS ABOVE>
|
 Naomi Miller with GM Keith Arkell; Chantal Sirisena looks on.  FM Jessie Gilbert with GM Glenn Flear |
A disappointing day for the team overall, especially with so
many White pieces, but the new kids on the block continue to please. Sheila
Dines defeated her Croatian opponent and in round 4 will need to repeat the
exercise. Sheila praised Adam for the preparation, the game followed his
prediction. Chantal played soundly to gradually overwhelm her opponent. Simon
continues to amaze me with his determination and application, whenever I watch
his games I come away absolutely shattered, he is so focused and intent. I
think that he must drain energy from those around him with some sort of osmosis
process. He has used the new time control quite brilliantly, today he played
the last 10 moves or so just in time to have the extra 30 seconds added each
time. I was a nervous wreck observing all this when suddenly, after
gesticulating at his opponent, he stopped the clock and called for the arbiter.
They went away with score sheets and sat reconstructing the game. It transpired
that he had claimed a draw by repetition, his opponent did not agree and the
reconstruction was needed to verify his claim.
Callum can claim hero of the
day award. Up to an hour before the start of the round it seemed unlikely that
he would be in a fit condition to play having been quite ill during the night
and still unable to stand without feeling dizzy. Having had advice from various
people and arranging for a local doctor to be on call at short notice a plan of
action was agreed. After recommended medication to control his sickness he
arrived at the board armed with a concealed sick bag. I kept a discrete
distance with a reserve bag should it be needed. Callum did exceptionally well
to force a draw out of the much-fancied youngster from Israel. On 2½ out
of 3 we are all thrilled with his success so far.
<ROUND 4 PAIRINGS WERE REPORTED HERE - REPLACED BY ROUND 4 RESULTS ABOVE>
Some statistics and general information
There are 527
players from 41 different countries.
The England team has 17 competitors
supported by 4 coaches and a band of dedicated parents and team managers. Other
UK and 'near Europe' teams are; Ireland - 5 competitors, Scotland - 5, Wales -
6, Belgium - 5, France - 11, Holland - 13 & Germany - 25.
The time
control is unfamiliar to many of the competitors and has caused some
interesting situations. Players start with 90 minutes on their clocks (digital)
and 30 seconds is added each move, thus if the first 10 moves were done rapidly
the clocks will now show 95 minutes. With the traditional clocks arbiters would
know immediately if there were a fault on time as ALL clocks will show the same
total time remaining but with this system within a few moves few clocks show
same time remaining. There are no time controls to meet, the game continues
provided players have time left. In desperate time trouble players need to move
at a rate of a move every 30 seconds and they will never lose on time. This
FIDE 'imposed' time limit was intended to speed up tournaments as a 60-move
game would only last 4 hours but, for example, as in the 2nd round here a
Bishop & Knight ending lasted 128 moves with a game time of 5 hours.
A
plus for arbiters is that they do not have to watch for players getting to a
number of moves in a time limit and attempting to keep a record of moves when
the players stop recording - with this new system players HAVE to keep a record
at all times, even with seconds left. At this event players have two warnings
if they stopped recording and any further refusal means loss of the game.
As time allows during the day players can relax by the pool, play table tennis, play mini golf or go for a walk etc
|
 Louis Graham preparing with IM Adam Hunt  Sheila Dines |
Callum and Simon, two of our international debutants, continued
in fine style to be on 2/2 along with Lawrence Trent in the U16s. The 'hard
luck' story goes to Thomas Pym who has had two terrific games with nothing to
show for his endeavours. In the second round he had winning chances against the
current World U12 Champion.
<ROUND 3 PAIRINGS WERE REPORTED HERE - REPLACED BY ROUND 3 RESULTS ABOVE>
|
 Peter Poobalasingam preparing with GM Neil McDonald |
Congratulations particularly to three of our youngsters representing
England for their first time in a full international championship. Simon Fowler
beat Adriy Grekh rated 2243, Chantal Sirisena dispatched her French opponent in
fine style and Callum Kilpatrick, in one of the last matches to finish, played
an accurate end game to secure a marvellous win against Leon Szabo the 2nd
seeded player from Hungary.
<ROUND 2 PAIRINGS WERE REPORTED HERE -
REPLACED BY ROUND 2 RESULTS ABOVE>
Under 10 Girls - Sheila Dines; Boys - Callum Kilpatrick, Louis
Graham
Under 12 Girls - Amy Officer, Chantal Sirisena; Boys - David Howell,
Thomas Pym, Dana Hawrami
Under 14 Girls - Naomi Miller; Boys - Peter
Poobalasingam, Simon Fowler
Under 16 Girls - Jessie Gilbert, Aly Wilson;
Boys - Lawrence Trent, Rafe Martin
Under 18 Girls - Sophie Tidman; Boys -
Lorin D'Costa
Coaches - GM Glenn Flear, GM Keith Arkell, GM Neil McDonald,
IM Adam Hunt
Under 10 Girls - Amisha Parmar; Boys - George O'Toole
Under 12
Girls - Selina Khoo, Molly Moruzzi; Boys - David Howell, James Hanley
Under
14 Girls - Poppy Aarons, Katie Martyn; Boys - Murugan Thiruchelvam, Li
Wu
Under 16 Girls - Jessie Gilbert; Boys - Gawain Jones
Under 18 Girls -
Teresa Khoo; Boys - Craig Hanley, Simon Buckley
Coaches - GM Glenn Flear, GM
Mark Hebden, GM Chris Ward, IM Andrew Martin
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