EPSCA Under 9 Final

Many thanks to all the Kent children and parents who came along to the EPSCA U9 final held at the Malcolm Arnold Academy in Northampton. There was a fantastic team spirit and some superb chess was played by all.


Kent finished a credible 6th in the end, having regrouped and bounced back from a groggy start leaving us in 11thplace after round 1. The children showed good fighting spirit, scoring a resounding 9 out of 12 in round 2; a promising sign for future events to come as they continue to play chess and progress up through the age groups. There were some excellent performances by all the players and a full report will follow.


A huge thank you to the team managers, Rachel Gardner and Krishna Shiatis, and to GM Chris Ward our coach, all of whom put in a lot of hard work for this event and did an excellent job in bringing the team together and encouraging them on the day. 


A big thank you also to Northamptonshire, who as always provided a fantastic venue and put on a well organised and slick event.


In the end it was Barnet's day and many congratulations to them for winning the final, having led all the way from start to finish. Sussex were second with Wey Valley just a further 2 pts behind in third.


Final placings and scores were:


1 Barnet 30 points

2 Sussex 28.5 pts

3 Wey Valley 26.5 pts

4 Nottinghamshire 24 pts

5 Wiltshire 21.5 pts

6 Kent 19 pts

7= Buckinghamshire 18.5 pts

7= Berkshire 18.5 pts

9= Manchester 16.5 pts

9= Yorkshire 16.5 pts

11 Hertfordshire 16 pts

12 Northamptonshire 15.5 pts

13= Oxfordshire 15 pts

13= Richmond 15 pts

15 Oldham 12.5 pts

16 Essex 11.5 pts

17 Cheshire & North Wales 11 pts

18 Lancashire 8 pts