News
Kent juniors qualify for the National Chess Junior Squad
Congratulations to Bobby Akeya-Price and Charlie Metcalfe who played at the trials for the England U11 team and National Junior Chess Squad, held in Liverpool over the weekend of the 23-24th April.
The trial is a closed competition requiring pre-qualification. In order to be invited, players must get two norms (usually a score of 4 points or more) from national tournaments throughout the season. Qualifying to play at the trial is an achievement in itself and it attracts a highly competitive field from around the country, all aiming to join the National Chess Junior Squad.
Bobby and Charlie both played quality chess and gained enough points for the EPSCA England U11 team and the National Junior Squad.
Also well done to Jacob Watson, who qualified for the National Chess Junior Squad earlier this season by gaining norms with strong results at national tournaments, including the British Rapidplay U140 section and the South of England Championships U16.
All three young players are great representatives for Kent Juniors and we wish them continued success and enjoyment with their chess careers.
Kent U9 team win EPSCA Finals
Congratulations to the Kent U9 team for winning the 2016 EPSCA U9 Finals and becoming the National Champions.
The finals were held at Nottingham high school on Saturday 23rd April.
Everyone knew it was going to be a long day, starting before 7am and including travels by road, rail, underground and even on a tram.
There were 17 teams who had qualified for the finals and the competition was tough. Last year’s
winners, team Barnet, were one of the obvious competitors, and many of the other county teams posed an equal challenge.
Despite the long journey, the team were ready to take all opponents. All the young Kent players lived up to expectations and continued with the high standards set with their record-breaking victory at the zonal.
The first round ended with 10/12 with one loss and two draws. The second round finished with 11/12 with just one unfortunate loss – a very close game. However, the improving pattern continued and our last round was a clean sweep – 12/12 - wins on all boards!!
All the rounds had some close games which could have gone either way, but the players kept their nerves, maintained focused, increased concentration levels and eventually managed an overall victory. Our strong finish gave Kent a clear first place, leading the runners-up by 3.5 points.
The final scores were:
1st – Kent 33/36
2nd - Barnet 29.5/36
3rd - Sussex 26.5/36
Congratulations also go to the players who were on the reserve boards, they played some quality chess and secured a number of strong wins and ended the day with some prizes.
The full team were: Jack Chaudhury, James Merriman, Shreyas Royal, Shlok Verma, Yong Gui Wong, Eoin Moore, Stakhey Sedykh, Athur Chikovsky, Suriya Veleyudham, Madhav Suraj, Lucas Downing, Raghav Vaidya, Danny Oprea, Edward Ellam, Harry Chaudhury & Harry Chauhan.
Many thanks to our team manager, John Merriman and to GM Chris Ward and GM John Emms for their coaching, guidance and support throughout this season.
We also appreciate the efforts from all the parents and carers, who brought the children along to both the zonal and the final competitions and continuously support their chess.
With such a great result from our U9 team, the future for these promising young players looks bright. Well done to everyone.
The full results can be viewed at: http://www.oxfordfusion.com/epsca/#results
Strong performance from the Girls' team in EPSCA U11 Finals
Top of the league for the U14/U130 team
Congratulations to the U14/U130 team for winning the 'east' league of the competition with an unbeaten record.
Throughout the season we have scored some fantastic wins against Essex, Surrey, Sussex and Richmond.
In keeping with the aim of the league, the U14/U130 team has included different players throughout the season and given everyone the chance to be part of the team and play good quality chess against the other local counties.
Our results this season have been down to the hard work of every one of the players in the whole squad.
We are now through to the county finals against the winners of the 'west' league. This will be played sometime in late May/early June and we are hoping to host it in Kent.
Finally, thanks to everyone that has helped with the home matches and to all the parents and carers who have come along and supported our team.
Update - Changes to GP7 and GP8
Kent U11 team come second at the EPSCA Zonals
Institute of Chess Exam results - Spring 2016
The results achieved at the KJCA’s Institute of Chess examination session held at Sevenoaks Primary School on Sunday 28 February 2016 are listed below.
The certificates will be presented during the afternoon of the KJCA GP7 tournament, the revised venue and date for which will be announced on the KJCA website soon.
Level 5: Coach – GM John Emms: 7 candidates
Distinction:
Oleg Lyakh
Alex Thompson
Merit:
David Dallakyan
Alexander Levin
Pass:
Jai Singh Chaturvedi
Matthew Dubery
Madhav Suraj
Level 4: Coach – GM Chris Ward: 7 candidates
Distinction:
Shreyas Royal
Yong Gui Wang
Merit:
Dominic Coates
Marius Kobler
Suriya Velayudham
Pass:
Iris Davies
James Holmes
Level 3: Coaches – WFM Ros Kieran and William Jones: 23 candidates
Distinction:
Egor Chernyshov
Lakshya Lokwani
Samantha Mercer
Aditya Palaniappan
Adhith Srikanth
Merit:
Nilay Balaji
Shreyas Bharadwaj
Henry Gooderham
Arjun Jadhav
Advait Menon
Zachary Michaelides
Jonathan Murray
Oliver Poulter
Adam Sameen
Pass:
Vieran Austin
Thomas Griffiths
Laura Holmes
Nathan Lenoble
Timothee Menoumba
Ben Reinton-Brown
Angus Warne
Level 2: Coach – Matthew Lunn: 10 candidates
Distinction:
Amani Campbell-Okolo
Dominic Frankel
Theo Kritzinger
Bjorn Madsen
Luke Penfold
Olly Thwaites
Sophia Wang
Merit:
Yifan Luo
Aneesh Sagar
Arman Tengayev
Level 1: Coach – Luca Bernardini: 3 candidates
Distinction:
Vashti Burns
Tinaye Menoumba
Leo Michaelides
Many congratulations to everyone for working hard and achieving great results.
Success for the U14 and U18 teams at the SCCU Jamboree
All our teams rose to the challenge against some very strong and highly graded opposition. The team spirit of Kent shone through, fighting hard throughout, often grinding out wins and draws from some deeply precarious positions, and all enjoying their chess and being with their friends.
Record breaking WIN for Kent U9 team at EPSCA zonal
GP6 - held at the schools at Somerhill, Tonbridge
We are always looking for more help, particularly with catering, equipment and setting up tournaments. If you would like to get involved, please do contact jowildman@hotmail.com, or speak to one of the helpers at the next event, and we can chat about how you can be part of our team.
Please note: As mentioned on Sunday - due to a clash with the national schools' competition semi-finals and unavailability of the venue - GP7 will be changing both date and venue from that currently posted on the website. We will update as soon as the new arrangements are confirmed.