News
My First Chess Tournament - by Roving Reporter Jamie Owen
Below is an article written by Jamie Owen (year 4 - St Thomas's, Sevenoaks) describing his first ever KJCA tournament:
I was in the U9 group in which there were 38 boys and girls from all parts of Kent. The helpful organisers showed us where to play the games. We had to play using the clock but that was easy to pick up. The played time of the game varied a lot. I lost the first two matches so it made me play harder because I wanted to win some matches. I felt worried when I came to the room where we play chess at my third match but I won! I then felt more confident and won the next three matches. In the end I came seventh. I was very pleased with my result. I recommend it to other children because it was really fun.
KJCA TROPHIES
Gravesend GP 4 – Primary Championship Trophies
Our next GP will be held on Saturday the 15th of
February at Gravesend Grammar School. This tournament doubles as our KJCA
Primary Championship.
If you are in possession of a KJCA trophy, please would you
bring it to the training day this weekend, bring it to the GP 4 event or get it
to somebody who is coming. It is always nice for the new winners of the
trophies to receive them on the day, so please make every effort to return them
to us.
KJCA
Kent Junior Newsround Update no. 14
K.J.C.A. Friends and
Family Tournament
26 / 1 / 2014
By Roving Reporter Ben Williams (aged 10 1/4)
On
the 26th of January 2014, the Friends and Family Tournament was held at
Rosemead school, organised by the Kent Junior Chess Association and GM Chris
Ward.
I
was in the AMAZIKIDZ team competing against many other teams! Kiran, Rohan, Vishal, Krishna, Raakavi and Max
were on my team.
I
played 2 adults and 3 children resulting in 2 1/2 points, winning against the
adults! Surprisingly I took part in one on the longest games at just over 45
minutes!
At
the end of the day many prizes were awarded, including one for me which was for
pointing out illegal moves. I was awarded a chess scorebook! The AMAZIKIDZ team
won overall and will be awarded the trophy soon!
I would like to say thank you to GM Chris Ward and the rest of K.J.C.A. for making my day. It was a great fun tournament and I would recommend it to everyone for next year!
Kent Junior Newsround Update no. 13
Congratulations to both Emily Green and Michael Green who both qualified as members of the England National Junior Chess Squad.
According to the England selectors, this may be the first time siblings have qualified at the same event.
Both Emily and Michael will have their names added to our KJCA Roll of Honour list.
GP 3 Sevenoaks School 2013/14
The third GP of the 2013/14 season was held on Sunday 2nd February at Sevenoaks School with an excellent turn out of 102 participants competing across four sections.
The top two for each section were:
U9: 1st Oliver Dobson (5.5 / 6), 2nd Abishaik Gnanenthiran, Moad Shamekh and Dennis Ivin (5 / 6),
U11: 1st Aurideep Nayak (5.5 / 6), 2nd Ben Barton and Benjamin Gardner (5 / 6),
U14: 1st Freddie Nunn (4 / 5), 2nd James Elgar, Nii-Akwei Carty Bing-Pappoe and Joelle Hakim (3.5 / 6),
U18: 1st Anantha Anilkumar (5 / 5), 2nd Francesco Bernardini and Kiran Shiatis (3.5 / 5).
Full cross tables can be found on: http://www.kjca.org/result/65
Current leaders of the GP tables after this event are as follows:
U9: Abishaik Gnanenthiran
U11: Kiran Shiatis
U14: Anantha Anilkumar
U18: Raunak Rao
Primary School: Home Educated
Secondary School: St Olave's Grammar
Full GP tables can be found on: http://www.kjca.org/site/page?view=GPTables.
Many thanks to Sevenoaks for accommodating us at such late notice and also a huge thank you to all the parents who helped before and on the day.
Please note: Our fourth GP, will be held on the 15th February 2014 at Gravesend Grammar School. We also have our next Coaching Day on 9th February 2014 at Barming Primary. As usual you can enter online and we hope to see many of you there.
KJCA
Chris Ward's Friends & Family Tournament
The
fantastic, fun-filled Friends & Family function was held on Sunday 26th
January 2014 at Rosemead School. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all, as the KJCA
welcomed not just the regular KJCA junior players, but also many parents,
grandparents, younger siblings, relatives and friends alike.
There was a
great atmosphere with some great and interesting performances by many, but most
notable were as follows:
- Best Junior Players:
- Senior school age - Rohan Shiatis (5 / 5)
- Junior school age - Anika Roy (4.5 / 5)
- Alisa Gray was
the best adult player on 4 / 5.
- The
Amazikidz Team, featuring Rohan Shiatis, Vishal Shiatis, Kiran Shiatis, Raakavi
Rajaseelan, Ben Williams, Max Waters and Krishna Shiatis, won the coveted KJCA
best team trophy.
Many thanks must
go to GM Chris Ward for his fabulous hosting skills, all the kind voluntary helpers
on the day, including Jayatee Roy, Anil Anilkumar, Luca Bernardini and Andrew
Shiatis. In addition, a very big thank you to Rosemead Prep School and their
very kind deputy head for opening their doors to the KJCA. A special thank you must
go to Sue Maguire for making the event happen and providing such excellent catering.
There were many winners on the day and we have featured many of these in the gallery below. Apologies if your picture has not been included since we had a few technical difficulties with our photographer on the day J. A full gallery is available on facebook. Please "like" us on the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/kentjuniorchess
We very much look forward to seeing you all again at
Sevenoaks GP on Sunday 2nd February!
ACES announces two Grand Master Chess training Camps
Academy for Chess Excellence and Skillsis plased to announce a 4th Grand Master Chess training camp with GM Chris Ward and GM John Emms on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 February, 10am to 4pm (arrival at 9:30am)
After the success of our training days in 2013 we have secured the services of not one but two Grandmasters again for two days of chess training and games.
GM Chris Ward and GM John Emms will be leading a group of four coaches, who will work with small groups of children to improve their chess awareness and skills in a fun environment.
We aim for small groups - 10 or less - so that we can dedicate enough attention to everyone, from experienced county players to beginners.
All children will have at least one session with each grandmaster. The cost will be £35 per child per day (£30 per child if booking 2 or more siblings). If booking for both days, the cost is reduced to £30 per child per day (£25 per day if booking two or more siblings).
There are only 40 spaces available; to reserve a place for your child please e-mail:
Luca Bernardini: luca@plantz.uk.com, with name, chess experience, ECF grade (if applicable) of your child and which day you would like to book.
Venue:
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Westgate Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 5DE
URGENT NEWS FLASH - GP3 is now at Sevenoaks School on the 2nd of February
Unfortunately due to reasons beyond our control, there has been a problem with St. Olaves for 1st February and we are not able to hold GP3 there.
However, we have managed to secure
The address for the school is:
High Street, Sevenoaks TN13 1HU
Parking is limited to Solefields car park only, which has about 60 spaces, otherwise there is parking in the town centre.
Directions to the school and to Solefield car park can be found on the following link:
http://www.sevenoaksschool.org/Websites/sevenoaks/images/documents/aboutus/directions.pdf
We are extremely thankful to Sevenoaks School for accomodating us at such short notice.
Start times are as before. Further details can be found on the following link http://www.kjca.org/event/65.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
KJCA
ACES Sevenoaks - The Fun Way to Learn and Play Chess!
Location: Knole
Academy, Bradbourne Vale Road, Sevenoaks, Kent,
TN13 3LE
Every Thursday from
5.00pm to 6:30pm
Starting Thursday 16th
January 2014 – Thursday 3rd April 2014 (not including Thursday
20th February 2014 – half term)
ACES (Sevenoaks) is pleased to announce that chess training
is continuing at the Knole Academy.
The emphasis is on fun, learning, playing chess,
building confidence and making friends. Students of all standards are welcome; whether
you are already proficient or have no previous knowledge or experience of the
game – all you need is an interest in learning and playing chess.
The aim is to provide a location for chess students in
the Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells area to train and play together to a county level.
We will be working closely with the Kent Junior Chess Association and will encourage participation of the talented students in County Level events as well as National events.
Please contact Krishna Shiatis at amazikidz@hotmail.co.uk should you have any queries.
ACES (Sevenoaks) is the sister organisation to ACES (Bromley) which is held at Bishop Challoner School in Shortlands and held on a Thursday evening during term time. The contact for ACES (Bromley) is luca@plantz.uk.com.
Upcoming KJCA events
Happy new year to our KJCA players and parents!
A quick reminder about two of our upcoming tournaments.
Chris Ward’s Friends and Family and KJCA GP 3
Chris Ward Friends and Family event is a fun tournament designed
for not only our junior chess players but also their parents / guardians / grandparents
/ uncles / aunties / siblings who might want to give chess playing a go to
battle it out as a team. This will be held on Sunday 26th January at
Rosemead Prep School. Details may be found here:
A team can have any number of players. The best result from
an U14 is tallied with the best result from an over 14 to give a total which is
then matched to other teams. In the event of tie-break, the next best results
are taken into account for each team.
Chris Ward GM will be on hand throughout the day to arbit
and arrange pairings.
KJCA GP 3 is being held at St Olave’s School in
Orpington on Saturday February 1st. As well as prizes on the day, this event
also forms part of our annual Grand Prix series. With many of our Kent team
mangers on hand the event will also be used to help select our top players to
be invited to represent our county.
Details may be found here:
We hope to see as many of you as possible at these upcoming
tournaments.
Kind regards,
Andrew Shiatis
KJCA Treasurer and U11 team manager