The team started positively and seized an early lead by scoring an excellent 16½ points in the first round. The second round also went very well, with Kent scoring 16 points to increase their lead over their nearest rivals. The final round proved to be much closer between all the teams, but Kent’s tally of 13½ points was still the highest score of the round and it secured an overall victory.

Kent’s winning score was 46 points (from 60 games), Barnet came second with 41 points, and Cambridge came third with 36½ points. At the end a double success was celebrated, as Kent’s board 21-24 players also won the reserve section.

Kent’s winning team were: Shreyas Royal, Shlok Verma, James Merriman, Saahil Bansal, Lakshya Lokwani, Eoin Moore, Ciaran Brightley-Davies, Stakhey Sedykh, Arthur Chikovsky, Navieinaah Haridas, Dennis Dupuis, Dominic Coates, Theodore Panchev, Suriya Velayudham, Jai Chaturvedi Singh, Danny Oprea, Tyler Roberts, Aaron Dhillon, Iris Davies, Harry Chauhan, Dmitry Belousov, Evan Veitch, Roxolana Chaban and Geremia Gover.

Congratulations to all the Kent players for their success, a deserved reward for their hard work, focus, fighting spirit and positive attitude throughout.

Special thanks go to team manager, Robin Davies, for his organisation of the team before and during the event, to GM John Emms for his training and encouragement, and also to all the parents for their wonderful support.

U11: 1st equal Abishekdev Ramesh and Lakshan Siddarth (5.5/6), third Alexander Hodgson (5/6),

The U18 Minor and U18 Major were merged on the day. However, separate prizes were awarded:

U18 Minor: 1st equal Ben Barton and Lakshya Lokwani (4/5), 3rd equal Stakhey Sedykh, Eoin Moore, Roshan Gurjar, Ansh Batura, Ciaran Brightley-Davies, Dennis Dupuis, Raghav Vaidya and Marius Kobler (3/5)

U18 Major: 1st Mikey Watson (5/5), 2nd Orla Dorman (4.5/5) 3rd equal Jacob Watson and James Merriman.

The best scoring primary school on the day (top three raw scores from pupils at that school) was Eltham College Junior and the best scoring secondary school was The Skinners’ School.

To see the full crosstabs from the tournament go to: http://www.kjca.org/result/151

For more photos of the prizewinners and some general shots of the tournament please go to our facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/kentjuniorchess/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED

Well done to everyone who played, from experienced county players to those at their first chess tournament. We hope everyone enjoyed both some great chess games and spending time with your friends.

It takes a lot of work and willing volunteers to organise a large and successful chess tournament.
Thanks to Mikhail Sedykh for doing the Tournament Director and to GM John Emms and GM Chris Ward for coming along to support the tournament and help in the playing hall. Also arbiting and were John Merriman, Taras Chaban, Gary Titmus, Jo Wildman and Gary Dorman.   Also thanks to Conrad Allison for coming along and setting up a coaching desk where he went through games and offered lots of help and advice to the children.

Other kind volunteers on the day were: Kath Barton for bringing along the equipment, Emma Holmes for her role as treasurer and also organising the catering, Kathryn Woodward and Gary Dorman for registration and prizegiving, and ALL other parents and carers who helped with the catering stall on the day. Also thanks to Samantha Metcalfe who organised all the lovely trophies for the prizewinners.

KJCA is run by volunteers to develop chess opportunities for children and young people in Kent and South East London. If anyone is interested in helping at our tournaments or behind the scenes, please do get in touch. We are currently keen for some additional help with catering supplies and bringing to the venue. Please contact us via webmaster@kjca.org or directly to Jo Wildman, current chair of the committee, on jowildman@hotmail.com or 07583337307.

Finally, thanks to Tonbridge School Events for use of the fantastic venue and facilities, and also to Irene and Marie for all there help with the prior arrangements and organisation.