Cumbria Chess Association

Junior Tournaments and match results

Cumbria Schools Chess League

Jamboree held at Trinity School, Carlisle on 26 June 2011.
The final jamboree of the secondary school league once again drew only three schools, a great pity as it is a good competition and greatly enjoyed by the players.


Lime House were 2.5 points in front going into the final round but Trinity were at full strength this time while Austin Friars were the ones with a weakened team and it showed, especially in round 5 when Trinity scored 7.5 points out of 8 while Friars could manage only 1. This left Trinity ahead going into the final round and needing to hold any Lime House fightback. It was tense and there were a lot of close games but try as they might Lime House could not take quite enough points and so TRINITY are this year's league champions and take the Goodwin Trophy. Well done!


Hopefully we can get a few more schools interested for next year.
The provisional date for the first jamboree is Thursday November 17th at Austin Friars St Monica's at 1pm.

Syd Cassidy

Results

Cumbria Junior Chess Championships 2011

Congratulations to all who took part in these competitions, they were very patient, very polite and helpful and they could play chess nearly as well as they played football in the gaps. In fact at times I wondered should I organise the chess in the gaps in the football.
The standard in the under 15 and 18 competitions was strong throughout, there were no easy games and good players ended with low scores because they lost narrowly to even better players. In the other competitions there were very good games among the leading players, many of them fascinating to watch being played by skilful 5, 6, 7… year olds who would give many adults decent games. I think this strength went deeper than in the past, players who ended two or three points were playing good, thoughtful chess and showing good strategic and tactical awareness. Win, lose or draw everyone appeared to enjoy it and I hope went away determined to come back even stronger next year.
The five winners have all done well in the past and demonstrated that their previous results were no fluke.
Karsten Dever from Seascale won the under 9 competition last year as well as this, both times with full points. Helen Southernwood was last year’s under 11 girls champion and went one better this time to win the under 11 outright with a perfect score. Avran Millar was runner-up in the under 11s last year so to win the under 13 on his debut in that age group was a good achievement. This was matched by Jason Maxwell who won the under 13 last year and followed with the under 15 this year. Alistair Ridley chose to play in the open age group and once again won it, will he make it 3 in a row next year?

Thanks to the brilliant team of helpers: Daniel O’Dowd, Kevin Southernwood, Richard Bandoni, Drew Millar, Richard Clark and Geoff Norman all helped ensure the tournaments ran very smoothly. The children were always in the right place at the right time and the parents offered help and encouragement as and when needed without getting over-excited and nobody got sent off, overall an excellent way to finish my stint as junior organiser. We are on the lookout for a new junior organiser for the county and also for the Carlisle area following David Bird’s retirement. Anyone with anything to offer is invited to get in touch as soon as possible.
A final thanks is due to Austin Friars School as it was, Austin Friars St Monica’s School as it now is. The school has given the use of its premises free to us year after year, I forget when exactly the county championships located here after years in Keswick followed by trips to Penrith and Kendal but there have been three junior tournaments on the site each year for the last twenty years and many thousands of young chess players have passed through the gates, I hope mostly with fond memories.

Syd Cassidy

Results table

Penrith Under 11 Chess Tournament

held at Plumpton School on Wednesday February 16th.
Eleven schools and 71 competitors took part in this tournament, a record.

Many thanks to Mrs Julia Barclay, head of Plumpton School, for organising this event and to Mr Alan Davis, formerly head at Plumpton, who came along to run it as only he can. It was good to see so many keen young chess players showing their skills. Anyone who didn't get their certificate please let me know.
All those who scored 2.5 or more points received medals and are invited to enter the Cumbria Junior Chess Championships at Austin Friars St Monica's on Sunday March 13th.

Points and positions

Carlisle Under 9 Chess Championship

held at Austin Friars St Monica's on Saturday 12 February 2011

Accelerated Swiss tournaments, where as soon as players finish one game they are paired with a new opponent, keep everyone busy and that applies to the organisers as well as the children playing. This one went as smoothly as clockwork and the quality of chess from 6,7, 8 and 9 year olds was often very good, evidence of the amount of thought and effort put in by the children and their teachers. Sometimes it gets very interesting as young players can interpret the rules in quite innovative ways.

All those on 50% or more are invited to enter the Cumbria junior championships, to be held at Austin Friars St Monica's School on Sunday March 13th. Hopefully they will all come and the county championships will be as competitive as this Carlisle championship was.

Many thanks to Drew Millar, Richard Bandoni, Geoff Norman and Richard Clark for organising, supervising, arbiting and teaching in about equal amounts and to Mrs Ford and family for keeping the tea flowing. We will be looking for a new organiser for this event next year following the retirement of David Bird at Inglewood.
Would anyone who thinks they could give it a go get in touch and we can discuss it.
Syd Cassidy

Results table

Cumbria Secondary Schools Chess League Jamboree

held at Lime House School, Dalston on Friday 23rd November 2010

This was a closely fought tournament throughout and the advantage swung to all three teams at various stages of the afternoon. With 10 minutes to go it looked like all teams would end up with 6 points apiece, but in the final game which had to be adjudicated Jason Maxwell came from behind to give Trinity a one point advantage in the next round. This will take place at Austin Friars on Tuesday 8th March.Thanks to Lime House for the excellent playing area and refreshments.

Syd Cassidy

Results tables

Carlisle Under 11 Chess Championships

held at Inglewood Junior School 20 November 2010

Thanks once again to David Bird and his team from Inglewood Junior School for organising a very good tournament and congratulations to the young players who produced a lot of excellent chess and played every game courteously and sportingly. All the hard work put in by them and their coaches showed on the day. All players who finished with 50% and above have qualified for the Cumbria Chess Championships which will take place at Austin Friars St Monica's School on Sunday March 13th.

We should also take this opportunity to thank David Bird for all he has done to develop young chess players over the years. As well as this event he introduced the Carlisle under 9 tournament which has proved a very important innovation. He has also been running the Carlisle junior schools league and knockout tournaments. He has put in a lot of time and effort over the years and will be a very hard man to replace. Thanks David.

Results table

RGS Congress 2010

Played in the Fenwick Hall, 8th October