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News Archives from the 2018-2019 Season:
​

02/10/2019

Terafinal and Challengers

Following on from the Gigafinals earlier in the summer, a number of local players qualified for either the Terafinal or the Challengers
sections of the UK Chess Challenge.

The Challengers took place first, one for the northern area and one for the southern. The northern took place first in Manchester with three local players all performing well - in the under 12 section Lucian Cox scored 4 out of 6, and Vanik Singh 3, whilst in the under 8 section Risara Senadhipathy also scored 3 out of 6. Good performances all round. All northern section scores can be found here.

In the southern section, which took place in Harrow, Alexander Richards played in the under 12 section, finishing with a very good 4.5 out of 6, whilst in the under 10 section many congratulations to Mihir Sharma who scored a wonderful 5.5 and won the section thus enabling him to take part in the Terafinal which took place much closer to home, in Daventry. All southern section scores can be found here.

Four local players were in action at the Terafinal - along with Mihir also Rion Ray played in the same under 10 section, whilst Toby Cox and Samia Sheikh played in the under 14 section. The Terafinal had a new format this year, comprising of 10 rounds, but after the first 6 rounds had been played the top 4 players in each section then played a mini knockout tournament to determine the winners.
In the under 10 section a score of at least 4.5 was required to move onto the knockout section, which Mihir Sharma narrowly missed out on. Mihir finished the event on 5 out of 10, and Rion finished with 3.
In the under 14 section however, both Samia and Toby qualified, being in third and fourth places respectively after the first six rounds. They both narrowly missed out on the final however, but Toby finished the tournament in 3rd place overall, and Samia was the top girl.
All Terafinal scores can be found here, with an official write up here.

Well done to the four players at the Terafinal, and also those who played in the Challengers, as well as all the players who have given their all in every stage of the UK Chess Challenge, from the initial Megafinal qualification process and beyond.


13/09/2019

First tournaments of the season

Our first tournament of the season will be the 40th Northamptonshire Junior Congress, taking place on Saturday 2nd November at
Wellingborough School. You can download an entry form here.
As in recent seasons this will also form the first part of the NSCA Grand Prix, details of which can be found here.
Meanwhile, before that, our neighbours in Leicestershire are holding a tournament on Sunday 13th October. This has graded sections, and also a junior section. You can see details and enter that online here.

28/08/2019

British Chess Championships

Many congratulations to Toby Cox, who at this years British Chess Championships achieved joint third in the under 14 section, beating and drawing against players all rated higher than himself. He finished with a score of 5 out of 7 thanks to four wins and two draws, only a point behind the eventual winner!
Toby was not the only local player that made the trip down to Torquay, and indeed not even the only player in his section, as Samia Sheikh also performed well scoring 4 out of 7 to finish joint 9th.
In younger sections Alexander Richards scored very well to finish on 4.5 out of 6 to make joint 5th in the under 11 section, whilst in the under 9 section his brother David Richards achieved 1.5
In the under 12 section Toby's brother Lucian scored 3 out of 7, and in the under 16 section Max Miller also finished with 3 out of 7.
In graded sections (which cover all ages not just juniors) Samia Sheikh was again in action, scoring 2 out of 5 in the Under 1750 grade section.
Meanwhile, David Cox, father to Toby and Lucian, used his time wisely to also score 2 out of 5 in the Under 120 grade section.
Well done to all these players for performing so well at the highest level of chess in the country.
​You can follow how all the players at this years Championships performed via the dedicated website here, or alternatively you can click on the following link here, and then navigate through the various sections.


15/07/2019

Gigafinals

Many Northants players have recently played in one of the Gigafinals. This year there were four - a Midlands, a Northern, a Southern, and also a London. representatives from Northants were in attendance at many of these.
A number of players have been successful in qualifying for the next stage, the Terafinal, whilst one player managed to finish top in his section - Toby Cox scored 5 out of 6 to be the Under 14 champion in the Northern Gigafinal.
Other notable results were Risara Senadhipathy, 4/6 and second (U7 girls, Midlands) Rion Ray, 5/6 and third (U9 boys, Midlands) Alexander Richards, 5/6 and third (U11 boys, Northern) Samia Sheikh, 5/6 and third (U14, Midlands) but all the scores from all the Gigafinals can be viewed online via the following links:
Midlands - here
Northern - here
Southern - here
London - here
​Well done to all our players who took part, and we will keep you updated as to the progress of those who have qualified for the next stage in Daventry in September.


28/06/2019

Charity Congress

This years Charity Congress took place at Our Lady's School in Wellingborough. Each year proceeds from this tournament go to a chosen charity, and this year we were very pleased to be supporting Autism East Midlands who help to support local children with autism, as well as their parents.
You can find out more about the work they do and the support they offer at https://www.autismeastmidlands.org.uk
Photos from the day can be found here, whilst scores for all the players can be found here.
​
28/06/2019

NSCA Grand Prix

With our Charity Congress being the final part of this season's NSCA Grand Prix, the final placings for this were also determined, and the top players for this year can be found here, whilst some photos are included with the Charity Congress photos here.

17/05/2019

Megafinal

We had a very good turnout for the Northamptonshire and Leicestershire Megafinal which took place at Wellingborough School recently.
Well done to everybody that reached this stage of the competition, and many congratulations to those players who through this Megafinal have now qualified for the Gigafinal stage. You can find out more about the Gigafinal stage here, whilst you can see all the scores from all the sections of the Megafinal here - many thanks to Paul Mottram whose expertise with the chess tournament software was greatly appreciated.
​

23/04/2019

England Team

Two local players were both in international action recently for England, travelling to Frydek Mistek in the Czech Republic.
Toby Cox and Alexander Richards made the journey along with 18 other England Players to a tournament that boasted a total of 250 players from 10 different countries.
Each section consisted of 7 rounds, with Toby scoring 5 and finishing 11th out of 48 in the under 15 section, whilst Alexander scored 4.5 and finished 20th out of 61 in the under 12 section. A wonderful performance by both players, and indeed the whole England team played well - you can read a full report here.


02/04/2019

Last Chance Saloon

It may be that you have tried but failed to qualify for this years Megafinal (which is taking place in Wellingborough in May), or it may be that your school or club do not take part in the UK Chess Challenge. If either of these is true then fear not – we are hosting a “Last Chance Saloon” to enable a final opportunity to qualify for the Megafinal.
This Last Chance Saloon will be taking place on Saturday 13th April, at St Peter’s Independent School in Northampton and you can download an entry form here.
If you would like to find out more about the UK Chess Challenge, you can read all about how this competition runs at their website here.

02/04/2019

EPSCA Under 11 Girls FInal

After sadly having to withdraw from the EPSCA under 9 and under 11 events, we were very pleased to enter with our neighbouring colleagues in Leicestershire an under 11 girls team for the national final, along with great support and encouragement from the players parents.
The first round went really well, with some super slow and thoughtful chess, and scoring 8 out of 12 resulting in going into round two in 4th place and just a point behind the leaders. The play in round two was equally impressive, though the return not quite so rewarding but still achieving 6.5 out of 12 and entering round three in 6th place and still only 1.5 points behind the leaders - it was all very close indeed.
However, the last round proved a step too far with the score from that round being 3, and resulting in the team finishing joint 10th out of 17.
This though was overall a very good showing from the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire combination, and bodes very well for the future, with many of the players still being eligible to play in this event next year.
Congratulations to all the players involved, and if you would like to see all the final scores with clickable links for all the counties and all the players you can find them here.
​
18/02/2019

County Championships

The 2019 Northamptonshire Junior Chess Championships took place at Wellingborough School on 16th February, resulting in the crowning of all the new champions. There was a good turn out, especially in the older section, where the under 16 winner was last year awarded the inaugural John Warren trophy, named after our previous NSCA Chairman who was again in attendance to hand out this years prizes. The winner for the second year was again Ethan Rowe, seen here with both John and our current chairman, Alan Bailey.

Well done to all those who took part, and congratulations to all the winners in the various sections - you can see some of the winners here, and all the scores from the day can be found here.

​This was of course also the third part of the 2018-2019 NSCA Grand Prix, and with just one tournament left the current leaders can be seen here.

This tournament also helps to choose the county players for the upcoming Under 9 and Under 11 national qualifiers, and also for the national girls final. Those players who have made the county squad will receive invitations to join the team in the next few days.
​
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The presentation of the John Warren Trophy
18/02/2019

England Trial Qualification

By performing well in a number of national tournaments players are able to qualify for the EPSCA England Team trial, which takes place in Liverpool in April. You can find out which tournaments to enter via the EPSA website here.
Three Northants players who are doing particularly well are Mihir Sharma, Alexander Richards, and Lucian Cox - Mihir through his performances at The English Closed and the South of England Championships, Alexander through his performances at the English Closed and the British Rapidplay Championships, and Lucian through his performances at The English Closed and the London Junior Chess Championships.
Well done to all three players, and best of luck for your attempts to make the England team.
​
The next qualifying tournament is the Junior Squad Championships, which are actually taking place in Northamptonshire, at the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel, on the weekend of 6th-7th April.
​If you would like to play in this two day tournament (without having to stay away!) then you can download an entry form here.

​
14/01/2019

Christmas Cracker and Grand Prix update

The results from this season's Christmas Congress have now been uploaded and can be viewed here.
Meanwhile, as a result of this tournament, the season's Grand Prix scores have also been updated, and the current leaders can be viewed here.
The Northants County Championships next moth will form the third part of the Grand Prix, with our Charity Congress in June forming the
​fourth and final part.

​
07/01/2019

Northants County Championships 2019

Entry is now open for the 2019 Junior County Championships, which will be taking place on Saturday 16th February at Wellingborough School, and which will result is the crowning of this years County Champions. You can download an entry form here.

04/01/2019

London Junior Chess Championships

The LJCC took place as usual over the Christmas period, with a number of local players making the journey down to the big smoke to play in one of the either two or three days sections.
In the under 10 minor section Joshua Tang achieved 4 out of 7.
In the under 12 Major Lucian Cox scored 5 out of 9, whilst he also played in the older under 14 section scoring 1.5 out of 6. He was joined in that section by his brother Toby, who scored 3.5 and finished joint 10th. Toby also played in the older under 16 section, improving on his score in the younger section by half a point, achieving 4 out of 6 to finish 7th. Max Miller was just two places behind him, scoring 3.5 out of 6.
Congratulations to all these players on your scores, and you can catch up with all the scores from all the sections via the LJCC website here.
​
04/01/2018

Quadrangular match

We recently took part in a small four team tournament, hosted by Warwickshire, and including Oxfordshire and Leicestershire
as the other two counties involved.
It was always going to be a tough competition, but looking to the season ahead the benefits of competitive play can never be underestimated, and so we entered teams in the under 18 section, the under 11 section, and the under 11 girls section.
The under 18 team were in fact very competitive, beating Oxfordshire, drawing with Leicestershire, and the defeat to the hosts Warwickshire did not reflect the closeness of all the games. Ethan Rowe remained unbeaten on the day, securing two wins and a draw.
The under 11 team drew with Leicestershire but lost their other two matches, but taking into consideration that a number of players were making their debuts and indeed some were actually under 9 players, this was an encouraging result, with Alexander Richards achieving a win and two draws on the top board.
The girls team had the toughest time of the day, but as some of our top players in that section were not available for the match some of the play was still never the less encouraging.
Overall, this match was extremely valuable, giving some players their first taste of inter-county play, and bodes very well for the EPSCA zonals, and possibly finals, taking place during the March and April. Well done to all the players who took part.
​
30/11/2018

Britsh Rapidplay Championships

This years British Rapidplay Championships took place recently in Ilkley in West Yorkshire, and a number of our juniors were taking part.
In the under 11 section, which was also a qualifying tournament towards the England team, Alexander Richards scored an impressive 4 out of 5 through three wins and two draws to finish in second place. Lucian Cox also scored 2.5, and Mihir Sharma 2.
In the older sections the tournament is split into grades rather than age, and Toby Cox played in the Inter section, scoring 6.5 out of 11 and finishing 9th.
​Well done to all of these players, and you can find more details and scores on the tournament website here.

30/11/2018

Christmas Congress

Our 15th Chrsitmas Congress, affectionately known as "The Christmas Cracker", takes place on Friday 28th December
at St Peter's School in Northampton.
As usual this tournament is one of 5 rounds, and also forms the second part of the NSCA Grand Prix. You can download an entry form here.
​

05/11/2018

39th Junior Congress

The 39th Northants Junior Chess Congress took place at Wellingborough School on 3rd November, and was again a success.
For a number of reasons entries were slightly down on recent years, but plenty of quality chess was still enjoyed and all the scores from the day can be viewed here, whilst some of those players coming away with trophys can be seen here.
This also formed the first part of this season's NSCA Grand Prix, whilst the next tournament will be our Christmas Congress taking place on 28th December in Northampton. The entry form for this will be available soon.

​
07/10/2018

Terafinal and Challengers

Following on from the Gigafinals which took place in July, those players who scored well enough then progressed to the Terafinal and the Challengers sections which took place this month.
In the Terafinal Toby Cox and Milly Kotecha played in the Under 14 section, scoring 4 out of 6 and 3 our of 6 respectively, whilst Jason Lv scored 3 out of 6 in the under 12 section.
Meanwhile, in the Northern Challengers, Rion Ray came out  joint runner-up in the under 8 section, scoring 4.5 out of 5, dropping just half a point and only losing on tie-break.
There was also one player from Northants who also took part in the Southern Challengers. Mihir Sharma played in the under 9 section there, and finished just half a point behind the eventual winner, in joint 3rd place, only missing out on the runner-ups spot again via a tie-break.

Congratulations to all these players, and you can find all the scores of all the players via the chess results website here.
​
27/09/2018

39th Northants Junior Congress

This season's calendar is now finalised and updates will appear on the calendar page.
Again the NSCA Grand Prix will be running, and the first part of this will be the 39th Northants Junior Congress taking place on Saturday 3rd November at Wellingborough School. Entry forms for this can now be downloaded here.


06/08/2018

Gigafinals and British Championships!

Well, the season is almost over, and along with the excitement of this year's AGM which took place recently a number of players have been travelling around the country, some to Gigafinals, some to the British Championships in Hull, and some even to both!
This year the Gigafinal stage of the UK Chess Challenge was split into three sections instead of the usual two, and whilst a few of our local players took part in the Northern Gigafinal in Manchester most played in the nearer "new" Midlands Gigafinal which was played in Solihull.

All the full results can be viewed via here (for the Midlands Gigafinal) and here (for the Northern Gigafinal) but some of the
​local players scores can also be seen below:
​

Midlands:
Under 8 boys: David Richards 4/6, Toby Green 4/6, Joshua Tang 4/6, Matthew Freeman 3.5/6
Under 9 boys: Mihir Sharma 4.5/6, Finn Maher 3/6
Under 9 girls: Molly Thomas 4/6, Holly Fowkes 3/6
Under 10 boys: Alexander Richards 4/6, Arthur Millington 3/6, Edward Rushmore 1.5/6
Under 11 boys: Vanik Singh 4/6, Cameron Cook 3/6, Jack Ray 2/6
Under 12s: Krishnan Srinivasan 3.5/6, Anika Khare 3/6, Adam Kerbel 2/6
Under 13s: Vignesh Sudhakar: 3/6
Under 14s: Kishan Modi 5/6
Under 15s - under 18s: Shyam Modi 5/6, Ben Raine 4/6, Ethan Rowe 3/6, Sasha Kerbel 3/6, David Collyer 2/6
Northern:
Under 7 girls: Catherine Lv 3.5/6, Olivia Chen 3/6
Under 8 boys: Rion Ray 5/6
Under 9 boys: Noor Datoo 3/6
Under 9 girls: Lindsay Pyun 4.5/6
Under 10 boys: Lucian Cox 4.5/6
Under 11 boys: Jason Lv 5.5/6 (and the winner!) Daniel Chen 4/6, Anirudh Khandikattu 3/6
Under 13s: Toby Cox 5/6 (and the winner!) Molly Kotecha 4/6 (and top girl)
Under 15s - under 18s: Ben Cox 2.5/6

BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
And the following players were among those at the recent British Championships:
Under 8 section: Rion Ray 3/6
Under 12 section: Lucian Cox 2/7
Under 14 section Toby Cox 3.5/7
Under 16 section Ben Cox 2/7
And to make it a family affair Lucian, Toby, and Ben were also joined by their father, David Cox, who many of you will know. He played in the Under 120 graded section and scored a very respectable 2/5
All scores from all sections at the British Championships can be vie
wed here.

Congratulations to all these players for doing so well, and for any players who have now progressed to the
​Terafinal or the Challengers sections of the UK Chess Challenge taking place in September may we wish you lots of luck in your games.
​
28/06/2018

NSCA Charity Congress and Grand Prix

Congratulations to everybody who took part in this years Charity tournament, held at Our Lady's Catholic Primary School in Wellingborough on Saturday 23rd June 2018.
Photos of some of the winners can be seen here, whilst all the scores for the day can be viewed here.
​
This years chosen charity was the local Hannah Payne Group of the
Riding for the Disabled Association, based in Mears Ashby.

You can find out more about this wonderful charity through the following link here.

This was also the last tournament in this seasons NSCA Grand Prix.
Photos of some of those winners can be seen here, whilst the final updated leaderboard is available here.
​
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