JUNIOR CHESS SECTION NEWSLETTER :  SUMMER 2008

The junior section meets during school term times at 6.45pm on Thursdays - just before the senior club starts. The summer term saw nine regular attendees - both boys and girls.

The atmosphere during sessions is relaxed. At the start of a lesson, I often do a bit of "class teaching", or I issue puzzles of varying levels of difficulty. This term Chris Eliadis provided a much appreciated input in that - as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme - he demonstrated various openings using a demonstration board and researched and gave us a number of chess puzzles to have a crack at.

Some of the current juniors will not be able to attend next year due to other commitments, so we need more young people with an interest in chess to join us. A range of different skill levels can be observed at the club, with some members playing to a high standard and showing a lot of promise.

British Land UK Chess Challenge 2008

This is an annual national junior chess competition that takes place in several stages, ”allowing the most inexperienced players to compete in the early stages, yet testing the mettle of the finest at the end." Children from over 2000 schools took part.

Our most recent member, Ben Parslow, having won 5 out of 6 matches in the Under-9 Boys Section of the Surrey Megafinal event in May, took part via his school in the Southern Britain Gigafinal in July at Wellington College in Crowthorne. This time he won 4 out of his 6 matches, and was accordingly awarded a rosette along with his certificate. (See photo.)

CCF Chess Challenge 2008

This is a more local event (mostly Surrey/Kent competitors) run along similar lines to the above by Coulsdon Chess Fellowship. The first leg took place at the club during the spring term, with members playing each other.

The winners of each section were then invited to take part in the second leg event at Coulsdon in June. In this, Ben Parslow was awarded a gold medal with 12 out of a possible 15 points in the Boys Under-9 Section. In the Under-11 Boys Section, Lewis Mallett got a silver medal with 11 points. Tharuni Avula got a bronze medal and the Under 13 girl's trophy. The 97 competitors represented age groups ranging from 4 or 5 to 17 .

CCF Champions League First Leg (team-of-4 event). (November 2007)

Only two Woking Junior players - Robin and Lewis - could make this event, so they joined up to form a single team with two players from Wyke Primary. The team did extremely well in a field of 13 teams, being pipped by only one point to first position by St George's College, Weybridge. Robin won all of his games, so shared a cash prize with three others who achieved the same. It's a shame that no-one could make the second leg to continue this great performance.

Woking Junior Section v Prins Willem-Alexander School Friendly Match (spring term)