News
First GP tournament of the 2016-17 season at the Judd school
Thanks to all the young chess players and accompanying parents and carers for coming along to our first GP tournament of the 2016-17 season.
It was held at the Judd School in Tonbridge on Sunday 20th September. It was very well attended, with over 100 players across all age groups which resulted in some great chess matches at all levels..
This event is also a London Junior qualifier for those in the U8, U10 and U12 sections. Players who achieved 4.5 points or more in the U10 and U12 qualify for the major finals whilst those getting 3.5 or 4 qualify for the minor. In the U8 section those gaining 4 points qualify. The London Junior Chess Championship finals are held in Harrow, London in December.
The top three in each section were:
U8: 1st Roxolana Chaban 6/6), 2nd equal with 4/6 Ismail Longia-Zaidi, Yifan Luo, Xirui Mao, William Shoben, Joshua Moisey and Max Bell.
U10: 1st Eoin Moore (5.5/6), 2nd equal (5/6) Stakhey Sedykh, Samuel Beukes and Theo Lawson.
U12: 1st Shreyas Royal (6/6), 2nd equal James Merriman, Shlok Verma,, Elizabeth Johnson and and Logan Fear (4.5/6)
U14 (merged with the U18s): 1st Alexander Levin (3.5/5), 2nd Orla Dorman (3/5 ) joint 3rd Ben Barton and Thomas Crawley-Boevey (2.5/5)
U18: 1st equal Andrew Ng Chen Lock and Ximan Mao (4.5/5), 3rd Aditya Verma (4/5)
The best scoring primary school on the day (top three raw scores from pupils at that school) was Warren Road and the best scoring secondary school was St Olaves' Grammar.
For more photos of the prize-winners go to the KJCA facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/kentjuniorchess/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE
Well done to everyone who played, from experienced county players to those at their first chess tournament. We hope you all enjoyed the day and look forward to welcoming you to more of our tournaments throughout the season.
A big thank you to all the organisers and volunteers who ensured that the day ran smoothly. Also thanks to GM Chris Ward and GM John Emms for coming along to watch and support all the young chess players.
Remember, we are always keen for parents and carers to get involved with our successful events, so if you think you can help in any way, please do get in touch. You can contact us via webmaster@kjca.org
Also thanks to The Judd School for the use of their school, it is a lovely venue and ideal for our tournaments.
The next tournament, GP2, will be held on Sunday October 16th at Skinners' School in Tunbridge Wells. Early registration helps with ensuring the day runs smoothly so please go to the event page at http://www.kjca.org/event/140 to register as soon as you can.
Institute of Chess Coaching Days 2016-17 - Coaching Day Two this Sunday 6th Nov at Sevenoaks Primary
Just a quick reminder that Coaching Day two is this Sunday, 6th November, at Sevenoaks Primary School.
We hope everyone is ready for learning lots of chess techniques and having some fun.
If you would like to know more about the Institute of chess coaching that we offer, please look at the details on our training page and the FAQ's that have been answered by our chief coach, GM Chris Ward: http://www.kjca.org/site/page?view=training
There is still time if you would like to register for this or our future training days this season.
Please go to: http://www.kjca.org/event/143 or contact us on webmaster@kjca.org to confirm that you would like to come along.
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Welcome to or welcome back to(!) the chess coaching days at the KJCA that I can tell you are the envy all the other counties around the country and are clearly a contributing factor to our national success. To start, please be sure to carefully read the training FAQs that you will find under the ‘training’ tab at the top of this page.
The date for this season are as follows:
Day 1: Sunday 2nd October 2016 - Sevenoaks Primary School
Bradbourne Park Road, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 3LB
Day 2: Sunday 6th November 2016 - Sevenoaks Primary School
Bradbourne Park Road, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 3LB
Day 3: Sunday 8th January 2017 - Barming Primary School
Belmont Close, Barming, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 9DY
Day 4: Sunday 19th February 2017 - Sevenoaks Primary School
Bradbourne Park Road, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 3LB
IMPORTANT is that when enrolling your child (via the ‘events’ page), you ensure that you are registering for the correct sessions. For the 4 day courses (Levels 3-5) your fee will cover you for all of those days (plus the exam at the end) and we recommend you attend preferably all, but at least 3 of the 4 in order to maximise your understanding and give yourself the best chance to get a good result.
Provided you (i.e. your son or daughter) achieved a merit or distinction at the previous level you sat, we are happy for you to move up and hence register for the next level. If you obtained a ‘pass’ at any level, then clearly there are good things that have been taken on board but we recommend that you re-take that course to help you get to grips with all of the topics involved. Moving up ‘too soon’ only leads to further problems down the line and it really isn’t fun when too much material is going over a child’s head. Please note it is not a race to see who can get through all the exams as quickly as possible and rather all about discovering and understanding different aspects of the game that can be applied when they sit down and play their matches.
We really want our coaching days to be fun but by the same token we don’t want anyone spending a day listening to things that they already totally understand. Specifically, with regards to levels 1 and 2 and new arrivals to the coaching days, boys and girls will be assessed on the first morning of attendance to check they are in an appropriate group. When registering you will see that as levels 1 and 2 are only two day courses (with exams sat at the end of CD2 and CD4), you have a choice of permutations to attend. If your child is a beginner but you feel may be a quick learner and were hoping to join level 3 next season, then for example level 1 in CDs 1 and 2 with the intention of doing level 2 in CDs 3 and 4 makes sense.
Young children will have adult assistance when taking tests and although there will be an alternative exam date or two laid on for those unable to attend CD4, whatever the level there is absolutely no compulsion to take an exam should a child feel unprepared or anxious.
If I could just kindly ask that you don’t leave it too late to enrol as that makes my life easier when obtaining the other coaches. That aside hope to see you all soon!
Grandmaster Chris Ward
Fun at the Friends & Family Tournament
The KJCA Friends & Family tournament was held on Sunday 11th September at Sevenoaks Primary School.
Hosted by GM Chris Ward, the event attracted several parents, first-time and experienced young players and even encouraged the Sevenoaks Town Mayor, Andrew Eyre and the Town Clerk, Linda Larter, to come along and try out their chess skills.
With five rounds of chess and the pairings arranged by GM Chris, there was a mixture of tense battles, fun games and inter-generational clashes.
This event is a team effort – with the best ‘adult’ score (age 14 and over) added to the best junior score (under 14). Teams were competing for the prestigious KJCA Friends & Family trophy which goes back over twenty years. Chris also gave out some individual prizes for a variety of achievements throughout the day.
To add to the excitement, the final round also included a four-board simul with the highest graded players – Ximan Mao, Mikey Watson, Jacob Watson and Patrick Burns pitting their chess knowledge against the outstanding skills of GM John Emms.
The best scoring junior on the day was Mikey Watson with 4.5/5
The best scoring adult was Jenny Dorman with 4/5
There was close competition for the overall trophy but the best team and winners of the Friends & Family trophy for 2016 was the ‘Watson Wizards’ with a score of 8 out of 10 and just beating the ‘Dormanators’ on the final tie-break.
For more photographs of the day, please visit our KJCA facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/kentjuniorchess/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a fun opener to the KJCA chess season.
The juniors all enjoyed both the chess and the football and fun in-between rounds and, hopefully, the adults were inspired to get more involved and play chess more often. Thanks also to our Sevenoaks Town council guests Andrew Eyre and Linda Larter for getting involved.
Finally thanks to GM Chris Ward for expertly hosting the tournament and GM John Emms for playing the simul. Also to all our KJCA volunteers who ensure that events and tournaments can go ahead and that the day goes well …. despite the afternoon appearance of Sevenoaks orchestra J The lunch was organised by Jo Wildman, with help from Iulia Oprea, Andrew Bruce and Emma Holmes on the day, and Kath Barton delivered the equipment.
Thanks also go to Sevenoaks Primary for use of their venue.
ACES Grand Master Junior Training Day
We aim for small groups of about 10 so that we can dedicate enough attention to everyone, from experienced county players to beginners. Children will be divided in four skill groups according to ECF rating and chess experience.
It is important to place the children in the right skill group to make sure they receive coaching at the appropriate level.
The groups are formed according to the following guidelines:
The top group would be appropriate for children who regularly play at county and national level, in junior and adult events, with a rating generally above ECF 120
The second group is for children who play tournament chess regularly at county level with the occasional foray into national and adult events, with a rating between ECF 80 and ECF 120.
The third group is reserved for children who have started playing tournament chess or are about to; they would already know all the moves and have a sound understanding of basic tactics and endgames. Their rating is usually in the range between 40 and 80 ECF.
Finally, our fourth group is for children who are learning to play chess and need help to refresh and understand basic tactics, endgame play and opening principles.
Please make sure you inform us of your child chess rating or experience when booking.
2015-16 GP tables and season winners
The 2015-16 season has been fun and exciting, with a record number of children participating in the KJCA tournaments throughout the season.
Congratulations to the leaders of the GP tables for this season. They all played consistently good chess and gained success throughout the season, the winners of each sections were:
U9: James Merriman, U11: Charlie Metcalfe, U14: Anantha Anilkumar and U18: Andrew Ng Chen Lok. The winning primary school was Claremont Primary and winning secondary school, St Olave’s Grammar
Full GP tables can be found on: http://www.kjca.org/site/page?view=GPTables
As GP8 was the season final, there were also trophies for those with the highest overall GP score in each age group and loyalty awards for those players attending all the tournaments throughout the year.
Other young players got well-deserved chess medals and we hope that everyone enjoyed the day and was inspired to continue playing in the Kent junior chess tournaments.
If you would like to see more photos please go to our facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/kentjuniorchess/
Please remember that KJCA is run by volunteers to ensure all our children enjoy local chess tournaments, coaching days and opportunities to represent Kent and play in national competition.
We are always looking for more help, particularly with catering, equipment and setting up tournaments. If you would like to get involved, please do contact jowildman@hotmail.com, or speak to one of the helpers at the next event, and we can chat about how you can be part of our team.
The 2016-17 season beings in September 2016 with both a fun ‘friends & family’ event and GP1. As soon as the details are confirmed the events will be uploaded onto the website for registration.
Wishing all our young chess players and their families a great summer and lots of luck to any of the Kent juniors who are participating in national chess events over the summer, we look forward to reporting on future successes.
GP8 at Newstead Woods
GP8, the 2015-16 season final, was held at Newstead Woods school on Sunday 12th June 2016.
More than 120 players attending the event and a big thank you to everyone who came along and made it a great day. GP8 is both a stand-alone event and the last tournament of the season, with results going towards the overall GP tables for the 2015-16 season.
On the day the winners for GP8 were as follows:
U9: 1st Nour Ajili (6/6), 2nd equal Ishaan Arya, Lucas Downing, Danny Oprea and Harry Chadhury (5/6)
U11: 1st equal Kimball Catling and Arthur Chikovsky (5/6) 3rd Kyle Karaman (4.5/6)
U14: 1st Alexander Levin (5/5), 2nd equal Theo Lawson and Logan Fear (4/5)
U18: 1st equal Anantha Anilkumar, Viktor Jamroz, Andrew Ng Chen Lok and Rajeiv Ratnesan (3.5/5)
The best scoring primary school on the day (top three raw scores from pupils at that school) was The Pointers School and the best scoring secondary school was St Olave’s grammar. To see all the results and crosstabs from the day go to: http://www.kjca.org/result/121
Well done to everyone who played, it was great to see everyone enjoying their chess and having a fun day with their friends.
A big thank you to all the organisers and volunteers who ensured that the day ran smoothly and to Newstead Woods school for the venue.
Breaking News - Success for Kent Juniors at the European Schools' Chess Championships 2016
Congratulations to Kent juniors, Shreyas Royal, Shlok Verma and Charlie Metcalfe for their fantastic results at the European Schools Chess Championships 2016 held in Halkidiki, Greece over the last ten days.
The championships finished today (Saturday 25th June) and the three Kent players did very well.
In the U7 boys section, Shreyas achieved overall second place and a silver trophy with a very impressive score of 7/9
Shlok played in the same section and came 5th overall with 5.5/9.
Charlie played in the U11 boys section and finished with a strong 4.5/9.
These are fantastic results for all three players at their first international tournament representing England Juniors.
Also, well done to all the young chess players representing England from different parts of the country, to the coaches who travelled with the team and also to Simon Metcalfe for all his hard work as Head of Delegation.
More details to follow when Simon and the boys return from Greece.
GP7 at Bromley High School
GP7 was held at Bromley High School on Sunday 15th May 2016. A big thanks to all players, parents and carers who came along.
The top three in each section were as follows:
U9: 1st Aleksander Gos (6/6), 2nd equal Harry Saddington, Herb Balaam, Dmitry Belousov and Edward Ellam (5/6)
U11: 1st Jack Chaudhury (5.5/6) 2nd Suriya Velayudham (5/6), 3rd Stakhey Sedykh, (4.5/6)
U14: 1st Ciaran Brightley-Davies (5/5), 2nd equal Viktor Jamroz, James Merriman and Logan Fear (4/5)
U18: 1st Jacob Watson (4/5), 2nd equal Aurideep Nayak and Andrew Ng (3/5)
The best scoring primary school on the day (top three raw scores from pupils at that school) was The Pointers School and the best scoring secondary school was Knole Academy. To see all the results and crosstabs from the day go
If you would like to see more photos of our prizewinners, please see our facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/kentjuniorchess/
Well done to everyone who played, it was great to see everyone enjoying their chess and having a fun day with their friends.
A big thank you to all the organisers and volunteers who ensured that the day ran smoothly and especially to Bromley High School, a great new venue for KJCA.
Our next Grand Prix, GP8 will be held on 12th June at Newstead Woods in Orpington. This event is both a stand-alone tournament, with the usual prizes for each section, and is also the GP Final for the 2015-16 season. If you have been to at least four GPs during the season and also play at the final, you will qualify for an end of season award.
We are expecting large number at GP8, so please enter as early as you can at: http://www.kjca.org/event/121
The 2015-16 season has been fun and exciting so far, and the current leaders of our GP tables (after 7 tournaments) are:
U9: James Merriman
U11: Charlie Metcalfe
U14: Anantha Anilkumar
U18: Alexander Selway
Primary: Claremont Primary
Secondary: St Olave’s Grammar
Full GP tables can be found on: http://www.kjca.org/site/page?view=GPTables
Please remember that KJCA is run by volunteers to ensure all our children enjoy local chess tournaments, coaching days and opportunities to represent Kent and play in national competition.
We are always looking for more help, particularly with catering, equipment and setting up tournaments. If you would like to get involved, please do contact jowildman@hotmail.com, or speak to one of the helpers at the next event, and we can chat about how you can be part of our team.
Looking forward to see you all on 12th June.
Half term grand master chess training camp and IOC exams - Wednesday 1st June
ACES Grand Master Chess training camp
with GM Chris Ward and GM John Emms
Langley Park School for Boys
South Eden Park Road
Beckenham
Kent
BR3 3BP
Wednesday 1st June
10am to 4pm (registration at 9:30am)
GM Chris Ward and GM John Emms, will head a group of four coaches which will work with small groups of children to improve their chess awareness and skill in a fun environment.
We aim for small groups of about 10 so that we can dedicate enough attention to everyone, from experienced county players to beginners. Children will be divided in four skill groups according to ECF rating and chess experience.
This will also be the last chance to take the Institute of Chess exams for those children who have missed the last KJCA training day.
The cost will be £35 per child
There are only 40 spaces available; to reserve a place for your child book online at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/grand-master-junior-chess-training-camp-tickets-25446537278
For any information or query, please e-mail Luca@yukobiba.co.uk or call 07932279446
Venue: Langley Park School for Boys, South Eden Park Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3BP
