News
KJCA AGM - Sunday 10th November at Sevenoaks primary school
Kent Junior Chess Association, Annual General Meeting
At: Sevenoaks Primary School, Bradbourne Park Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3LB
We are pleased to announce that the KJCA AGM will be held at 1.30pm on Sunday 10th November 2019. This will be during our coaching day 2 which is being held at Sevenoaks Primary School.
The KJCA is run by a voluntary committee and relies on the dedication of parents and volunteers.
If you are able to give some of your time, even if it is just for a few hours at the various KJCA events, it is very much appreciated and will help us to provide chess opportunities for children and young people.
Please do let us know on secretary@kjca.org or come along to the AGM to find out more.
Dates for your diary: GP Tournament dates for 2019-20 Season
Please see the dates and venues for our KJCA
tournaments for the 2019-20 season.
All at KJCA are looking forward to welcome everyone to all our events throughout the new season and if any parents or carers are keen to get more involved, please do contact us.
GP1: Saturday 28th September, 2019
Tonbridge Grammar School - Deakin Leas, Tonbridge TN9 2JR
GP2: Sunday 27st October 2019
Chislehurst Girls School - Beaverwood Rd, Chislehurst BR7 6HE
GP3: Sunday 17th November 2019
Bullers Wood School - St Nicolas Ln, Logs Hill, Chislehurst BR7 5LJ
GP4: Saturday 11th January 2020
Cornwallis Academy - Hubbards La, Maidstone ME17 4HX
GP5: Sunday 16th February 2020
Sevenoaks School - High St, Sevenoaks TN13 1HU
GP6: Sunday 8th March 2019
Bishop Justus School - Magpie Hall Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 8HZ
GP7: Sunday 26th April 2020
Dulwich College - Dulwich Common, Dulwich SE21 7LD
GP8: Sunday 7th June 2019 (..to
be confirmed)
Bromley High School - Blackbrook Lane, Bromley BR1 2TW
If you feel your school, college or other venue might be able to host future KJCA events please contact us on: secretary@kjca.org or speak to one of our volunteers at our events.
Dates for your diary: KJCA Coaching Days 2019-20
Provided your son or daughter achieved a merit or distinction at the previous level you sat, we are happy for you to move up and 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.
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, and also about a relaxed and fun environment where children can learn and enjoy their chess.
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.
Levels 1 and 2 are two day courses (with exams sat at the end of CD2 and CD4), there will be 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 CD 3 and 4.
We will ensure that the test are accessible to all that want to take them and appropriate adult assistance will be available, however there is absolutely no compulsion to take an exam should a child feel unprepared or anxious.
Our coaching team are all looking forward to more successful Coaching Days and welcome lots of young chess players.
See you all soon
Grandmaster Chris Ward
GP7 at Chislehurst girls' school on Sunday 14th April
It was great to see everyone at GP7 which was held at Chislehurst Girls’ school on Sunday 14th April 2019. We hope everyone enjoyed both some great chess games and spending time with your friends.
The prizewinners in each
section were:
U9:
1st
George Crawford (5.5 / 6), there were three players on 5/6 so we had to use
the buchholz tie-break method (sum of opponent’s scores) to determine placings
as follows: 2nd Tarun Ganesh, 3rd Lucas
Oprea and in 4th place
just missing the trophy was Robert
Welensky
U11:
In this section there was some strong chess matches played which resulted in four
players getting a fantastic 5/6. Again using the buchholz tie-break method the
placings were: 1st Aryan Gohil, 2nd Florian Brasch, 3rd Owen
Xu and 4th Karl Peters.
The
U18 Minor and Major sections were combined on this occasion. However, prizes were awarded separately as
follows:
U18 Minor: Equal first – Thomas Crawley-Boevey, Yifan Luo and Andrew McCleod. (4/5)
U18
Major: Equal first - Jacob Watson and Mikey Watson (4.5/5)
The best overall primary school (top 3 GP scores from pupils of that school) was Eltham College junior and the best overall secondary school (top 3 GP scores from pupils of that school) was St Olaves. To see the full crosstables, please go to: http://www.kjca.org/result/194
Well done to all the young chess players who came along, from experienced county players to those at their first chess tournament.
It takes a lot of work and willing volunteers to organise a large and successful chess tournament.
Thanks go to Jo Wildman (ECF NA) for running
the tournament director and arbiting. Also thank to Ganesh Swaminathan, Ben Luo, Patrick Burns and Deepak More for support
and arbiting in the playing halls.
Also working both before and at the event to ensure we could run a successful tournament were: Kathryn Woodward for liaising with the venue, helping with registration and bringing the catering supplies, Robert Hackman for storing and bringing along the equipment, Ilga Leimanis for organising and ordering the trophies and medals and Sumitra Varma for her technical help with the website and the online registration.
We also much appreciate everyone who helped on the catering stall throughout the day. All those that take the time to do a shift are vital to ensure we can continue to provide drinks and refreshments at these events.
KJCA is run by volunteers to develop chess opportunities for children and young people in Kent and South East London.
Our work to support junior
chess is only possible due to our volunteer helpers. Please do consider offering some help by speaking
to one of the team at our tournaments or contact us via webmaster@kjca.org or
directly to Jo Wildman, current chair of the committee, on
jowildman@hotmail.com or 07583337307.
Finally,
thanks go to Chislehurst Girls’ school for use of the fantastic venue
and facilities and to their caretaker
for all his help on the day.
Kent Juniors play in game against Wood Green Grandmasters
Well done to Kent Juniors, Aditya Verma, Mikey Watson, Shreyas Royal, Jacob Watson, Shlok Verma, Denis Dupuis, Stakhey Sedykh and Nour Ajili who all represented Battersea in a one-off chess match against, Wood Green, the best team in the London league and probably in the country.
Wood Green are made up of all GM, IM and FM titled players so it was a fantastic opportunity for all the young players.
Thanks to all at Battersea chess club for organising and also to all the Wood Green team for playing, inspiring and supporting the juniors.
For futher details of the match go to:
KENT U11 team - EPSCA National Champions for the second year running
Congratulations to all the Kent U11 team for winning the EPSCA 2019 EPSCA U11 Finals and becoming the National Champions for the second year running.
The finals were held in Birmingham on Saturday 30th March. Most of the team travelled together on the train in the morning. Sixteen teams from across the country qualified for the finals and the competition was expected to be tough. Last year Kent had won the event on tie break after finishing on equal points with Richmond and we expected another very close event throughout the day.
The day started well with Kent scoring 17 points from 20 in the first round ending in equal position with Richmond, with Oxfordshire third on 16 points.
The team pushed on with a strong 16.5 points in the second round. Going into the last round Kent were leading Richmond in second place by one and half points. What was interesting about the second round was that the Kent team lost 3 games at the start of the round and then went on a fantastic run in the final 17 games dropping only 1 draw
Momentum continued into the final round with Kent wins gaining the team 18 from the first 19 points and then losing the final game to finish on a marvelous 18/20. The other leading teams could not match this final round burst and final scores were 1) Kent 51.5/60 2) Richmond 48/60 3) Oxfordshire 44.5/60
The reserve team played alongside the main team event playing some great chess to win the reserve tournament with a score of 11/12 across four players in a very convincing performance.
The full team were Shreyas Royal, James Merriman, Shlok Verma, Dennis Dupuis, Stakhey Sedykh, Lev Mann, Mateusz Bazan, Raghav Vaiyda, Roxolana Chaban, Artemiy Shkuratovskyi,Nour Ajili, Ismail Longia- Zaidi,Shaurya Mehta , Aneesh Sagar, Oli Garett, Xirui Mao, Amit Aryan Sankha,Yifan Luo, Teo Saunders, Rohan Pasari, Roshan Rao, Makariy Shkuratovskyi ,Arman Tengayev and Ankit Gaekwad.
Many thanks to GM Chris Ward and GM John Emms and to our team manager John Merriman for their coaching, guidance and support throughout this season.
We also appreciate the efforts from all the parents and carers, who brought the children along to both the zonal and the final competitions and continuously support their chess.
Winning this national event two years consecutively is a great achievement for Kent Junior Chess and the future for these promising young players looks bright. Well done to everyone.
For full results go to http://www.oxfordfusion.com/epsca/
Success for Kent U18 and U14 teams at the SCCU Jamboree
The Kent U14 and U18 teams competed in the recent SCCU Janboree which was held at Barnet on Sunday 17th March.
Kent Girls U11 team at the National Finals
Congratulations to the Kent U11 Girls’ team that played in the EPSCA Inter County Finals on 23 March 2019 at Grace Academy in Solihull.
New club for 11-18 year olds - Wednesdays at House in the Basement, Stag theatre, Sevenoaks
A new chess club, aimed at 11-18 year olds, will be held at House in the Basement, Stag theatre, Sevenoaks on a Wednesday evening from 5-7pm.This venture is being supported by Sevenoaks town council and youth council. Jacob is organising and there will be some coaching, games and socialising. He may also be running the uk chess challenge first round competition, depending on demand. Just turn up on the evening or contact on: jacob11watson@gmail.com
Kent U9 Team take second place at the ESPCA East Zonal
Well done to all our the U9 team for a great second place in the EPSCA East Zonal 2019.
Some great results and quality chess from our young team, all of whom contributed to the overall scores.
Also a big thanks to team manager Ben Luo and coach GM Chris Ward for their work and inspiration throughout the day.
Thanks also go to all the parents and carers for taking their kids to the event and their continued support to help them enjoy and develop their chess.
The zonal was organised by Barnet and hosted by Richmond, and all their work to make the event happen is much appreciated.