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            

It was great to see everyone at GP7 which was held at Chislehurst Girls’ school on Sunday 14^th April 2019. We hope everyone enjoyed both some great chess games and spending time with your friends. 

The prizewinners in each section were:

U9:  1^st 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: 2^nd  Tarun Ganesh, 3^rd Lucas Oprea  and in 4^th 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: 1^st Aryan Gohil,  2^nd Florian Brasch, 3^rd Owen Xu and 4^th 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.  

For futher details of the match go to:  

https://www.batterseachessclub.org.uk/last-night-we-did-something-special-our-kids-made-8-grandmasters-cry/?fbclid=IwAR1IlIVJCyu3M1P1vhnvVbSkYgeW1EA2Olrv1Wgkt_sI4DtyXn17GgK9vIE