The English Primary Schools’ Chess Association (EPSCA) exists “to advance the education of primary school aged children by teaching, supervising and developing the playing of chess by those children.”
EPSCA holds three annual team championships for member associations – Under 9, Under 11, and Girls Under 11.
The U9 Championship is for teams of 12, plus 4 reserves. There are two stages; regional heats (known as zones), followed by the final. To prepare the players, Sussex U9s usually compete in a home counties match kindly organised by EPSCA’s Nigel Dennis, before the zonal stage.
National Final – 23rd April 2016 – Nottingham
South Zone – 12th February 2016 – Leatherhead
7-Team Match – 7th February 2016 – Newbury
4-Counties Match – 10th January 2016 – Twyford
National Final – 23rd April 2016 – Nottingham
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Kent | 10 | 11 | 12 | 33 |
| Barnet | 10½ | 9½ | 9½ | 29½ |
| Sussex | 7½ | 9½ | 9½ | 26½ |
| Hertfordshire | 8½ | 6 | 10 | 24½ |
| Wey Valley | 7½ | 10 | 5 | 22½ |
| Cambridgeshire | 8½ | 7 | 7 | 22½ |
| Lancashire | 6½ | 5 | 5½ | 17 |
| Nottinghamshire | 8½ | 4 | 4 | 16½ |
| Bucks | 5½ | 5 | 5 | 15½ |
| Richmond | 4½ | 6 | 4½ | 15 |
| Glamorgan | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| Berkshire | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| Somerset | 5 | 6½ | 2½ | 14 |
| Northamptonshire | 3½ | 6 | 4 | 13½ |
| Manchester | 2 | 3½ | 8 | 13½ |
| Cheshire and North Wales | 4 | 3 | 1½ | 8½ |
| Tameside | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
The Team:
Matthew Armstrong, Joshua Bee, Torrin Bell, Stevie Clark, Ben Crosby, Elena Currah, Adam Faulkner, Timmy Hedger, Abhi Jadav, Sanjana Karthikeyan, Arjun Kolani, Henry Laurillard, Joseph Leake, Maya McMahon, Solomon Mitchell, Sophie Rees
Report:
After two practice matches and the Southern zonal here we were at the national finals! Several players and parents had travelled up the night before, and many had enjoyed a team meal and chess at one of the local hotels. Others (including your reporter) travelled up on the day and seemed to have a fairly trouble-free journey. The team looked ready and raring to go…
Round 1 saw some unexpected reverses on the higher boards, where we only scored 3/7. From there down we only conceded half a point, so boards 8-12 came to the rescue with some excellent performances. Matthew was particularly unlucky to lose a king and pawn endgame after a terrific fight with his opponent, and Solomon was unlucky enough to come up against Kent who were to prove to be the form team of the day. Torrin, Joseph and Abhi all played very well for their wins, and Elena took down her dangerous Wey Valley opponent after a long game and time scramble at the death. The rising star reserve boards started strongly, with 3/4 overall.
7.5 points from the first round put us 6th (which is where we finished the final last year) but the team were determined to do better and Round 2 was the easiest on paper. We stormed back into contention with 9.5 in this round, despite a rare loss for captain Arjun on board 1. Adam played very maturely to push his opponent off the board, and Ben calmly swapped down material into a winning endgame. Timmy turned an equal position into a win in the blink of an eye. Maya was the beneficiary of a bye in this round and the next due to opposing team absences, but beat her ‘bye opponents’ as well to be the first team member to reach 3/3. By the end of the round we had moved up to 4th place and hot on the heels of a podium finish.
It was the final round, and on paper these were the hardest pairings. The team did superbly therefore to score 9.5 again! Arjun returned to winning ways, Matthew deservedly picked up a win after some rotten luck in earlier rounds, and Joshua smoothly converted his advantage as well. Joseph lured his Wey Valley opponent into a miracle stalemate and confounded my gloomy assessment of his chances! Abhi played excellently against his strong Kent opponent and was very close to a draw but just lost out. Congratulations to Elena, Torrin, Maya, Stevie and Henry who all finished the day with 3/3, the latter two picking up medals for the reserve competition. In fact the girls did superbly all day, scoring a combined total of 13/15!
When the dust cleared we had comfortably made in up to the bronze medal position with a total of 26.5 overall. Congratulations to the winners Kent, with a stunning 33/36 including a clean sweep in the final round, and also to Barnet who came second. Special mention to Tameside, our ‘team room neighbours’ who shrugged off 1/24 in the first two rounds to post several wins in the last round to do themselves proud.
Many thanks to Jonathan as ever for his support and help throughout the season, Gary McCulloch and Andy Mitchell for board stewarding on the day, and to all the parents for their support and patience. Next year I will pass on the mantle of Team Manager to someone else, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my two years looking after the team and wish it every success in 2017. Well done to all the players who have represented Sussex this year, and best of luck next time in either this team or the U11s.
Anthony Higgs
South Zone – 12th February 2016 – Leatherhead
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|
Sussex |
8 |
11 |
9½ |
28½ |
| Wey Valley |
11 |
6 |
10½ |
27½ |
| Bucks |
7½ |
7 |
8 |
22½ |
| Somerset |
6 |
6 |
5½ |
17½ |
| Glamorgan |
5½ |
7 |
4½ |
17 |
| Berkshire |
5½ |
6 |
5 |
16½ |
| Oxfordshire |
4½ |
4 |
5½ |
14 |
| Gwent |
3½ |
5 |
2 |
10½ |
| Wiltshire |
2½ |
2 |
3½ |
8 |
The Team:
Matthew Armstrong, Joshua Bee, Stevie Clark, Ben Crosby, Elena Currah, Adam Faulkner, Timmy Hedger, Abhi Jadav, Sanjana Karthikeyan, Arjun Kolani, Henry Laurillard, Joseph Leake, Nicky Magrin, Maya McMahon, Solomon Mitchell, Sophie Rees, Torrin Whiting
Report:
Following our successful matches at Twyford and Newbury, the boys and girls were back together in a single team for the Leatherhead zonal. Captain Arjun and board 2 Solomon returned to the team for this match ensuring we would be at full strength.
Round 1 saw us score 8/12 on the main boards, and 3/5 on the “rising star” reserve boards. There were plenty of clinical victories higher up, but we stuttered a bit lower down with a couple of games going against us due to a lack of castling! Elena zoomed out of the blocks quickly with a fast win, and Torrin and Ben completed smooth wins as well.
Wey Valley, always dangerous opposition, had outscored us in round 1 so we needed to come back strongly, which we did with a vengeance in round 2, scoring 11/12 and moving into the lead. Adam, Joshua and Abhi recovered from losses in round 1 to score wins, Solomon and Matthew both won games with strange material balances, and Joseph played calmly to notch up another win.
With one round to go we were 2 points ahead of Wey Valley. As the third round progressed they edged closer to us as both teams scored plenty of wins. Our top five boards all completed 3/3 for the day, and crucially Joshua held his Wey Valley opponent to a draw to keep them at bay. Finally it was down to Arjun, who calmly beat his opponent to hand us victory by a single point! The reserves also did well, with Stevie finishing on 3/3 and Nicky picking up his first win.
So a win for the team and we retain the Southern Zonal trophy we won last year! We qualify for the final and will face the final showdown in Nottingham at the end of April. Many thanks to Andy Mitchell for his board stewarding, and to all the parents for constant encouragement. Thanks to the organisers as ever, and well done to Wey Valley for such an excellent contest between us!
Anthony Higgs
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7-Team Match – 7th February 2016 – Newbury
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|
Sussex Kings |
8½ | 7½ | 9 | 25 |
| Bucks | 8 | 7 | 9 | 24 |
| Barnet | 7½ | 7½ | 6½ | 21½ |
| Maidenhead | 7 | 9 | 5 | 21 |
|
Sussex Queens |
3 | 7 | 5½ | 15½ |
| Wilts | 4½ | 2½ | 2½ | 9½ |
| Oxon | 3½ | 1½ | 4½ | 9½ |
The Teams:
Sussex Kings:
Matthew Armstrong, Joshua Bee, Stevie Clark, Ben Crosby, Adam Faulkner, Timmy Hedger, Abhi Jadav, Laurie Kendall, George Koumellis, Henry Laurillard, Joseph Leake, Nicky Magrin, James Robertson
Sussex Queens:
Emily Bensley, Elena Currah, Lucy Hopkirk, Sanjana Karthikeyan, Charlotte Kay, Maya McMahon, Isobel Merry-Dungey, Lara Nunns, Ruby Rayment, Amelie Rees, Sophie Rees, Torrin Whiting
Report:
Following a successful match in Twyford, Sussex travelled to deepest Newbury for the second of the two friendly matches prior to the big zonal in Leatherhead next month. Once again we were proud to be able to field an entire team of U9 girls, and the Sussex Queens were boosted by the arrival of Cassie Graham to lead them into the fray! The boys were without Arjun and Solomon, which meant everyone was playing up a couple of boards relative to Twyford.
Round 1 saw a strong start from the Sussex Kings (the boys) with 8.5 points, just nudging into the lead. I was pleased to see several players taking their time over their moves, notably Henry, Laurie and Ben. In fact Ben used so much he had to take a draw when short of time! Joseph’s steady play netted him queen for rook and a straightforward conversion, whilst James mated his opponent quickly. The girls were still trying to find their range in the first round, but Elena and Torrin made an excellent start on the top two boards with wins, Charlotte joining them on board 9. One of the perils of entering two teams is that there will be some pairings between them, and Joshua vs Sanjana on board 4 was a fantastic game by both players where Joshua eventually emerged the winner after defending his kingside from Sanjana’s excellent sacrificial attack.
In round 2 the Queens came storming back, scoring 7 points in the round with wins for all top 5 boards! The inter-Sussex games were interesting again, with Laurie and Emily having a see-saw battle that ended in stalemate, whilst Abhi looked on for a win against Maya before being foiled by a devilish queen sacrifice that turned the tables. Up on top board for the Kings Timmy played a very mature game, winning material and swapping down to an easy endgame. Adam also had a good position but his opponent’s queen invaded and forced perpetual check.
In the final round several players picked up their first wins, well done to Ruby, Izzy, Lara, Matthew, Adam and Stevie. The Kings finished strongly with 9 points in this round and emerged winners by a single point from Bucks in 2nd and Barnet in 3rd. The Queens finished 5th with a total of 15.5. Particularly well done to Timmy and Torrin who scored 3/3 on much higher boards than they have played before in these matches. Apparently there may now be a trophy presented for this event so the Kings may even have won some silverware!
Well done to everyone who has participated at Newbury and at Twyford. I will now have the tricky job of selecting a team for the zonal and final, a tough ask when so many Sussex players have done so well. Thanks to Jonathan as always for running the team room and particular thanks to Cassie for looking after the girls.
Anthony Higgs
4-Counties Match – 10th January 2016 – Twyford
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Sussex | 10 | 11 | 6½ | 27½ |
| Hertfordshire | 5 | 6 | 5½ | 16½ |
| Maidenhead | 2 | 4½ | 7½ | 14 |
| Bucks | 7 | 2½ | 4½ | 14 |
The Team:
Matthew Armstrong, Joshua Bee, Stevie Clark, Ben Crosby, Elena Currah, Adam Faulkner, Timmy Hedger, Abhi Jadav, Laurie Kendall, Arjun Kolani, George Koumellis, Joseph Leake, Nicky Magrin, Maya McMahon, Solomon Mitchell, Amelie Rees, Sophie Rees, James Robertson, Torrin Whiting
Report:
Another season begins for the Sussex U9 squad, and we were back at Twyford facing three other teams (Herts, Bucks and Maidenhead) looking to start off well. We welcomed back several veterans of last year’s competition and said hello to plenty of new faces as well. The lower boards were rotated as usual throughout the three rounds to give everyone a chance in the top 12, and everyone seemed keen and eager to play some chess at last after the long Christmas break!
Sussex got off to a flyer in round 1, scoring 16/18 across all of the games. Adam and Maya both dealt with attacks on their f7 squares easily and won material, whilst Sophie’s solid play was rewarded when her opponent blundered into some winning tactics. James finished nicely with a double checkmate and George won a nice ending. On board 4 Matthew fought back from a very difficult position in a marathon endgame and was the last to finish.
Round 2 saw the arrival of Ben, who had been held up on the motorway with a burst tyre! He quickly put that behind him with a win, one of several for Sussex in another strong round in which we scored 15.5/18. Timmy showed a lot of patience in converting his nagging advantage into a win, and Arjun’s board 1 opponent self-destructed very early to give our captain yet another point. Solomon had an interesting game against the French which he finished nicely, and Torrin had another good win. Best of all (and the game of the day for me) was Joshua’s fantastic attack in which he sacrificed a rook and succeeded in breaking through after some equally excellent defence by his opponent.
In round 3 we tired a bit and scored 12.5, still a very good score but the journey was catching up with us! Several players completed a personal score of 3/3, well done to Arjun, Solomon, Timmy, Adam, Abhi, Sophie, Joshua, James, Laurie and Maya. Everyone scored at least one win. Overall Sussex won convincingly with 27.5 on the top twelve boards, followed by Herts with 16.5 and Bucks/Maidenhead both with 14.
Now we look forward to the next match in Newbury where Sussex enter two teams and where we hope to repeat last year’s feat of fielding an all-girl U9 team.
Anthony Higgs