EPSCA U9 County Championship
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.
24th April – U9 Final, Nottingham
11th March – U9 South Zone, Thatcham, Berks
U9 Boys vs U11 Girls Friendly – 4th March, Bexhill
6-Counties Match – 5th February 2017 – Newbury
4-Counties Match – 14th January 2017 – Twyford
24th April – U9 Final, Nottingham
Headline Results:
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent | 11 | 11 | 12 | 34 |
| 2 | Wey Valley | 9½ | 10 | 7½ | 27 |
| 3 | Warwickshire | 8 | 7½ | 9 | 24.5 |
| = | Richmond | 8½ | 9 | 7 | 24.5 |
| 5 | Barnet | 9½ | 6 | 8 | 23.5 |
| = | Oxfordshire | 10 | 7 | 6½ | 23.5 |
| 7 | Essex | 6½ | 8 | 8 | 22.5 |
| 8 | Hertfordshire | 6 | 9 | 7½ | 22.5 |
| 9 | Cambridgeshire | 7 | 7½ | 6 | 20.5 |
| 10 | Sussex | 7 | 4 | 8 | 19 |
| 11 | Berkshire | 5 | 6 | 4½ | 15.5 |
| 12 | Buckinghamshire | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 |
| 13 | Oldham | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 14 | Somerset | 3½ | 2 | 4½ | 10 |
| 15 | Nottinghamshire | 1½ | 6 | 2 | 9.5 |
| = | Wirral | 3½ | 3 | 3 | 9.5 |
| 17 | Cheshire & North Wales | 2½ | 3 | 2½ | 8 |
| 18 | Manchester | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
The Sussex Squad:
Matthew Armstrong, Sophia Blin, Rafe Chapman, Elena Currah, Adam Faulkner, Timmy Hedger, Abhi Jadav, Laurie Kendall, Tom Kindell, George Koumellis, Henry Laurillard, Amelie Rees, James Robertson
Report:
To follow
11th March – U9 South Zone, Thatcham, Berks
Headline Results:
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oxfordshire | 10 | 9 | 8.5 | 27.5 |
| 2 | Sussex | 9 | 10 | 7.5 | 26.5 |
| 3 | Berkshire | 6.5 | 8.5 | 8 | 23 |
| 4 | Wey Valley | 9 | 7 | 6.5 | 22.5 |
| 5 | Buckinghamshire | 6 | 4 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | Somerset | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| 7 | Wiltshire | 4 | 5.5 | 4 | 13.5 |
| 8 | Gwent | 3 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 10 |
| 9 | Glamorgan | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 10 |
The Sussex Squad:
Matthew Armstrong, Sophia Blin, Rafe Chapman, Elena Currah, Adam Faulkner, Arun Gibbons, Timmy Hedger, Abhi Jadav, Laurie Kendall, Pranav Labroo, Henry Laurillard, Theo Lawson, Toby Ralph, Amelie Rees, James Robertson, Daniel Thackray
Report:
To follow
U9 Boys vs U11 Girls Friendly
Traditionally the Sussex U9 boys have a warm up friendly against our U11 Girls which saw an exciting 18-16 win for the boys. Middle boards proving decisive with a 10-0 success on the top 5 boards for the girls matched by 9.5-0.5 win for the boys on the bottom 5 boards.
| White | Black | White | Black | |||||
| 1 | Elizabeth Finn | 1-0 | Abhi Jadav | 1 | Henry Laurillard | 0-1 | Elizabeth Finn | |
| 2 | Elena Currah | 1-0 | Henry Laurillard | 2 | Abhi Jadav | 0-1 | Elena Currah | |
| 3 | Lauren Manchester | 1-0 | James Robertson | 3 | Arun Gibbons | 0-1 | Lauren Manchester | |
| 4 | Sophie Rees | 1-0 | Arun Gibbons | 4 | James Robertson | 0-1 | Sophie Rees | |
| 5 | Maya McMahon | 1-0 | Thomas Kindell | 5 | Laurie Kendall | 0-1 | Maya McMahon | |
| 6 | Eloise Kay | 1-0 | Laurie Kendall | 6 | Thomas Kindell | 1-0 | Eloise Kay | |
| 7 | Evie Seddon | 0-1 | Toby Ralph | 7 | Rafe Chapman | 0-1 | Evie Seddon | |
| 8 | Charlotte Kay | 1-0 | Rafe Chapman | 8 | Toby Ralph | 1-0 | Charlotte Kay | |
| 9 | Thea Godfrey | 0.5-0.5 | Charlie Wannasin-Bell | 9 | Kit Blades | 1-0 | Thea Godfrey | |
| 10 | Amelie Rees | 0-1 | Kit Blades | 10 | Charlie Wannasin-Bell | 0-1 | Amelie Rees | |
| 11 | Alise Petersone | 0-1 | Lachlan Stewart | 11 | Hugo Ullman | 1-0 | Alise Petersone | |
| 12 | Emma Forester | 0-1 | Hugo Ullman | 12 | Oliver Noble | 0-1 | Emma Forester | |
| 13 | Mimi Fowler | 0-1 | Arthur Glascott | 13 | Sam Godfrey | 1-0 | Mimi Fowler | |
| 14 | Rosie Kendall | 0-1 | Sam Godfrey | 14 | Arthur Glascott | 1-0 | Rosie Kendall | |
| 15 | Lowenna Godfrey | 0.5-0.5 | Max Massey | 15 | Aryan More | 1-0 | Lowenna Godfrey | |
| 16 | Rebecca Anscombe | 0-1 | Rohan Gibbons | 16 | Max Massey | 1-0 | Rebecca Anscombe | |
| 17 | Liliana Robinson | 0-1 | Aryan More | 17 | Rohan Gibbons | 1-0 | Liliana Robinson | |
| 8-9 | 9-8 | |||||||
|
Overall Score |
||||||||
| Boys U9 | 18-16 | Girls U11 | ||||||
6-Counties Match – 5th February 2017 – Newbury
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Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Barnet | 11 | 7 | 8½ | 26½ |
| Oxfordshire | 7 | 8 | 7½ | 22½ |
| Maidenhead | 7½ | 7½ | 5½ | 20½ |
| Buckinghamshire | 5½ | 7 | 6½ | 19 |
| Wiltshire | 7½ | 6 | 4 | 17½ |
| Sussex Knights | 2 | 3½ | 8 | 13½ |
| Hertfordshire | 3 | 6 | 3½ | 12½ |
| Sussex Bishops | 4½ | 3 | 4½ | 12 |
Sussex Bishops:
Matthew Armstrong, Sophia Blin, Emma Forrester, Miette Fowler, Arun Gibbons, Arthur Glascott, Sam Godfrey, Timmy Hedger, George Koumellis, Henry Laurillard, Amelie Rees, Sammy Sareen, Harry Thurston
Sussex Knights:
Kit Blades, Rafe Chapman, Madison Cox, Elena Currah, Rohan Gibbons, Lowenna Godfrey, Abhi Jadav, Pranav Labroo, Rhianna Mallett, Lara Nunns, James Robertson, Daniel Thackray, Hugo Uhlmann, Darcey Walker-Lee
Report:
To follow
4-Counties Match – 14th January 2017 – Twyford
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Hertfordshire | 9 | 9 | 8½ | 26½ |
| Sussex | 7 | 5 | 7 | 19 |
| Maidenhead | 5 | 5 | 5½ | 15½ |
| Bucks | 3 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
The Team:
Rafe Chapman, Elena Currah, Arun Gibbons, Abhi Jadav, Thomas Kindell, Pranav Labroo, Laurie Kendall, Edward Leake, Lara Nunns, Toby Ralph, James Robertson, Lachlan Stewart, Darcey Walker-Lee
Report:
Another season begins for the Sussex U9 squad, and we were back at Twyford facing three other teams (Herts, Bucks and Maidenhead). With manager Mike Forster away completing his FIDE Arbiter training and a few of our regulars unavailable we welcomed 11 new faces and were able to play Arun’s brother Rohan in the reserves. There was rotation as usual in the lower boards to give everyone a chance in the top 12.
Sussex scored consistently across the 3 rounds and ended up with 50%. Everyone contributed to the total and the closeness of the competition allowed only one player, Abhi Jadav to win all 3 matches continuing his fine form from the LJCC tournament before Christmas. A special mention to James Robertson who was our last player in the hall in both the first 2 rounds and then completed an excellent day by being our 1st winner in the final round.
With a particularly inexperienced county team all the coaches were impressed by the levels of concentration and focus throughout the day.
Thanks to Trevor Norton and Mark Currah for board stewarding.
Now we look forward to the next match in Newbury where Sussex will enter two teams and where we hope to field an all-girl U9 team.