EPSCA Under-9 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.
U9 National Final, Saturday 28th April, Solihull
U9 team struggled to recover from a tough round 1 to finish 9th in National final
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Kent | 10 | 9½ | 8½ | 28 |
| Warwickshire | 9½ | 10 | 8 | 27½ |
| Richmond | 10½ | 7½ | 9½ | 27½ |
| Berkshire | 6½ | 9½ | 8½ | 24½ |
| Oxfordshire | 7½ | 9 | 8 | 24½ |
| Barnet | 7½ | 7 | 9 | 23½ |
| Wey Valley | 8 | 5 | 7 | 20 |
| Cheshire & N Wales | 7½ | 9½ | 3 | 20 |
| Sussex | 3½ | 7 | 6½ | 17 |
| Hertfordshire | 5 | 6 | 5 | 16 |
| Cambridgeshire | 4½ | 4 | 4½ | 13 |
| Oldham | 3½ | 2 | 6 | 11½ |
| Suffolk | 2½ | 4 | 4½ | 11 |
| Nottinghamshire | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Tameside | 4 | 2 | 1½ | 7½ |
| Manchester | 3 | 1 | 2½ | 6½ |
The Team:
Toby Appleton, James Bashford, Kit Blades, Henri Blin, Sophia Blin, Adam Faulkner, Arun Gibbons, Thomas Irani , Thomas Kindell, Austin Mitchell, Toby Ralph, Amelie Rees, Taran Sharma, Oliver Stockham, Hugo Ullmann, Charlie Wannasin Bell
U9 South Zone, Saturday 10th March, Hassocks
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Sussex | 10 | 9 | 8 | 27 |
| Oxfordshire | 6 | 10 | 7 | 23 |
| Wey Valley | 9½ | 4 | 7½ | 21 |
| Berkshire | 4 | 7 | 5 | 16 |
| Somerset | 2½ | 4 | 4½ | 11 |
| Hampshire | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
The Team:
Toby Appleton, James Bashford, Kit Blades, Henri Blin, Sophia Blin, Adam Faulkner, Arun Gibbons, Sam Godfrey, Thomas Irani , Thomas Kindell, Jack Lai, Lucy Lai, Austin Mitchell, Toby Ralph, Zen Rajah, Amelie Rees, Oliver Stockham, Daniel Thackray, Hugo Ullmann, Charlie Wannasin Bell
Sussex U11 Girls vs Sussex U9s friendly, 4th March 2018, Hassocks
The annual friendly between our U9 and U11 Girls teams results in victory for the U9s by the narrowest of margins.
7-Team Match – 4th February 2018 – Newbury
The Team:
Toby Appleton, James Bashford, Kit Blades, Henri Blin, Sophia Blin, Thomas Irani, Thomas Kindell, Austin Mitchell, Zen Rajah, Toby Ralph, Amelie Rees, Oliver Stockham, Charlie Wannasin Bell
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Barnet | 9 | 8 | 10 | 27 |
| Richmond | 9 | 7½ | 8½ | 25 |
| Oxfordshire | 8½ | 8 | 8 | 24½ |
| Sussex | 6 | 8 | 6 | 20 |
| Maidenhead Bishops | 4 | 5½ | 5 | 14½ |
| Maidenhead Knights | 1 | 3½ | 3 | 7½ |
| Bucks | 4½ | 1½ | 1½ | 7½ |
Report:
The U9 team travelled to Newbury with many of the players having playing at the Eastbourne Grand Prix on the previous day.
The competition was a 7-team jamboree in a similar format to last month’s tournament in Twyford. Three very strong counties in Richmond, Barnet and Oxfordshire had been added to the event and this gave our young team some very competitive matches.
Sussex scored consistently across the 3 rounds averaging just over 50%. Most players played better as the tournament progressed and it was heartening to see that after 40 minutes play in the final round the playing hall was full of Sussex players battling to the end. Once again the team showed impressive levels of concentration and focus throughout the day.
Thanks to Andy Mitchell for board stewarding and Sunanta Bell for all their admin support beforehand and during the day.
Sussex Under-9 Team 4-Counties Match – 13th January 2018 – Twyford
Headline Results:
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
| Hertfordshire | 8 | 6½ | 8½ | 23 |
| Sussex | 12 | 12 | 11½ | 35½ |
| Maidenhead | 8½ | 9 | 9 | 26½ |
| Bucks | 3½ | 4½ | 3 | 11 |
The Team:
Toby Appleton, James Bashford, Kit Blades, Henri Blin, Sophia Blin, Sam Godfrey, Thomas Irani, Thomas Kindell, Austin Mitchell, Zen Rajah, Toby Ralph, Amelie Rees, Taran Sharma, Daniel Thackray, Hugo Ullmann, Charlie Wannasin Bell
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 acting as a FIDE Arbiter at the 4 Nations Chess League we welcomed 8 new faces. The match was played as a 16 board match as all counties were able to field larger than usual teams.
Sussex scored consistently across the 3 rounds with two 12 point rounds and a final 11.5 point score. Eight players won all 3 matches including all 6 of our Under 8 players. There were some tremendous battling performances by our top players who fought all the way in some extremely long games.
With a particularly inexperienced county team everyone was impressed by the levels of concentration and focus throughout the day.
Thanks to Andy Mitchell for board stewarding and to Gareth and Sunanta for all their admin support beforehand and during the day.
Now we look forward to the next match in Newbury where Sussex will hope to enter two teams.