The Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge
Sussex Megafinal – Saturday 12th May 2018 – Downlands Community School, Hassocks
Nationally, over 40,000 children enter the UK Chess Challenge through their School or Chess Club. In Sussex, nearly 80 Schools joined in the fun this year resulting in 388 children taking up their qualifying places at the Megafinal. Just to get that far is an achievement in itself.
This is a unique event where children of all ages playing their first ever tournament rub shoulders with County and even National level players. The standard overall was very high – there were many County level players present and in the Upper Hall several England players. But several of last years first time players are now this years County players. So if you didn’t make the next level this year don’t be disappointed – you will have benefitted from the higher level of competition – keep practising and come back next year to try again.
It was a truly County-wide event with some players travelling considerable distances – I spotted Chichester in the West to Hastings in the East; there must have been some early breakfasts!
This year we were pleased to welcome Delancey Schools UK Chess Challenge directors Sarah and Alex Longson. Having taken over the running of the Chess Challenge last season they are keen to meet the participants and hear feedback. Having toured all the playing halls and watched some games, Sarah presented the prizes to the U7s.
Congratulations to those children who qualified for the Southern Region Gigafinal in Twickenham in July – over 170 of them. On average, we would expect a handful to make it through to the final stage – the Terafinal – will it be you?
We are a not-for-profit organisation and everyone you saw helping was a volunteer – most were also trying to support their own children through the highs and lows of the day at the same time. Without this support it simply wouldn’t be possible to run this event, so many thanks to;
Friday Set Up Team: Derek Ferguson, Mark Godwin, John Higgs, Keith Martin, Karen Meakings, Trevor Norton, Gareth Rees
Car parking : Jan Crosby, Graham Banks, Simon Ralph
Registration Team: Mark Appleton, Karen Keeling-Munn, Mimi Khan, Anita McMahon, Claire Ralph, James Rayment, Jen Robertson, Boo Sherriff and Lucinda Weis supported by ‘runners’ Elizabeth Finn and Toby Appleton
Catering Team: Jane Armstrong, Caroline Bartrom, Teresa Blades, Ed Chapman, Derek Ferguson, Keith Martin, Debbie Steenhuis, Pam Stockham
Photography: David Gray
U7 Team: Gary McCulloch, Karen Meakings
Lower Hall Team: Mark Appleton, Tom Borland, Mark Currah, Dave Graham, Sue Howell, Karen Keeling-Munn, Anita McMahon, Andy Mitchell, Liz Neale, Trevor Norton, Rasa Norinkeviciute,
Upper Hall Team: Shaun Brewer, Peter & Catherine Finn, Mike Forster, Jaideep Jadav, Chris Jones, Chris Howell, Chaski Patrick, Adrian Vyse
Clearing Up: Tjadine Ullmann
…and finally the parents, teachers and friends who gave up their Saturday to allow their children to take part
We hope you and your child enjoyed the day. If so, we would love to see you at some of our other events. We run training sessions and tournaments at various venues across the county. Our calendar lists the events for the current season, which is drawing to a close. We hope to have our new calendar for the 2018 – 2019 season finalised by July.
Photo Galleries:
Under-7s
Main Hall (U8-U11 Girls, U8-U9 Boys, U12 Boys & Girls)
Upstairs Hall (U10 Boys, U11 Boys, U13-U18s)
Prizegiving
Prizewinners and Gigafinal Qualifiers:
Age | Score | Title | Name | School/Club |
U7 Boys | 5 | Supremo | Alexander Lloyd | Steyning Primary |
U7 Boys | 4.5 | 2nd | James Beecroft | Lindfield Primary Academy |
U7 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd= | Luke Chapman | Little Common Primary |
U7 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd= | Jensen Bladd Symms | Dorset House |
U7 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd= | Christopher Yousif | Arundel CE Primary |
U7 Boys | 4 | Nayan Keats Rastogi | Ardingly College Prep School | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Dean Bradford | Sacred Heart, Hastings | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Luke Freeman | Forest Row | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | William Kirby Green | Sacred Heart, Wadhurst | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Joshua Li | Homefield Prep School | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Robbie Mclean | Blackboys Primary School | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Cem Ozdemirciler | West Park Primary Worthing | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Konrad Pokorowski | Worthing Knights | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Keshav Saharan | Crawley Down Village School | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | William Stockley | Lindfield Primary Academy | |
U7 Boys | 3.5 | Baxter Ulliott | Sacred Heart, Wadhurst | |
U7 Girls | 2.5 | Suprema | Mischa Floyd | Blackboys Primary School |
Additional Sussex Junior Chess Prizes (U7 Section):
William Stockley | Lindfield Primary Academy | Top U6 |
Theo Field | Ardingly College | U6 2nd place |
William Roderick | Lindfield Primary Academy | Top U5 |
Lewis Day | Ardingly College | Arbiter’s award |
Raul Rodrigues | Great Walstead | Arbiter’s award |
Michael Schoeman | Ardingly College | Arbiter’s award |
Isabella Walsh | Burgess Hill JCC | Arbiter’s award |
Age | Score | Title | Name | School/Club |
U8 Boys | 6 | Supremo | Charlie Wannasin Bell | Burgess Hill JC |
U8 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Taran Sharma | Copthorne Prep |
U8 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Austin Mitchell | Wallands Primary |
U8 Boys | 4 | Cillian Nagy | Crawley Down C of E | |
U8 Boys | 4 | Zen Rajah | Lancing Prep at Worthing | |
U8 Boys | 4 | Ned Hafner | Dorset House | |
U8 Boys | 4 | Edward Barker | Blackthorns Community Primary Academy | |
U8 Boys | 4 | Arana Jones | Meath Green Junior | |
U8 Boys | 4 | Sebastian Marsh | Dorset House | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Jasper Miles | Hampton Prep School | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Zach Planton | Lancing Prep at Worthing | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Emerson Purvis | Arundel CE Primary | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Edward Gray | Great Walstead | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Ioannis Hudson | Estcots Primary School | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Joseph O’Connor | Crawley Down Village School | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Oliver Seeds | Arundel CE Primary | |
U8 Boys | 3.5 | Woody Rogers | Blackwell Primary | |
U8 Girls | 6 | Suprema | Amelie Rees | Copthorne Prep |
U8 Girls | 5 | 2nd | Lowenna Godfrey | Blackboys |
U8 Girls | 4 | 3rd | Ava Halvatzis | Windmills Junior |
U9 Boys | 5.5 | Supremo | Toby Ralph | Lancing Prep at Hove |
U9 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Hugo Ullmann | Blackboys |
U9 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Jack Lai | Rocks Park Primary |
U9 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | James Bashford | Broadwater CE Primary |
U9 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Kit Blades | Lancing Prep at Hove |
U9 Boys | 4.5 | Oliver Stockham | Crowborough Junior CC | |
U9 Boys | 4.5 | Arun Gibbons | Copthorne Prep | |
U9 Boys | 4.5 | Alex Rogers Pereira | Southover Primary, Lewes | |
U9 Boys | 4 | Jacob Trotman | Wallands Primary, Lewes | |
U9 Boys | 4 | Joshua Seet | Woking Junior CC | |
U9 Boys | 4 | Alfred Sherlock | Goldstone Primary | |
U9 Boys | 4 | Rex Rynish | Copthorne Prep | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Sam Godfrey | Blackboys | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Frederick Bee | London Meed | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Nikolaus Halvatzis | Windmills Junior | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Oliver Wilson | Westbourne House | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Huggie Barwell | Lancing Prep at Hove | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Matthew Collins | Holbrook Primary, Horsham | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Graham Stafford | Ludgrove School | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Aotang Wang | Ocklynge Junior School | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Henry Beard | Forest Row | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Toby Appleton | Ardingly | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Harrison Orme | Little Horsted | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Hugo Pelkonen | Wallands Primary, Lewes | |
U9 Boys | 3.5 | Samuel Bird | Sandown Primary | |
U9 Girls | 6 | Suprema | Lucy Lai | Rocks Park Primary |
U9 Girls | 4.5 | 2nd | Millie Davis | Goldstone Primary |
U9 Girls | 3.5 | 3rd= | Eve Bradshaw | Westbourne Primary School |
U9 Girls | 3.5 | 3rd= | Emma Hardcastle | Windmills Junior School |
U9 Girls | 3.5 | 3rd= | Natasha King | Westbourne House |
U10 Boys | 5.5 | Supremo | Abhi Jadav | Brighton College Prep |
U10 Boys | 5.5 | 2nd (on tie-break) | Timmy Hedger | Sussex Junior Chess |
U10 Boys | 5 | 3rd= | Matthew Armstrong | Sussex Juniors |
U10 Boys | 5 | 3rd= | Forest Purvis | Arundel C of E Primary |
U10 Boys | 5 | 3rd= | James Robertson | Lancing College Prep Hove |
U10 Boys | 4.5 | Freddie Day | Framfield CEP School | |
U10 Boys | 4.5 | Oliver Downey | Lindfield Primary Academy | |
U10 Boys | 4.5 | Thomas Lawson | Wivelsfield Primary | |
U10 Boys | 4.5 | Harry Taylor | Iford and Kingston School | |
U10 Boys | 4 | Danny Biddlecombe | Lancing College Prep | |
U10 Boys | 4 | Louis Buckland | Wivelsfield Primary School | |
U10 Boys | 4 | Aleksandar Farmah | Goldstone Primary School | |
U10 Boys | 4 | Will Smithyes | Wallands Primary | |
U10 Boys | 4 | Lachlan Stewart | Ardingly College | |
U10 Boys | 4 | James Zheng | Broadwater C of E | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Hugo Brown | Harlands Uckfield | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Rafe Chapman | Crowborough Chess Club | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Cassian Clarke | Bishop Tufnell Junior School | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Cameron Cooper | Broadwater | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | William Gray | Great Walstead School | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Matthew Jessep | Ardingly College | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Alexander Lebedev | Hastingschess club | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Daniel Lloyd | Steyning Primary School | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Paul MacCarthy | Worthing Knights | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Max Massey | Ardingly college | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Hugo Rickard | Lindfield Primary School | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Zac Webber | Crawley Down Village C of E | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Chamithu Wickramanayake | Hastings Chess Club | |
U10 Boys | 3.5 | Alex Witcomb | Westbourne House School | |
U10 Girls | 5.5 | Suprema | Elena Currah | Sacred Heart, Wadhurst |
U10 Girls | 5 | 2nd | Ruby Davis | Goldstone Primary |
U10 Girls | 4 | 3rd | Lucy Hopkirk | Crowborough Chess Club |
U10 Girls | 3.5 | Emma Bowman | Farlington School | |
U10 Girls | 3.5 | Madison Cox | Worthing Knights | |
U10 Girls | 3.5 | Torridon Duffy | London Meed | |
U10 Girls | 3.5 | Isabella Hull | Crowborough Chess Club | |
U10 Girls | 3.5 | Thalia Quideau-Cronin | West Park Primary | |
U10 Girls | 3.5 | Amalie Symonds | Farlington School | |
U10 Girls | 3.5 | Thamadi Wickramanayake | Hastings Chess Club | |
U11 Boys | 5.5 | Supremo | Arjun Kolani | Sussex Junior Chess |
U11 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Peter Crosby | Great Walstead |
U11 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Augustas Jonikas | Surbiton Chess Club |
U11 Boys | 5 | 2nd= | Ayden Salajee | Burgess Hill junior chess |
U11 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd= | Ben Crosby | Great Walstead |
U11 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd= | Javier Gomez | Sussex Junior Chess |
U11 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd= | Solomon Mitchell | Wallands |
U11 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd= | Jacob Wynn | Wallands |
U11 Boys | 4 | Thomas Kingsley | St Margarets Primary School | |
U11 Boys | 4 | Aywin Lau | Sussex junior chess | |
U11 Boys | 4 | Joseph Leake | West Park School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Torran Ainsworth | Hurstpierpoint College | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Zakariya AlRamsarran | Windlesham School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Jago Anderson | Southover Church of England | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Nathanael Andrawos | Windlesham School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Joshua Bee | London Meed Primary School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Stevie Clark | Broadwater CE Primary | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Jacob Davies | Ardingly College | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Oliver Gartshore | Southover primary school | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Sonny Hudson | Windlesham School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Ethan Langridge | Broadwater C of E school | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Harry Lincoln | Copthorne Junior School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Indigo Morris | Amherst | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Benjamin Pearce | Crowborough Junior Chess Club | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Tristan Pender | St Margarets Primary School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Matthew Sheehan | Banstead Junior School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Jack Trelfa | The Orchards Junior School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Benjamin Turner | Birchwood Grove | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Alexander Ward | Goldstone Primary school | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Jacob White | Little Common Primary School | |
U11 Boys | 3.5 | Joseph Zheng | Broadwater C of E | |
U11 Girls | 6 | Suprema | Maya McMahon | Horsham Junior CC |
U11 Girls | 5 | 2nd | Madelaine Wilkinson | Hurstpierpoint College |
U11 Girls | 4.5 | 3rd | Lauren Manchester | Hurstpierpoint College |
U11 Girls | 3.5 | Tegan Baker | Goldstone Primary | |
U11 Girls | 3.5 | Willow Elliott Hudson | Sandown Primary | |
U11 Girls | 3.5 | Ruby Rayment | Sussex Junior Chess | |
U11 Girls | 3.5 | Sophie Rees | Copthorne Prep | |
U12 Boys | 6 | Supremo | Callum Vyse | Worthing Chess Club |
U12 Boys | 5 | 2nd | Leo Yu | Sussex Junior Chess |
U12 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd | Henry Adams | Brighton College |
U12 Boys | 4 | Oliver Faulkner | Sussex Junior Chess | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Thomas Dan | Durrington High School | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Isaac Cooper | Bohunt School, Worthing | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Thomas Martin | Crowborough Junior CC | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Elliott Hookway | Crowborough Junior CC | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Theo Hall | Crowborough Junior CC | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Sterling Brown | Ardingly College Prep School | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Leo Dorman | Brighton & Hove Chess Club | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Lewis Elliott | Downlands Community School | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Henry Langford | Westbourne House School | |
U12 Boys | 3.5 | Tadeusz Tompsett | Eastbourne Chess Club | |
U12 Girls | 4.5 | Suprema | Lydia Munn | Uckfield College |
U12 Girls | 4 | 2nd | Elizabeth Finn | St Catherines College |
U12 Girls | 3.5 | 3rd= | Eloise Kay | Horsham Junior CC |
U12 Girls | 3.5 | 3rd= | Anna Sherriff | Uckfield College |
U13 Boys | 5.5 | Supremo | Oliver Manchester | Hurstpierpoint College |
U13 Boys | 5 | 2nd | Giovanni Currah | The Skinners School |
U13 Boys | 4.5 | 3rd | Paul Fabian | HJCC |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Karam Al-Robaie | Skinners School | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Dino Buckwell | Uckfield College | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Oliver Christian | Uckfield College | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Nathan Drake | Burgess Hill Academy | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Rufus Hanna | Lewes Old Grammar School | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Alec Hedger | Sussex Juniors | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Daniel Longley | Uckfield Junior Chess Club | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Thomas Massey | Ardingly college | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Isaac Thackray | Brighton College | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Madhavan Varadharajan | Downlands community school | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Leo Watts | Downlands | |
U13 Boys | 3.5 | Max Wilton | SJC | |
U13 Girls | 2.5 | Suprema | Leah Douglas | Downlands Community School |
U13 Girls | 4.5 | Nilomi Desai | Lady Eleanor Holles School | |
U14 Boys | 4 | Supremo | Michael Banks | St Andrews High School |
U14 Boys | 3.5 | eq 2nd | Euan Hanna | Lewes Old Grammar School |
U14 Boys | 3.5 | eq 2nd | Ryan Sargent | Downlands Community School |
U14 Boys | 3.5 | eq 2nd | Charlie Wood | Downlands Community School |
U15 Boys | 4.5 | Supremo | George Neale | Worthing Chess Club |
U15 Boys | 3.5 | eq 2nd | Max Bennett | Worthing Chess Club |
U15 Boys | 3.5 | eq 2nd | Daniel Finn | St Catherines College |
U15 Boys | 3.5 | eq 2nd | Alex Miller | Worthing Chess Club |
U16 Boys | 3.5 | Supremo | Joe Burch | Worthing Knights |
U16 Girls | 4 | Suprema | Lilya Stewart | Ardingly College |
U16 Girls | 3.5 | 2nd | Lucy Bradbury | Worthing Knights |
U16 Girls | 1 | 3rd | Imogen Mitchell | Worthing Knights |
U17 Girls | 3.5 | Suprema | Cassie Graham | Worthing Knights |
U17 Boys | 5.5 | Supremo | Thomas Finn | Bexhill College |
U17 Boys | 4.5 | 2nd | Callum Brewer | Brighton and Hove |
U17 Boys | 4 | 3rd | Matthew Barton | Burgess Hill Junior Chess |
U18 Boys | 3.5 | Supremo | Michael Stockham | Uckfield College |