The following items were published before 31 October 1999:

Four-Way Friendly Match, Sutton ? October 1999

A 24-a-side (mixed) friendly jamboree took place at Sutton between four teams, Richmond, Barnet, Sussex and Wey Valley. Each team had 8 U14s, 8 U11s and 8 U9s, and the format of the match was three rounds at 50 minutes ppg. The result of the match was a win for Richmond, 56 points, with 2nd: Barnet, 36; Wey Valley, 26½; and Sussex, 25½. All the teams had at least one girl playing for them. For Richmond, the only girl was Chantal Sirisena who scored 2½/3; for Barnet, there were Poppy Aarons and Claire Wu; for Wey Valley, there were Alexandra 'Aly' Wilson, Rebecca Gilbert, Sunena Patel, Reyana Fayyaz and Jessica Dodson; and for Sussex there were Stephanie Barraclough, Hannah Adam, Eleanor Hayden, Holly Chapman, Rosie Arscott, Sarah Linnett and Louise Adam.
A link through from the Richmond Junior Chess club site, (see our Links page) gives the results in detail, but I must admit that I have not been able to understand the format used - try yourself if you want!

BSP Congress, London 30-31 October 1999

Alexandra 'Aly' Wilson, playing in the U175 section, scored 2/5.

World Youth Championships, Oropesa del Mar, Spain: 24 October-5 November 1999

In the 11th and final round, played on Friday 5 November, there were wins for Heather, Poppy and Sarah, and draws for Lydia, Jessie and Annie
For the final scores and standings of all the girls, click on World Youth Championships.

Barnet Knights Tournament, 17 October 1999

11 players including one girl were in the U14 Section, where Anneka Treon had 3/6, placed 5-8.
Also the U12 had just one girl among the 36 players: Stephanie Antonian scored 3/6, placed 16-21.
I counted four girls in the 25 who played in the U10. These were: Rachel Jacobs with 3½/6 placed 8-9; Claire Wu and Lucy Preston each with 3/6 placed 10-16; and Danielle Lamski with 1½/6 placed 25.

Bedford Junior Congress, 17 October 1999

No less than 18 girls played in the four sections of this event. V year (U10) Naomi Miller of Oxfordshire had a fine win in the U12 Section, clear first with 5½/6. Nicola Griffiths [Northamptonshire] had to withdraw unwell having scored 3/5.
To view the scores of all other girls taking part, Click Here.

Girls Not Wanted - this time!

Nine members of the National Junior Squad are off to sunny Guernsey for a week to play in the International Chess Festival there. They are all male on this occasion, but I understand that it is the NJS intention to take a number of girls to the corresponding Jersey event at the end of February 2000.

Kensington Rapidplay, 17 October 1999

I do not yet have the full results of this event, but in the Minor section (U145), Ivana Houska [Berkshire] with 3/6 won the U130 Grading prize, and Teresa Khoo [Surrey] also with 3/6 won the Ladies' Prize. In the Novice section (U75), Chantal Sirisena [Surrey] was placed joint third. The Family Prize went to the Houskas (Ivana and Karla).

Wey Valley London Junior Qualifier 17 October 1999 - Selina Beats The Boys!

Surrey's rising star Selina Khoo, only W year thus still a U9, was the outright winner of the U10 Section in this event, with a perfect 6/6 score. Selina, recently a Minisquad winner as well, looks set for a brilliant chess career.
For full details of the girls' results in this tournament, Click Here .

Southwater Open Junior, Sussex 16 October 1999

There were three girls in the 22-player U18 section, placed as follows: 17. Rebecca Tuck; 18. Suzanne Wall; 20. Victoria Ruse; all scoring 2/6 - placings were by Sum of Progressive Scores, as also in the two U11 sections.
The U11 Major had one girl among the 10 players - Stephanie Barraclough, placed third with 4/6.
The U11 Minor had no less than eight girls in the 19 players in all. The girls placed as follows: 3. Katherine Rattle 4½/6; 4. Hannah Adam 4; 9. Eleanor Hayden, 10. Charlotte Allum, and 11-12 Sarah Linnett, all 3; 13. Rosie Arscott 2½; 14. Louise Adam 2; and 16. Holly Chapman 1½.

U14/U90 Matches, 16 October 1999

Middlesex were trounced 18½-5½ by Essex at Harrow. Middlesex had four girls playing in this 12-board double-round match as follows: Danielle Gross on Board 4, Rachel Lambert on Board 9, Mala Kapacee on Board 10 and Jade Ferrari on Board 12, of whom only Rachel could manage ½/2, the others not scoring. Essex did not use any girls at all.
Oxfordshire beat Berkshire 16-8 at Reading. Oxfordshire had: Board 5 Judith Rawlings 0/2; Board 10, Marion Rawlings 1½/2, while Berkshire had: Board 10, Abigail Morbi 0/2; and Board 12, Lucy Brown 1/2. Kent have withdrawn, so Surrey had a bye.

Hertfordshire Primary Qualifier, Thorn Grove School, Bishops Stortford 16 October 1999

Five girls took part in this event: V-year Yvette Cook, 4/6 (Yvette leads the Hertfordshire Junior Grand Prix); W-year Emily Helmers, 1/6; X-year Helen Radley ½/6; Jenny Radley 1½/6; and Philippa Radley 2/6. Are these last three our only example of chess playing triplets?

Hampshire and West of England Girls Congress, Basingstoke 10 October 1999

Some 25 girls played in this event, including many girls from Devon and Wiltshire, and a couple from Sussex - but none from Surrey! For full results, Click Here.

Ashford (Kent) Junior Tournament, 10 October 1999

An excellent result for Laura Weatherhead in the U12 Section where she was joint first with 5/6. And Jennifer Martin (presumed sister of Katie E?) also did well, placed third in the U8 Section with 4/6.

Would You Like an email Friend in Australia?

We have had a request from a girl in Australia who would like to exchange emails with a girl of, or near, her own age from England. She is 12, she is a pretty good chess player and has many interests including tennis and football, (she is a Man Utd fan!). If you would like to be her email friend, please ring Neil Clifton or email sgcl@clara.net and I will put you into touch with her. Obviously, you have to be on email yourself!!

European Junior Championship, Patras, Greece: 5-18 October 1999

Melanie Buckley [Somerset] represented England. Melanie drew her 13th and final round game against Stephanie Feuvrier of France and so finished on 6/13, standing 24-31 out of 37. Melanie won two games, lost three and had eight draws.
The gold medal winner was first-placed Regina Pokorna of Slovakia who finished on 10/13 ahead of two Georgian girls.
For a picture of Melanie playing in Greece Click Here, and for a picture of tournament winner Regina Pokorna, Click Here.
Here is Melanie's Round 7 game:
Eglantina Shabanaj [Albania] v Melanie Buckley, European Junior, Patras: Round 7
1.d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5 5. g3 Qb6 6. e3 Nc6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Nc3 d6 9. a3 a5 10. Bg2 O-O 11. O-O Bd7 12. Qc2 Ne7 13. Rad1 a4 14. e4 Ng6 15. Bg5 Ne8 16. e5 h6 17. Bc1 Bc6 18. exd6 Nxd6 19. Nd2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Qc6+ 21. f3 Ne5 22. Nce4 Nf5 23. Nb1 Nd4 24. Qc3 Nexf3 25. Rxf3 Qxe4 26. Qd3 Qxf3+ 27. Qxf3 Nxf3 28. Kxf3 Rfd8 29. Rf1 Rd4 30. Nd2 Rad8 31. Ke2 Be7 32. h4 Bd6 33. Ke3 Bxg3 34. h5 f5 35. c5 Bh4 36. Ke2 R8d5 37. b4 axb3 38. Nxb3 Re4+ 39. Be3 Bg5 0-1
And here is Melanie's win in Round 4:
Melanie Buckley v Mijana Matosevic [Bosnia], European Junior, Patras: Round 4 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e5 Nfd7 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Nxc5 7. Be2 Nc6 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. Bf1 f6 11. Bf4 b6 12. Qd2 Bb7 13. Rad1 fxe5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Rf5 16. Bg3 Bd6 17. b4 Bxg3 18. hxg3 Nd7 19. Rxe6 Nf8 20. Ree1 Qd6 21. Nb5 Qc6 22. Nd4 Qd7 23. Bb5 Qf7 24. Nxf5 Qxf5 25. Re7 Rb8 26. Qf4 Qc8 27. Qf7+ 1-0
To view the list of girls taking part in this event, Click Here.
In the Boys section of this U20 event, Adam Hunt [Oxfordshire] lost his final game, thus finishing on 7/13. However Adam will be pleased to have achieved an IM norm.
The boys' winner was Dutchman Dennis de Vreugt with 10/13.

Colchester Open Junior Tournament, 3 October 1999

There were no girls in the 22-player Open section. Of the 17 players in the U14, 2 were girls and a splendid performance by Ellen Walker gave her first place with 5½/6. The other girl was Victoria Blake placed 16-17 with 1/6.
Two girls were among the 26 players in the U12: Sarah Molisso scored 2½/6 placed 17-19 and Hannah Emerson had 1½/6 placed 24.
There were 3 girls in the U10: Olivia Reed and Kathryn Davey both scored 3½/6 placed 6-7 and Ranita Klimach had 3/6 placed 8-12.
And finally the only girl in the U8 was Heather Mulrany scoring 3½/6 placed 4-5 out of 12 players.

Metropolitan Congress, Bishopsgate, 2-3 October 1999

Several girls took part in this congress. In the Major (U161): Jessie Gilbert [Surrey] 3½/5, winning a U141 grading prize. (Jessie's performance grade was 167). Ivana Houska [Berkshire] and Anna Partington [Surrey] each 2/5; Teresa Khoo [Surrey] 1/5; Alexandra 'Aly' Wilson [Surrey] ½/3 withdrew ill.
In the Minor (U126), Poppy Aarons [Middlesex] 3/5; Danielle Gross [Middlesex] and Karla Houska [Berkshire] each 1/5.

BCF Minisquad, Solihull Warwickshire, 2-3 October 1999

In the U10 Section, best girl was Naomi Miller [Oxfordshire], joint fifth with 5/7.
The U9 Section saw an outstanding result for Selina Khoo [Surrey], joint first with 6½/7 putting her right at the top of the age-group as far a British juniors are concerned.
The top girl in the U8 Section was Stephanie Hargraves [Hampshire] - I am not aware of her score.

Kent U14 Squad Championships, Sevenoaks 2 October 1999

Emma Atkins was placed fourth. That's the same Emma Atkins who played for Staffordshire in the ECGCF Petit Coup last year - she divides her time between Staffordshire and S E London.

Hertfordshire Primary Qualifier, 2 October 1999

Six girls played in this 6-round U11 event at Roundwood Park School. Celia Carr had an excellent 5½/6 to take joint first place, and another very good result was that of Yvette Cook with 5 placed joint third. Other girls: Lucy Preston, 3; Amy Mills, 2 Zoë Quinworth, 1; and Lucy Kninton, ½.

South West Sussex Junior, 2 October 1999

Of the 8 players in the U18 Section, the only girl was Rebecca Tuck, who in spite of some well-fought games, finished without a point.
There were 24 players including 5 girls in the U12 Section. Best of the girls were Nicola Griffiths [Northamptonshire] and Deborah Margolis [Sussex] each with 2½/6. The other girls, all Sussex: Megan Wheatley, 2; Phillippa Sutcliffe, 1; and Charlotte Allum, 0.
The U10 (13 players, 5 girls) produced an outstanding result for Stephanie Barraclough [Sussex] who was clear first with 5½/6, the first time a girl has won any mixed junior tournament in the County. Eleanor Hayden also did well with 3½ placed 5. Then came Sarah Linnett, 2½ placed 8-10; Holly Chapman, 2 placed 11; and Dorothy Spencer, 1½ placed 12.
Only 4 players competed in the U8 Section, two of them girls: Juliet Bottle was placed 2nd with 3½/6 and Rosie Arscott was 3rd with 3.

All Surrey Junior, Claremont Fancourt School Esher, 2 October 1999

Girls did very well at the All Surrey event, taking two of the Mixed sections ahead of all the boys: In the U11 Mixed and U9 Mixed, Sarah Hegarty and Hannah Dale were respectively the clear winners, each with a perfect 5/5 score. Also, in each of these sections, there were many other excellent performances: In the Mixed U11, girls occupied three of the top five places, and six of the top eleven places. And in the Mixed U9, Kate Stevens had a splendid result, coming second.To see the results of all girls playing in this event Click Here.

SGCL Membership down to only 82

As at 1 October 1999 there were just 82 SGCL members, down greatly from the peak of 158 members on the books at the beginning of September.
The loss of membership is caused by (1) girls who have given up playing and therefore do not wish to remain, and (2) a large mumber who did not bother to return their membership forms at all.
Membership now costs £5 per annum and this applies to anyone re-joining the SGCL.
To view the list of girls who are currently SGCL members, [with their BCF and Wey Valley grades] Click Here.

World Juniors and Girls Championships, Yerevan, Armenia

The English girl Ruth Sheldon [Lancashire] finished this event with a score of 6½/13 placed 19-22 out of 35 players in this U20 event. The American girl Irena Krush, who finished very strongly after a poor start, was joint first (of four) with 8½/13.

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