The items below were published before 31 July 1999. Links are still active.

Barnet Knights, 25 July 1999

In the U14 (7 players), the only girl was Teresa Khoo placed 1-2 with 4½/6. The U12 (39 players) had identifiably only two girls: Sarah Davison placed 18-26 with 3/6 and Penny Sarchet placed 27-33 with 2½. There appears to have been ~14 girls out of some 54 players in the U10, only a few of whose County I am aware. Best girl was Fiona Smailes [Surrey] placed 3-4 with 5/6, then came Selina Khoo [Surrey], Heather Russell-Kay [Kent] and Chantal Sirisena [Surrey] all placed 7-17 with 4; Stephanie Antonian [Middlesex], Leah Carvey [?] and Jade Ferarri [Middlesex], all placed 21-33 with 3. The others were Zoe Harris and Adina Gamse, each 2; Shireene Behrouzi, Zenobia Bou-Chedid, Elizabeth Fattal and Meera Patel, each 1; and Nina Razii, 0, none of whose Counties are known unless the Meera Patel was the Surrey one, which seems unlikely.
The U8 had 25 players with possibly 6 girls: Claire Wu [Middlesex] placed 1-2 with 5/6; Hannah Bowers [?] placed 3 with 4½; Ranita Klimach [Middlesex] placed 8-10 with 3½; Susannah Bailey [?] and Katie Hale [Essex] placed 15-20 with 2½; and Sophie Hayim placed 23-24 with 1.
There was also a U6 with 8 players of whom 2 girls, Jessica Barker [?] and the 4-year old Stephanie Hale [Essex] each placed 6-8 with 1½ points. Many thanks to Doug Smailes for supplying these results.

Smith and Williamson Young Masters, Witley, 17-20 July

Playing in the Knights section, Alexandra 'Aly' Wilson [Surrey] was joint winner with a score of 5/7. Lydia Goodwin [Buckinghamshire] had 4/7 and Teresa Khoo [Surrey] had 3/7.

Coulsdon Grand Prix, ending 17 July 1999

In the final round of this competition, the U8 Section was dominated by girls with Hannah Dale [Surrey] and Jana Briggs [Middlesex] tying for first place each with 5½/6 after strong competition from Jenna Kitley [Kent]. The overall Grand Prix was won by Hannah, with Anisha Amin [Surrey] winning the Croydon Borough trophy in this Section.
In the U9, Jessica Dodson [Surrey] had 3/6 and in the U10, Fiona Smailes [Surrey] was placed 4th with 4/6. Emma Kitley [Kent] also played in this section.

England U11 Girls in Germany, 16-19 July 1999

I am indebted to Peter Gross for the following report.
Over this weekend, the England U11 Girls team under the ever watchful eye of team Manager Nancy Mortimer, took on the German U14 Girls team in Dresden, as part of the Dresden Chess Congress. The match was arranged in two four-board groups on an all-play-all basis.
The A group, comprising Sarah Hegarty [Surrey], Claire Morris [Oxfordshire], Charlotte Wilcox [Staffordshire] and Danielle Gross [Middlesex] went down 5½-10½ against very strong opposition. However, Sarah Hegarty was joint top scorer in the match with a very fine 3/4 including the best win of the tournament against the German No.2 Franziska Beltz. Danielle Gross with 1½/4 was the only English girl to draw with the German No.1 Franziska Fey, with a very unusual reply to White's d4 opening. {Both these games will shortly be available on this Website}. Charlotte Wilcox also managed two draws in this Section.
The B group, comprising Kathryn Barnes [Suffolk], Colleen Halpin [Lancashire], Louise Newlands [Surrey] and Francesca Berlin [Essex] lost 2½-13½. Colleen managed two draws, Kathryn one draw and Louise, who in every game had used almost the full two hours on her clock, pulled out in win in the very last game to finish.
Although there is no arguing with the final scoreline and the magnitude of the German win, the individual games were keenly contested every time and with a little more experience on the English side, the result could have been very different.
On the social front, the event was a great success. At the Opening Dinner, we struggled to make any contact with a group whose English seemed to be no better than our German. However, by the end, when we had been on a tour of Dresden, (which is a wonderfully exciting city, that has been reconstructed almost old brick by old brick from the damage of the War, shared pizzas and some truly horrifying funfair rides on the last night, the ice had been well abnd truly broken and the basis for a return match next year had been agreed.
But not only will we have to compete on the chess front, the hosptitality of our German hosts and the setting of the tournament in a magnificent 19th Century palace will take some matching.

Charlotte Atkins becomes President of ECGCF

Charlotte Atkins, the Labour MP for the constituency of Staffordshire Moorlands, has agreed to accept the Presidency of the English Counties Girls Chess Federation. Ms Atkins will be well known to many chess players because of the tremendous and important work in which she is still engaged: ensuring the recognition of Chess as a sport. Ms. Atkins' daughter Emma is a keen player and represented Staffordshire in both BCF and ECGCF competitions this Season. The Staffordshire girls' team also includes the strong Welsh international Suzie Blackburn.

Saitek-UK Chess Gigafinals, Nottingham 11 July 1999

Surrey girls, who took five out of the eight Ultima awards in 1998, were reduced to just two this year, with Selina Khoo winning the U8 Section and Sarah Hegarty making it four wins in a row with a perfect 6/6 in the U10.
For full details of all girls' scores in this event, click on the table below.

ECGCF Grand Final, Abingdon 3 July 1999: Surrey win in convincing fashion

Surrey became the first winners of the ECGCF Grand Cup with a score of 17/18. Oxfordshire, who did extremely well at the top of the board order with Claire Morris and Naomi Miller in brilliant form, were second, just half a point in front of Nottinghamshire, who did very well in the middle of the order with Farah Amirabadi and Farah Khalique, on boards 3 and 4 repectively, scoring 2/3 and Bryony Walker on board 5 with 3/3.
For full details with all girls' scores, Click here, and to view a picture of the Final in progress, Click here.

Kent Junior Tournament, Maidstone 3 July 1999

At this event, the last event in the Kent Junior Grand Prix, girls did well: in the U18 Section of 18 players, Heather Richards was placed 3-4 scoring 4½/6; In the 23-player U11, Heather Russell-Kay was also placed 3-4 with 4½/6; and in the 16-player U9 Section, Karen Jones was placed 4th with 4/6.

Correspondence Chess News

1. Anna Partington [Q, Surrey] has won the Challengers section of the BLCA Tournament for 1998-1999, with an excellent score of 7/8. (6 wins, 2 draws, no losses). She is now able to enter the Championship section for 1999-2000.
2. Entry fees for girls to next Season's BCCA Championships will be paid for by BWCA. Please email your interest to sgcl@clara.net to arrange this.
3. A new event starting on 1 January 2000 is the British Junior email Championship, for both boys and girls. girls wishing to enter for this, or to receive furhter details, please email as above.

Wey Valley Summer Tournament, Leatherhead 27 June 1999: Fine win for Fiona Smailes!

Fiona Smailes was the clear winner of the U10 Championship. Fiona was unbeaten, scoring 4½ points in a very strong field. For full details of all girls' scores, Click here.

France (Nord) v England (South), Valenciennes 26-27 June 1999

Some 15 girls were among a large party of juniors, mainly from Sussex, who crossed the channel to play against Northern France. The top six girls played in the 3-round match in which England defeated France by the healthy margin of 46-17, while the other nine girls took part in a 55-player Swiss tournament. To see all the girls' performances in this imaginative fixture, Click here. Full details are on the Sussex Junior website.

Mixed U11 matches at Streatham 26 June 1999

Two main two-round matches were held, each over 20 boards: (i) England A versus London, and (ii) England B versus Kent. 4-board Reserve matches were also played as extensions of each main match.
In the first match, London had no girls playing, (they selected three but none were available as they were playing in France): for England A, Elizabeth Roberts [Cheshire] had 0/2 on Board 8, while Claire Morris [Oxfordshire] had ½/2 on Board 15. The final result was a win for London by 22-18.
In the second match, Kent had Sara Higgins on Board 7 who scored 0/2, Arwen van der Elst on Board 14 who scored 1/2, and Antoinette Wilson on Board 20 who got ½/2. England B had Kathryn Barnes of Suffolk on Board 13 with 1/2, while Lara Moffat [Surrey] played on Board 20 in the second round only, scoring 1/1 defeating Antoinette. The result of the match was a 30-10 win for England B.
In the reserve matches, (i) England A Reserves beat London Reserves team by 7½-½. The England A reserves team included Louise Newlands [Surrey] who played both rounds on Board 2 scoring 2/2; and (ii) England B Reserves beat Kent Reserves by 6-2. In this match, Lara Moffat played one game for England B Reserves, winning on Board 1. The London Reserves and Kent Reserves teams had no girls in them.

Middlesex Girls' Championships, Edgware 20 June 1999

Only 7 girls played in the combined U18/U14/U12 Section. First placed was Rachel Lambert [Middlesex and SGCL] with 5/6. Anneka Treon [Middlesex] was second, and Judith Rawlings [Oxfordshire] was third.
Results from the lower age-group sections would be welcome.

Kensington Rapidplay 20 June 1999

In the U75 Section, Fiona Smailes [Surrey] was top girl with 3/6; Karla Houska [Berkshire] and Sunena Patel [Surrey] each had 2½/6.

Sussex Closed U7 Tournament 19 June 1999

13 of the 37 entrants were girls. Best girl was Milly Upton, placed second with 4½/5. For full details of all girls' scores, Click here.

Girls impress at Bourne Hall

There were many fine performances by girls at Ewell's Battle of Bourne Hall on 20 June, including clear wins for Meenatchy Kanagasapay in the U11s and Selina Khoo (playing a year 'up') in the U9s. Teresa Khoo was joint winner of the Major (U150) section. For full details, Click here.

England Selections for World and European Junior events announced

England this year have selected a full squad of girls as well as boys to take part in these important events. Junior director Peter Turner and the other selectors deserve congratulation for the confidence they have placed in our young players, who it is certain to say, will acquit themselves proudly. [In examining the selections, one must remember that the International age date is 1 January in any year, not 1 September as in Britain].
To view the selections, Click here.

ECGCF Minor Final, Coulsdon 12 June: Middlesex first winners of Petit Coup

The handsome Petit Coup was nicely decorated with blue and silver ribbons to be received by the strong Middlesex Girls team who, dropping only 4 points, were placed first in this event with a score of 14/18. Second, Northamptonshire 10½; Third, Sussex 9; Fourth, Staffordshire 7; and fifth Hampshire 4½. For full details of this event, Click here.

Richmond Rapidplay, 6 June

There were no females in the 17-player Open section, but it is pleasing to see that Mike Basman was placed 2-4 with 4½/6.
In the 16-player Intermediate (U160), the only girl Teresa Khoo [R, Surrey] found it hard going and finished 16th with 1½ including a 1-point bye and a draw with a 130-graded player.
In the Intermediate (U120), there was another excellent result for the rapidly-improving Anna Partington [Q, Surrey] who was placed clear second with 5/6 in a field of 19 players. Anna's performance grade was 120. Only one other girl played: Nicole Mangion placed 15-16 with 2/6.
Four younger girls out of a total of 30 players played in the Minor (U80) and the best were Abigail Flint [V, Essex] and Fiona Smailes [U, Surrey], each of whom scored 3/6 placed 11-17. Also playing were: Stephanie Barraclough [V, Sussex] scoring 2½ placed 18 and Selina Khoo [W, Surrey] scoring 1½ placed 25-26.

Wales v England, Chepstow 5 June: A New Welsh Star?

A strong England U11 Girls team beat the Welsh team 13-3 in this match, held over eight boards and two rounds. However, no less than half of the Welsh points came from one girl, Olivia Smith who beat Claire Morris of Oxfordsire and drew with Elizabeth Roberts of Cheshire. To view the full details of the match, Click here.