Lancashire Junior Congresses - Girls' Results

Lancashire Chess Association ran two well-supported Junior congresses recently, repectively at Chorley in January and at Rawtenstall in February. Lancashire juniors really have to work hard for their gradings, unlike some Counties where they get a soft ride to 40 or 50! In Lancashire, grades start from 0. Quite logically, the juniors play in sections based on their gradings rather than age. The Sections are named as Chess pieces, with Kings averaging grade 90; Queens 40; Rooks 35; Bishops 22; Knights 14; and Pawns less than 10.
At Chorley, there was one girl in the Rooks: Latifa Patel placed 19 out of 25, grade 26.
The three girls in the Bishops were: Nuala Tumelty placed 9/25 grade 24; Holly Carter placed 16/25 grade 20; and Debbie Cooper placed 18/25 grade 18.
The only girl in the Knights was Heather Walmsley placed 18/22 grade 8.
At Rawtenstall, three Bishops: Victoria Crompton, 4/22 grade 30; Latifa Patel, 16/22 grade 24; and Holly Carter, 17/22 grade 20.
Four Knights: Sarah Robinson 4/24 grade 24; Charlotte Paisley 7/24 grade 20; Cara Pendleton 16/24 grade 13; Fatima Zafir 17/24 grade 13. Two Pawns: Helen Beck 3/24 grade 14, and Heather Walmsley 4/24 grade 15. It should be mentioned that Helen Beck is a member of the Lancashire Chess Association U9 squad and Victoria Crompton is in the Tameside U9 squad. Helen played in the 1998 UK Chess Gigafinal.

Berkshire Trials U11, 28 February, and U9, 31 January

26 competed in the U11 event of whom 5 were girls. Best girl was Yasmin Ball [V year] placed 2-3 with a score of 7/9. Then came Lucy Brown and Karla Houska [both U] each with 5/9 placed 7-11; Alison Massingale [U] with 4½/9 placed 12-15; and Karissa Barkat [V] with 2½/9 placed 23-24.
In the U9 event a month earlier, Yasmin Ball was the clear winner with a clean-sheet 9/9! The other two girls involved were Samantha Jenkins and Karissa Barkat, [both V] with 4/9.

Eastbourne Junior Tournament, 27 February

There were two sections, U16 and U11. In the U16, (16 players) there were four girls: Petra Rose [Kent] placed 12 with 2½; Rebecca Tuck [Sussex and SGCL] placed 14 with 1½; Samantha Harris placed 15 with 1½; and Danielle Harris placed 16 with 0. (Girls presumed Sussex unless otherwise indicated).
The U11 had 60 players with 11 girls: Best girl was Stephanie Barraclough placed 7-8 with 4½/6 then came: Fiona Smailes [Surrey] placed 19 with 3½; Hannah Dale [Surrey] and Alexandra Clifford, each placed 27-28 with 3; Deborah Margolis placed 31-33 with 3; Katherine Rattle placed 36-37 with 3; Sarah Linnet placed 43 with 2; Holly Chapman placed 52 with 2; Charlotte Mayers placed 54 with 1½; Charlotte Allum placed 56 with 1; and Bryony Price placed 58-59 with 1.

East Devon congress, Exeter 26-28 February

Alex Kelly [Q year, Surrey] scored a creditable 3/5 in the Minor (U125) section.

The Wey Valley Girls team to play on 15 May has been selected. To view the selections, see LINKS page.

Wiltshire and West of England Tournament, Swindon, 20-21 February

Eight girls, all R year or older, played in the Girls section in which the West of England Girls Championship and the Wiltshire Girls Championships at U14, U16 and U18 were contested. The section was arranged as an All-Play-All, local girl Jenny Chase [O year, Wiltshire] excelling with a score of 6½/7. A visitor from far off was Heather Coupe [Q year, Yorkshire] who did very well and in fact was in contention for second place until the very last game.

Many other girls played in the Mixed sections in lower age-groups.
The Beginner's was won by Stephanie Hargraves [X year, Hampshire] with 5/6.
In the U8, Shivani Jobanputra [W, Wiltshire] was Best Girl with 4½/7, and Marianne Hobbs [X] won the Wiltshire Girls U7 trophy with 2½/7.
In the U10 Section, (42 players) Naomi Miller [V, Oxfordshire] and Stephanie Barraclough [V, Sussex] were joint Best Girls and Best U9s each with 4½/6, placed 4-6. Then came Sarah Fitch [Wiltshire] with 3½/6 placed 13-19; Katrina Daw [?] and Nicola Thomas [?] each with 3/6 placed 20-27; and Amelia Duncanson [Norfolk] and Kirsty Lafferty [?] each with 2/6 placed 32-34.
In the U12 Challengers, (29 players), Maria Symeonakis [S year, Cornwall] was Best Girl, indeed the only girl, with 3½/6 placed 8-13.
In the U12 Championship, (61 players), Danielle Gross (sporting a SGCL sweatshirt!) [T, Middlesex] was Best Girl with 2½/6 placed 40-45. Francesca Berlin [T, Essex] and Laura Weatherhead [T, Kent] each scored 2/6 placed 46-54. Sarah Clarke [?] and Rachel Fitch [T, Wiltshire] each scored 1/6, placed 58-60 and Rachel was Best Wiltshire Girl. Edith Glennie [T, Wiltshire] scored 0/6 placed 61.
In the U18 Minor (mixed), Sabrina Chevannes [S, Warwickshire] did extremely well coming 4th with 4/6.

Kensington Congress, 20-21 February

In the Major section (U175): Kanwal Bhatia [M year, County Durham] joint 2nd with 4½/6.
In the Minor section (U145): Jessie Gilbert [S year, Surrey], 4½/6, performance grade 152. Aly Wilson [R year] and Anna Partington [Q year, both Surrey], each 3/6.
In the Amateur section (U115): Poppy Aarons [V year, Middlesex] won the Junior prize with 2/6.
The Family prize was won by the three Houska girls with 8/12.

Pinner Junior Tournament, 20 February

In the U12 Section, Fiona Smailes [U year, Surrey] was joint 3rd and won the Best Girl's prize with 4½/6. Total entry was only 22.

BCF Junior Squad in Poland, 13-18 February

Jessie Gilbert [Surrey] was a member of this 20-strong group and played on Board 9 in several matches against local opposition, achieving a draw against an opponent rated FIDE 2000. Jessie scored 3½/7 in a tournament which included many local players. Sabrina Chevannes [S year, Warwickshire] was also a member of the squad, but I have no information about her performance.

BWCA National Girls Tournament, Stock, Essex 13-14 February

Entry for this event was disappointingly low with only 28 playing. These were divided into two Sections, a U14 with 8 players and a U10 with 20.

Wey Valley Ramsay Cups Tournament, Leatherhead 14 February

47 entered the U11 Championship of whom 10 were girls, all except one SGCL members. Best girls were Sarah Hegarty and Lara Moffat, each placed 5-10 scoring 3½/5. Then came Reyana Fayyaz with 3, placed 11-23; Abigail Archibald and Louise Newlands, each 2½ placed 24-30; Meenatchy Kanagasapay with 2 placed 31-37; Clare Briscoe and Alicia Snelling with 1½ placed 38-41; and Emma Ryan with 1 placed 42-46. The U11 Minor had 37 playing, with 15 girls of whom 8 were SGCL members. New members Helena Hewes and Emily Round did really well scoring 4/5 and placed 3-6. Then came Georgina Lamble, Sophie Coates, Helen Fraser and Emma Williams all with 3 placed 10-18; Sophie Davies with 2 placed 22-30; and Gabriela Blackburn with 1 placed 33-37. All 5 girls in the 27-player U9 Championship section were SGCL members: Olivia Archibald and Louise Hanger, each 3/5 placed 8-13; Sofia Bosworth, Cherry Brearley and Kate Stevens, each 2 placed 17-21. The largest section was the U9 Minor with 66 players, ~16 girls but only 4 of these so far SGCL members: Catriona Meechan, easily Best Girl with 4/6 placed 3-8 [and only X year, that is U7]: then Clementine Ham, 3½ placed 9-16; Carina Lindberg, 3 placed 17-29; and Holly Sayer, 2½ placed 30-39. Almost all the other girls were way below this.

Peter Turner appointed as BCF Junior director.

At a BCF Management Board on 13 February, Peter Turner of Lincolnshire was appointed as Junior Director until at least September. SGCL welcomes Mr Turner's appointment and wishes him well, in what can be a thankless and very demanding post.
Also on this date it was announced that no "February" grading list will appear this year. The annual list, in August, will be the next to appear and will have the female players clearly identified. Rapidplay grades will be included. It is hoped to publish an interim list in February 2000.