These News Items relate to April 2002

England U11 Trials, Liverpool 27 April 2002

There was an outstanding result for Selina Khoo [Surrey] with 5/6 in the special Closed section, to which access was by invitation only, and this confirms the belief that Selina is the strongest U11 player, of either sex, in Britain. Only four players were in the Closed section, playing a double-round all-play-all, and Selina finished a point and a half in front of the strong Essex player Dana Hawrami, a boy who in the past has been somethng of a bogeyman for her.
In the Main section with some 50 players, all very strong U11s, Hannah Dale [Surrey] did very well to finish in 15-22 place on 3½/6. Katie Hale [Essex], Ellie Hayden [Sussex] and Amisha Parmar [Derbyshire] were all placed 23-37 on 3 points, while Victoria Crompton [Cheshire] was 38-42 with 2½. All these results were very creditable in this strong company.

SCCU U14/U90 competition, Twickenham 14 and 28 April 2002

In their penultimate match, Middlesex Girls Chess Association defeated Hertfordshire (who defaulted the bottom two boards) by 21½ to 2½. MGCA only fielded three girls, and two of these were from Surrey. And in their final match of the season before the Finals, MGCA, on this occasion using a team containing eight girls out of 12, two of whom were from Surrey, defeated the "official" Middlesex team by 16½ to 7½ to finish as Group winners. Details of this match are available Here.

Lancashire Junior Congress, Ormskirk 21 April 2002

Lancashire arrange their junior events in sections, named after chess pieces, by strength rather than by age. There were no girls in the Kings or Queens sections. In the Rooks, Helen Beck scored 2/6; in the Bishops, Natalie Hutchison had 1/6; and in the Knights, Sarah Carrington [Cheshire] scored 4½/7. There were four girls in the Green Pawns section: Sophie Williams, 5/8; Sarah Jackson 3½; Grace Stafford 2½; and Stephanie Reece 1½; while in the Tiny Pawns were Moya O'Rourke 4½/8; Lorna Stevens, 4; Jennifer Salisbury, 4; Grace Thomas, 3; and Kate Charles, 2.

41st Richmond Rapidplay, Hampton 21 April 2002

Seven girls in all took part. In the Open, (14 players) WFM Jessie Gilbert [Surrey] was placed 9-11 with 2½/6; in the Major U160 (19 players) Sarah Hegarty [Surrey] was placed 15-17 with 2/6; in the Intermediate U120 (21 players), Naomi Miller [Oxfordshire] won a prize being placed 3-7 with 4/6; and the four girls in the Minor U80 (54 players) were placed as follows: 4-8 Karla Houska [Berkshire] 4½/6; 9-?? Antonia Round [Middlesex] 4/6; 20-34 Kate Richards [Middlesex] 3/6, 35-36 Deepa Patel [Surrey] 2½/6 and 53-54 Georgia Lewis [? county] 0/6.

Staffordshire take Northern Region ECGCF, Holmes Chapel 21 April 2002

In a very closely-fought contest which was not decided until the very last game had finished, the Staffordshire girls team were the winners of the new ECGCF Northern Region cup, scoring 13½ points to Cheshire's 12½, with the young and less experienced Derbyshire team scoring 1. Full details of all team scores can be seen Here, and the results of individual games can be seen Here.
Staffordshire now proceed to the Grand Final on 29 June at Abingdon, where they will encounter Surrey, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Norfolk, while Cheshire will play alongside in the Minor Counties final against Middlesex, Kent, Somerset and Bedfordshire.

Seven in a row for Wey Valley girls as well! Mill Hill 20 April 2002

The Wey Valley-Surrey U11 Girls team were again the winners, for the seventh consecutive year, of the EPSCA Inter-Association Girls Team Trophy. Greater Manchester were second, as in several previous years, and Nottinghamshire were third. Full details of this competition can be found by clicking Here.

Sussex Juniors v Ireland Juniors, Hove 13-14 April 2002

This large event was arranged as five separated matches for Girls, U10, U12, U14 and U16. Although Sussex won by 3½ matches to 1½, the game points were equal at 120½ each! The drawn match was the Girls section, in which Stephanie Barraclough [Sussex] had a good win over Sarah Hegarty [Ireland]. And in the U10 Section, Catherine Danaher of Ireland scored 9/9!
We are indebted to David Fryer for these results, and the details can be seen Here.

First Cheshire & North Wales Girls Championships, Frodsham 13 April 2002

One of the very best ways of encouraging girls to play, especially in the earlier part of their career, is to organise girls-only events. The girls then play in a completely non-threatening atmosphere, they feel valued, social bonding occurs, and these factors, together with the results they obtain, re-inforce their positive feelings about chess.
Now Cheshire are setting an excellent example with their first all-girls event at Frodsham. Courtesy of Cheshire organiser George Davison, you can see the full results Here.

Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! Its seven in a row for Surrey! BCF Inter-County U18 Girls, Nuneaton 13 April 2002

The Surrey Girls U18 team, playing at Pingles Leisure Centre, Nuneaton, were once again the winners of the BCF Inter-County U18 Girls team competition. Scores Surrey 10, Staffordshire 7, Leicestershire 0. This is the seventh consecutive year the title has been won by Surrey, who have now won the title 12 times in all. For full details, Click Here .
The boys' team championships also took place at the same venue: the Major being won by Warwickshire and the Minor by Surrey. Two of the Major boys' teams used girls, Essex using Heather Walker on Board 12 scoring 1½/2, and Oxfordshire with Naomi Miller on Board 9 and Judith Rawlings on Board 12, each of these girls scoring 1 /2.

National Junior Squad Championships, Chadderton, Lancashire, 5-7 April 2002

Numbers attending this event were lower then expected, which seems a pity - selectors take the results from such events very seriously when considering who will represent England in the various international events that occur towards the end of the year. It is particularly to be regretted that none of the older Surrey girls put in an appearence.
Robyn Smith of Oldham had an excellent performance in the very tough U12, placing joint fourth with 5/7. To see all of the girls' results, Click Here, and complete crosstables are on the Junior Chess News site maintained by Neville Belinfante and accessible through our Links page.

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