These News Items relate to March 2002

Sarah does well at Surrey Easter, 29 March-1 April 2002

Star U13 player Sarah Hegarty finished on 4½/6 in the U145 Surrey Major to share third/fourth prizes with two other players. Playing strong decisive chess throughout, Sarah won the last round with text-book study play in a K+3 v K+3 ending. Her adult opponent was so bemused that he sat there for fully ten minutes before resigning a clearly-lost position! Sarah then went on to be the clear winner, with 5½/6, of the Adult Rapidplay on the Monday.
Other girls playing at the Surrey Easter were: in the 2-day Novice, Katie Houstoun and Thilagini Anandajeyarajah, each 2/6; and in the Junior Rapidplay, Jemima McGraw 4/6; Jenny Watkins and Marissa Stenning, each 3/6; and Thilagini, 2/6. All these girls Surrey.

Coulsdon Easter Congress, 29-30 March 2002

In the Open, (15 players) Teresa Khoo [Surrey] scored 3½/6 and shared the U190 Grading Prize, thus receiving £25. In the U95, Stephanie Barraclough [Sussex] was the clear winner with 5½/6. Other girls taking part: Open Jessie Gilbert 3/6; U130, Selina Khoo 3½/6; U95, Hannah Dale 4/6, Jemima McGraw 3½/6, Abi Fryer [Sussex] 3/6. All other girls Surrey.

Maidenhead Junior Congress, 25-26 March 2002

Surrey Last Chance Saloon, Esher 23 March 2002

This 7-round tournament, played at 15 minutes pppg, was to allow those players who wished to qualify for this year's UK Chess Challenge Megafinals, a chance to do so. The results, kindly supplied by Pat Armstrong, can be seen Here.

Four Nations Chess League, Rounds 7 and 8, 23-24 March 2002

Two new players this season, both with Poisoned Pawns teams, were Poppy Aarons of Middlesex and Robyn Smith of Lancashire. Both did very well - Poppy had two draws, both with players higher rated than herself, while Robyn had a draw and a win.
Our table of all girls' 4NCL performances has been updated, and can be found Here.

EPSCA U11 Zonals, 16 March 2002

To see the results of the EPSCA U11 (mixed) Zonals, including which teams qualified for the Finals, Click Here.

Essex Girls v Middlesex Girls, Wanstead Sunday 17 March 2002

In a 3-round friendly match, Middlesex beat Essex by a convincing 19½ - 7½. This match was not played under ECGCF County qualification rules. Results courtesy Bruce Birchall. Details of individual girls' scores can be seen Here.

NYCA U16 Team Tournament, Birmingham Saturday 16 March 2002

Richmond were the clear winners. Surrey entered a whole team of girls in this event, which is the first time an all-girls team has ever entered a NYCA event at this level. The Surrey girls' team finished 12th out of 14 teams in this very stiff competition, and all the team members played good chess and gave of their best. The individual scores out of 3 were as follows:
1. WFM Jessie Gilbert 2½
2. Teresa Khoo 1½
3. Sarah Hegarty 1
4. Nicole Mangion 1
5. Jemima McGraw 1
6. Chantal Sirisena 1
7. Fiona Smailes ½
8. Jenny Watkins 0
9. Katie Houstoun 1
10. Rachel Peat ½
11. Deepa Patel 0
12. Louise Hanger 1
Some of the other teams used girls also. To see all of the team scores, as well as results by non-Surrey girls, Click Here .

St Olave's Congress, 9 March 2002

A little overdue but we now have the results for you: There were no girls in the U9 (7 players). In the U11 (38 players), the only girl was Jennifer Martin [Kent] who scored 2/6. In the U14 (27 players) there were: Katie Houstoun [Surrey] 4/6, Sarah Broadbent [Kent] 3½/6, and Anna Richards [Kent] 1/6.

Blackpool Chess Conference, 8-10 March 2002

The prestigious Sharon Furlong Trophy was shared between three girls, each of whon scored 4/5 in their respective sections: Suzie Blackburn [Cheshire] in the Major (U140); Poppy Aarons [Middlesex] in the Intermediate (U120); and Nicola Thomas in the Standard (U80). Other girls scoring over 50% were WIM Heather Richards, 3 in the Open; Sabrina Chevannes [Warwickshire] 3 in the Challengers (U170); and Sarah Hegarty [Surrey] 3½ in the Major.

EPSCA U9 Zonals, 9 March 2002

To see the results of the EPSCA U9 (mixed) Zonals, including which teams qualified for the Finals, Click Here.

St Teresa's Challenge Cup, Effingham 9 March 2002

Some 86 played in this all-girls event, organised by Mrs Kathleen Vanucci. Antonia Round of Middlesex was the winner of the U11; Sheila Dines [Surrey] won the U9, and Fay Birch [Surrey] won the U8. All these girls had a perfect 5/5 score. To see all of the scores from this tournament, Click Here.

Girls do well in Estonia

Recently a party of some 20 U14 English juniors visited Estonia to play in a tournament there. The party included three girls, all of whom were U12s: Poppy Aarons [Middlesex], Robyn Smith [Lancashire] and Nicola Thomas [Wiltshire]. All the girls did well: Poppy had an excellent 4/4, while Robyn had 3/4 and Nicola 2½/4.

Caterham Schools Easter Tournament, 9 March 2002

Neill Cooper writes:"The latest Caterham School's chess event, played on Saturday morning again had significant successes by local girls. Jemima McGraw again won the U14 with 5/5; Becky O'Neill won the U11s with 4/5; Felicia Lui won the U8s with 3/5 whilst Ruth Cooper won the Under 7s with 4.5/5. That just left the U10s, U9s and U6s in boys hands."
For all results, Click Here. ***

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