16 players took part in the last rapidplay of October, with trophies available for the winners. Sofia Hilmi came first with a perfect 5 wins out of 5. Amelia Ahmad was in clear second place. There were 6 players tied for 3rd with 3 points out of 5, with Yuvraj taking the 3rd place on tie break.

1. Sofia Hilmi – 5 / 5
2. Amelia Ahmad – 4 / 5
3. Yuvraj Singh – 3 / 5

16 players took part in the last Kings rapidplay of October, with the winner claiming a £15 voucher for chess.co.uk! Congratulations to Lindsay finishing unbeaten and outright winner with 4.5pts

1. Lindsay Pyun – 4.5 / 5
2. Madhav Eradi – 4 / 5
3. Noor Datoo – 3.5/5

8 children entered the Knights rapidplay, with Yvon taking the trophy by winning all her games, well done. Three players finished with 2 wins out of 3.

1. Yvon Cen – 3 / 3
2. Siyoung Ryu – 2 / 3
3. Abhiraj Ingle – 2 / 3
4. Zara Mehta – 2 / 3

17 players took part in this weeks hard fought rapidplay, with 4 players finishing on 4 points out of 5. Aarav Garg took first place on tie break, well done! The top four finishers were as follows

1. Aarav Garg – 4 points
2. Anjal Parizad – 4 points
3. Adeeb Syed – 4 points
4. Sofia Hilmi – 4 points

In todays Kings rapidplay 13 players took part, with John Moughtin Leay finishing top with a perfect 5/5, his second tournament victory this week!

1. John Moughtin Leay – 5/5
2. Noor Datoo – 4/5
3. Leo Abraham 3/5

Also we had a Knights rapidplay today, unfortunately a couple of players were effected by connection issues. Yvon came out on top with a perfect 3/3 well done.

1. Yvon Cen – 3/3
2. Harrison Slade – 1.5/3
3. Zara Mehta – 1/5/3

The last Arena battle of September was very hard fought with only 2 points between the top two players, with the final result only decided in last few minutes of play. Well done to John who has won three in a row!

1. John Moughtin Leay – 28 points
2. Madhav Eradi – 26 points
3. Yuvraj Singh – 20 points

The last Rooks rapidplay of September was very closely contested, with 16 players taking part on Saturday 26th September. There was a tie at the top three players finishing on 4 points of 5. The winner on tie break was Laurence Norton, well done to everyone who took part!

1. Laurence Norton 4/5
2. Anjal Parizard 4/5
3. Sofia Hilmi 4/5

Each player in the top 3 will receive a trophy or medal.

Many Leicestershire Juniors took part in the recent online UK Chess challenge, several qualifying for the gigafinals, and a select few making it through to the prestigious Terafinal stage. The finals were played over the weekend of the 5^th and 6th of September, featuring most of the strongest junior players in the country. Amongst several excellent performances by members of the club I thought I should mention

Sasha Kerbel – scored 7.5 points in the U18 Terafinal 14^th place overall

Lindsay Pyun – scored 6.5 points in the U12 Terafinal 5^th highest girl

Sophie Mehta – scored 6 points in the U10 Terafinal, 10^th highest girl.

Well done everyone who took part, I am sure we will have even more players in the Terafinals in years to come!

A large number of club members took part in the English Youth Online championships which took place on the 30th May on Lichess.

Amongst a number of good performances by club members Lindsay excelled in winning two prizes, top U12 girl, and 2nd place girl in the U14 bullet competition. Subsequently Lindsay has been selected to represent England in the international team battle. A fantastic achievement and a deserved reward for a talented player who also works very hard on improving her game!

15 club members were represented in the 20 board Leicestershire U11 team that made the long journey up to Cheadle Hume on Sunday 8^th of March.

It was a tough and close competition, with Leicestershire finishing in 4^th place with 31 points to qualify for the finals which will take place in Solihull on the 28^th of March.

1. Cheshire & N Wales 50
2. Nottingham 38
3. Oldham 35.5
4. Leicestershire 31
5. Wirral 29
6. Tameside 28.5
7. Staffs 28.5
8. Lancashire 14
9. Manchester 14

Our qualification was not confirmed until the very last result of the whole event. Lindsay Pyun completed an excellent game, winning her opponents centre pawn and expertly converting this advantage through the endgame. This received a round of applause from all the spectators, and sealed Leicestershire’s place in the finals.

Special mention also to Joshua Tang, Aarav Sinha and Madhav Eradi who all earned maximum points over the day. Six more players scored two wins out of three. Several of our younger players also turned out (including Sam on his birthday!) and we look forward to seeing them in the team in future matches. Many thanks to all the parents and helpers who made this possible and to Julian Tang for organising the team on the day. We look forward to the finals in Solihull on Saturday 28^th of March.

Two club members put in fantastic performances in the under 8 section of the recent Northamptonshire championships. Sam Wakelin finished joint winner with 5 points out of 6! Em-Jay Dyer was joint top girl, scoring 4 points out of 6, beating the top Northamptonshire boy and girl along the way!

More details and full results are available below

http://www.northantsjuniorchess.org/county-championships-2020.html

Sam has also enjoyed more success recently getting a silver medal in the U11s section of the Kenilworth Junior Open on 26 Jan, winning 4/5 games. Results are available below.

http://chess-results.com/tnr510160.aspx?lan=1&art=4