16 June
Robert Milner from Cheddleton tells me that 19 young players took part in the Rapidplay congress held just over a week ago in Leek.  He also said that was more young players than have even taken part before.

Congratulations and well done to everyone who took part.

The general part of this site includes a report with all the final results.
More details

23 May
Congratulations to Leo Tsoi, and his younger brother Neddy Tsoi.  At last weekend's Worcestershire Megafinal, they both finished with a perfect score of 6 wins from 6 games.  They both earned the title Supremo and of course they both go through to the Northern Gigafinal in Manchester on 18 - 19 July.

Well done &
Good Chess!

14 May
Congratulations to Leo Tsoi.  Last weekend (10 May) in Skelmerdsale, he won the rapidplay tournament for players with grades under 90.  He finished with a perfect score of 6 wins from 6 games, and also won the prize for the best junior.  I've heard he was presented with the Skelmersdale Shield.  As you know, just last month, Leo was selected for the England U11 team.

Very well done Leo!

11 May
The Trent Megafinal (for players from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire) was played at Formarke Hall School in Derbyshire on 2nd May.  Among the 23 players in the U12 section was Tom Adams.

At the end of round 5 Tom was on 4½ points.  That put him half a point behind David Somers, his opponent in the last round. David was last year's champion, now Tom had to beat him.  Tom did beat him in the last round, and secured himself the title of U12 Supremo for the Trent Megafinal.

Tom now goes on to the Northern Gigafinal.  At last year's Gigafinal, Tom won the U11 section to become the U11 Ultimo, a title he shared with Athar Mehmood, recently selected for the England U12 team.

Very well done Tom!

6 May
From now on, if you move your mouse pointer near to any of the links at the top of these pages (e.g. Calendar or Congress etc), a text box should appear.  For each link, the text is intended to give you an idea of what is on the page the link takes you to.

It should work properly with most browsers.  I've tested it with MS Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Netscape Navigator.  It should work with Safari etc but I can't confirm that.

Gradually, the text will be added to all the main links on the site and improved.

27 April
While the Under 9 team were competing in the national finals, Leo Tsoi was in Liverpool, competing in the trials for the England Under 11 team.  Traci has just spoken to Leo, who was delighted to tell her he's now a member of the England Under 11 Chess team.

Congratulations Leo!

10 April
Congratulations to St Wulstan's on retaining the

Newcastle-Under–Lyme Schools'
Under 11 Chess Championship
trophy

and becoming the

2009
Newcastle Schools'
Chess Champions.

Well done to all the players from the schools who took part.
championship report.

10 April
Staffordshire entered a team into the Under 18 ( Minor) County Championships on 28th February.  The team gained a magnificent 11 points out of a possible 12 points thus making them the clear winners.  Congratulations to the players on their marvellous success!
Details

23 May
111 players took part in Last Saturday's Staffordshire Megafinal played in Leek on 16 May.  Well done to everyone who took part.

At the end of the Megafinal, eleven boys (Supremi) and five girls (Supremæ) finished top in their age group.  Another 23 players all scored at least 4 points.  They all qualify for the Northern Gigafinal on the weekend of 18 - 19 July.  Three players finished with perfect scores at the event.
Roll of honour

And a very special well done to Candice Griffiths:  During last year's Megafinal, she finished joint first in her age group, but missed qualifying for the Gigafinal after two play-off matches.  This year, she finished top in age group.  Very well done Candice.

Good chess to everyone who took part.

11 May
Do you know any jokes, short stories or anecdotes about chess?  If you have a good one, it could win you a £10 prize.

Anyone can enter, and all you have to do is send in your joke, short story or anecdote.  If the judges think yours is the best, you will win £10 as a prize.  The closing date for entries is the end of June.  After that date, the winning entry and a selection of all those you send in will appear on this website.

Entries can be emailed to staffs.chess@tiscali.co.uk  You should include the words "Chess competition" in the subject box of your email.  If you prefer, you can write down your entry and send it by post to
Andrew Davies.  "Chess competition".  The Penthouse, Shutt Green Lane, Brewood, Staffs. ST19 9LX.  Please make sure your entry includes your name and how we can contact you if you win.

As usual, there are a few conditions of entry, so here's the small print
It is a condition of entry that any jokes, short stories or anecdotes sent by you may be published.  They must have something to do with chess.  Each person should send a total of no more than 30 jokes, stories and anecdotes.  If the winning item is sent in by more than one person, the prize will go to the person whose entry was received first.  All material should be suitable for players of all ages.  In awarding the prize, the judges decision is final.

11 May
Besides his success in the Trent Megafinal,Tom Adams also played for Cheddleton's division 3 team in the Derbyshire league.  The Derby League runs from Sept to April and includes mostly adult players.  This season Cheddleton entered a team in Division 3 and faced tough opposition.  Boards 1 and 2 of the Cheddleton team included players such as Jason McKenna, Chris Sizeland and Craig Whitfield.

It was the team's very last match of the season that would secure the title.  Cheddleton were playing a team from Derby/Micklover.  If Cheddleton could at least draw, the division 3 title was theirs, a loss would give the title to their opponents.  In that final match, Tom won in just 12 moves against a player graded 81.  His win helped secure a 3½ - ½ win (and the division 3 title) for Cheddleton.  My thanks to Wilf Adams for supplying all the info above.

Well done to Craig Whitfield, Tom Adams and all the other players who helped the Cheddleton team secure the Derbyshire division 3 title.

27 April
Traci Whitfield is very busy at the moment, but she told me just how well the Under 9 team did in the national finals on Saturday.  She said that the team which won bronze medals at the zonal in March, finished in 8th place on Saturday.  She also told me that people from all over the country have commented on the team's success.

Everyone on the team played very well, and Traci is really proud of how well you all did.  She even told me that a young lady on the team, named Skye Wiggins, did so well she won every match she played.

Well done to the whole team

10 April
The Under 9 EPSCA Inter-Association Northern Zone Championships took place on Saturday 13 March in Nottingham.  Our team finished with bronze medals, and qualified for the finals - here's the report

10 April
Just one week after the Under 9 team secured their place in the under 9 final, could our under 11 team secure their place in the under 11 final in Buckinghamshire?
Details