16 September
The 2008 Staffordshire Junior Congress will be played on 19 October, 2008.

Full details and entry forms can be found on this site's Junior Congress page.

18 August
Last weekend, Craig Whitfield was in Sheffield, competing in the Terafinal of the UK Chess Challenge.

At the start of the final round, Craig was joint leader and unbeaten.  In that final game, Craig was drawn against the top 18 year old player (and defending UK Chess Challenge Champion) Peter Poobalsingham (grade 194).  During the game both players made full use of the time available, before Peter won.

In an amazing weekend, Craig finished in joint 4^th place, scoring 4½ out of 6.  During the weekend, he beat the third place player (grade 182) and drew in his game against the best girl.

An amazing weekend.  Well played Craig!!!

31 July
Regular visitors may have noticed that the links at the top of these pages seem different in some way.  All the junior chess links are still there, and mostly in the same place.  What has changed is that the links to different parts of the rest of Staffordshire Chess have all been replaced by just one link: Staffs Chess.  From any page in junior chess, that link will take you through to Staffordshire Chess's general news page.  The familiar Junior Chess link will bring you back in the normal way.

16 July
For the sixth year in a row, Craig Whitfield has qualified for the Main Terafinal in the UK Chess Challenge.  One of the very few players to have achieved this record, Craig also has the distinction of being one of the very few (and possibly the only) player to have won both the Best U9 and the Best U11 in the competition.

Well done!

16 June
EPSCA has just started to organise the National Primary Schools Chess Team Championship for 2009.  Any schools which might be interested in taking part should look at the introduction, and get in touch if they have any questions or would like more details about the 2009 competition.

13 June
If you are not too far from Newcastle, some of the best junior players in the area are now coached there - including some of the EPSCA team.  There is excellent coaching, with plenty of puzzles and demonstration games to help develop your skills.
More info

30 May
There were 119 entrants for the Megafinal in Leek on 17 May.  At the end of the day, ten Supremi and seven Supremæ qualify for the northern Gigafinal, along with twenty six others who scored 4 points or more.  So forty three players qualify.  Well done to everyone who took part.
Roll of honour

11 May
Thanks to Holloid Plastics of Baisingstoke, 10 FREE tournament quality chess sets are available for every school in England.  That's a total of 250,000 sets in all.  More info

To receive the free chess sets, all you school needs to do is contact their local MP or send an email to the ECF Office with your schools name and contact details. 

Email: office@englishchess.org.uk

29 Mar
Inter-County matches in the U150 rarely include junior players.  But in this afternoon's Staffordshire v Leicestershire match, Staffordshire had a junior player on board one, and Leicestershire's team included a junior player on board two.  As the match drew to its conclusion, the scores were level.  It was the result of the game played by Craig Whitfield that decided which team won.
Match details

19 Mar
There is now a Roll of Honour page for the players who did so well in the recent U9 and U11 Inter-Association zonals.  Well done!

17 Mar
Well done to the young players who took part in the Newcastle mini congress held over the weekend.  Most of the players were adults.

And of course a special well done to Craig Whitfield who finished as a clear winner in the top section.
Details will soon appear on Martyn Harris's Newcastle-under-Lyme site.

16 Mar
County cup competitions (Hickman, Gothard, Jackson and Withnall Trophies) do not usually get mentioned on this news page because the players are nearly always over 18.  But yesterday, 16 year old Christopher Bellin from Walsall Kipping beat Simon Edwards from Cheddleton & Leek in the semi-final of the county cup (Hickman Trophy).  His victory was also notable because he has a grade 20 points lower than his opponent: Simon's grade is 148, Christopher's is 128.

Unfortunately, despite his success, the Walsall Kipping team were beaten 3½ - 2½ by Cheddleton & Leek, who go through to the final, where they will face a team from Stafford.
Match details

4 Feb
Apologies for the delay in posting the result of this match - there was a mix up between me and the player looking after the Terriers while Mrs Whitfield was unavailable. - I've only just received the match result.

Well done to Matthew, the young player from Staffordshire.  From my own experience facing him in league play, he is definitely improving.  And praise also to the 10 young players who travelled from Shropshire just for this match.  Well done everyone.
Match details

8 Sept
If you have been waiting for details about the 2008 Staffordshire Junior Congress, I apologise for the delay.  Full details and entry forms will be available shortly.

4 Sept
For those of you who haven't already discovered the ECF's junior chess magazine Right Move, their August issue includes a review of this year's EPSCA Schools' Chess Team Championship.  For older children, the article also covers the UK National Schools Team Championships.  You will also find a comment about someone you might know.
Link to the August issue.

18 August
Besides Craig, other players from this area who did well during the weekend's Terafinal were Henrik and Astghik Stepanyan, together with Ravi and Neha Patel.

Well done also to a number of other local players who were making their debut at the Terafinal.  These include Jack Healings and Skye Wiggins.

Congratulations to all players from this area who competed in the Terafinal!!!

31 July
Another change you may not be aware of yet, is that junior chess now has its own internet address.  So if your main interest is junior chess,

www.junior.staffordshirechess.org.uk

will bring you straight to junior chess.

16 July
Well, I finally got around to it.  To make it easier for you to reach this site, from now on all you need to do is type

www.staffordshirechess.org.uk

11 July
If you or your school took part in the National Primary Schools Chess Team Championship this year, finishing places for all teams in each of the three semi-finals, and the final have been added.

13 June
On Tuesday, Rushall Chess Club (near Walsall) became the Club of the Year for Staffordshire.  The club has a mixture of junior and adult players.  There is very good coaching for the junior players and competitions.
More info

30 May
EPSCA select and run an England under 11 chess team.  For players in the under 9 or under 10 age groups, there is now a guide to how that team is selected, and what you need to do if you think you might be good enough to play chess for England.
More info

18 May
Robert Milner who organises the Leek Megafinal told me this morning that yesterday went well. 

8 May
Boards one and two of our under 9 team were unable to play on the day of the finals in Kent, so many children had to play on higher boards than usual.  They played well and the team finished in a very creditable 14^th place.

Well done to the players and everyone involved.

14 Apr
Well done to all the young players who took part in the Staffordshire Congress over the weekend.  You all seemed to have a good weekend, and one player celebrated his 10th birthday.

A results page has been included in the Congress section, and a proper report will be added during the next few days.

19 Mar
Rushall Chess Club now has a website, so if you are interested in the club, have a look.
www.freewebs.com/rushallchessclub
The site even has a problem page to test your skills.

18 Mar
A very belated well done to young Matthew Greenwood, for his draw in the Inter-County match played in Worcestershire on 2 Feb.  His opponent was graded 104.  The only excuse I can offer for the delay, is that I only found out about the result this morning - sorry!
Match details

17 Mar
The under 11s went to Heywood, Lancs on Saturday to play in the EPSCA Under 11 Zone.  The team finished with 22½ points in 8th place.  Team captain, Mrs Whitfield, tells me they did well.

9 Mar
A team of under 9s went to Nottingham yesterday to play in the EPSCA Under 9 Zone.  Finishing with an excellent 21½ points, they missed the bronze by just 1 point.

6 Feb
After 26 years at Manor Farm, Rushall chess club will be playing at a new venue from Monday 11 February.
Details

28 Jan
The colour scheme of this website has been completely revised.  You may need to click on the refresh button of your browser once or twice to see it properly.

10 Jan
Last year a number of junior players took part in the Staffordshire Congress.  This year, it will be held again, at the same venue

Bloxwich Leisure Centre, Bloxwich,
on
12th & 13th April, 2008

If a similar number of young players take part this year, junior prizes will be available in each section.

A traditional part of the Staffordshire Congress was the "Staffordshire Under 21 Championship".  This year, the highest scoring Staffordshire player (aged under 21) in the Premier section will be awarded the title Staffordshire Under 21 Champion

More details.