Dorset Junior Championships 8 February 2020: a fantastic day of junior chess!

Over 50 junior chess players from across Dorset, plus a few from Hampshire, took part in the annual Dorset Junior Chess Championships at Bournemouth School for Girls.

It was an amazing day of chess, full of energy and enthusiasm with junior chess definitely the winner. Matches were often hard fought and competitive but all took place in a calm, enthusiastic and friendly manner. It as so encouraging to see so many young chess players enjoying the game.

Dorset Junior Champion

Congratulations to Jamie Doyle on becoming Dorset Junior Chess Champion with a fantastic score of 7 out of 7 in the Year 7 to 11 section.

Also on full score, with 7 wins out of 7, were Larissa Cuthbert (Year 6) and Leonardo Camopy (Year 3), seen here with their Delancey trophies. Well done to both for this fantastic achievement.

A special mention to Max Teverson from year 2 (Under 7) who was by far the youngest player in the championships and won 4 games and drew 1 game against Year 3 and year 4 opponents. We hope to see you next year Max.

There were so many highlights from the day: juniors enthusiastically playing and practising between rounds; friendships made across the ; the clamour to be the first at the pairings board; numerous happy smiling faces and only a very few tears. It was a day to remember.

And a very important ingredient in keeping everyone happy: the fantastic hot food supplied by Martin Simons.

Feedback from one of the parents summarises the day:

We would like to congratulate you and the entire committee of Dorset 2020 for organising such a great event. It was so well structured.

Parents and the children enjoyed it in equal magnitude. My sons are leaving with smile on their faces.

Food and hospitality has been icing on the cake :-). We are already looking forward for the next year.

By year group and age group the winners were:

Year 2 Max Teverson Year 3 / Under 8 Leonardo Camopy Year 4 / Under 9 Woody Whiting-Mawby Year 5 / Under 10 Romeo Giovannini and Jack Baskett Year 6 / Under 11 Larissa Cuthbert Year 7 / Under 12 Ramiar Chowdhury and Alex Stephenson Year 8 Jamie Doyle Year 9 / Under 14 Josh Leggatt Year 10 / Under 16 Ted Paul and Varun Neelamraju Year 11 / Under 16 Anthony Goodwin

Full results by school year group and age group trophies are given at the bottom of this report.

Photo gallery can be found at https://www.facebook.com/dorsetchess/

Delancey UK Chess Challenge

Not only was it the Dorset Junior Championships, but for juniors up to U12 / Year 6, it was also a Delaney UK Chess Challenge qualifier, the first ever in Dorset. To qualify, a player must be Top Boy or Top Girl in their age group or score a minimum of 15 points (calculated as 3 for a win, 2 for a , 1 for a loss and 0 for default)

As the final rounds approach, the intensity heighted as the race to achieve minimum points was on. In the event, a fantastic 21 juniors qualified for the next round in the event, the Megafinal. We wish them lots of luck.

School year / Age Top Boy Top Girl Also qualifying group

Year 2 / U7 Max Teverson N/A N/A Year 3 / U8 Leonardo Campy Himali Sivaprakash William Young Edmund Macalaster Year 4 / U9 Woody Whiting Mawby Swara Mencha Joey Li Jesse Best Jake Doyle Harvey Spencer Year 5 Romeo Giovannini Zoe Trepak Alexander Kosych Jack Baskett Radimir Blacklock Year 6 Lucas Melo Trewby Larissa Cuthbert Florence Spirling Che Li Nathan Gene

Some of the happy Delancey UK Chess Challenge qualifiers who have made it through to the Megafinal round: Full results

Dorset County Junior Chess Championship 2019/20

Results by School Year Group

Medals Gold Silver Bronze

Year 2 Max Teverson

Year 3 Leonardo Camopy William Young Edmund Macalaster Himali Sivaprakash

Year 4 Woody Whiting- Joey Li Jesse Best Mawby Jake Doyle Harvey Spencer

Year 5 Romeo Giovannini Radimir Blacklock Matthew Butcher Jack Basket Alexander Kosych Konstantinos Tsirves

Year 6 Larissa Cuthbert Florence Spirling Li Chi Nathan Gene Lucas Melo Trewby

Year 7 Ramiar Chowdhury Jake Hardman Alex Stephenson Shourya Sharma Kane Valderama

Year 8 Jamie Doyle Saathvik Konreddy Dylan Kerry

Year 9 Josh Leggatt Andre Mouer Jonathan Nunn

Year 10 Ted Paul Varun Neelamraju

Year 11 Anthony Goodwin Mikolaj Kalicinski