With the coming of spring we are seeing chess push up its shoots with the flowers. Junior Secretary Jonathon Blackburn has sent in this report.
On Saturday March 12th Staffordshire juniors sent a team of 13 to the U11 Northern English Primary Schools Chess Association zonal tournament held in Bolton. We played against players from Merseyside, Manchester, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire & The Wirral. For more than half the players this was their first ever tournament and gained invaluable experience in playing on the day. After 3 rounds at a time control of 40+10 we unfortunately didn't make it through to the finals. However this was expected with our young team. Top scorer was Sehej Sohi with 2/3 who will be eligible for another 2 years in this tournament!
I would like to thank all the players for exemplary behaviour on the day and the parents/guardians for their support. We had a great time with our in between round sessions outside, I look forward to the next match!
Well played to them all and that day also saw the return of the ever popular Blackpool Congress and a report on the entrants from the North Staffs and District Chess Association may be seen on their website.