Category: Juniors

Last weekend, many of our juniors headed over to Worthing for the sixth and final Grand Prix of the Sussex junior chess season. It was a great day and all the juniors did us proud!

In the under 11 minors we had three players, two of whom were playing in their very first county tournament. Hudson scored a fantastic 3 out of 6 in his first event, an amazing achievement! Sebastian S, also playing in his first event, scored an incredible 3.5 out of 6! Amazing! Zach had a really good day scoring 4.5 out of 6 and came joint third. Unfortunately he just missed out on a trophy due to tie-break, but was awarded an arbiters award for his excellent performance.

In the under 11 majors, the top two seeds were Bexhill juniors Harry and Noah. Harry scored 3.5 out of 6, and Noah finished in 3rd place with 4/6. Well done boys!

In the under 18 majors, Sebastian M was playing for the first time in the major section. He scored 2 out of 6 and kept his chin up during what is often a very tough transition from playing in the minors to the majors. Rose and Samuel both finished on respectable 3/6, but the man of the moment was our Luke Chapman, continuing his rapid progression who scored 5.5 out of 6 and won the section!

Once the tournament was wrapped up it was time to announce the age group winners for the 2023/24 season:

Timmy Nguyen won the under 8 age group.

Noah Pearson won the under 9 age group.

Luke Chapman won the under 13 age group.

Sebastian Merchant came 2nd in the under 15 age group.

Well done to everyone for a fantastic season. Thanks to everyone at SJC that makes these events happen. Look forward to doing it all again next season.

The 2024/2025 season will begin in September in Crowborough.

Congratulations to the Merchant brothers who travelled to Maidenhead this weekend to compete in the Maidenhead Junior chess congress. Samuel, despite being an under 11, decided to play up in the under 18 section with his brother Sebastian. Both boys had a great day. It was a gruelling seven round tournament with very little of a break between rounds. Sebastian lost to the top seed and to the overall winner and lost one other game in a time scramble. Other than that he scored three wins and a draw to finish on a respectable 3.5 points.
Samuel had an incredible day, drawing with the top seed rated just under 1700, but other than that, winning all his games! He scored 6.5 from 7 and won the first place trophy! Including this beautiful perpetual trophy!
Well done boys!

On the fourth of November, five of our Bexhill juniors set out for a
tough battle; they were to play for Sussex teams in the National Youth Chess Association Junior Team Championships in Oxford.

In the U18 team, Sebastian scored 2.5 from 3 on board 5; a very
impressive result against strong players. He also was awarded star player. Then for the U14 team, Luke Chapman scored 2.5 on board 1 against some strong opponents.

Finally, in the U12 team, Andy and Sam on boards 1 and 2 both scored 1.5 from 3. On board 6, Rose won all her three games resulting in a Sussex U12 team second place finish and, for Rose, a star player award.

Thank you to all our parents for their driving and support.

Congratulations to the U12s, and a huge thank you to Steve Merchant for helping organise another brilliant day of chess for Bexhill juniors – 11 points from 15 games!

(Luke Chapman)

Well done to our four juniors who travelled up to Yateley manor school this weekend for the South of England chess championships.
Sebastian Merchant came down ill the night before the tournament. He bravely battled in the under 15 section but lost his first two games and had to take a bye in the last round of the first day. However he came back strong on day two, winning both his games and finishing on 2.5 in 14th place.
Rose Burgess and Luke Chapman were both playing in the under 13 section. Rose scored 2 from 5 and Luke managed one more finishing on 3 from 5 in 6th position. Great results from an incredibly competitive section.
Finally, Samuel Merchant was playing in the under 11 section. He had a great weekend and won 4 from 5, meaning he finished in joint second place and won a share of the prize money.
Congratulations to you all!

Congratulations to Bexhill junior Rose Burgess who has just returned from Newcastle where she was playing in the Northumbria Masters and won the Women’s prize of £50 cash! Well done Rose! 💪🏻

On Saturday the 20th of May, several Bexhill juniors traveled to Worthing to compete in the final Grand Prix of the Sussex junior chess season. 

It was a wonderful day with some fantastic achievements. 120 juniors battled it out in four sections. The tournament is a six-round rapid play with a time control of 25 + 5. It is also the sixth and final event in the Grand Prix calendar.

In the Under 11 minor section we had 2 juniors playing in their first Sussex tournament, Albion Haughton and Jaxson Foster. Both boys finished on 2 points showing tremendous talent and resilience and received arbiter’s awards in recognition of this. Well done, boys!

In the under 11 major section, Harry Morter had his first taste of chess at the major level. It’s a tough challenge but Harry battled valiantly with 1 win, 3 draws and only 2 losses. He finished in 10th place with 2 and a half points. In the same section, Rose Burgess had an incredible day, remaining unbeaten with 5 wins and a draw. She finished joint first with five and a half points. Congratulations, Rose!

In the under 18 minors, Sebastian Merchant finished on four out of six, putting him on joint 8th.

In the under 18 majors, Samuel Merchant and Luke Chapman both had great days taking 3 points each and finishing joint 15th. Anh Nguyen managed 1 point more and with a strong tie break score finished in third place.

At the end of the tournament, points were tallied for the season. Samuel Merchant was second place under 10, Rose Burges was third place under 11, Luke Chapman was top under 12, and Sebastian Merchant was second place under 14.

We are so proud of all our juniors. You’re all amazing. What a fantastic end to a fantastic season. It’s so nice to see you all being rewarded for your hard work. Have a wonderful summer and we all look forward to doing it again next season.