The inaugural Midland Junior County Championship was held at Nottingham High School on Saturday, 16th November. Five Warwickshire teams entered into the Under 11, Under 9 and Girls sections. Each of our teams played five matches against other counties from across the Midlands.
Under 11 Championship
Warwickshire was represented by a team of Year 5 children (Under 10) and Year 6 children (Under 11). The Under 11 team was sadly depleted due to a clash with 11+ examinations. Both teams won 3 matches, drew 1 match and lost 1 match, finishing on 7 Matchpoints, and tied for second place. The Under 10 team finished ahead on tie-break. Oxfordshire won the tournament.
Under 11 Results (3rd place)
Won 7-1 v Shropshire
Won 7-1 v Nottinghamshire Bishops
Lost 1-7 v Oxfordshire
Won 6-2 v Leicestershire
Drew 4-4 v Nottinghamshire Knights
George McCumiskey and Arnav Dasari top-scored with 4 points.
Under 10 Results (2nd place)
Drew 4-4 v Nottinghamshire Knights
Won 6-2 v Shropshire
Won 7-1 v Leicestershire
Lost 1½-6½ v Oxfordshire
Won 7½-½ v Northamptonshire
Handuo Cao, Yang Tan and James Palmer-Brown top-scored with 4 points.
Under 9 Championship
Warwickshire was represented by a team of Year 3 children (Under 8) and Year 4 children (Under 9). The Under 9 team performed creditably, winning 3 matches, drawing 1 match and losing 1 match, finishing on 7 Matchpoints. However, the Under 8 team won all five of their matches to win the tournament, finishing ahead of all of the other Under 9 teams, including a match win against Warwickshire’s Under 9 team!
Under 9 Results (2nd place)
Drew 4-4 v Leicestershire
Won 8-0 v Northamptonshire
Lost 3-5 v Warwickshire Under 8
Won 4½-3½ v Nottinghamshire
Won 5-3 v Shropshire
Anthony Tye and Lucas Sacramento Guillaume top-scored with 4 points.
Under 8 Results (1st place)
Won 8-0 v Shropshire
Won 5-3 v Oxfordshire
Won 5-3 v Warwickshire Under 9
Won 7-1 v Leicestershire
Won 7-1 v Nottinghamshire
James Tye and Arthur McCumiskey top-scored with 5 points.
Under 11 Girls Championship (1st place)
Warwickshire’s Girls team won 4 matches and drew 1, to finish on 9 Matchpoints and win the tournament.
Won 4-0 v Nottinghamshire Queens
Won 2½-1½ v Leicestershire
Won 3-1 v Northamptonshire
Won 4-0 v Shropshire
Drew 2-2 v Nottinghamshire Rooks
Bani Heer and Aadya Balakrishnan top-scored with 5 points.
Warwickshire Chess Association would like to thank Nottinghamshire Primary Schools Chess Association for hosting the tournament; and Nottingham High School for hosting it. The school provided excellent facilities, including a cafe stocked with refreshments, waiting classrooms, and good playing conditions.