The Essex under 11 team failed to qualify for the Final Stages of the English Primary Schools' Chess Association Championships at one of the finest venues used by EPSCA. Colfe's School is less than an hour's drive from most parts of Essex and the hosts, the Kent JCA, invariably organise a problem-free event. In previous years, Essex has had considerable success at Colfe's, and it was not for lack of effort from a generally young and inexperienced team that we fell short of our target this time. If the finger of blame has to be pointed anywhere, it must be towards the small but significant group of absent players whose County loyalty was found wanting on the day.
This year's Essex team did not enjoy the services of a group of England hopefuls on the high boards and before the event the Team Managers felt that this would be the area in which we would be weak. However, a wonderful day's work by the top four, consisting of Dana Hawrami, Sam Wass, Lee Wicks and David Smith, brought in a haul of 9 points from a possible 12, which was probably bettered only by runaway Champions Richmond. Indeed, the top nine boards for Essex delivered no fewer than 14½ points, six of them in round 1, the sole contributor from the bottom half on this occasion being Alex Caldwell.
Generally it was a very good day for R.A. Butler School, whose 10 points must have been the best by any school since 1996, when the Essex under 9 and under 11 teams won the EPSCA Double, and both teams were based largely upon the Temple Sutton contingent. Lee Wicks (Old Heath, Colchester) was the only Essex player to score 3 points, but David Smith was very close to achieving this target: his rearguard action in round 3 while the exchange down was little short of heroic, and when a slip by his opponent allowed David to capture the black rook, the Kent player did exceptionally well to force the draw with an advanced a-pawn. Joseph Bloomfield, also paired against Kent in round 3, was close to a clean sweep, but in a complicated position in which Joseph's king was exposed, he missed a neat way of winning a pawn and forcing the exchange of queens. Had this chance been taken he would have had a significant endgame advantage. Peter Dudfield was also very close, winning a piece in round 3 but then overlooking a pair of pawn checks which drove his king away from an attacked rook.
As in the previous week during the under 9s, Matthew Porter had to face a Richmond opponent. This time, instead of coming from behind, Matthew led from the start and finally forced a checkmate to end the second to last game to finish after some 85 minutes' chess. Charles Phillips was the other bottom half player to reach 2 points.
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Rd 1
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Rd 2
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Rd 3
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Tot
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||
| 1 | Dana Hawrami | 0 (Richmond) | ½ (Kent) | 1 (Sussex) | 1½ |
| 2 | Sam Wass | 1 (Herts) | 0 (Wey Valley) | 1 (S. London | 2 |
| 3 | Lee Wicks | 1 (NW London) | 1 (S. London) | 1 (Herts) | 3 |
| 4 | David Smith | 1 (Barnet) | 1 (NW London) | ½ (Kent) | 2½ |
| 5 | Joe Martin | 0 (Wey Valley) | 0 (Sussex) | ½ (Barnet) | ½ |
| 6 | Subin Sen | 1 (Sussex) | ½ (Herts) | 0 (Richmond) | 1½ |
| 7 | Darren Campbell | 0 (Richmond) | 0 (Kent) | 0 (NW London | 0 |
| 8 | Peter Dudfield | 1 (S London) | 1 (Barnet) | 0 (Wey Velley) | 2 |
| 9 | Joseph Bloomfield | 1 (Herts) | 1 (Wey Valley) | 0 (Kent) | 2 |
| 10 | Sarah Molisso | 0 (NW London) | 1 (Richmond) | 0 (Sussex) | 0 |
| 11 | Matthew Porter | 0 (Barnet) | 1 (S. London) | 1 (Richmond) | 2 |
| 12 | Olivia Reed | 0 (Wey Valley) | 0 (Barnet) | 0 (Herts) | 0 |
| 13 | Simon Payne | 0 (Sussex) | 0 NW London) | ½ (Kent) | ½ |
| 14 | Hester Klimach | 0 (Kent) | 1 (S. London) | ½ (NW London | 1½ |
| 15 | Lee McHugh | 0 (Herts) | 0 (Wey Valley) | 0 (Sussex) | 0 |
| 16 | Christina Gargan | 0 (Barnet) | 0 (S. London) | 0 (Richmond) | 0 |
| 17 | Charles Phillips | 0 (Richmond) | 1 (NW London) | 1 (S. London) | 2 |
| 18 | Michael Hale | 0 (Kent) | 1 (Sussex) | 0 (Herts) | 1 |
| 19 | Calvin Webber/Ranita Klimach | 0 (NW London) | 0 (Barnet) | ½ (Kent) | ½ (RK) |
| 20 | Alex Caldwell | 1 (S. London) | 0 (Wey Valley) | 0 (Barnet) | 1 |
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Totals
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7
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9
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7½
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23½
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| 1 | Richmond | 18½ | 16 | 14 | 48½ |
| 2 | Wey Valley | 12½ | 13 | 13½ | 39 |
| 3 | Kent | 13½ | 11½ | 10 | 35 |
| 4 | Sussex | 12 | 11 | 11 | 34 |
| 5 | Barnet | 10½ | 11½ | 11½ | 33½ |
| 6 | NW London | 8½ | 8 | 9½ | 26 |
| 7 | Essex | 7 | 9 | 7½ | 23½ |
| 8 | Hertfordshire | 4½ | 7½ | 9½ | 21 |
| 9 | S. London | 3 | 2½ | 4 | 9½ |
Bd 17 (NW London) - Phillips,C [C15] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 dxe4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4 0-0 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Ng4 Qh4 11.g3 Qg5 12.Nxe4 Qf5 13.Nxd6 cxd6 14.Bd3 Qd5 15.Ne3 Qc6 16.c3 b6 17.Bc2 Bb7 18.f4 Qh1+ 19.Kf2 Qxh2+ 20.Ke1 Qxg3+ 21.Rf2 Qxe3+ 22.Kf1 Qh3+ 23.Ke2 Nd7 24.Bb1 Nf6 25.Qc2 g6 26.Qb3 Ng4 27.Bxg6 Qe3+ 28.Kd1 Nxf2+ 29.Kc2 Be4+ 30.Bxe4 Nxe4 31.Rd1 Qe2+ 32.Kb1 Nd2+ 0-1