(photo credit~Ella Catabay)
We have given a little break in learning about endgames in recent weeks, but the club has had a wonderful opportunity to play our guests in simultaneous chess games and put their knowledge into practice. Simultaneous chess, in which one player (typically of high rank) plays several games at the same time with many other players.
On the 16th, we were delighted to welcome Andrew Willoughby to our chess club. Andrew or 'Andy' is the U11 Girls Team Manager with the Essex Junior Chess Association (EJCA). He brought along some of his team's trophies to show our players the potential of what working hard and practising chess can bring. Andy teamed up with our own Mae Cataabay to play each of our club members at the Tuesday session. After nearly two hours of play, the final moves were made. It was a magnificent opportunity for the club to play two strong players in one session. Each and every player gave it their all, and I was struck with their concentration and determination in the games.
Andy selected three players who impressed him most with their games and varied abilities. The top players chosen were Grace, Diya, and Jake. The winners were awarded a chess related prize! Thanks so much to Andy for sharing his time with our club, and we hope to have him return as our guest soon.
Enjoy some photos of the session with guest Andrew Willoughby.
In the week of 23rd of November, one of our strongest club members visited us for an OTB session. Ruqayyah Rida, whose latest achievement includes Junior Rapid and Blitz Under 10 Girls Champion. Ruqayyah, who is normally unable to attend our OTB sessions due to other commitments, was able to visit us and play a simultaneous game with our club members.
Ruqayyah showed the club some of her very impressive trophies and showed our players that hard work in chess delivers real results! After the terrific week they had with Andy, they fell into position and all played brilliantly. What a fun session they had! We hope that Ruqayyah will be able to visit the OTB session again soon. We are proud of her hard work and achievements.
I'd like to thank Ella Catabay for capturing the photos on Tuesday. Here are some of the pictures taken on the day.
(photo credit~Ella Catabay)
Mae, Huzaifa, Rezin, and Riqayyah were invited on November 20-21 to play at the Brentwood Invitational FIDE rated tournament. Jason, Grace, and Vince played the ECF rated games on Sunday. This tournament was organised by IM Richard Pert and Robin Slade at the Brentwood School, and excellent commentary and puzzles presented by GM Matthew Sadler and WIM Nataasha Regan.
Mae Catabay had a stunning result coming 3rd of the FIDE Standing! Well done Mae! Natasha Regan, a Women International Master, chose Riqayyah to receive a copy of her book, "Game Changer", for impressive play throughout the day. Some of our other players received a metal for outstanding play or helpful actions throughout the day! All the players invited did a phenomenal job competing with some very strong opponents and learned a lot due to the experience they had.
Here are a few pictures from the Brentwood Invitational
This week's 'Chess Success' goes to... Huzaifa Baig!
A massive well done to Huzaifa Baig (PawnGoesVroomVroom), who is one of our online club members. He placed 2nd in the British Online Chess Championships-Under 2000 Rapidplay and Runner-Up in the Essex Chessfest! Wow! Well done Huzaifa!
Has your Colchester Junior had an outstanding chess achievement that you'd like to share? It can be an achievement of any size, such as practising puzzles online, reaching target goals, or even beating mum at chess! Please share your club members chess success, no matter how big or small, and a photo of your player to colchesterjrchess.org@gmail.com with 'chess success' as the subject.
That's a lot of brilliant news that we have been delighted to share with you! Dates to watch out for will be sent in an email and in the next newsletter. Don't forget to send your player's chess success to our email so that we can celebrate all the accomplishments of all our club members. We are so proud of all of them and grateful to the parents who commit to helping their players love for chess.
As the holidays approach, and if you are feeling stuck on what to get your chess player or club supporter, Colchester Junior Chess Club merch is the perfect gift! Have a look at club merch here or on our website under the'merchandise' tab.
See you all in a couple of weeks :)
In light of the simultaneous games played by our chess club, and Magnus Carlsen playing in the Chess World Championships, here is a sample of how simultaneous games are played.
Here is a video from the United Nations titled, ".Chess Champion Magnus plays 15 others from around the world simultaneously ".