Lancashire Chess Association Junior Team Results - Archive
This page provides an archive of junior team results during the period April 2006 to May 2008.
2008 EPSCA U11 National Final
This year's EPSCA Under 11 Inter-Association Championship Final was held on Saturday 10th May 2008 at Broadgreen Comprehensive School, Liverpool. Lancashire finished 10th out of the 15 competing counties with 26½ points - this was a creditable performance and we would like to congratulate all our players. The event was won by Kent (43 points), with Wey Valley (Surrey) second and Nottingham third.
The Lancashire team's individual scores were as follows:
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Walsh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Henry Broadley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Matthew Walsh | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2½ |
| 4 | Tom Leah | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Sikander Ali | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Matthew Fanning | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2½ |
| 7 | Jordan Lewis | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Judd Bennett | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Joe Greenwood | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Louis Rothwell | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Joe Longbottom | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Adam Tempest | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Fiona McKenzie | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1½ |
| 14 | James Huber | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Tom Mahoney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Christopher Tierney-Doogan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Andrei Morgan-Short | 1 | 0 | - | 1 |
| 18 | Alex Derbyshire | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
| 19 | Joe Wood | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | Edward Dabrowski | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
| R1 | Bethan Tempest | (1) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R2 | Daniel Anderson | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R3 | Nathan Redman | (1) | (½) | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 9½ | 8 | 9 | 26½ |
Scores in brackets represent games played in the reserves competition that did not count towards the overall Lancashire team score.
2008 EPSCA U11 Northern Zonal
Holy Family College in Heywood welcomed 240 of the best under 11 chess players from the north of England on Saturday 15th March. Teams from Cheshire & North Wales, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottinghamshire, Oldham, Staffordshire, Tameside and Yorkshire were competing for the right to play in the national final.
This English Primary Schools Chess Association (EPSCA) event was a great success for Heywood and Holy Family College in particular, proving there is no reason why we cannot play host to national events. The event was made possible by the support of Headteacher Sue Casey and School Business Manager Janet McKinnon.
The event was set up by Lancashire Chess Association President Bill O'Rourke and Junior Coordinator Steve Fanning with a control team made up of members of the Lancashire Junior Chess Organisation. And of course the usual helpers and volunteers from each association helped to make the day a real success. 240 children (teams of 20 children from each of the 10 associations plus 4 reserves) were incredibly well behaved and were a real credit to their chess associations and to over 100 parents and helpers accompanying them. They played hard and fair throughout the day, in the very best of competitive spirit.
At the awards ceremony at the end of a long day, it was Nottingham who took first place with 48 out of 60 points, an excellent result. The Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham and Yorkshire teams also qualified for the national final to take place in May in Liverpool. All the winners received medals, and every competitor (including reserves) received a certificate, before setting off on their long journeys home.
The Lancashire team's individual scores were as follows:
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Walsh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Henry Broadley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Matthew Walsh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Tom Leah | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Sikander Ali | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2½ |
| 6 | Matthew Fanning | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Thomas Holden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Jordan Lewis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Judd Bennett | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2½ |
| 10 | Joe Greenwood | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Louis Rothwell | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2½ |
| 12 | Fiona McKenzie | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | James Huber | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Adam Tempest | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Tom Mahoney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Christopher Tierney-Doogan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Bethan Tempest | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Alex Derbyshire | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
| 19 | Joe Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Lucy Lamoury | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R1 | Edward Dabrowski | (0) | (0) | (1) | 0 |
| R2 | Daniel Anderson | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R3 | Mohammad Patel | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| Total | 10½ | 9 | 8½ | 28 |
Scores in brackets represent games played in the reserves competition that did not count towards the overall Lancashire team score.
The photograph below shows the main playing area (click to enlarge).
Report and photograph courtesy of Bill O'Rourke, LCA President.
Note that due to a shortage of players, Lancashire were unable to field a team in this year's EPSCA U9 Northern Zonal.
Lancashire's U16 Team Finish Second in the Pennine Cup
Only two counties met up at Frodsham in Cheshire on Saturday 15th December 2007 to contest the NCCU U16 Pennine Cup. Worthy winners were Cheshire & North Wales and a detailed report can be found in our Online Bulletin.
Northern Region of ECGCF U14's Tournament
The Northern Region of the ECGCF U14's Tournament took place on Saturday 1st December 2007 at Aughton St. Michael's, Ormskirk.
The hastily put together team had a number of established players missing including Board One Abigail Pritchard who has been representing England at the World Youth Championships in Turkey.
Also playing in the tournament were Yorkshire who brought their usual strong contingent and Cheshire who played strongly, without much luck but scored more points in every passing round and had an increasing influence on the final result.
Our top four boards have all played for this team before and their experience was to prove vital as they never lost a game during the day. On boards five and six were two Under 10 players who although they were the youngest players in the tournament gave little away to their opponents.
Round one was a close affair with wins on boards 1, 4 and 6 from Rachel Cass, Kate Mellett and Mollie Hesketh. Boards 2 and 3 also weighed in with draws against Yorkshire. At the end of round one Yorkshire were ahead with 4.5 points, Lancashire were half a point behind on 4 whilst Cheshire earned just half a point taken from Yorkshire.
Round two saw the Lancashire team move up a gear with a total of five points from a possible six. Olivia Harrson on board five earned a win to join Rachel, Isobel Cotogni, Claire Edhouse and Kate in the winners enclosure. Yorkshire were able to manage 3 points and Cheshire 1 point. This meant that Lancs were now leading by 1.5 points from Yorkshire with all to play for going into the last round. Perhaps the highlight of the tournament came in round two with Lancashire's and Yorkshire's board one's going head to head. Last week, Evie Hollingworth from Yorkshire had been successful but this week it was the turn of Rachel Cass to triumph over Evie. Both girls have a tremendous rivalry but always play in a sporting way as you would expect. This weekend they will be teammates as they play for the North of England Under 14's team. Both girls are members of the England Junior Squad and let's hope they don't have to wait too long before being invited on a trip by the selectors.
Round three saw Lancashire maintain their dominance with another 5/6 score, again all top five boards were successful. Cheshire improved their performance with 2.5 points out of 6 whilst Yorkshire suffered something of a collapse with just 1.5 points from 6.
The final result was Lancashire 14, Yorkshire 9 and Cheshire 4. This was Lancashire's highest total since entering this event back in 2003.
The team was:
| Board 1 | Rachel Cass | Under 13 | 3/3 |
| Board 2 | Isobel Cotogni | Under 12 | 2.5/3 |
| Board 3 | Claire Edhouse | Under 12 | 2.5/3 |
| Board 4 | Kate Mellett | Under 12 | 3/3 |
| Board 5 | Olivia Harrison | Under 10 | 2/3 |
| Board 6 | Mollie Hesketh | Under 10 | 1/3 |
2007 NYCA U16 and U12 Team Events
The National Youth Chess Association Under 16 and Under 12 Championships were held on Saturday, 10th November 2007 at Edgbaston High School for Girls, Birmingham.
The U16's battled hard to finish 5th out of 8 teams in a very competitive section. Our NCCU colleagues and neigbours Cheshire and North Wales won the U16 competition by 3 clear points; a great result and our congratulations go to them. Other teams participating were Berkshire, Devon, Kent, South Wales, Sussex and Warwickshire.
The U12's struggled badly in the first round, scoring only 2 points out of the 12 available. Thereafter some great character was shown by everyone as the team battled back to finish 4th out of 8. Sussex were the runaway winners of this section, scoring 40½ points; Kent were second with 28½. Berkshire, Cheshire & North Wales, Devon, South Wales and Warwickshire also competed.
The individual scores were as follows:
| Lancashire U16 Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Total |
| 1 | Michael Rabbitte | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Nathan Talbot | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Brodie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Thomas Clements | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 2½ |
| 5 | James McConnachie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Liam O'Rourke | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Peter Cassell | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Jamie Horton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 2½ | 4½ | 4 | 4½ | 15½ | |
| Lancashire U12 Team | ||||||
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Total |
| 1 | Henry Broadley | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Lothian Innes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Andrew Guy | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1½ |
| 4 | James Walsh | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1½ |
| 5 | Matthew Walsh | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3½ |
| 6 | Matthew Hackett | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1½ |
| 7 | Matthew Fanning | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Connor Heelis | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2½ |
| 9 | Dominic Lewis | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Abrar Phoplunker | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ |
| 11 | Furqan Kagzi | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Hal Dewhurst | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 2 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 23 | |
2007 NYCA U18 and U14 Team Events
The National Youth Chess Association Under 18 and Under 14 Championships were held on Sunday, 7th October 2007 at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham.
The U18's finished a creditable equal 3rd out of 6 teams. Warwickshire were runaway winners (not surprising with their average grade being close to 160!). Other teams participating were Berkshire, Cheshire & North Wales, Kent and South Wales.
The U14's struggled a little, especially on the lower boards, but finished 5th out of 7 teams. A great recovery in round 3 helped boost their overall score, but this effort appeared to affect their energy levels going into round 4. Nonetheless the day provided good experience for all involved. Sussex were the winners of the U14 competition, with Berkshire, Yorkshire, South Wales, Warwickshire and Devon also competing.
The individual scores were as follows:
| Lancashire U18 Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Total |
| 1 | Liam Rabbitte | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2½ |
| 2 | Michael Rabbitte | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2½ |
| 3 | Mark Talbot | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Nathan Talbot | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Paul Tinton | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Chris Brodie | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ |
| 7 | Nicholas Bishop | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Peter Cassell | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2½ |
| Total | 3 | 5 | 3½ | 4½ | 16 | |
| Lancashire U14 Team | ||||||
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Total |
| 1 | Abigail Pritchard | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Benjamin Atueyi | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
| 3 | Nathan Gittens | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2½ |
| 4 | Lothian Innes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Sikander Ali | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Rachel Cass | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2 |
| 7 | James Walsh | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Matthew Walsh | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Owen Griffiths | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Andrew Guy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Alex Rabbitte | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
| 12 | Patrick Callery | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
| Total | 2½ | 4 | 8 | 2½ | 17 | |
2007 EPSCA U11 Northern Zonal
Lancashire's Under 11 squad failed to qualify for the Inter-Association Championships Final after struggling in the Northern Zonal held on Saturday 17th March 2007 at Bridgewater School, Worsley.
Many thanks to our shirt sponsors this year, Copy Cat Communications and Moore and Smalley. Their very generous support was much appreciated by everyone involved with Lancashire junior chess.
Click on the any of the photographs to enlarge.
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The individual scores were as follows:
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Walsh | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1½ |
| 2 | Henry Broadley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Matthew Walsh | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2 |
| 4 | Tom Leah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Matthew Fanning | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Sikander Ali | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Lothian Innes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Moya O'Rourke | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Stephen Bradford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Dayna Grimshaw | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Dominic Lewis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Connor Heelis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Furqan Kagzi | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Abrar Phoplunker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Thomas Holden | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
| 16 | Philippa Wood | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Robert Bryce | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| 18 | Tom Mahoney | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Andrei Morgan-Short | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Adam Tempest | 1 | 0 | (1) | 1 |
| R1 | Robert Jackson | (0) | (1) | (0) | 0 |
| R2 | Matthew Reeves | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R3 | Isaac Haq | (1) | (1) | 0 | 0 |
| R4 | Nadiyah Jogee | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R5 | Andrew Greenhalgh | (1) | (0) | 0 | 0 |
| R6 | Christopher Tierney Doogan | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| Total | 10 | 7½ | 6½ | 24 |
Scores in brackets represent games played in the reserves competition or on loan to Shropshire (who were short of players) that did not count towards the overall Lancashire team score. Robert Bryce was unable to play in the final round due to illness.
2007 EPSCA U9 Northern Zonal
Lancashire's Under 9 squad failed to qualify for the Inter-Association Championships Final after struggling in the Northern Zonal held on Saturday 10th March 2007 at The Hathershaw College of Technology and Sport, Oldham.
Many thanks to our shirt sponsors this year, Copy Cat Communications and Moore and Smalley. Their very generous support was much appreciated by everyone involved with Lancashire junior chess.
Click on the any of the photographs to enlarge.
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The individual scores were as follows:
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Walsh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Henry Broadley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Jordan Lewis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Nicholas Aziz | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Joe Longbottom | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Ismael Haq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Fiona McKenzie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | James Huber | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
| 9 | Judd Bennett | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2½ |
| 10 | Bethan Tempest | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Lucy Lamoury | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 |
| 12 | Anam Asad | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 |
| R1 | Ayesha Munshi | (0) | (1) | 0 | 0 |
| R2 | Joshua Spall | (½) | (1) | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 4½ | 6 | 2½ | 13 |
Scores in brackets represent games played in the reserves competition that did not count towards the overall Lancashire team score.
Lancashire's U18 Team Struggle in the NCCU Inter-Association Championship
Three counties met up at Frodsham on Sunday 4th March 2007 to contest the Chessmaze NCCU U18 Inter-Association Championship. The event was won jointly by Yorkshire and Cheshire & North Wales. A detailed report can be found in our Online Bulletin.
Lancashire's U16 Team Finish Second in the Pennine Cup
Three counties met up at Frodsham in Cheshire on Saturday 16th December 2006 to contest the NCCU U16 Pennine Cup. Lancashire finished second, ahead of Yorkshire but behind worthy winners Cheshire & North Wales. A detailed report can be found in our Online Bulletin.
Lancashire's U14 Team Struggle in National Championships
On Sunday 19th November 2006 a Lancashire team travelled to the Midlands to take part in the national U14 county championships. The competition was run as a four round jamboree, with ten teams taking part.
Overall Lancashire's youngsters scored 9 points out of a possible 48, finishing in tenth and final place. Was this a poor result? Team Manager Rob Hart and Lancashire's other junior organisers are convinced otherwise! The following points need to be considered when assessing the result:
- In many ways each one of those 9 points represented a triumph, as the Lancashire players were out-graded on every board in every round. Our top board was graded 87 and he would not even have made the team for at least two of our opponents (Kent and Sussex); such was the strength of the tournament.
- Every one of our players gave their all, with little reward in many cases. They deserved more and while they may have been a little despondent in the aftermath of the event, they should take heart from their battling efforts. They will have benefited from playing stronger players and will be the better for the experience.
- Three of the players in the team will be playing for Lancashire's U9 (!) team later in the season and others will be playing for the U11 team. If these players continue developing at their current rate we have the basis for a stronger team at U14 level in years to come and some of those Southern counties had better watch out!
Whatever the final result, at least our players took part and represented their county in a national event. For the other counties who didn't bother entering a team, that's their loss.
On board 1 William Hart quickly realised that the strength of his opponents meant there was no expectation from him and he did extremely well to push a couple of games close but he didn't score.
Abigail Pritchard on board 2 played more chess than anyone else in the tournament, finishing last or next to last in 3 of the 4 rounds, and last of the Lancashire players in every round. Two slight miscalculations under severe time pressure in each case cost her two half points, but that is being picky. She was arguably the star of the Lancashire team, but came away with nothing.
Chris Grimshaw on board 3, Claire Edhouse on board 5, Edward Foster on board 6 and Matthew Hayhow on board 8 played solidly all day. Each of them had good moments, but not enough of them to win or draw at all. One or two of them looked despondent at the end of the last game. They had no need to - they played as well as we have any right to expect.
Ben Atieyu on board 4, Patrick Callery on board 7, Henry Broadley on board 9 and Sikander Ali on board 12 came away with a point each against nominally better opponents.
James Walsh on board 10 was the other player who has a good case for being described as our star player and since he scored 3 of our points, we think the title must be his. This was an excellent performance by any standards, the more so for an under 9 player. His twin brother Matthew Walsh scored 2 on board 11 (from only 3 games played) and we think this must also be regarded as a very good performance.
Finally, the travelling reserve, Moya O'Rourke, played well in two rounds without scoring.
Thanks to all the players, to Team Manager Rob Hart and to all of the parents who provided transport to the event or helped in any other way.
Lancashire U14 Girls Win 2006 Northern Region Cup
Just four weeks after the Lancashire Girls U11 team were triumphant in the Whitehead Cup, the Under 14 team won the Northern Region Cup in another War of the Roses battle against Yorkshire.
A strong Lancashire team of six girls went up against their Yorkshire counterparts and in a first round that sent out a strong message to their opponents won 5.5 - 0.5.
Yorkshire rallied a little in round 2, but Lancashire still took the round by 3.5 - 2.5 to leave the team winning 9-3 at the end of round 2 and needing just half a point from the last round to secure victory.
Not content with just half a point the team went on the win the round 4.5 - 1.5 with an overall match result of 13.5 - 4.5.
Lancashire have now won this trophy for five years on the run and will hope to make a good impression in the National Final in May. What pleased Ian Hughes the most as team manager was the fact that each member of the team contributed. All the girls scored at least 2 points with Kate Mellett 2.5 and Rachel Cass 3 leading the way. Make no mistake, this was a strong Yorkshire team with three of their girls having been part of their National Championship winning team earlier this year. Many of the games lasted over an hour with a few of the top boards coming down to the last five or ten minutes.
The team which was selected from 'old' Lancashire boundaries was:
| 1) | Abigail Pritchard (Blackpool) 2/3 who did well very well at Halifax in the minor section of the British Rapidplay, the previous week. |
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| 2) | Rachel Cass (Ormskirk) 3/3 who carried on the good form shown when playing for the England team in Belgium recently. |
| 3) | Isobel Cotogni (Salford) 2/3 who scored 4/6 at the England trial qualifer in Halifax the week before and earnt a half-norm. |
| 4) | Beth Tynan (Liverpool) 2/3 who also scored 3/3 in Lancashire's Whitehead Cup victory a month ago. |
| 5) | Claire Edhouse (Heywood) 2/3 who was a late call-up and fully justified her inclusion. You can view a couple of Claire's games here. |
| 6) | Kate Mellett (Ormskirk) 2.5/3 who bounced back after a difficult Whitehead Cup and reminded us what a good player she is. |
The team was made up of one U13 player, two U12 players and three U11 players. Therefore we can look forward to this team playing together for a while longer.
Thanks to the parents who helped out with transport and supported the team.
Lancashire Win 2006 Whitehead Cup
On Saturday 14th October 2006, Lancashire Under 11 girls team were awarded the Whitehead Cup. This cup is awarded to county teams of six girls and is a National event. For various reasons, a number of counties who usually compete were unable/unwilling to travel, leaving the event with a War of the Roses battle v Yorkshire.
The event run by the English Counties Girls Chess Federation got off to a tense start with a nervy first round, Lancashire going down to an early 1-3 deficit but clawing it back to finish 3-3. Beth Tynan from South Liverpool scoring the early win before Rachel Ball and captain Isobel Cotogni dug in for victories.
Round two was ultimately the difference between the two teams as Lancashire took the round 4-2 to establish a lead they would never lose. Wins again from Beth, Isobel and Rachel who were joined in the winners enclosure by Natalie Cass. Lancashire now leading by 7-5.
Round three began in the worst possible way with quick defeats for Mollie Hesketh and Rachel Ball to wipe out the lead which had been so hard earned. Beth Tynan and Natalie Cass quickly restored the lead which left us needing just half a point from the last two matches. Although Kate Mellett battled valiantly to secure her first win, it was not to be and it was left to captain Isobel Cotogni to seal the win with a confident victory.
Lancashire winning 10-8! The team was:
| 1) | Isobel Cotogni | (Salford) | 3/3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2) | Kate Mellett | (Ormskirk) | 0/3 |
| 3) | Rachel Ball | (Ormskirk) | 2/3 |
| 4) | Natalie Cass | (Ormskirk) | 2/3 |
| 5) | Beth Tynan | (Liverpool) | 3/3 |
| 6) | Mollie Hesketh | (Ormskirk) | 0/2 |
| Olivia Harrison | (Ormskirk) | 0/1 |
Both board 6's were late replacements after withdrawals from older players and acquitted themselves well. They, along with Natalie Cass on board 4 are all Under 9's and have another two years with this team.
The next girls team event is the U14's Northern Region event on Nov 11th when Lancashire will be defending their trophy won last year. With the likes of Abigail Pritchard, Rachel Cass, Sarah Ryder and Ellen Thomas to hopefully join the team, a strong challenge is assured.
2006 NCCU U18 Team Championship
Lancashire's Under 18 team finished second to reigning champions Yorkshire in this year's hard fought NCCU U18 Team Championship. Yorkshire scored 14½ points, Lancashire 12½ points and Cheshire and North Wales 9 points. The event was held on Sunday 25th June 2006 at St Richards Jubilee Hall, Atherton.
The individual scores were as follows:
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Hart | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Dominic Rabbitte | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Michael Rabbitte | 0 | ½ | ½ |
| 4 | Liam Rabbitte | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Mark Talbot | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Paul Tinton | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | James McConnachie | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | James Carrington | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | William Hart | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Abigail Pritchard | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Liam O'Rourke | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Richard Carrington | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 6 | 6½ | 12½ |
2006 EPSCA U9 National Final
Lancashire's Under 9 squad finished in a respectable 12th place in the Inter-Association Championships Final. The event was held on Saturday 1st April 2006 at Sitwell Junior and Infant School, Rotherham. Well done to the whole squad!
Team Manager Dave Gaston and the U9 squad at the National Final
The individual scores were as follows:
| Board | Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry Broadley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | James Walsh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Matthew Walsh | ½ | 1 | 1 | 2½ |
| 4 | Sikander Ali | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1½ |
| 5 | Matthew Fanning | 1* | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Tom Leah | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Elle Ginger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Jodi Swift | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Thomas Holden | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Giles Gabbutt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Umar Dor | 0 | 0 | (½) | 0 |
| 12 | William Magowan | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1½ |
| R1 | Chris Magowan | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R2 | Christopher Tierney Doogan | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R3 | Hamza Qureshi | (0) | (0) | (0) | 0 |
| R4 | Joe Longbottom | (1) | (0) | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 6½ | 5 | 3 | 14½ |
Scores in brackets represent games played in the reserves competition that did not count towards the overall team score.
An asterisk (*) next to a score indicates a default win, caused by the late arrival of a player from another team.