Barnet Junior Chess

News

2024 Online Junior County Championship

January 27, 2024

Barnet is competing in the Online Junior County Championship. Squads have been chosen.

NYCA 2023 Overview

November 4, 2023

The NYCA Championships were set up as a secondary-age equivalent to EPSCA. We were one of eleven teams in the U14 section and one of eight in the U18. All our kids were U14 and we had six U12s so could have entered the U12 and U14, the original intention...

NYCA 2023 Overview

November 4, 2023

The NYCA Championships were set up as a secondary-age equivalent to EPSCA. We were one of eleven teams in the U14 section and one of eight in the U18. All our kids were U14 and we had six U12s so could have entered the U12 and U14, as was my original intention. I moved the teams up because I believed it would mean better (more challenging) games for most kids.

Each team was a mixture of U12s and U14s, but ordered according to the kids' current ECF rapidplay rating.

U14

  • Board 1: Hao Ran Leung (13yo)
  • Board 2: Lion Lebedev (11yo)
  • Board 3: Beni Sisupalan (11yo)
  • Board 4: Armaan Nilim (10yo)
  • Board 5: Eskander Dean (11yo)
  • Board 6: Riya Barbier-Ramaiah (13yo)

U18

  • Board 1: Avyukt Dasgupta (14yo)
  • Board 2: Rock Yu (12yo)
  • Board 3: Dhriti Anand (13yo)
  • Board 4: Aditya Mittal (13yo)
  • Board 5: Leon Groot-Wassink (12yo)
  • Board 6: Rohan Barbier-Ramaiah (11yo)

The tournament was a team Jamboree, of eighteen 30+10 games.

The U18 team didn't get off to a great start, with two defeats and a draw in the first round, 3.5/6 putting them a point behind Sussex A and half a point behind Richmond, equal with three other teams.

The U14 started a little stronger, with 4.5/6 but South Wales were a point ahead of that and Wey Valley also had 4.5.

Players came back to cheers for their wins and commiserations for any defeats.

The second round was much stronger for the U18, with five wins taking them to 8.5 overall and second, half a point closer to Sussex A and half ahead of Richmond.

For the U14s, it was another 4.5, bringing them to 9, closer to South Wales (9.5) but not Wey Valley, who had an excellent round and were first on 10/12.

The third round saw another strong performance from the U18s, and another 5pts, meaning they finished on 13.5, joint first with Sussex A.

The U14s had their best round, also scoring 14. This took them clear of all other teams and into first.

Great results and performances from both teams.

The hardest part for me last year was having to choose just one player for an individual medal. I did that by deciding to give it to the youngest player in each team who scored 3/3 and have now made that the way I'll always do it. We had four players with perfect records (Avy & Adi, U18; Lion & Beni, U14). My method meant Adi and Lion won the medals this year. They deserved them, but so did all the kids who put in so much. Great then, that they each took home a "Champions" trophy.

I really enjoyed managing the teams - a great bunch of high-achieving kids. PS Happy birthday to Armaan and Riya on Wednesday.

NYCA 2023 Championships @ Cheney School, Oxford

November 2, 2023

Barnet is competing in the National Youth Championship. For more details email Robin, the U18, U14 and U12 manager.

New web design!

November 1, 2023

We have a new web design template, customized for Barnet Junior Chess!

NYCA 2022 Overview

November 2022

Barnet U14 participated in the NYCA Championships in Kenilworth, a secondary-age equivalent to EPSCA. The team was one of six teams in the U14 section, with five players potentially in the U12s. The team had an amazing first round, taking 5½ points out of six...

NYCA 2022 Overview

November 2022

Barnet U14 went to Kenilworth yesterday for the NYCA Championships, set up as a secondary-age equivalent to EPSCA.

We were one of six teams in the U14 section - but five of our players could have been in the U12s and indeed 3 are still at primary school. The other teams in our section were Leicestershire, Maidenhead, Richmond A & B, and South Wales.

Board Order

  • Board 1: Rock Yu (11yo)
  • Board 2: Beni Sisupalan (10yo)
  • Board 3: Aditya Mittal (12yo)
  • Board 4: Cali Bhattacharya (12yo)
  • Board 5: Armaan Nilim (9yo)
  • Board 6: Eskander Dean (10yo)

The tournament was a Jamboree, we appropriately drew the letter B. Of our eighteen 30+10 games, we had 4 against Leicester, 3 against Maidenhead, 3 against Richmond A, 4 against Richmond B, and 4 against South Wales. There was a great, friendly, and supportive atmosphere from the beginning in the team room.

The team had an amazing first round, taking 5½ points out of six. Cali and Armaan beat Leicester players, Beni beat the Richmond A second board, and Eskander got a draw against a very strong Richmond A player. That round put us two points ahead of Leicester and two and a half ahead of Richmond A.

The second round was not as strong. We lost two games (fortunately, not to either of the two closest rivals on the day) but Beni, Adi, and Armaan all won their games again. Richmond A scored 5.5 in Round 2, Leicester scored 4.5. Our lead was cut to half a point.

We knew that the final round was the decider. Rock and Adi were playing Leicester and Armaan played Richmond A. But everyone had to deliver if the team were to win it. And they did! Each boy won their final game, and we had a perfect round! Kids from other teams were looking to see what all the commotion was as we cheered each boy when they came back to tell us of their result.

The hardest part of the day for me was having to choose just one player for an individual medal. I felt instinctively it should go to a player who had won all of their games. Beni and Adi on boards 2 and 3 both had very strong claims with 3/3 and a win against one of our rivals, but I decided to nominate Armaan. Like them, he won all 3 games, but he beat players from both rival teams, to boot. He was also the youngest player on the team. Obviously, all of the players were brilliant and deserved at least a medal.

Fortunately, they all deservedly got lovely "Champions" trophies!

I really enjoyed managing the team for the first time - thanks to Angela for putting her trust in me - and look forward to doing so again.