Worcestershire Chess Association

2017-8 season

7 Apr 2018. Tan brothers win medals in Warwickshire Junior tournament. Brothers Ethan and Eamon (Powick Primary Sch) shared third place in the Section D tournament at this event. Both scored 3 points from their five games.

26 Nov 2017. WJCA team wins silver medals. Joel Reeves (Red Hill Primary School) was the outstanding player at the Winter tournament held at the King's School Worcester in 26 November. Other club players who did well were Tamara Marsden (King's School Worcester) who was 5th and led the Worcestershire Junior Chess Academy team to the silver medal position. Young brothers Ethan and Eamon Tan (both Powick CofE Primary School) and Theo Rodgers (Bredon Hill Academy) were the other players that gained the club's success.

2016-7 season

29 Apr 2017. Tamara wins Easter tournament. Tamara (The King's School, Worcester) is the first outright female winner of the club's tournaments scoring 17 points. Theo Rodgers (Bredon Hill Academy) was second on 16 points and third place was shared by Max Wheeler (Abberley Hall School), Jacob Gwilliam and Pranav Mayilvahanan (both King's St Alban's). See report at Worcester News.

10 Dec 2016. Worcester Winter Junior Chess Tournament. Finaly Bowcott-Terry (Leasowes HS and Stourbridge) scored won all his games in to be undisputed first. Chinmay Monga (King Edward's School, Edgbaston) was second with 4 wins. Three players, two from Worcestershire Junior Chess Academy, shared third place: Jacob Gwilliam (St Alban's Sch, Worcester/WJCA), Tamara Marsden (The King's School, Worcester/WJCA) and Silas Bowcott-Terry (Woodhouse Primary Acad, Quinton/Stourbridge). See report and pic in Worcester News.

1 Oct 2016. Club Members commended by IM Chris Beaumont. Two members played International Master Chris Beaumont in an English Chess Federation sponsored simultaneous display at Stroud. Although both lost, they were highly commended for the quality of their play.
Picture on left: One of the club's youngest members congratulated on his play at Stroud.

 

 

2015-6 Season

18 Aug 2016. Club captain off to Warwick University. Ben Fuller (Worcester Sixth Form College) scored well in his A-levels as well as over the board to land himself a place at Warwick. Former members James Friar at Liverpool University and Will Greenow at Birmingham University did well in their end of year examinations.

10 Jul 2016. Club Gigafinalists. Joe Rastall (Nunnery Wood HS) was the club's star at the Manchester Gigafinal coming 3rd in the under-16 tournament and winning a place in the Terafinal. Ben Fuller (Worcester Sixth Form College) scored 3 points in the under-18 tournament led by two International Masters and Tamara Marsden (King's Hawford School) scored 2½ points.

27 May 2016. Jim Friar. Very sad news. Jim passed away at home after a short battle with illness. He was chief coach and honorary treasurer of WJCA. He leaves wife Teresa and gifted chess-playing sons James and Joseph. Our thoughts are with Teresa and the family.

15 May 2016. THREE club supremi at Worcestershire Megafinal. Three players at the academy were best in their age group at the Worcestershire Delancey UK Chess Challenge tournaments held at Worcester University. Benjamin Full (Worcester Sixth Form College) won the under-18 boys' title, Tamara Marsden King's Hawford School) the under 11 girls' title and George Campbell-Ferguson (Northwick Manor Junior School) the under 10 boys' title. They, along with Jacob Gwilliam (St Alban's School), Joe Rastall (Nunnery Wood HS) who had high scores can enter the Northern Gigafinal in Manchester in July and could win £300.

30 Apr 2016. Club players qualify for the Worcestershire Megafinal. Arjun Pyda (St George's Edgbaston) was first beating into second place Will Fry (King's School Worcester), Ben Fuller (Worcester Sixth Form Coll) and Jo Rastall (Nunnery Wood HS, Worcester). Adair Cole (Kegworth) won the prize for best under15, Tamara Marsden (King's Hawford Sch Worcester) and George Campbell-Ferguson (Northwick Manor Junior Sch, Worcester) the under-10 prize. Other players qualifying for the megafinal were Jacob Gwilliam (St Alban's, Worcester), Jacob Hartley (St Joseph's, Worcester), James Knight (Holy Trinity, Kidderminster), Rithvik Muthavelu (Hallfield Sch, Birmingham), GokulKrishna and Madhini Sivakumar (St Peter's, Harborne), Joseph Skeet (St John's, Kidderminster) and Amir Iqbal (Nunnery Wood HS, Worcester).

1 Oct 2015. News from former members. Former team captain William Greenow is now at Birmingham University reading mathematics and former club champion Alaric Stephen is teaching at Hereford.

5 & 6 Jul 2015. WJCA players at Northern Gigafinal. Five members played in the Delancey UK Chess Challenge Northern Gigfinal at Manchester. The club's most successful player was Tamara Marsden placed third in the under-9 girls' tournament. The highest scoring male player was Joseph Friar in the under-15 boys' competition. Ben Fuller was 6-7th in the boys' under-16. These three players will receive invitation to the Terafinal in Loughborough in August.

28 Nov 2015. King's Hawford School shines in Winter tournament. Hawford school chess captain Tamara Marsden along with team members Max Copeman and Freddie Yorke-Brooks won individual prizes. Scores of Hawford's players earned the prize for the best Worcestershire Chess School. The other prominent school team was fielded by Chad Vale Primary School in Edgbaston. Their players also took home three prizes. See picture and read more in the Worcester News and detailed results here.

2014-5 season

20 Aug 2015. Festival Tournament winners. Joe Restall (Nunnery Wood HS) was overall winner gaining 5 points from his 5 games. Tamara Marsden (King's Hawford Sch) was highest scoring girl player on 3 points and Monty Woodhouse best junior school player (West House School) with 4 points.

27 Jun 2015. Good wishes to our Gigafinalists! Chlidren were in festive mood for the last session this term and wished Annabella, Katie, Tamara, Adair and Ben best wishes for good results at the UK Chess Challenge Gigafinal in Manchester next weekend.
20 Jun 2015. VIPs visit club. Members showed off their chess skills to Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Holcroft - Queen's representative in Worcestershire, Peter Walker -MP for Worcester, and Councillor Roger Knight - Mayor of Worcester as part of King's School official opening of the new Keyes Building. The new building includes The Chess Square in room K6 on the ground floor.

13 Mar 2015. Magnus Mcleod, WJCA member for 2 years, wins King's Hawford School chess trophy.
23 Nov 2014. WJCA team win bronze medal in the Worcester Winter Junior Chess Congress sponsored by The King's School, Worcester. Team members were Adair Cole (Bromyard), Jacob Payne-Lunn, James Whitelaw (both Bishop Perowne C of E Performing Arts Coll), and tamara Marsden (King's Hawford Sch). Former member Monty Woodhouse (Westhouse Sch), won a bronze medal in the individual under-11 tournament.

20 Sep 2014. First Autumn meeting of the club. Members celebrated Tamara Marsden's fine third place in the UK Chess Challenge Northern Gigafinal.

2013-4 season

13 Jul 2014. James Friar gets prize at Worcestershire Open. James returned to the chess board from his time-out for school examinations at the Worcestershire Open chess congress. Playing in the Major tourament, James scored 3½ points coming equal second and taking home £65.

5 & 6 Jul 2014. WJCA players at Northern Gigafinal. Five members played in the Delancey UK Chess Challenge Northern Gigfinal at Manchester. The club's most successful player was Tamara Marsden placed third in the under-9 girls' tournament. The highest scoring male player was Joseph Friar in the under-15 boys' competition. Ben Fuller was 6-7th in the boys' under-16. These three players will receive invitation to the Terafinal in Loughborough in August.

26 Jun 2014. Last club meeting of summer term. The boys beat the girls 2½-1½ in a tournament session to practise for the Gigafinal next weekend.

14 Jun 2014. President plays in France. Club organiser and president Ray Collett played in a small international blitz tournament at Le Vésinet, near Paris ending mid-table. The event was held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Worcester City-Le Vésinet Twinning Association.

1 Jun 2014. Megafinal winners. Congratulations to members who won prizes or qualified for the Gigafinal in Manchester. Winners were: Ben Fuller, Joseph Friar, Magnus McCleod, Tamara Marsden, George Campbell-Ferguson.

5 Apr 2014. Megafinal Qualifiers. Congratulations to Abu Baker Ahmed, Yusef Ahmed, George Campbell, Adair Cole, Joseph Friar, Ben Fuller, Jorge Garcia, Shazad Khan, Anieshka King, Tamara Marsden, Magnus Mcleod, Jacob Payne-Lunn, Tyler Pugh, and James Whitelaw who qualified for the Worcestershire Megafinal of the Delancey UK Chess Challenge.

14 Mar 2014. Mayor and Friars show chess at Bewdley. Members James and Joseph Friar help Bewdley Mayor Linda Candlin in a chess demonstration tomorrow at St Anne's Church, Bewdley. Organiser Keith Thompson said: "Chess is one of the most popular board games played in the world. We are determined to help make Bewdley a chess-friendly town. We are hoping that local pubs and coffee houses will have a chess set for those who want to play" Reported by the Express and Star 6 March 2014.

1 Feb 2014. Keeping chess scores. Members looked at recording their moves with advice from President, Ray Collett. Members also looked at the recent short game between Bill Gates, former boss of Microsoft Inc, and World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen: 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bd3 Nf6 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qh5 6.0-0 Bg4 7.h3 Ne5 8.hxg4 Nfxg4. After black's 8th move would you have played better than Bill Gates to get a potentially winning position against thw World Chess Champion?

14 Dec 2013. Ben Fuller second-time champion. At the Winter tournament held at The King's School, Worcester, Ben (Nunnery Wood HS) won the gold medal for under-18s. Charlie-Ann Arkell (St John's Middle, Bromsgrove) was girl champion. The silver medal was won by Jacob Payne-Lunn (Bishop Perowne C of E College, Worcester) and the bronze by Barrett Viljoen (King's School, Worcester) in his first competitive event. The Under-11 winners were: Dan Arkell (St John's Middle Sch, Bromsgrove) gold medallist; James Whitelaw (St Barnabus Jun, Worcester) silver; and Tamara Marsden (King's Hawford Sch, Worcester) bronze medallist. Pictures and results were also reported by Worcester News in the 18 December paper edition and by the Worcester Observer.
23 Nov 2013. The club looked at one of the games from the current World Championship match held in Chennai, India between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen.

21 Sep 2013. En passant pawn captures. Players looked at the en passant capture. Pawns can capture en passant (in passing). The position on the right was the result of the moves 1. e4 d5 2. d4 d5 3. e5 f5. The green arrow shows black's third move (pawn to f5). White can capture the black f-pawn: 4. exf6 en passant, in passing, shown by the red arrow. The en passant capture is only allowed immediately after a pawn has made its first move of two squares to draw alongside an advanced pawn on an adjacent file.

Members looked at Peterson's problem on the right to test their knowledge of the en passant rule.See if you can solve the mate in four problem on the right composed by Petersen in 1976. White moves first and white pawns move up the board, while black's move downwards. Click to see the solution.

2012-3 Season

22 Aug 2013. Alaric Stephen former member and county junior champion, paid a visit to Worcester drawing a match of three games 1½ - 1½ with ease against club President Ray Collett. Alaric told Ray he had resumed playing chess and was visiting Worcester having just finished his professional qualification after graduating from Oxford University and before taking up his first job in Surrey.
18 Aug 2013. Friar brothers took home over £200 prize money after gaining third places in the UK Chess Challenge Terafinal at Loughborough
21 Jul 2013. Joseph Friar wins Ball Cup. Joseph becomes Worcester & District Chess League's youngest player in living memory to win the Ball Cup. This individual knock-out championship has been running since 1947.
14 Jul 2013. Congratulations to James and Joseph Friar! The club's strongest players continued their good form, both being placed second equal in their age groups in the UK Chess Challenge Gigafinal at Manchester. Both will play in the Terafinal on 17, 18 August.
13 Jul 2013. Luke Jones scores 4 out of 6 at the UK Chess Challenge Gigafinal at Manchester. He will be invited to play in the Terfinal Plate competition.
19 May 2013. Five members win Supremo titles. Luke Jones (u-7), Joseph Friar (u-14), Ben Fuller (u-15), James Friar (u-16), and William Greenow (u-17) won Worcestershire Supremo titles at the Worcestershire Megafinal at the University of Worcester. Two other members, Adair Cole and Jacob Payne-Lunn, qualified for the Gigafinal to be held in Manchester in July.
11May 2013. Joseph Friar dominates UK Chess Challenge at club. The junior international player from Bewdley, who attends Hagley RC High, won all his games to finish first and win a Jack spot prize. Read more...
9 Dec 2012. Ben Fuller wins Worcestershire Junior Chess congress at King's School Worcester. The WJCA team were second behind a Rest of Worcestershire team. A team from Birmingham Checkmates was placed third.
8 Sep 2012. Club starts new term at King's School Worcester. The first meeting was on Saturday 8 September.

2011-2 Season

2-15 Aug 2012. Former WJCA player represents Wales at World Junior Chess Championships in Athens. Ashley Davis, represented Wales at the World Junior (under-20) Chess Championships in Athens, Greece.

1 Aug 2012. WJCA player at British Championships. James Friar shared the second prize with 4 points in the Soanes weekend tournament at North Shields.

13 Jul 2012. King's School Worcester partners WJCA. President Dr Ray Collett welcomes King's School Worcester's generous offer to accommodate WJCA at their City centre site.

27 May 2012. WJCA Megafinal wnners. Joseph Friar continued his excellent form by winning the under-17 to under-13 tournament at the UK Chess Challenge Worcestershire Megafinal coming ahead of older players with higher grades. Other WJCA winners were: Luke Jones (Under-7s), Benjamin Fuller (under-14s), James Friar under-15s) and William Greenow (under-16s).

7 May 2012. World Schools Championship in Romania. WJCA coach Jim Friar accompanies English team to the World Schools Championships at Iasi. His son, Joseph Friar was placed 27-31st on 4 points from 9 games in the Under-15 Open. After an unrewarding start, Joseph showed true grit to win two games in succession and finished mid-table.

April 2011. Ray Collett takes over running of the club in succession to Andrew Moore who has been the chief coach since 2004.

Earlier seasons

7 Mar 2010. WJCA team plays at Malvern in the Midlands Junior Chess league.

23 Jan 2010. Ashleigh Davis wins Academy Championship. Ashley just pipped Joseph Friar (Hagley RC HS) by half a point. Joseph was not disappointed because he got the under-12 prize.

15 Nov 2009. Philomena Lip wins the Academy Championship. She triumphed with 5½ points in a field of 20 players, ½ point ahead of Ashley Davis.

27 Sep 2008. Awards ceremony. Player of the year was Alaric Stephen (Nunnery Wood HS) Ben Fuller (Nunnery Wood HS) was team captain and Jacob Payne-Lunn (St Barnabus Sch) was young player of the year. Jim Friar takes over as honorary treasurer.

Sep 2007. Awards ceremony. Player of the year was Ashley Davis and Alaric Stephen (Nunnery Wood HS) was team captain.

24 Sep 2006. Junior Rapidplay tournament at Christopher Whitehead language College.

Sep 2006. WJCA moves to Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Hall, St John's Worcester.

1 Jul 2006. Awards ceremony. Player of the year and team captain was Alaric Stephen (Nunnery Wood HS). David Bucknell won the Worcestershire closed junior championships with fellow club member Peter Brankin runner-up. Nicolas Ayers was awarded the Most Improved player's prize. Chess parent of the year was Mark Jeffrey,. Head coach, Andrew Moore reported an active membership of 27 players.

Jun 2006. Peter Brankin won the Blitz tournament and coach Andrew Moore reported that club members had represented Worcestershire in the adult under-100 team.

Dec 2005. Kieran Jeffry won the Christmas tournament.

Nov 2005. WJCA moved to the Lyppard Grange Community Centre with an extra ten members.

Sep 2005. Academy meets at The Green Centre, Dines Green.

May 2005. More members. At the Worcestershire Chess Association annual meeting, Andrew Moore announced that the junior club had 11 regular attending players.

25 May 2005. Ben Jones, 5 points, was first in the first club rapidplay tournament. Sharing second place were Peter Brankin and Paul Serafini on 4½ points won the club tournament. Michael Foster, MP for Worcester, presented prizes.

25 Sep 2004. First meeting of WJCA was at the University of Worcester and was attended by two players. The club was founded over the summer by Ray Collett (President) and assisted by Andrew Moore (Head Coach).