Leicestershire & Rutland Chess Association is the body recognised by the English Chess Federation as being responsible for chess in the city of Leicester and the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The Association is affiliated to the Midland Counties Chess Union.
Loughborough's Kajus Mikalajunas clinched first place in the Open Section of the Derbyshire Chess Congress, finishing with an impressive score of 4.5/5. The tournament was held on 23rd and 24th November at Trent College in Long Eaton.
Anstey's Ted Ronald won the Intermediate section outright with a 100% record, scoring an impressive 5 wins out of 5, beating some strong opposition.
Special mention to the runner-up too, Wigston's Phil Watkinson with 4.5 points out of 5 in what was clearly a good section for Leicestershire!
Congratulations to both players.
Market Harborough’s David Holmes is outright winner of Birmingham Rapid Play Minor. Five wins, two draws = 6/7 in a section of 40. Many gathered around the top two boards to watch the dramatic ending in round 7. After David won his final game, Yechu Chen on board 2 (Oxfordshire Juniors) needed a win to finish joint first …his opponent was 1 second from flagging…but somehow held on for a draw. Exciting stuff.
The Atkins Congress took place for the first time in some 10 years at The Cedars Academy, Birstall on Saturday 27th-29th September with 100 entrants. Using the same venue as the Rapidplay in July, the 5 rounds were spread over 3 days with a 90 + 30' time control. Leicester based GM Mark Hebden dominated the Open section with a perfect 5/5 but leicestershire players were generally well to the fore in the list of prize winners with Ted Ronald also winning the Minor U1550 section.
Open
1st Mark Hebden 5pts
2nd= Eldars Gulijevs, Shabir Okhai 3.5pts
Rating (U2100) Paul Colburn, Matt Gillings 2pts
Major (U1950)
1st= Carl Gartside, Kyle Reed 4pts
3rd= Robert Taylor, Edward Bromilow, Reece Whittington 3.5pts
Rating (U1810) Reece Whittington 3.5pts
Inter (U1750)
1st Joshua Pimm 4.5pts
2nd= Christopher Knight, Nigel Collins, George Gowers, Glyn Ward, Phil Watkinson 3.5pts
Rating (U1620) Nigel Collins 3.5pts
Minor (U1550)
1st Ted Ronald 4.5pts
2nd= Aron English, Rene Butler, Stephanie Brown, Granville Hill 3.5pts
Rating (U1400) Aron English 3.5pts
Improvers (U1300)
1st= Amandip Singh, Theodore Caira 4pts
3rd= Anirvinya Anegundhi, Alfie Wood 3.5pts
Open
Major U1950
Inter U1750
Minor U1550
Improvers U1300
Congratulations to the winners of all of the tournaments this year. The Challengers has now been won by Omar Oliveri of the Market Harborough Club. The Minor goes to Les Fancourt of Ashby after he won a two game play-off against Yingxin Chen (Leicester University) after both players finished first equal with 4.5 / 5.
The Summer Cups have now been completed. Congratulations to the winners:
* Wylie Cup – Wigston
* Harrod Cup – Ashby 3
Tara Tamilselvan has been awarded the John Robinson Trophy this year for the most improved junior. She won the U8 Rapidplay and Blitz competitions at the British Championships and has been selected to represent England in the World Cadets Chess Championships in Italy in November. Closer to home Tara has represented Leicestershire as the top board in the U11 team and also was the winner of the Inter U1750 section in the Leicester Rapidplay in Birstall in July.
Congratulations to Mark Hebden, who has won the 2024 County Championship with a perfect score of 5/5. This is Mark's 4th County Championship victory. Congratulations also to John Pattinson who has won the Major tournament,with 4.5 /5
Entries are invited for the Classical Atkins Congress, taking place from Friday 27th September, until Sunday 29th September. Places are starting to go!
Please support your local congress
Places are limited and late entries will cost an extra £5 - so please enter ASAP!