The 8th Worthing Junior Championships saw 29 players from years 2 to 10 come together for 7 rounds of blitz chess. The tournament incorporated the Delancey UK Chess Challenge providing an opportunity for players to reach the Sussex MegaFinal which is taking place on the 29th April.
This was the strongest ever tournament with 11 highly rated players going for the title in the championship group. With strong players in the Challengers and Rising Stars group too, this was no place for the faint-hearted.
Some of the juniors were getting used to playing with clocks whilst others were demonstrating years of well-honed skills from playing blitz chess online. There was some terrific play, many games going down to the wire and the behaviour of the children was outstanding.
Would George Neale be able to win the title for a 3rd year? No – top seed Dominic Miller played really well throughout, saving a lost position against Alex Littlehales, and is the new Worthing Junior Champion. Special mention must go to 9 year-old Timmy Hedger (2nd place) whose development continues at a frightening pace. Congratulations also to Max Bennett who recovered from an early back-rank sucker punch to tie for 3rd place.
The Challengers and Rising stars groups were incredibly closely fought with only a couple of points separating first from last – congratulations to Dominic Walker and Paul MacCarthy who came out on top after holding their nerves in the tense final round.
Results
Worthing Junior Championship
1st | Dominic Miller |
2nd |
Timmy Hedger |
=3rd |
Alex Littlehales, Max Bennett |
Challengers
1st | Dominic Walker |
=2nd |
Tom Howeson, Jonny Townsend, James Zheng |
Rising Stars
1st | Paul MacCarthy |
=2nd |
James Bashford, Emma Forester |
Arbiters Award – Max Bushby
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