English Chess Federation

The World Schools Chess Championships - Epilogue

It is 4:30am the morning after the chess tournament has ended. A party of 32 Powers That Be, Responsible Adults and Players congregates in the lobby of the Pallini Beach. Ben’s Responsible Adult seems overly awake: maybe because he managed a pre-sleep during the warm-up act for the Prize Giving Ceremony yesterday afternoon… So close your eyes, I and I will transport you back in time and space to the chess arena at the Athos Palace…

Within the hour The Players have got the first “Airport Shove Ha’penny” Grand Slam event underway, to the amusement of the South African contingent (also leaving today) and to the utter bewilderment of the occasional local. Within 3 hours we are enjoying the hospitality of Olympic Airways, indeed I write this as we approach cruising altitude. For I rashly promised final standings and photos – the former I’ll do once I get home to beautiful, beautiful broadband-land, the latter – well, you’ll just have to make do with the hand-picked selection at the end of this bulletin.

And now the Chess bit:

Jessica Thiliganathan comes joint first in the U15 Girls; Well done Jessica! Samuel Franklin wins the best U12 in the U13 category, and the best performance by an unrated player in the U13. Samuel also received an award for drawing with GM Grivas. Congratulations to Samuel!

In Round 9 “England St George” storm through from 8th to 3rd place in the “team” event – well done to all of Daniel, Joseph, Samuel, George, Jessica and Callum for a tremendous achievement!

The chess itself is over. The final games have been reviewed with coaches and lunch has been had at the pool-side café (have I mentioned the pool or the café before? No? Okay, I’ll come back to that in a minute). After the excitement of Round 9 The Players are gradually coming back down to earth, but with Responsible Adults dishing out loose change for the video machines, and with exchange chess no longer a banned pastime, energy levels remain v v high. But in reality there is not much time until Prize-Giving, and soon the England Squad decamp back to the Athos Palace. Five rows of seats are easily secured and the party settle down and wait for the ceremonies to begin. There is a slight delay – the cause of which is the checking and re-checking of the Round 9 performance of Team “England St George” – leaping from 8th to 3rd has to be verified at the highest level, but without recourse to The team Mascot. Finally the ceremony gets underway. The Speakers do not over-estimate the attention span of their audience and are brief and to the point. The prizes are then dished out, many a photo is taken, and Jessica, Samuel and England St George all get their turn on the Stage to rapturous applause and raucous cheering from the rest of the England Party.

The Players’ final set of results and standings:

The England “teams” and their overall scores at the end of Round 9:

Enter Ye Who Dare - to the Photo Gallery...

And so this really is “Farewell!” from me, dear readers. Your intrepid, roving, courageous and not a little unchubby reporter is about to pack his trusty Underwood into it’s battered carry case. Note to self: must get a new ribbon soon. I step outside wondering what the view will be and what the next day will bring. Having forgotten I was still aboard a Boeing 737 at an altitude of 9000m, I find the view staggering but quickly re-assess as near zero my chances of being around to see what the next day will bring. But then I see a small piece of material falling alongside me and I think: perhaps that is sufficient to reduce my freefall speed to a survivable level - and if I can only land in water. Oh, look over there, is that … it can’t be … yes it is! It’s Paris! So that must be the Seine…

Always remember: play the board!

© Matt Hunt
Additional Chess material courtesy of Adam Hunt.
And no, for the last time, we are NOT related, we hadn’t even met before a week ago last Saturday.

A world-exclusive preview from the Chess Reports Associated Partnership:

The 2007 World Schools Chess Championships:
Halkidiki. Hot. Sunshine. Lotion. Monopoly money. Amstel. Multi-cultural. Mind games. Pool. Pool-side café. Arcade. Ping Pong. Tennis. Slaughter. Lambs. Lucky Sheep. Touch-move. Sunglasses. Windscreen. Sveshnikov. More Amstel. Fur coats. Candles. Lift etiquette. Snail. 12kbps. Hermit. Makedonia. Which?

Oh, and Chess.

After the Prologue - The Calm Before the Storm

We left England on a cold, damp morning and landed in Thessaloniki on a cold, drizzly afternoon. This wasn’t going to plan. Highlight of the trip was when one of The Players’ “Responsible Adults” realised, yards from boarding the plane, that she no longer had her own and The Player’s boarding passes. However, just a quick rummage through the trash cans in the airport and there they were, slightly damp and smelling of half eaten burgers. The flight attendants accepted them … phew, that was close!

It was after all an uneventful flight. Olympic Airways sounded grand, not so sure now [careful now, we’ve got to fly home yet – ed]. Surrounded by a group of 30 Greek schoolchildren returning from what looks (from their luggage) to have been a 2 week stay at Legoland, and with Harry “Potter” Streeter in the team, it feels a little like an airborne Hogwarts Express. Attempting to disembark in Thessaloniki another of The Players’ responsible adults is chased off the plane: “You cannot get off here, you are supposed to be flying to Athens!” is the accusation, easily refuted with a pristine boarding pass showing the final destination to be here. “Actually, Athens may be nicer,” everyone thinks, but no one dares say it out loud as The Powers That Be start to organise the rag-tag group through immigration and onto the coach to Kallithea.

On the coach, there is no way out. Our fates are sealed. The Powers That Be do a quick headcount, and another, and another. Something is not quite right, we’ve lost someone in the 30 yards to the coach. “Did you count yourself?” someone asks from behind a seat so as not to incur The Wrath. “Ah, ahem, well, ok, yes, we’re all here, so let’s go!” asserts The Powers That Be.

The coach ride takes us through verdant green scenery not unlike the green and pleasant land we left behind oh so many hours and miles ago. The Powers That Be confer; everyone keeps their heads down whilst this goes on but your humble reporter, knowing that “you have to be in it to win it”, puts his life on the line [no need to big it up – ed] to capture the moment on film. One glance to the side from any of TPTB and it was “Adios, Amigo” time but I live to tell the tale. Notice that Jonathan “Camera-shy” Tuck is already living up to his reputation. Notice also how Neil “GM” McDonald, ever wary of being unmasked, covers his visage even when unaware of being watched…

As the coach leaves Thessaloniki behind and heads into Halkidiki, the skies gradually clear, the sun starts to come out and thoughts turn to those loved ones left so far behind. But only momentarily, as the first chess set sees the light of day. All thoughts of chess leave our minds though as we arrive at the hotel on the penultimate day of the Greek Orthodox Easter celebration. It seems as if the entire population of Athens has squashed itself into the hotel for the next 48 hours – and nearly all of them wearing fur coats! The Players and their Responsible Adults part the crowds by the simple expedient of wearing shorts and t-shirts: no self-respecting Greek person was going to argue with 32 semi-naked English nutters. And so a table was secured and – lo! There was chess!

And so began 2 days of arduous chess preparation, beginning and ending with lamb. Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday lunch was 11 lambs cooked on spits on the beach, and eaten by 1500 devout followers albeit in a dining room built to hold 500. Live music was the order of the day, there was dancing and merriment and general dropping of plates. Traditional Greek dances were joined by Responsible Adults although not in the nice pom-pom shoes that the locals do so well.

Lest you feel it is all a bit of a holiday, let me put you right. Even TPTB have struggled to get the tennis courts opened up for our use; have struggled to find enough table tennis balls to keep The Players going; have struggled to finish more than 2 pints of Amstel before lunch. It has been down to The Players individually to befriend the locals in order to keep eating. For example, Ben “Ampleforth” Wetherfield endures a tough game with one of the waiters. Although throwing a game is not an option, you’ll notice that The Player lets the waiter get to his 3rd move before starting to take him apart…

And all this in what would be idyllic surroundings but for the ECF insurance policy. Blue skies, sunshine, clear sea – but no paddling! The Players therefore make a break for the pool. It is unheated, but they find that if they keep moving they can prevent the surface from icing over. They manage a cool 45 minutes after which they retire (walking, not running) to the poolside bar for pizza, chips and the occasional leaf of lettuce. Oh, and some heated Exchange Chess. The South African team arrives mid-afternoon and soon surround the England encampment, watching the games looking for clues to help win. No one mentions Rourkes Drift. [Oops – ed].

Meanwhile, Holly “The Team Mascot” Hunt (no relation to Adam “IM” Hunt) [nor indeed to Harriet “Montenegro” Hunt – ed] has her work cut out for her. Maths homework would be difficult enough but assistance from The Players makes it all but impossible. “So much IQ, so little intelligence,” sighs one of the Responsible Adults.

And so the curtain comes down on the last full day of preparation. For tomorrow, let the games begin! One last meal to negotiate but alack and alarm – what’s this? A Responsible Adult is summarily ejected from the dining room for wearing shorts! Undeterred, your favourite roving reporter repairs to his room where he soon finds a pair of long johns that do the trick. Dinner is served, everyone is present, and the waiting is nearly over…

The excellent Pallini Beach Hotel and the view (www.g-hotels.com).

PS: Polly says: “Thanks for putting more money on Mum’s mobile”.

The World Schools Chess Championships - The Prologue

Matt Hunt Reports:

It was cold. It recently snowed in Kent, Sussex and parts of Hampshire, never mind the uplands of northern England and Scotland. And its already April. Never mind. All this crossed their minds as they prepared to embark on the journey to Halkidiki, with the reassuring news that it was 20C there if not higher.

Flying Olympic Airways. Sounds grand. Gatwick departure, easy for some travellers, a nightmare for others. What can you say: you should have chosen to live somewhere more expensive? Somewhere closer to Chico? Whatever. Do I look bovvered? Does any part of my face look bovvered?

Need to get ready. Tricky. Especially the plug and phone adaptors. Still, need to avoid the downside of having to use a mosquito ridden, gambling den internet café. Do it from the luxury of the 4 star hotel room. Sounds more my style.

The players think they are ready already. Aliteration – or is just plain repetition? And in the prologue too. I feel an excellent championships coming on already. But only 3 days left to pack.

“Don’t know what you’re worried about,” says the player, “packing is easy…”

	The players competing this year are:
	U15	Callum Kilpatrick 2052	U13	Samuel Franklin	U11	Daniel Hunt
		Sharan Soni		George O’Toole 1934		Polly Lambert
		Harry Streeter		Patrick Stevens		Joseph Quinn
		Jessica Thilaganathan 1904		Ben Wetherfield
		Edward Venmore-Rowland