World Schools Chess Championships 2018

Round 9

Round 9 was the final round of the tournament. Nadhmi traded pieces to an equal endgame with each having a Bishop, a Knight and 6 pawns. Ultimately it came down to Nadhmi’s superior pawn structure  enabling him to trade off the remaining pieces and queening. Denis played his longest ever game of over 6 hours and after a rollercoaster game, he settled for a draw. Max and Siena played well and won their games. The final scores for the England Players are as follows: Kavin Thooran 5/9 (U9 Boys), Nadhmi Auchi 5/9 (U11 Boys), Denis Dupuis 4.5/9 (U9 Boys), Siena Gurjar 4/9 (U9 Girls), Adam Hussein 4/9 (U13 Boys), Georgia Headlong 4/9 (U13 Girls), Max Miller 4/9 (U15 Boys) and Sohum Lohia 4/9 (U9 Boys). Well done to all for excellent scores against top players from across the globe! The day finished with water games and pedal-boating and to close the evening off, a blindfold simul by Coach Adam C Taylor.

Thanks on behalf of all the parents to our fantastic coaches, GM Glenn Flear, GM Johnathan Hawkins and FM Adam C Taylor and also to our Head of Delegation, Rejean Dupuis and all the staff at the ECF who supported the team so well both before and during the event.


Round 8

Round 8 saw some good results for the England team – wins from Kavin, Sohum and Max and draws from Denis and Georgia. Kavin followed through his preparation well leading to victory. Sohum won quickly and Denis and Georgia fought long and hard leading to draws for them. Max played a great game resulting in another success for him – well done Max!


Round 7

A successful day for the England Junior Team today – 5/8! Siena had a good game and fought off any untoward threats, leading to a victory. Georgia thought that she was claiming three-fold repetition the correct way but the arbiter didn’t agree – Georgia went on to win the game! Kavin played his longest game so far and went on to be successful. Coach Adam C Taylor was all smiles! Nadhmi and Adam played another great game against strong opposition leading to a couple more points for England!


Round 6

An incredibly tough day for England – only another quick win for Kavin! Nonetheless each and every game was strongly fought and no one left the battle ground without a full and proper fight. The team are in good spirits and fully aware that they are playing some of the strongest players around the world. Keeping fingers crossed for tomorrow!


Round 5

A day of drawing for the England Junior Team today! A quick win for Kavin followed by 4 draws from Denis, Georgia, Sohum and Nadhmi – against tough opposition! Sohum and Georgia’s game lasted near 3 hours while Nadhmi and Denis were in for 4 hours. Nadhmi had the chance to promote a passed pawn in the end game but so did his opponent leading to a draw with no mating options. Denis mostly outplayed his opponent and was up in material but a complicated end game ensued and eventually a draw was agreed. The evening was spent relaxing and playing games (not chess!) against delegations from across the globe.


Round 4

Another tough day for the England Junior Team – some very long games from the whole contingent and some hard fought battles. Wins from Denis, Max and Adam and a draw from Nadhmi. The parents and coaches kept themselves occupied with magic tricks and card games – much to the envy of the other delegations! Fingers crossed for tomorrow!


Round 3

Round 3 was a tough day for the England Junior Team. Nevertheless, each and every game was hard fought – most of the games lasted in excess of 3 hours. Wins for Sohum and Georgia today and a draw for Adam. Parents were completely banned from the playing hall today so no photos sadly – apart from, of course, our travelling magician David Miller who kept us parents and coaches occupied during the long wait for the players to finish. The evening finished with a team dinner at a local restaurant – it was unanimously agreed to stick to the tried and tested hotel buffet in future! 


Round 2

Before setting off today, Adam and Nadhmi had a training game using the large outdoor chess set! The team all left the hotel together providing each other with last minute encouragement.
The players left the playing hall in high spirits today after a great performance from all – with a team score of 5/8! Wins from Kavin, Denis, Sohum, Max and Nadhmi – well done to everyone for their efforts today.
As usual, the parents played rummy whilst waiting for the children – parents can be competitive too!


Round 1

Morning coaching sessions took place with our team of coaches. All the players wore their England attire for the team meeting. Following the opening ceremony, the players, coaches and parents set off for the first round. Luckily, David Miller came well prepared with some playing cards and kept the parents entertained with magic tricks and card games.

The first player to come out was Denis Dupuis who won very quickly due to his opponent’s unorthodox antics failing against him. Well done Denis! Denis was closely followed by wins from Nadhmi Auchi and Adam Hussain. Siena Gurjar also won a long game, followed by a draw from Sohum Lohia. What seemed like hours later, Georgia Headlong finished her game with yet another win. What stamina Georgia – well done!

The England Team of 8 achieved 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses – excellent playing from everyone and a great start for England. Every single player went away feeling proud of their game and rightly so. The evening finished with an impromptu team dinner under the stars!

— Dr. John Higgs


The England team in Albania

Our 8 strong England team together with 3 coaches have arrived safely in Durrës, Albania for the World School Chess Championship 2018. The team consists of Max Miller, Adam Hussein, Georgia Headlong, Denis Dupuis and Nadhmi Auchi (pictured below), Kavin Thooran, Siena Gurjar and Sohum Lohia. The next hurdle was the arrival of luggage – some of which had an extra unaccompanied journey in Vienna – but it finally arrived at 2.00am (phew)! 

Our coaches GM Glenn Flear, GM Jonathan Hawkins and FM Adam Taylor presented the players with their official England shirts, hoodies and silver badges in time for the team photo!


… in Durres, Albania from 20th to 29th April 2018

Tournament Director – Nikos Kalesis Email: nikoskalesis@gmail.com
Tournament Manager – Majlinda Pilinci Email: pilincimajlinda@gmail.com
Official website – here | Regulations – here

Meet the Team
Head of Delegation – Rejean Dupuis
Coaches – FM Adam C Taylor and GM Glenn Flear
Siena Gurjar
Siena is the current Girls’ Grand Prix Winner for her age, and has been the top girl at several national chess championships. Siena is a keen musician and dancer. She would like to thank the teachers at her school, North London Collegiate, including Mrs Newman, Miss Smith, Mr D’Costa and Mr Winston for their continued support and encouragement.
Denis Dupuis
Denis started learning chess as he turned 7 and playing competitively soon after. For a year he trained with the late amazing David Rumens whom he calls “the best coach ever”. He is a member of the Kent Junior Chess Team and a regular at the Battersea Chess Club. Aside from chess Denis enjoys playing for the Streatham Youth Ice Hockey Club, reading and speed solving Rubik’s Cubes. Denis is in Year 4 at Belleville School in London. He is fluent in English, Turkish and French.
Sohum Lohia
Hi I’m Sohum. I have been playing chess since the age of four. Recently I moved from Singapore to London. I was born in Singapore and I have an older sister and younger brother. My favorite moment of living in London is becoming British Champion Under 8. I like playing chess and traveling to so many different parts of the world. My other interests include video games, drawing & football.
Adam Hussain
I have been playing chess for the last three years. I am in my second year of the ECF Chess Academy and thoroughly enjoying it. I am proud to be the youngest player since Michael Adams to represent Cornwall in a County match at age 9. My recent successes include winning the U16 Cornwall Championship. Last year I won the U11 Delancey Southern Gigafinal and participated in the Terafinal thereafter and was placed 13th overall. I also won the U12 British Rapidplay championship in 2016. I was placed third in the 2017 u11 British Chess championship. I was joint first in the 2018 U12 Yateley Closed Championship. I currently attend attend Truro School and am proud to represent my school in football and rugby. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to represent my country in the WSCC 2018 U13 category in Albania. I would love to thank my Dad who introduced me to chess, the chess community in Cornwall and the ECF Academy for nurturing my game.
Nadhmi Auchi
I started playing competitive chess when I was 8 years old, after first being introduced to the game by my brilliant coach Tony Niccoli. I have really enjoyed playing in various county and national tournaments the past couple of years and I am hugely looking forward to playing chess on the international circuit. I would like to thank Tony Niccoli, GM Tamas Fodor and my school, Wetherby Prep, for all their continued support and encouragement, and for making my chess journey possible.
Georgia Headlong
Georgia is 12 years old, lives in Swindon, Wiltshire, and is in Year 7 at Stroud High School. She has been playing chess since the age of 4, and is the current West of England U12 Girls Champion for the second year running. She is in the third and final year of the ECF Academy Programme, and last year also qualified for the National Chess Junior Squad at the squad trials. Apart from chess she enjoys playing the piano and gymnastics. She would like to thank her school for their support, and her chess coach Peter Richmond for his tuition.
Kavin Thooran
I started learning chess when I was six and half years old. In the beginning, I thought white pieces can only go on white squares and black pieces go on black squares. I found chess interesting when I won against my mum and dad. I like swimming and playing the piano too. I would like to thank all the people who have helped me to keep playing chess.
Max Miller
Max is 14 years of age, and learned to play chess when he was 4 years old. He won his first tournament aged 6 and became Northants County Champion, and has been the County Champion every year since. He enjoys playing badminton for the county and also loves to read. He attends Northampton School for Boys. He has also played for England in Brazil 2014 and the Glorney Cup in Ireland 2015.