ECF Team Chess Challenge National Final – 19th April 2023
16 schools descended on Imperial College Maths Department on Wednesday 19 April 2023 for this year’s national final of ECF Team Chess Challenge. Teams came from across the country with players travelling from Merseyside, Northumberland, Somerset and Bristol as well as others with much shorter journeys.
In the morning GM Prof Jonathan Mestel of Imperial College gave a masterclass on Chess Problem Solving, not only illustrating the pitfalls but also some of the important endings to know for normal chess play.
The chess tournament started after lunch with five rounds being played at a rate of play of 10 minutes with a 2 second increment. With this rate of play the arbiter, Chris Howell, was kept busy with time scrambles! The winner of the tournament is determined by game points, rather than match points, and so with every game counting all were important. It also leads to the leading teams meeting early in the tournament. So it was in round 3 that the top two seeds fought a close match before Wilson’s beat Sevenoaks 2.5 to 1.5.
Round 4 saw the reigning champions, Wilson’s School, lose to last year’s runners up, Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Bristol. The final round therefore started with Wilson’s, QEH and Tiffin School all equal on 11.5 points with North Liverpool Academy only half a point behind.
This was the first year that North Liverpool Academy had entered the tournament but they defeated QEH by 3 – 1 to ensure a top two finish. However, Wilson’s (pictured below) beat Tiffin by 3.5 – 0.5 and so retained the championship.
Results
1 Wilson’s School 14½
2 North Liverpool Academy 13½
3 QEH 12
4 Tiffin School 11½
5 Solihull School 11½
6 University College School 11½
7 Sevenoaks 11
8 Bristol GS 11
9 Taunton School 10½
10 St Albans School 10
Team Chess Challenge is a competition open to any British school with pupils in any of years 7 to 13 (English year groups). Each team taking part consists of four pupils who attend the same school and are in year 6 or above. Team Chess Challenge has been developed as a chess tournament which ALL secondary schools might like to enter.
The structure of Team Chess Challenge is that regional finals will be held on afternoons during Autumn Term 2022 and Spring Term 2023. The winning school at each Regional Final will qualify for the one day National Final. The host school will decide the details of the Regional Final. Typically at each Regional Final, between four and sixteen teams will participate. The host school can decide how many teams schools can enter. Schools can enter more than one Regional Final but players in a winning team cannot play in a subsequent Regional Final that year. Schools can only send one team to the National Finals.
The regional final is organised as an afternoon tournament lasting between 2 and 3 hours. Each event shall have four rounds (unless only 4 teams are playing) each lasting about 25 minutes. Swiss pairings will be used so that in the later rounds, the leading teams play against each other, and similarly the weaker teams play each other. Every game counts, so the maximum score is 16 points. The winning team is the one that scores the most points (out of 16). The host school can decide the starting time of their final, which may be during afternoon school or after school has finished. The principal aim of the regional final is that large numbers of school teams enjoy playing chess. The production of a winner to play at the National Final is an important subsidiary to this main aim.
There is no entry fee for the tournament, but the host school may make a small charge for the provision of the refreshments, and possibly trophies, at the Regional Finals. Games are not graded, and there is no requirement for your team players to be members of any chess organisation.
To enter just contact the relevant organiser as listed below. If you cannot see an event you could easily enter then contact the national organiser Neill Cooper Email: manager.secondary@englishchess.org.uk
Regional Finals
East Midlands Region – Nottingham High School
Contact: Ed Jones Email: jones.e@nottinghamhigh.co.uk
Winners: Nottingham High School
4 teams participated
South East Essex Region – St. Thomas More High School
Contact: Jason Vitone Email: jvitone@st-thomasmore.southend.sch.uk
Friday January 27th
Winners: Westcliffe A
4 teams participated
West of England Region – Bristol Grammar School
Contact: Graham Iwi Email: giwi@bgs.bristol.sch.uk
Monday 30th January 4.00-6.30pm
Winners: Bristol GS A; also qualified – Sir Thomas Rich A, Taunton A, QEH A
42 teams participated
North London Region – Harrow School
Contact: James Hall Email: jpbh@harrowschool.org.uk
Friday 24 February 2023 at 2.00pm
Winners: University College School A; also qualified – Highgate A, St Albans A
16 teams participated
Devon Region – Torquay Boys Grammar School
Contact: Tim Onions Email: tim.onions@yahoo.co.uk
Wednesday 8th February 2023 at 2.00pm
Winners: Exeter School A
15 teams participated
South London Region – Wilson’s School
Contact: Neill Cooper Email: nsc@wilsonsschool.sutton.sch.uk
Wednesday 25th January at 4.00pm
Winners: Wilson’s School A; also qualified – Tiffin A
16 teams participated
West Midlands Region – KE Camp Hill
Contact: Alex Holowczak Email: alexholowczak@gmail.com
Friday 17th March – 4 rounds of 10+2 from 5.00pm – 7.00pm
Winners: Solihull; also qualified KE Camp Hill
14 teams participated
http://chess-results.com/tnr742594.aspx?lan=1&art=0
North East Region – St Mary’s School
Contact: Paul Richardson Email: Paul.Richardson@st-marys.newcastle.sch.uk
Tuesday 7th March
Winners: King Edward VI High, Morpeth
8 teams participated
Kent Region – Sevenoaks School
Contact: Miss Y Yin Email: yxy@Sevenoaksschool.org
Tuesday 28 February – register at 4.15pm, games start at 4.30pm
Winners: Sevenoaks School A
9 teams participated
Merseyside Region – North Liverpool Academy
Thursday 23 February – all day
Winners: North Liverpool Academy, also qualifying Liverpool Blue Coat
National Finals
The 2023 Team Chess Challenge National Final will be at Imperial College, London Wednesday 19th April 2023.