Two of the most exciting junior tournaments that are taking place in June are the Delancey UK Chess Challenge (UKCC) Megafinals and the free to enter Edinburgh Chess Academy (ECA) Scottish Junior Tournament. If you’ve looked at the details, you may have noticed that some of the dates clash - eek! Helpfully UKCC have put on an extra Megafinal Weekend, so that everyone has an opportunity to do both, but with some of the UKCC entry options allowing players to take part in more than one Megafinal as long as they haven’t already qualified for the Gigafinal, we decided to put together the following chart so you can easily see where the clashes occur, and where they don’t. Remember, the categories for the UKCC are based on how old the player was on 31st August 2020. There is a handy chart on the UKCC website, but I find the easiest way to work out which age group someone is in is to think about how old they will be on 31st August THIS year, and they were under that age last August. This is meant as a guide. Please check the details on the tournament organisers website.
Exciting new Scottish tournament
Edinburgh Chess Academy have recently announced a major new tournament for Scottish juniors, with sections based on current playing strength and big cash prizes - and it’s free to enter!
The Edinburgh Chess Academy Scottish Junior Tournament will begin with practice tournaments over the weekend of 5th and 6th of June followed by Qualifiers on 12th and 13th June. The Championship finals will take place on 26th and 27th June.
Andrew Green, founder of Edinburgh Chess Academy, said "I am delighted to announce our first sponsored online junior tournament. It is free to play in, for all levels and has a prize fund of £10,000 - generously sponsored by Gareth Williams (Co-founder of Skyscanner). To enter or to find out more information, please visit our website. This new event made it into the news, you can read about it in The Times and the Scottish Sun.
The aim of the tournament is to get children playing chess. With prizes for all levels we hope this encourages children and parents to give chess a go! Please spread the word by telling your friends, liking and sharing etc. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates. Finally, I would also ask that you enter your child right away - early entries will help generate interest and make it easier to organise."
Lothian Junior Championships 2021
Who will be our next Lothian Champions?
The Lothian Junior Championships 2020 were the last over the board tournament held by Lothian Junior Chess before lockdown with Oliver Whalley, Morven Gera and Raghav Palanival winning the titles. This year they are being held online on lichess on 25th April. Enter now to be in with a chance of being our 2021 champion.
Team Day 2 now open for entries
Team Day 2 is taking place on Sunday 21st March.
Edinburgh Junior Congress goes online
The Edinburgh Junior Online Congress takes place on Saturday 10th October 2020. See our events page for details.
Team Day 3
Team Day 3 took place online on Saturday 13th June with just over 100 players from 21 teams. Full details of the tournament and all the games below:
Secondary https://lichess.org/tournament/nm10cl6U 17 players and 3 teams
P6/P7 https://lichess.org/tournament/c2djZsO2 34 players and 8 teams
P5 and U https://lichess.org/tournament/tcBm9Wfp 55 players and 10 teams
Coming soon.....
We’re as disappointed as you are that the rest of the season’s tournaments can’t take place as normal, but keep playing and watch this space for an announcement about an online tournament!
Scotland East Megafinal - Postponed
Late this afternoon the UK Government advised against unnecessary social contact to protect against Coronavirus. Therefore we have no option but to postpone the East of Scotland Megafinal on Sunday 29th March. UK Chess Challenge (UKCC) will contact those who have already registered for this event. We are hoping to reschedule the East of Scotland Megafinal when the situation allows.
Lothian Junior Championships 2020 results
Thanks to everyone who came along today for an exciting tournament
Here are the prizewinners
Secondary
1st: Oliver Whalley (5.5/6)
2nd: Frederick Gordon (5.5/6)
3rd: Matthew Willder (4/6)
4th: Callum Robertson (4/6)
5th: Murdo Mclaurin (3.5/6)
6th: Nivedita Suyal (3.5/6)
Grading Prize (Under 1000): Nahum Bradford (3.5/6)
Grading Prize (Under 700): Daniel Best-Solorzano (3/6)
Medals for scores of 3/6 or higher
Primary 6/7
1st: Morvin Gera (6/6)
2nd: Daniel Kitaev (5/6)
3rd: Gabriel Opat (4.5/6)
4th: Jamie Jackson (4.5/6)
5th: Archie Stewart (4/6)
6th: Jack Egan (4/6)
Grading Prize (Under 600): Anton Skornyakov (4/6)
Grading Prize (Under 400): Lachlan Cattanach (3.5/6)
Grading Prize (Under 200): Drisith Palaniswarmy (3/6)
Medals for scores of 3/6 or higher
Primary 5 & Under
1st: Raghav Palanivel (6/6)
2nd: Srinivas Rath (5.5/6)
3rd: Laksshana Deepak (5/6)
4th: Matthew Esser (5/6)
5th: Joseph Zhao (5/6)
6th: Sai Mallick (4.5/6)
Grading Prize (Under 400): Dandu Ayraman (4/6)
Grading Prize (Under 200): Vedanth Vikram (4/6)
Grading Prize (Ungraded): Ollie Merenduzzo (4/6)
Medals for scores of 3/6 or higher
Healthy Competition
Lothian Junior Chess are monitoring the advice of the Scottish Government (including NHS Scotland) and Edinburgh Council on measures to take to prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to safeguard everyone who comes to our events. If Broughton High School should close or the Government advises against gatherings of the size of our tournaments, then our tournaments will be cancelled or postponed but otherwise we expect them to run as advertised.
At any time, to avoid the risk of spreading any disease, the following measures should be taken by players and their carers:
Anyone who feels unwell should not come to the tournament, whether they are a player or a carer. Do not come if you have a fever, if you have vomited within 24 hours or had diarrhea in the past 48 hours, or if you have an illness or condition that would normally mean you should not go to school or work.
Hands should be washed frequently and well, preferably using soap and water but otherwise with alcohol hand sanitiser and especially:
before eating and drinking
after coughing or sneezing
after using the toilet
If you cough or sneeze, cover your nose and mouth with a disposable tissue and throw it away in the nearest waste bin as soon as possible, then wash your hands. If you don’t have a disposable tissue, cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow.
Avoid direct contact with people who are ill and do not use their personal items such as mobile phones or tablets.
During this period of heightened concern about Coronavirus the following also applies:
Do not come to the tournament if you have been advised to self-isolate. If you have travelled recently, see the link below for the latest information about who this advice applies to
For individual entries, if you decide not to come and you email us at the address on your confirmation email before 9am on the day of the tournament we will give you a full refund. This does not apply to the Megafinal and Gigafinal as entries and payments are covered by the Delancey UK Chess Challenge Terms and Conditions.
We will be advising the players not to shake hands but will suggest a respectful nod, similar to how martial arts opponents would acknowledge one another, or some other form of respectful gesture. It would be helpful if parents and coaches could talk to the players about this before the tournament.
We reserve the right to ask anyone who we believe to be ill to leave the tournament. If, during the tournament, you have concerns about the health of anyone at the venue please let an official know.