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Jersey Chess Club confirms launch date for under-18s junior section The official launch date has been announced for Jersey Chess Club’s new under-18s junior section, which has been in development since plans were unveiled in January. The junior section will meet for the first time on Thursday, 3 March, with as many as 40 young people already showing an interest in participating. It will take the form of a club in its own right, in addition to the existing club for adults, and will be based at the college fields classrooms in Victoria College, Le Mont Millais, St Helier, taking place every term-time Thursday from 6pm to 7.30pm. The junior section will be run by members of Jersey Chess Club with assistance and support from teachers at Victoria College and from the Education, Sports and Culture Department’s current Jersey junior chess organisation, Jersey Schools Sports Association Chess Section. English teacher and gifted and talented coordinator at Victoria College, Will Gorman, who is helping set up the junior section, said: ‘This is wonderful opportunity for our most able students to stretch themselves in a different direction and there is tremendous interest from the whole school. ‘The school has a number of students who have been successful in Jersey chess tournaments at primary level and are very excited about the possibilities the junior section provides for representing Jersey internationally.’ The junior section will offer coaching and playing sessions for all interested young people from any secondary school in Jersey, which will be led by the club’s best players, some of whom are trained chess teachers and are highly rated in the game at an international level. In addition, the junior section will benefit from the mentoring of Piotr Murdzia, the chess puzzle solving world champion, who said: ‘I will assist with focused training using puzzles from my personal puzzle library, and will also put my name to the inaugural Jersey junior puzzle solving trophy. ‘Chess puzzle solving is a vital aspect of training for serious chess players.’ Junior tournaments are also planned, including competitive trips to take on Guernsey, as well as teams from the UK and other countries, with the club actively seeking corporate sponsorship and donations from the public to help realise these aims. Club president Louis Jouault said: ‘The new junior section is great news for Jersey chess and young people as a whole, as it means new resources will be ploughed into the future of the game in the Island in a way that also engages young people’s mental capacity and ambition.’ Some of the other events being organised by the club this year include a mini-tournament against the UK in March, the annual tournament against Guernsey in May, the small nations tournament on the Faroe Islands in August, and a rapid tournament in April. More details, and an application form to enrol in the junior section can be found on the junior section page of the club website, ‘check’ it out at jerseychessclub.com.
For Jersey Evening Post, Clubs and Societies, Thursday, 3 February 2011 I'm afraid this has exceeded word count. As the Jersey Chess Championship Division 1 progressed to Round 11 of 18, Wojciechowski's Black win over Le Feuvre fired him into second place and cut 2010 runner-up Hawes's lead at the top from 2 to 1.5 points. However, Girard's White win over 2010 champion Belzo meant it was still a good week for the unbeaten Hawes, who tops the table with a game in hand. Girard will be even more pleased with his result, as it lifted him off tenth place at the foot of the table, and out of the relegation zone. This week also saw Jouault held to a draw as White by Mooney. The Hawes v Rosenbeiger and Kahn v Mazurkiewicz fixtures were not played. Both the title race and the relegation battle remain wide open as the latter part of the season approaches. At the top, Hawes, Wojciechowski, Mazurkiewicz and Belzo look the most likely contenders for the coveted crown of Jersey Chess Champion. Despite this, the smart money is on Hawes, who is the only player never to have lost a game in the top flight of the Jersey Championship, running since 2008. In Division 2 the season reached Round 9 of 13, as Hill extended his winning streak at the top to seven out of seven after scoring White victory against Marsay. Philpot, who held second place with a Black win over Cardy, looks to be Hill's biggest rival for promotion, but anything less than a win as Black when the two clash in Round 11 could rule out any challenge. Richford and Boxall are also shaping up as contenders for a place in Division 1 next season, although as Hill has already seen both of them off in Rounds 1 and 4, they would also rely on Philpot beating Hill for either of them to stand a good chance. In their games this week Richford recorded Black victory over Singh, while Boxall v Potigny was not played. In other games, Benedetto and Cansado both won as White against Pais and Ponamarenko, while Ruff beat Smith as Black.
So far the plans for a junior section have been covered by Channel 103 and JEP News. Channel 103 have already published this coverage. JEP News will publish it in the near future, and I'll soon find out when. The first report of the latest results news will also soon be published by JEP Clubs & Societies, although they can't yet tell me when other than that it will happen 'in February'. Because Clubs & Societies moves quite slowly, the results news will be out of date once it appears. As I've already started the ball rolling on this, we'll have to settle with this for the first report. It's OK though, as I've spoken to the JEP Sport section, and they will happily take results news releases, which will be printed in a more up to date manner. Once the junior news story and the Clubs & Societies report appear in print I will send a second up to date report of results news to Sport instead of Clubs & Societies. I'm going to wait for what I've sent already to be processed first as I don't want to push my luck/cause confusion. I'll try pushing a couple more of these reports on a weekly basis to Sport from then on. If they actually print these it will be great, and I'll continue getting column inches that way from then on. However, even though stories have already been carried by News and Clubs & Societies, results news may not be considered important enough to print by Sport. If this happens we'll have to go back to Clubs & Societies. They will definitely print the results news, although less frequently and quickly than Sport could. So hopefully weekly coverage in Sport, otherwise monthly coverage in Clubs & Societies. When major developments occur with the club I will also report these to JEP News and other Jersey outlets. With the help of Krzysztof, cuttings of all Chess Club coverage will appear on the website, in case you miss it in the papers/radio.
Press coverage is going well. So far the junior section plans have been covered on Channel 103 radio and website, and will soon feature in JEP news. The JEP have confirmed this and will soon let me know on what day the story will run. They will also feature general club and league news weekly in their Thursday Clubs and Societies section (space permitting - during busy C&S news weeks there may be no coverage). I will begin sending material for these reports on a weekly basis from Monday, January 31. I'm planning to submit news of general developments and important league matches for both divisions, and other pieces of similar info. I'll also be sending diagrams of board positions and puzzles, although I'm still waiting to hear whether images will be possible in this section, or whether they will only print copy. If anyone wishes to contribute their own diagrams, analysis and puzzles please send them to tobybenedetto@aol.com. I will also be releasing further press releases to Islandwide media following any newsworthy future developments. Here is link and PDF of the Channel 103 web coverage along with a brief explanation
Appearing in the picture included with this press release (from left to right): Good game: Derek de la Haye, assistant director of Sport, shakes hands with Jersey Chess Club president Louis Jouault after their game.
Young people will soon be putting their mates in checkmate, following the announcement that Jersey Chess Club is to develop an under-18s junior section. The club, which meets every Monday evening upstairs at the Peirson pub, Royal Square, St Helier, will initially be taking the reins of the current Jersey junior chess organisation, Jersey Schools Sports Association Chess Section. The venture will be assisted by the Education, Sports and Culture Department, and is also being backed by several Jersey schools. Derek de la Haye, assistant director of Sport, Leisure and Youth, part of the Education Department, said: "I will be supporting Jersey Chess Club in developing Jersey junior chess and the Island's chess playing as a whole". "We have the desire to promote chess just as we do other areas of sport and culture in Jersey." The sports association chess section currently organises under-11s chess tournaments, friendly games, and coaching in primary schools, and has until now been unaffiliated with Jersey Chess Club, the main body for the game on the Island. Sports association chess section organiser Anne Haden said: "Junior chess is already active in Jersey primary schools, and I'm keen to work with Jersey Chess Club in promoting the further development of Jersey junior chess." The unification is great news for Jersey junior chess, as the club will be ploughing new resources into it in the hope of engaging young people's mental capacity and ambition. The club is also acting in a bid to secure a bright future for Jersey chess as a whole, and further improve Jersey's position as a chess world power - the Island is currently ranked 129th internationally, quite an achievement already, given its size. In fact, world domination may be only a single move away, since the club's junior section venture has also captured the support of the International Chess Federation, FIDE. Graham Boxall, Jersey's FIDE representative, said: "FIDE has a large number of committees promoting chess internationally and locally and is very keen on supporting chess in schools". "We will be providing our expertise to assist the club in involving more young people in chess, as we believe it is a positive outlet that brings beneficial discipline and enjoyment to their lives." The development will expand Jersey junior chess to take in more schools, including secondary schools, as until now there has been no organised access to chess for over-11s on the Island. In addition, the club will offer weekly coaching and playing sessions for all interested young people, all under one roof at a suitable venue and led by the club's best players, some of whom are trained chess teachers and are highly rated in the game at an international level. There will also be more junior tournaments, including competitive trips to take on Guernsey and possibly even teams from the UK and other countries, with the club actively seeking corporate sponsorship to help realise these aims. Club president Louis Jouault said: "It's great to see the club going from strength to strength, led by the enthusiasm of its members to take junior chess out of the doldrums." Some of the other events being organised by the club this year include a mini-tournament against the UK in March, the annual tournament against Guernsey in May, the small nations tournament on the Faroe Islands in August, and a rapid tournament, the date of which will be announced soon. Toby Benedetto | |||||||||
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