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1,800 turn out for British land national gigafinal
A staggering 1,800 children took part in the 3rd stage of the The British Land UK Chess Challenge 2003, the National Gigafinal, which was held in the Keele University Leisure Centre in Staffordshire during the weekend of 12th and 13th July.
The children’s ages ranged from 5 up to 18 years old, with the younger ones (under 10s) playing on the Saturday, and the older ones (10 and over) on the Sunday. The majority of players hailed from the English counties, but there were also 71 players from Scotland, 45 Welsh entrants, 15 Northern Ireland players and two from Jersey.
Due to the size of the event, the children were accommodated each day in two halls seating 400 players each, and one hall of 200 capacity for the girls. Overall, conditions at Keele were excellent with plenty of space to play, and good ventilation in the halls, despite the blistering heat of the weekend.
There were 12 different age categories, which made 24 sections, as these were split into boys and girls groups. But some of these groups were further subdivided into sections, because some age ranges attracted hundreds of players. There were no less than five under 10 boys sections and five under 11 boys sections, each with about 60 players in them. During the weekend, more than 350 girls took part, a considerably higher percentage than is normal in chess events, and this was largely due to the policy of giving girls separate sections, to encourage more of them to take part.
In all, there were 44 section winners, called the Ultimi (Ultimo for boys and Ultima for girls). Each of the Ultimi received a winner’s cup and a cheque for £100, unless there was a tie for first place. In that case a playoff was held and the prize money was split but not the winner’s cup and the title. The Ultimi also gained the coveted right to compete in the final stage of the competition – the TERAFINAL – which will be held on 23rd and 24th August at the Source, an educational centre established by The British Land Company PLC next to its extensive Meadowhall shopping complex in Sheffield, Yorkshire.
Table of Ultimi
UK Chess Challenge - Ultimi 2003 First Name Last Name Age Sex School County 1 James Abrams U 7 B Letchworth & Hitchin JCC Herts 2 Mishael Knight U 7 B Camberley JCC Surrey 3 Briony Brock U 7 G Gateway Bucks 4 Jack Harding U 8 B Mall Middx 5 Saravanan Sathyanandha U 8 B Haberdashers Herts 6 Craig Whitfield U 8 B Hassell Staffs 7 Stephanie Hale U 8 G Millfield Somerset 8 Adam Freeman U 9 B Tameside Lancs 9 Toby Thurgood U 9 B St Joseph's Notts 10 George Tunstall U 9 B Nine Mile Ride, Finchampstead Berks 11 Andrew Willis U 9 B Magdalen College Oxon 12 Rhian Hughes U 9 G South Morningside Midlothian 13 Dominic Foord U 10 B Christchurch Middx 14 David Grant U 10 B East Grinstead JCC Sussex 15 Christopher Linnett U 10 B Crowborough JCC Sussex 16 Robert Marx U 10 B Haberdashers Herts 17 Michael Rabbitte U 10 B Monton Green Lancs 18 Sheila Dines U 10 G Old Palace Surrey 19 Jessica Thilaganathan U 10 G L E H Surrey 20 Charlie Court U 11 B Aldro Surrey 21 Eugene Geidelberg U 11 B Basingstoke CC Hampshire 22 Jeffrey Levicki U 11 B New College Oxon 23 Richard Lobo U 11 B Holy Innocent's Kent 24 Kaiser Malik U 11 B Checkmate Warks 25 Gwenaelle Francis U 11 G Sketty Glam 26 Amisha Parmar U 11 G Stapleford C.C Notts 27 Michael Compston U 12 B 3 Cs Lancs 28 Dana Hawrami U 12 B Ilford County High Essex 29 Ankush Khandelwal U 12 B Nottingham High Notts 30 Selina Khoo U 12 G L E H Surrey 31 Charles Evans U 13 B Hazlemere JCC Bucks 32 Peter Poobalasingam U 13 B Millfield Somerset 33 Molly Moruzzi U 13 G St Edward Staffs 34 Peter Constantinou U 14 B Bedford Modern Beds 35 Li Wu U 14 B Bancroft's Essex 36 Katherine Rattle U 14 G Holy Cross Sussex 37 E Josiah Lutton U 15 B Basildon JCC Essex 38 Jemima McGraw U 15 G Notre Dame, Lingfield Surrey 39 Matthew Harborne U 16 B Basingstoke CC Hampshire 40 Sabrina Chevannes U 16 G Checkmate Warks 41 J Ezra Lutton U 17 B Basildon JCC Essex 42 Carola Rotermund U 17 G Woodbridge Suffolk 43 Lorin D'Costa U 18 B John Henry Newman Herts 44 Heather Coupe U 18 G Wickersley Comp. Yorks
The 44 Terafinalists will battle for the title of STRAT and a prize fund of about £5,000 including £1,000 top prize, and £500 each for the top girl player and the top Under 11 player. This tournament will be played over two days, with 3 rounds being played on each day, each round being of 2½ hours duration. The longer time limit corresponds to the higher quality of play in the last stage of the competition: in the Gigafinal the duration of rounds was 1 hour. The scoring system in the Terafinal will be 3 points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss. This is the same scoring system as used in the football league and is particularly important in chess events where the scourge of grandmaster draws, premature draws and even pre-arranged draws often reaches epidemic proportions in strong events. It is important that our young players should learn to fight for victory at every opportunity rather than distort the nature of the game by suing for peace!
The Terafinalists will be joined at the Source by up to 150 CHALLENGERS. These are the players who came 2nd or 3rd in their Gigafinal section, and these will compete in two separate sections on similar lines to the Terafinal.
Table of Challengers
UK Chess Challenge - CHALLENGERS 2003 First Name Last Name Age Sex School County 1 Adam Burroughs U 7 B Lawn Wilts 2 Oliver Demeger U 7 B Abbey Devon 3 Samuel Howard U 7 B John Betts Middx 4 Harry Mason U 7 B Strike Lane Lancs 5 Thomas Mavin U 7 B Yarm Yorks 6 Rahul Shah U 7 B Homefield Surrey 7 Jessica Smart U 7 G Yateley Manor Hampshire 8 Afira Sutanto U 7 G Carlton Middx 9 Michael Brook U 8 B Milborne Port Somerset 10 Jamie Craik U 8 B Buckingham JCC Bucks 11 Christopher Dunne U 8 B Homefield Surrey 12 Daniel Fernandez U 8 B Littleheath JCC Herts 13 Nathan Gittens U 8 B 3 Cs Lancs 14 Tom Huband U 8 B Sir Robert Hitcham Suffolk 15 Alexander Jelicic U 8 B Homefield Surrey 16 Nikhil Lal U 8 B QEGS, Wakefield Yorks 17 Robert Lobo U 8 B Holy Innocent's Kent 18 Cameron Maher U 8 B Aughton St Michael's Lancs 19 Nnamdi Obiekwe U 8 B Hall Middx 20 Yang-Fan Zhou U 8 B Wimbledon Col.prep Surrey 21 Holly Carter U 8 G Ruskin Wilts 22 Danae Kokossis U 8 G Guildford High Surrey 23 Francesca Lloyd U 8 G Atti Flintshire 24 Joanna Wu U 8 G North London Collegiate Middx 25 Ben Blundell U 9 B St Lawrence Sussex 26 Robert Darby U 9 B Dulwich College Surrey 27 Samuel Durno U 9 B Knaphill Surrey 28 Ted Eales U 9 B Wellington Junior Somerset 29 Mischa Frankl-Duval U 9 B University College Middx 30 William Boulton U 9 B Norwich JCC Norfolk 31 Alexander Ho U 9 B Eltham College Kent 32 James Hopkinson-Hughes U 9 B Kings College Cambridge 33 Alex Leverson U 9 B NHS Prep Notts 34 Peter Mellor U 9 B Ladygrove Shrops 35 Samuel Milson U 9 B Grimoldby Lincs 36 Vishaal Patel U 9 B Haberdashers' Aske's Middx 37 Patrick Reeves-Dienes U 9 B East Grinstead JCC Sussex 38 Elyes Rigby Zeghlache U 9 B William Patten Middx 39 Oliver Schofield U 9 B King Edwards Somerset 40 Nipuna Senaratne U 9 B QEGS, Wakefield Yorks 41 Peter Watt U 9 B Magdalen College Oxon 42 Fay Birch U 9 G Claremont Surrey 43 Stephanie Dye U 9 G Warren Mead Surrey 44 Sabrina Salhi U 9 G Broomgrove Essex 45 Sophie Williams U 9 G Aughton St Michael's Lancs 46 Rhiannon Williams U 9 G East Grinstead JCC Sussex 47 Jonathan Andrew U 10 B Ibstock Surrey 48 Harvey Birch U 10 B Claremont Surrey 49 William Cheung U 10 B St. Cedd's Primary Essex 50 Jack Cleeves U 10 B Lethbridge Wilts 51 Benjamin Dangoor U 10 B Colet Court Middx 52 Matthew Dent U 10 B Bedford JCC Beds 53 Amit Desai U 10 B Brookland Middx 54 Jonathan Edwards U 10 B Deanpark Midlothian 55 Robert Glover U 10 B 3 Cs Lancs 56 Or Goldreich U 10 B Chandlers Ridge Yorks 57 William Gonsalves U 10 B Homefield Surrey 58 Andrew Goodman U 10 B Bishopsgate Surrey 59 Anthony Gregory U 10 B Horsted Kent 60 Daniel Lin U 10 B Bramcote Notts 61 Paul Long U 10 B Checkmate Warks 62 William Mitchell U 10 B Aldro Surrey 63 Julian Ryan U 10 B Colet Court Middx 64 Athman Sivakumar U 10 B St Christopher's Middx 65 Luka Sugita U 10 B Brookland Middx 66 David Thorne U 10 B Wellington Junior Somerset 67 Sam Turner U 10 B Grange Mon 68 Rory Williams U 10 B Roundwood Herts 69 Charlotte Desouza U 10 G Sutton High Surrey 70 Zoe Geidelberg U 10 G Basingstoke CC Hampshire 71 Anjali Lakhani U 10 G NHS Girls Notts 72 Melissa Thomas U 10 G Dormer House Glos 73 Sam Austin U 11 B All Saints Northants 74 Tom Beckwith U 11 B RGS Newcastle Northumberland 75 Tristan Blundell U 11 B St Lawrence Sussex 76 Alexander Cheung U 11 B Garden Suburb Middx 77 Jamie Eales U 11 B Wellington Junior Somerset 78 Rohan Gupta U 11 B St Mark's S Of C Surrey 79 James Hoad U 11 B Aldro Surrey 80 Ben Jacobs U 11 B Woodridge Middx 81 Matthew Kinloch U 11 B Monmouth Mon 82 Kishan Lakhani U 11 B NHS Prep Notts 83 Robert Lydiard U 11 B Cranmore Surrey 84 Ian MacGregor U 11 B Jordanhill Lanarkshire 85 Thomas McFaul U 11 B Binfield Primary Berks 86 Michael Migan U 11 B Chingford C of E/Chessmates Essex 87 William Perera U 11 B St Boniface Surrey 88 Lewis Turner U 11 B Newtown Lindford Leics 89 Tom Whitaker U 11 B Sitwell Yorks 90 Andrew Winchcombe U 11 B Ridgeway, Maidenhead Berks 91 Poppy Maxwell U 11 G Cowley Chess Club Oxon 92 Catriona Meechan U 11 G Stepgates Surrey 93 Lateefah Messam-Sparks U 11 G NHS Girls Notts 94 Amy Officer U 11 G Perth Academy Perthshire 95 Rebecca Seavers U 11 G St Peter's Leics 96 Christopher Bellin U 12 B Queen Mary's Grammar Staffs 97 David Donaghy U 12 B St Alban's Suffolk 98 Eren Kilich U 12 B Queen Elizabeth's Herts 99 Daniel Lai U 12 B RGS Newcastle Northumberland 100 Liam Rabbitte U 12 B Swinton Lancs 101 Daniel Rey U 12 B Magdalen College Oxon 102 Beau Schofield U 12 B Magdalen College Oxon 103 Benedict Scholl U 12 B Ahshtead JCC/Danes Hill Surrey 104 Beaummont Tang U 12 B Dr Challoners Bucks 105 Victoria Crompton U 12 G Hulme Grammar Cheshire 106 Natalie Donohue U 12 G St Aidan's Lanarkshire 107 Sally Fletcher U 12 G Bury Knights JCC Suffolk 108 Anita Tse U 12 G Old Palace Surrey 109 Claire Wu U 12 G North London Collegiate Middx 110 Sam Cloake U 13 B Grappenhall Cheshire 111 Richard Glover U 13 B 3 Cs Lancs 112 Tom Harbour U 13 B Bedford Modern Beds 113 Calum Kinloch U 13 B Monmouth Mon 114 John Terry U 13 B Hereford Cathedral Here 115 Naomi Miller U 13 G Oxford High Oxon 116 Deepa Patel U 13 G Sutton High Surrey 117 Similan Anandajeyarajah U 14 B Tiffin Boys Surrey 118 Anton Chernikov U 14 B Tiffin Boys Surrey 119 Alexei Chernikov U 14 B Tiffin Boys Surrey 120 Gavyn Cooper U 14 B Adams Grammar Shrops 121 Edward Devonshire U 14 B Yateley Manor Hampshire 122 Josh Smith U 14 B Magdalen College Oxon 123 Yangshi Yu U 14 B St Edward Staffs 124 Charlotte Hughes U 14 G Torquay Devon 125 Emma Nash U 14 G Norwich JCC Norfolk 126 Sophie Seeber U 14 G Tynemouth CC Northumberland 127 Lynsey Shovlin U 14 G Perth Academy Perthshire 128 Yangshan Yu U 14 G St Edward Staffs 129 William Bennet U 15 B Oakham Rutland 130 Callum Gordon U 15 B King Edward VI Camp Hill Warks 131 Tariq Oozeerally U 15 B Whitgift Surrey 132 Chris Wallis U 15 B Ipswich JCC Suffolk 133 Deborah Margolis U 15 G Brighton & Hove High Sussex 134 Soraya Maxey U 15 G Fitzalan Glam 135 Christopher Dorrington U 16 B Stamford Lincs 136 Jonathan Lappage U 16 B Magdalen College Oxon 137 Emma Atkins U 16 G Westwood Staffs 138 Lisa Higenbottam U 16 G Waterlooville JCC Hampshire 139 Krunal Kahar U 17 B Cleeve Glos 140 Ammar Karim U 17 B Lordswood Warks 141 Lawrence Lim U 17 B St Dominic's VI Form Middx 142 Catherine Wasilewski U 17 G Chancellors Herts 144 James Buchanan U 18 B Cowley JCC Oxon 145 Samuel Rignall-Tolson U 18 B King Edward VII Yorks 146 Aline Sauze U 18 G Helston Cornwall
The UK Chess Challenge is now in its 8th year and has grown every year since it began. The original entry of 23,000 children from 700 schools has swollen to 66,000 from almost 2,000 schools. Under the sponsorship of The British Land Company PLC the tournament has grown rapidly in the last four years, giving thousands of children the opportunity to be introduced to the historic game of chess. The best players from each school have the chance to further hone their skills against the strongest players in their county or region and later nationwide.
Full details of the results of the Gigafinal can be found on the UK Chess Challenge website www.ukchesschallenge.com and further information can be obtained from Mike Basman – mobile 07715041320
