Worcestershire Junior Chess Academy
PO Box 4733
Brierley Hill
DY5 2WU

An ECF Centre Of Excellence

Organiser: Andrew Moore BA(Hons)
English Chess Federation Accredited Coach and Worcestershire Junior Chess Co-ordinator
CRB checked
email: info@wjca.org.uk


WJCA aims to provide chess coaching for boys and girls from beginner to national level and beyond. Starting in September 2011 we will meet on Saturdays from 10:00 to 12:00 at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church Hall, 10 Bransford Road, Worcester. Club fees are £2.00 per session. In addition we will meet on Saturday 11th June and Saturday 2nd July, at the same venue. New members are always welcome.

For more information, please email Andrew Moore at info@wjca.org.uk.

Follow @wjca_org_uk

News RSS feed

2009/10 Results

The first match of the 2009/10 between Malvern and Worcester took place at Malvern. The match saw many of the players from both sides returning for another season but it was the away side that took an early 2-0 lead, with William and Liz scoring early victories on boards 5 and 6. Malvern to their credit fought back with wins on boards 4 and 3 in that order to level the match.

The games, 45 minutes per player, then took another 40 minutes to come to a conclusion. Matthew on board 1 against Malvern's best player Max, having lost a pawn in the early exchanges, couldn't find a way through with his attack of queen, two rooks and the bishop. Max eventually won when time was short by queening his pawn. Board 2 levelled the match for the WJCA to bring about a very good match to start the season. Luke playing for the WJCA lost a piece early on but fought back to win the exchange and level the pieces to 2 minor pieces v rook and pawn. He then fought off an unbelievable attack from black with 2 bishops and a queen bearing down on him and with the inflexible rooks adding support to the queen, just about fended off black's attempt to score victory for Malvern. In the end though, Luke won another exchange and forced checkmate on the back rank.

Man of the match for Malvern was won by Max. Man of the match for WJCA was won by the captain William on board 5 for an error free game and initial victory in the initial away fixture.

The match was a very well fought contest and the draw was deserved by both sides. The next match in the series is taking place on 28th November at Worcester and promises to be another equally awaited contest.

WJCA Club Championship 2008

The WJCA held their annual Club Championships recently which like last year was another very successful event. The Under 18's title was successfully defended by the WJCA's top player Ashley. His unbeaten run included beating last year's runner-up, Alaric, and Nick. This year's runner up was Harvey: Peter B fought to win 3rd place, beating the WJCA Captain, Ben, in the play-off.

In the Under 12's section, two brothers had to play each other in the final round for the Title. Joseph, the younger of the two, won the exchange and forced checkmate to win the title. James took second place and Vice Captain William came third. Steve won the fastest finisher, losing the first two rounds but then winning the next 3 out of 4.

This is the second year the Championships has been run, and it was another huge success. There were other notable performances from Adam F, Kuran and Adam L. The Championships was also a UK Chess Challenge Qualifier for which everyone above qualified for as did Gareth, Peter O and Matthew.

2008/9 Results

The 1st series of the 2008/9 Season got off with a bang. The WJCA took the 1st leg at Malvern with a comfortable 6-2 victory. It was the top order that did the most damage ensuring the early loss on board 8 by 6 year old Jacob was to come to nothing. The 2nd leg though, saw the WJCA 1st team lose a match for only the 2nd time during 2008. On this occasion, wins from Jason, Peter and Kyle were unable to save the WJCA and Malvern squared the series in style, winning a rook and pawn end game against the WJCA Captain.

2007/8 Results Round-up

On February 23rd, Malvern College fought brilliantly to level the 2nd two match series against the WJCA with a lovely 7.5-2.5 victory on home soil. Malvern college deservedly took an early lead taking out the top order and eventually winning 4 out of the top 5 boards. This victory has lifted confidence ahead of the Midlands Junior Chess League Finals day on Sunday 16th March. The WJCA, despite this setback are still on target as they train hard to prepare themselves for the tough test of Malvern College and Magdalen College School in an up-coming tournament. Captain Ben had this to say 'Despite the loss, we have won 3 out of the 4 matches in preparation for this tournament so we are in good form. All the players know we had a bad day in the office and are working hard to make sure we learn from our mistakes, forget about them and concentrate on bringing back the silverware in a couple of weeks' time.' A full listing of the results from the Midlands Junior Chess League will be available during late March. Malvern college on this occasion did not capitulate as they did 2 months ago and fielded their strongest side. The WJCA who fielded some newcomers to the inter county friendly matches in Adam L. and Elizabeth took the lead 2-1 in the early stages thanks to great combinations from Adam and Matt. At this stage, it was looking like it might go either way and even when Nick made it 3-1 before the half way stage of the match, the top two boards especially looked as if they may be drawn or even winnable for either side. As it was, Alaric and Adam made it 5-1 and hence Ben and Ashley agreed two draws on the top boards after the deadlock remained unbroken despite 75% of match having being played.

This win puts the WJCA 1-0 up in the two match series with the return leg expected in February.

2007 Results Round Up

In the return leg of the 2 match series between WJCA and Malvern College, the WJCA again showed their strength in depth by crushing the home side to an 8-0 whitewash to win the series 2-0. (1st leg - WJCA 3.5 Malvern College 2.5)

Adam F. stole the show playing a wonderful game, gaining an early advantage by winning the rook and the bishop and then slowly grinding out his opponent to resign in the later stages of the game. Adam won Man of the Series after 1.5 points playing top board for both matches.

The other players who also shone throughout the match were Harvey, Peter B. and Ben, the new WJCA Captain who had this to say about the team's victory "It was a good match and Malvern's top order played well but in the end our experience and team spirit provided us with the extra edge."

The other WJCA players were Alaric, Nick, Ashley and Matthew R. who also put in a good performance and all won their games inside 20 minutes.

WJCA and Malvern College are planning another two match series in February/March followed by the Midlands Junior Chess League Finals in Early April. Anybody who wishes to join the MJCL should contact Andrew Moore.

Should any schools wish to take part in the Midlands Junior Chess League Finals day, they should also contact Andrew Moore before the closing date of February 20th 2008.

Awards Ceremony

The WJCA held its Awards Ceremony in September this year. Yet again it was well attended with Alaric taking the shield for Worcestershire Junior Player of the Year, Adam F. taking Most Improved Player of the Year and Ashley winning the A.P. Moore Player of the Year for many fabulous performances including the play-off win against Alaric!

Play Chess on the Web Site

William found this chess game on the net, and it has now been seamlessly integrated into the web site. See if you can beat it!.

Volunteers

Volunteers are needed to be Secretary of the WJCA and to assist with the day to day running. The current set of parents are absolutely great but if you know anybody that would be willing to give up their time on a more permanent basis (degree student looking for works exp.), then give them my contact details

New Discussion Forum Goes Live

We now have a discussion forum where you can discuss online matters relating to WJCA, no matter how trivial. Visit the link in the menu and register a username. You will have to wait for your account to be approved by the administrator as it's members only (parents included).

Invitational Membership

The WJCA is able to offer juniors who don't live close to the venue the opportunity to join the Academy, to have the opportunity to meet other juniors who play chess, be coached by an English Chess Federation Coach and play in junior chess tournaments through the new Invitational Membership Scheme. It costs £5 membership per year plus £2 per child per visit. There is no requirement to attend any set number of sessions throughout the chess season and we will keep you regularly updated with the WJCA seasonal newsletter.
Besides coaching and tournaments, the WJCA puts on social events for juniors such as fancy dress chess tournaments and quizzes meaning we believe this is the best Academy in the World!
E-mail Andrew Moore BA at info@wjca.org.uk and join today!

Forthcoming Events


All WJCA events are now available on Google Calendar: you need to create a free account to use it fully.

Top of page