Midlands Junior Chess League Finals Day

The inaugural event took place on Sunday 16^th March 2008 at Malvern College. A superb venue provided by the college matched only by the standard of play. After the late withdrawal of Magdalen College School in Oxford, Cardiff stepped up to the plate and provided some stiff competition.

The first part of the tournament was a league format, all play all, with WJCA 1 and 2 finishing in 1^st with 9 points and 2^nd place with 8 points respectively and Cardiff finishing 3^rd 1 point behind WJCA 2. The Final stages was split into two parts the Moore Dolan Championship – comprising of the top two teams in the league and the Plate competition which comprised Cardiff as the form team with Malvern College, WJCA 3 and the Alliance team. After some fierce battles, Cardiff won the Malvern College Plate competition and the WJCA first team edged past a difficult match against a 2^nd team lacking nothing in bite and talent. Full details of the results are shown below.

Round 1: Alliance 0–6 WJCA 1, Cardiff 3–3 WJCA 2, WJCA 3 2-4 Malvern College

Round 2: Alliance 1-5 Cardiff, WJCA 1 6-0 WJCA 3, Malvern College 2-4 WJCA 2

Round 3: Malvern College 4-2 Alliance, WJCA 2 5½-½ WJCA 3, Cardiff 1½-4½ WJCA 1

Round 4: WJCA 2 3-3 WJCA 1, Cardiff 4-2 Malvern College, WJCA 3-3 Alliance

Round 5: WJCA 3 0-6 Cardiff, Malvern College 1-5 WJCA 1, Alliance 1½-4½ WJCA 2

Malvern College Plate Semi Final: Cardiff 6-0 WJCA 3, Malvern College 4½-1½ Alliance

Malvern College Plate Final: Cardiff 5-1 Malvern College

Moore Dolan Championship: WJCA 1 3½-2½ WJCA 2

The Midlands Junior Chess League Finals Day was a huge success and will be held again next year at Malvern College at approximately the same time of year although all is still to be confirmed. Anyone wishing to participate next year should contact Andrew Moore via e-mail at info@wjca.org.uk