All posts by John Upham

John is an English Chess Federation accredited coach and has taught in schools and privately since 2009. John started chess relatively late(!) at the age of twelve following the huge interest in the Spassky-Fischer World Championship match in 1972. John Upham is the founder of British Chess News, staff photographer and the IT Manager. John performed similar roles for British Chess Magazine from 2011 until 2015. John is an English Chess Federation accredited coach and has taught in schools and privately since 2009. John started chess relatively late(!) at the age of twelve following the huge interest in the Spassky-Fischer World Championship match in 1972. John is Membership Secretary of Camberley Chess Club and an ordinary member of Crowthorne and Guildford Chess Clubs. John plays for Hampshire and for 4NCL Crowthorne. John is Secretary of the Hampshire Junior Chess Association and the Berkshire Chess Association and manages the Chess for Schools partnership. He has played in the British Championships and represented Yateley School, Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Guildford Chess Club, CentYMCA, Crowthorne Chess Club and Camberley Chess Clubs. He is an active photographer for with his own gallery. John has both junior and adult learners as private students. John has recently re-launched the Hampshire Junior Chess Association. John has recently started playing for the Crowthorne team in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).

EPSCA Under-9 Zone at Cantell School, Southampton

Saturday, March 11th saw six counties Under-9 teams come together at Cantell School, Southampton. Hampshire Junior Chess Association Treasurer, Maha Chandar assembled a team of twelve players and four reserves.

After three jamboree rounds versus Wey Valley (aka Surrey), Oxfordshire, Sussex (East plus West), Maidenhead All Stars, Richmond Juniors Hampshire emerged in sixth place with their brand new Under-9 team.

Our players were:

Board 1, Douglas Quayle

Douglas Quayle
Douglas Quayle

Board 2, Varun Ganesh

Varun Ganesh
Varun Ganesh

Board 3, Timothy Hu

Timothy Hu
Timothy Hu

Board 4, Advik Bomireddy

Advik Bomireddy
Advik Bomireddy

Board 5,

Julian Champetier
Julian Champetier

Board 6, Bevin Jayathilake

Bevin Jayathilake
Bevin Jayathilake

Board 7, Thomas Comben

Thomas Comben
Thomas Comben

Board 8,

Jason Johnson
Jason Johnson

Board 9, Samuel Cupela

Samuel Cupela
Samuel Cupela

Board 10,

Jed Barclay
Jed Barclay

Board 11, Sophia Sangba

Sophia Sangba
Sophia Sangba

Board 12, Eiliyah Hossen

Eiliyah Hossen
Eiliyah Hossen

Well done everyone!

Results: Hampshire EJCOA National Junior Championships Qualifier 2023

Forty eight children started play in the 2023 EJCOA Qualifier at the Badger Farm on Sunday February, 12th.

The Under 8s were merged into the U10 section due to insufficient entries.

After six rounds the results were:

Under 10 (and Under 8)

Under 12

Under 20

All results are submitted for rating by the ECF. You may see this by visiting

https://www.ecfrating.org.uk/v2/new/list_games_swiss.php?event_code=HE10&section_no=1
https://www.ecfrating.org.uk/v2/new/list_games_swiss.php?event_code=HE12&section_no=1
https://www.ecfrating.org.uk/v2/new/list_games_swiss.php?event_code=HE20&section_no=1

You will notice they are submitted as Standard Play whereas they should be Rapid Play. We are having this corrected.

The prize winners in each section after six rounds were:

Under 8

In third place was Kota Kudmany (Winchester)

Runner-up was Advik Bommireddy (Kempshott)

Advik Bommireddy
Advik Bommireddy

Winner was Samuel Cupela (Rake)

Samuel Cupela
Samuel Cupela

Under 10

In third place was  Reuben Thurstans (Basingstoke)

Reuben Thurstans
Reuben Thurstans

Runner-up was Daniel Gunton (Winchester)

Daniel Gunton
Daniel Gunton

Winner was Carolus Tang (North Bristol)

Carolus Tang
Carolus Tang

Under 12

Third place was Stanislav Belyaev (Hampshire)

Stanislav Belyaev
Stanislav Belyaev

Runner-up was Oleksii Pustyntsev (Hampshire)

Oleksii Pustyntsev
Oleksii Pustyntsev

Winner was Henri Blin (Sussex)

Under 20

Best placed girl was Sophia Blin (Sussex)

In third place was  Ashton Grimmett (Crowthorne)

Ashton Grimmett
Ashton Grimmett

Runner-up was Matthew Deacon (Fareham)

Matthew Deacon
Matthew Deacon

Winner was Finn Schell (Southborne)

Finn Schell
Finn Schell

Congratulations to all those who took part and had a great day of chess!

Prior…

We invited all junior chess players who are under 20 years of age to compete in the Hampshire qualifier for the National Youth Championships organised by the English Junior Coaches and Organisers Association (EJCOA).

This will be on Sunday, February 12th 2023 at the Badger Farm Community Centre, Winchester.

The cost of entry is £30 and the event has five rounds of rapidplay chess that are ECF rated.

The entry form is here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hampshire-ejcoa-national-junior-championships-qualifier-2023-tickets-514065542877

Please enter ASAP as places are limited!

Saturday Afternoon Event : Hampshire vs Dorset vs Devon vs Berkshire

Our fourth Saturday Afternoon Event (SAE) will be a rated friendly match with our friends from Devon, Dorset and Berkshire Junior Chess Association.

It will start at 2pm and run until 4pm (but you can leave earlier if you have to) on 10th July 2021

Please make sure you are a member of the Hampshire team (https://lichess.org/team/hampshire-junior-chess-association) and then

Please register at https://lichess.org/tournament/phJhMX5R if you would like to play.

See you there !

Lichess.org
Lichess.org

The Twenty Third Lichess Team Battle

Lichess.org
Lichess.org

The Twenty Third Team Battle on the Lichess Arena will take place on Monday, November 1st starting at 6pm.

Please register at https://lichess.org/tournament/Dp0psIqd

Please register for this ASAP !

The match starts at 6pm monthly on a Monday night and completes by 7.30pm

Please register (for free) on lichess.org and then email me (John Upham) at john.upham@zen.co.uk and will get you into the team !

Fifteenth Lichess Team Arena Battle

Lichess.org
Lichess.org

The Fifteenth Team Battle on the Lichess Arena will take place on Monday, March 1st starting at 6pm.

Please register at https://lichess.org/tournament/SlPafJlt

Please register for this ASAP !

The match starts at 6pm monthly on a Monday night and completes by 7.30pm

Please register (for free) on lichess.org and then email me (John Upham) at john.upham@zen.co.uk and will get you into the team !

Eleventh Lichess Arena Team Battle

Lichess.org
Lichess.org

The Eleventh Team Battle on the Lichess Arena will take place on Monday, November 2nd starting at 6pm.

Please register at https://lichess.org/tournament/EmZjzsiN

Please register for this ASAP !

The match starts at 6pm monthly on a Monday night and completes by 7.30pm

Please register (for free) on lichess.org and then email me (John Upham) at john.upham@zen.co.uk and will get you into the team !

Tenth Lichess Arena Team Battle

The Tenth Team Battle on the Lichess Arena will take place on Monday, October 5th starting at 6pm.

Please register at https://lichess.org/tournament/82ibA5fN

Please register for this ASAP !

The match starts at 6pm every other Monday night and completes by 7.30pm

Please register (for free) on lichess.org and then email me (John Upham) at john.upham@zen.co.uk and will get you into the team !

Seventh Lichess Arena Team Battle

Lichess.org
Lichess.org

The Seventh Team Battle on the Lichess Arena will take place on Monday, August 3rd starting at 6pm.

Please register at https://lichess.org/tournament/kw8qlRbT

We retained our place in Division One for the first time and the team’s results have improved each time.

Please register for this ASAP !

The match starts at 6pm every other Monday night and completes by 7.30pm

Please register (for free) on lichess.org and then email me (John Upham) at john.upham@zen.co.uk and will get you into the team !