We found ourselves in quite different surroundings today, as our usual room was not available for us. As a result, we settled in among the steady stream of daily library visitors, who appeared to be genuinely intrigued by everything we were doing and showed a keen interest in our activities.

A remarkable group of 17 enthusiastic juniors joined us as we kicked off the latest Ladder competition. Both Jon and myself personally provided one-to-one tuition to some of these eager participants, offering tailored guidance and support. Meanwhile, others engaged in intense battles over the boards, showcasing their skills and determination for the competition.

Many thanks to Jon for his expert assistance with Gagan and Kieran to name just two.

Ferndown Junior Chess Team ??

Jon and I are currently in discussions with several other junior clubs with the intention of exploring potential opportunities and collaborations that could benefit all parties involved. Maybe even a Local Junior Chess League. We have some really good players who could benefit from some external competition.

The specific details still need to be thoroughly discussed, and at this stage, we would like to gather information on who might be interested in participating. Further information will be provided and confirmed soon.

Iris and Jonah who collected their belated certificates and pens.

Tutorial – Being a Chess Board Pirate

Fried Liver Attack

The Fried Liver Attack holds the award for the coolest opening name in chess. This variation of the Two-Knights Defence involves a bold knight sacrifice which forces the black king to walk the plank!

Traxler Counter Gambit

The Traxler Counter Attack is a very aggressive way to fight the Knight Attack or Fried Liver in the Two Knights Italian. Black just ignores white's attack on the weakness on f7 and continues development! White has to accept the sacrifice, resulting in the Black Queen sending the White Queen to Davy Jones' Locker……. Arghhhh Jim Lad!!

New Ladder Competition

A large number of games were played today, including both ladder matches and friendly encounters. I have made every effort to be as fair and accurate as possible with the results that I observed and recorded.

Good wins today for Keiran, Wyatt, Michal, Iris, Gagan, Zayd, Tishi, Eden and Lewis.

Since we have multiple winners who each scored 3 points, the names are listed here in alphabetical order.

Top 16 positions are as follows:-

Dorset Junior Chess Competition - Sunday 1st March

See you all next week - back upstairs!