Yorkshire Junior Chess

[Andrew Wainwright]

I am extremely pleased with the start to the season that Junior Chess in Yorkshire is witnessing. Highlights include:

- 20 teams registered for the u18s league this season (up from 14 teams last season)
- New/Growing junior clubs in Meltham, Saltaire, Bingley, Hebden Bridge to name but a few
- Leeds Juniors named ECF Club of the year
- Good numbers of u18s players migrating into Standard play chess in the YCA league
- A healthy junior RP scene with great events in the last few weeks in Bradford, Sheffield and Ilkley
- YJCA GP Event 1 already sold out with several weeks to go
- A West Yorkshire Secondary Schools Tournament organised for Nov 2023, the first time in approx 15yrs+ that we have seen an active secondary schools competition in West Yorkshire
- A growing number of schools and organisations engaging with CSC
- A growing number of rated u18s players across the county
- An excellent group of junior organisers across the county

I am sure that there are lots of other great things happening that are not on my radar.

I would love to hear more from North, East and South Yorkshire in particular on their activities and plans.

The White Rose is mighty, and these juniors are our next generation of players!

[MartinCarpenter]

This is just totally brilliant! All the decades long familiar faces in the Woodhouse are very welcome but didn't inspire any long term confidence at all.

You can see it in microcosm with York. We had a very good junior section round the time I came through, that basically yielded the core of our very solid B team and a bit of the C team, giving us 4 good teams. That junior system stopped a decade or two back and our various teams have been slowly decaying since as people drift away over time.

We were heading down to fielding two teams in a decade or two. Instead? Well, we're up to 5 teams with a team full of juniors in the IMB and I presume York E in the Silver Rook too.

We could already have the odd York D player in York B, but for the moment we're letting them spread collective terror They must be definite favourites to beat York C this season. They should be a on trajectory to threaten promotion, but uni might intervene first.

The trick of course will be keeping them in the league post Uni, but at least it gives a fighting chance of a healthy future.

[Mark Howitt]

I have mentioned it would be good for juniors with fairly 'rich' parents to sponsor them to play etc and this can only help chess activity! Who knows some of these juniors may even pay for coaching at some point...

The peak age for a chessplayer is prob in his twenties if he keeps it up...

[Stephen Westmoreland]

I have mentioned it would be good for juniors with fairly 'rich' parents to sponsor them to play etc and this can only help chess activity! Who knows some of these juniors may even pay for coaching at some point...

The peak age for a chessplayer is prob in his twenties if he keeps it up...

This is not about money Mark but a celebration of juniors and the immense hard work behind the scenes in Yorkshire. Please could you remove this post or the mods.
@jack
@carl