Birmingham & District Junior Chess League Preview

Okay, chess may or may not be a sport. All I care about is that I get recognition for playing it at school with the reward of it looking good on my UCAS form to apply to University.

So I thought I'd write this to give you a little insight into both the world of chess, and what I engage in on Friday's after school. I hope the Admins don't mind...

The Birmingham & District Junior Chess League is a League in which all the schools across Birmingham field teams of 6 to play against each other. Players are played in order of strength (gentleman's agreement).

The League has 6 divisions, from Division I to Division IV, and then an Under 13 Division and Under 12 Division (i.e. Year 7 and 8). In the top two divisions, the time limit is generally an hour each way, although this can be negotiable. It is two points for a win and one for a draw.

Sometimes, if there are too many teams for one divison, they are split into North and South and have a playoff to decide the winner. If there are too few, they merge with another division.

This can happen, as there is no promotion/relegation system, at a meeting in September, all the teachers in charge put teams into divisions according to their strength (although the pupils often have a say (at my school!)).

Here are the main schools involved:- (N.B. KE stands for "King Edward VI")

[edit] KES

• Status - Private, fee paying, boys school
• Strength at chess - Last year's winners overall, always in top two of each division other than Division II
• Divisions likely to enter - All
• Best Players - They have two brothers, Dani Malik and Kaiser Malik, and their Board 3, Matthew Dodd used to go to KE Camp Hill
• Quality of tea provided - Their chocolate cake is legendary
• Rivals - all KE schools
• Chances - They will win

[edit] KE Camp Hill

• Status - Free, boys school
• Strength at chess - Second overall last year, in top two of every division
• Divisions likely to enter - All
• Best Players - They lost their boards one and two last year, so Joe Sheldrick and Luke Emanuel will have to step up to the mark
• Quality of tea provided - Tea Trey - can't go wrong
• All KE schools
• In with a chance - They lost last year because it was ede, and they missed half of their team for what turned out to be the crucial game against KES (N.B. The Malik's turned up for the game, which surprised them, thinking they would have ede too. They were frustrated to find out that they had a different ede...)

[edit] KE Five Ways

• Status - Free, mixed school
• Strength at chess - Third overall last year, (2nd in Division II to KE Camp Hill's Second Team and ahead of QM Walsall in merged division although they entered Division I)
• Divisions likely to enter - II, IV, U13
• Best Players - Chris Smith will go to Board 1, and Joe Curry will drop down. I will captain from Board 3.
• Quality of tea provided - Tea Trey - can't go wrong
• All KE Schools, Shenley Court
• Chances - We could be third, but would rather enter and win Division II

[edit] QM Walsall

• Status - Free, boys school
• Strength at chess - Used to be brilliant in a previous generation, and are getting back to their best. Disappointing in Division I last year as they lost to Division II teams.
• Divisions likely to enter - II, III, IV, U13
• Best Players - I don't know... They're good though! All I know is their Board 3 occasionally blunders.
• Quality of tea provided - Vast quantities of food - but it's all ham sandwiches
• Rivals - none
• Chances - If Walsall and Five Ways entered Division I they would be playing for third

[edit] Handsworth GS

• Status - Free, private, boys school
• Strength at chess - Used to be great, but now...
• Divisions likely to enter - III, IV, U13, U12
• Best Players - I don't know any more, they used to be good
• Quality of tea provided - Good if limited
• Rivals - all KE schools (defectors of KE Foundation)
• Chances - Last in Division II last year, they could do well in Division III

[edit] Solihull GS

• Status - Free, private, boys school
• Strength at chess - Handsworth mark 2.
• Divisions likely to enter - III, IV, U13, U12
• Best Players - Again, I don't know, they aren't that good any more
• Quality of tea provided - You eat before the game (uniquely)
• Rivals - all KE schools (defectors of KE Foundation)
• Chances - Them v Handsworth for Divison III

[edit] Wolverhampton GS

• Status - Free, boys school
• Strength at chess - Good in lower divisions
• Divisions likely to enter - III, IV, U13
• Best Players - Don't really know
• Quality of tea provided - Tea Tray - can't go wrong
• Rivals - None
• Chances - Mid-table in what they enter

[edit] Shenley Court

• Status - Free, mixed school
• Strength at chess - Used to be good, but not so good now. We beat them for the first time in 38 years last year...
• Divisions likely to enter - IV, U13
• Best Players - Adam Parkison could play much higher than Division IV.
• Quality of tea provided - Trey of sandwiches - can't go wrong
• Rivals - KE Five Ways (more strongly from Five Ways' side)
• Chances - Good for Division IV, decent in U13.

I may post results of mine or other games in the Game Recap section when the League starts in October/November sort of time.

If you are interested their is a results webpage available on theLeague Results Webpage, although it doesn't have tables mid-season.