Primary Schools Invitation Tournament report

On 29 January, Engaines Primary School of Little Clacton organised their third bi-annual Invitation Tournament   It was held at Whitton Community Primary School in Ipswich for teams of six of primary school age.   This year two teams from Engaines, two from Whitton and one from Hamford Primary Acadamy, Walton-on-the-Naze took part.   It was played during school time, with games played over four rounds of twenty minutes on each player’s clock.

Engaines A (pictured above) won convincingly with 23½ points from 24 games; Engaines B were runners-up on 16½ points, with Whitton A 11, Hamford 5 and Whitton B 4.   The Engaines ‘A’ team consisted of (l. to r.) Nathan Butcher, Casey Chambers, Ryan Spendlove, Amber Coleman, Luke Simpson and Tobias Lunnen.

Engaines are coached by Clacton’s John Lambert, having been runners-up with their ‘A’ team in the National Yes2Chess Tournament in July 2014.   They were far too strong for Whitton, who are coached by Steve Gregory, although in fairness Steve has only been involved for a few months.

It is envisaged that the event will be staged at Hamford Primary in June or July when at least three other schools have expressed an interest in taking part.   Engaines would be pleased to hear from other schools (contact John Lambert).

Yes2Chess is closing entries for the coming year at the end of February, so there is still time for schools to enter teams of five which must include at least one girl.