Bury Junior Congress in detail

Amongst the 92 entrants to Sunday’s tournament, there were 23 girls – exactly 25%.   And they did very well, with several finishing in the prize money.

Amy John (Bury Knights) won the Under 9 section, despite losing her final game.   She was awarded the Under 9 trophy, as well as the Bury Area Chess League Trophy (pictured right).

Other prize-winning girls included Lettie Ganyushin (London) – joint winner of the Under 9s, Hettie Symes (slow starter Under 18s), and Tania Roy (slow starter Under 9s).   The ‘Top Girl’ prize was shared by five girls, each of whom scored four points: Tia Martin (Bury Knights), Oren Pilowsky-Bankirer, Mabel Symes, Julia Volovich and Claudia Bazyk (all Cambridge).

The Team prize for the best school entry was won by King’s College, Ely.   Their three players (William and Dylan Stoeber, Robert Reed) scored a total of 14 points, beating St Edmunds RC Primary, Bury St Edmunds (Adam John, Tia Martin, Kirsten Taylor – 12 points).   There were 11 teams entered.

The Under 18 section was won by top seed Karthik Saravanan (photo left) from Great Yarmouth, with Suffolk players Tom Roy, Jaden Jermy and Alan John all sharing third place on four points.

The only Suffolk player to win a prize in the Under 11 section was Adam John, who scored 4½ points to finish in fourth place.

The ‘My First Tournament’ section attracted only 10 entrants, but the winner, Ben Palmer from Ipswich, was the only player in the whole tournament to win all six games.

The youngest entrant was six-year old Mae Catabay, from Colchester (pictured right).   Not only did she play well, scoring 2½ points, but she recorded all her games in her own scorebook!

Overall, the entry from Suffolk was rather disappointing.   Players from Cambridgeshire outnumbered Suffolk entrants (by 48 to 34).

The total Prize Fund amounted to £680.   The tournament organisers, Bury Knights Junior Chess Club, greatly appreciated the support of the Moreton Hall Community Association, who for the third year running provided their excellent facilities free of charge.