Bournemouth Junior Chess Weekly Newsletter
29 November 2025
We had a fantastic session this week, with 24 juniors attending and more enquiries coming in from families interested in joining. Our next new player intake will begin on 3 January 2026, and we look forward to welcoming new players to the club.
Coaching Highlights
- Advanced Group: Tony ran a King’s Gambit Master Challenge where advanced players predicted the strongest moves. This activity continues to raise the group’s overall standard.
- Beginners: Steve focused on fundamental opening principles and basic tactics.
- Intermediates: Graham set puzzles and covered opening strategy, while Martin worked closely with Nirvan and Markas.
- Individual Coaching: Paul worked on endgame strategies with Pavina, who is progressing very well.
Second Session Activities
During the second session, training continued with a group of improvers. Paul also assessed Zayn, who attended for the first time. As he is still a beginner, we invited him to return in January for the new intake.
Ladder Board Results
First Session
| Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas | ½ | Coach | ½ |
| Nathaniel | 1 | Peter | 0 |
| Neil | 1 | Coach | 0 |
| Rafan | 1 | Harvey | 0 |
| Pavina | 1 | Coach | 1 |
| Kit | 1 | Liam | 0 |
| Nirvan | 0 | Markas | 1 |
| Liam | 1 | JH | 0 |
| Erin | 1 | Omer | 0 |
Second Session
| Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nilay | 0 | Hektor | 1 |
| Mariella | ½ | Teo | ½ |
| Manvik | ½ | Koko | ½ |
| Sepanta | ½ | Andreas | ½ |
Advanced – 1st Session (29 November)
| Name | Played | W | D | L | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| Nathanial | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| Jacob | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Nicolas | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Rafan | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Sam | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Kautum | 8 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| Neil | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
Intermediate – 1st Session (29 November)
| Name | Played | W | D | L | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pavina | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Nirvan | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Markas | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
| Harvey | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Hektor | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Kit | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Sarah | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Liam M | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Liam | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| JH | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Improvers & Beginners – 2nd Session (29 November)
| Name | Played | W | D | L | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David (Beginner) | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Sepanta (Beginner) | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Nilay | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Manvik | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Andres (Beginner) | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 14 |
| Mariella | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Teo | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Hektor | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Kit | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Koko | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
Standings Update
- Advanced: Peter and Nicolas remain tied on 13 points, with Nathaniel close behind on 12.
- Intermediate: Harvey leads the group, followed by Markas and Nirvan.
- Improvers: Nilay is still in front, but Hektor has closed the gap to only one point.
- Beginners: Andreas continues as the clear frontrunner.
December Schedule
December includes three sessions. We will finish the month with an all-play competition on 20 December, which is always a popular event with the club.
We look forward to seeing everyone again next week!
Eric Sachs
Bournemouth Junior Chess
