Another exciting week at the Bournemouth Junior Chess Club! We were thrilled to welcome 26 enthusiastic juniors to the club, eager to sharpen their skills and delve deeper into the wonderful world of chess.

Advanced Session Highlights  

In the first session, Tony presented the juniors with an array of chess puzzles designed to challenge and inspire. One puzzle, in particular, stood out—it was based on the end game Tony recently played against a very high-rated chess player. The juniors needed to figure out the winning move, a task that truly tested the juniors’ strategic thinking. While they didn’t manage to solve all the puzzles this time, it was a fantastic learning experience, and we’re confident their determination will shine through in the coming weeks.

Martin went through a Boris Spassky v Mark Taimanov game with the juniors, where blacks rash and loose play led to disaster – https://xco.ysa.mybluehost.me/website_cb3a4304/games/

Intermediate & Beginner Session Highlights

In the first session using the demo board, I demonstrated a chess game played at the Isle of Wight Chess Congress in which the opponent was checkmated on black within 20 moves. Although it was a quick game, it was packed with teachable moments. Key points included:

• The power of pins and how they can control the board.

• Sacrificing a minor piece to gain a tactical advantage over the opponent’s King.

• Building up a strong attack by ensuring there are sufficient pieces to support the strategy.

• Why the so-called “a knight on the rim is dim”—can also be used effectively to open a direct file to the king.

These concepts were great as talking points among the intermediates, enhancing their understanding of tactical and positional play.

In the second session with Nicolas, Holly, and Oakley, we explored a variety of checkmating patterns—the ultimate goal of every chess game. Recognizing and applying these patterns is critical for success, and this session aimed to broaden their strategic horizons. Oakley himself remarked on how these challenges were truly testing his limits, a testament to the rigor and value of the exercises.

Steve, our lead coach with the beginners namely Kit, Levana and Mariella went through the concept of passed pawns for promotion and the square rule visualisation technique when assessing whether the king can stop a passed pawn.

Paul, who made some very insightful and welcome comments on the demo game that I went through, then focussed on the very important pawn structures with the juniors that he worked with. 

Chess Ladder Matches Highlights 

Peter has increased his lead at the top of the chess ladder for the first session Advanced players with another win this week whilst Pavina has maintained her lead amongst the Intermediates. 

There were a couple of early losses of queens in the games which seemed to be a bit careless and contrary to the chess principle of not to bring your queen out too early in the game. 

Neil was one of those who did lose his queen early on, however, a few moves later he managed to win his game by getting a back rank check mate. 

This does show how important it is to quickly identify a check mating opportunity and for the other player to spot the dangers and take the necessary steps to avoid the checkmate. 

The second session did see the more advanced juniors play the intermediate and beginners as part of the chess ladder pairings this weekend. I hope the juniors saw this as a learning opportunity and the more able chess players were asked to share what they know with their opponents after the game to get another perspective on chess. 

Alfie played a coach and therefore received half a point which puts him in joint lead with Zayaan, Arthur and Andrew with three points. 

Eric in Thailand

Bournemouth Junior Chess expands to Thailand with Eric enjoying a game with Ruben on holiday!

Looking Ahead

We are incredibly proud of all our juniors for their hard work and dedication. Each session builds their confidence and skills, and we can’t wait to see them continue to grow as chess players.

A number of juniors who attend our club will also be playing at the Dorset Junior Chess Club Championship 2025 next Sunday on the 9th March 2025. All the coaches wish the children great success and most importantly to enjoy the experience ! 

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of the club. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to get in touch.

Bournemouth Junior Chess Club