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Tweets

We now have a Twitter account for events news and discussion and coach travel updates.

News and discussion: http://twitter.com/devonjunchess

We used to echo Tweets here, but like everything else on Twitter these days, it doesn't work properly any more

Which chess player has taken part in the most World Championship events?

I think a natural question is, who has taken part in the most World Championship matches, but sometimes the World Championship event is a tournament...

So here is a table based on a Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Chess_Championships:

(Player names are given with their national affiliation)

DJCA AGM 2025

DEVON JUNIOR CHESS ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

15th July 2025 Bovey Tracey (1 year after 2024 meeting)

Attendees: D. Regis, T. Onions, V. Cross, J.C. Bacon, N. Butland

Apologies: A. Ashenhurst, S. Keay

Minutes (not confirmed)

Note that most of the discussions revolved around the schedule for the coming year – and due to Steve Keay’s absence, finances weren’t discussed.

1. Chair’s report

Last year's events:

Meanwhile, way down South...

Results from the 6th Simon Bartlett Memorial Congress, Torquay 2025:

Minor: Our top U14 and U18 players showed well: Shreyas Pasupulety 4/5 (1st); Ben Darlington & Daniel Smith 3½/5 (tied for 2nd-4th with another player). Jack Amos from our U11 squad also played -- hope you enjoyed it!

Inter: Suhayl Abdalla 3½/5 (tie for 2nd-3rd); Mac Holland 3/5; Varnika Neralla 2/5

Major: Jack Wills 3/5

...while Ananya Nerella with awesome poise jumped into the deep end of the Open!

Devon juniors' success at LJCC centenary

The London Junior Chess Championships were founded 100 years ago, and in their centenary event Devon juniors had some notable success.

Congratulations to Swetha Narayanan who scored a very creditable 5/7 in the huge U8 section, winning a prize.

And very well done to Pengxiao Zhu, who as an U13 player won the U16 trophy on tie-break with 5/6 and no losses, beating a 2100-rated player in the last round.

Devon Juniors in the mix

Some excellent performances from Devon Juniors in the 56th Torbay Congress (Hope I haven't missed anyone!):

Open section: Caleb Caleshu 3½/5 and shared 3rd place, half a point behind the winner

Major: Jack Wills 2½/5

Intermediate: Mac Holland 4/5 shared 2nd place on tie-break; Suhayl Abdalla 3½/5; Jamie Glasson 2½/5; Shreyas Pasupalety 2/5

Foundation: Ronit Randhawa 4/5 3rd place on tie-break; Joe Forty 3½/5 5th; Rhys Hammond 1½/5

Ex-juniors Nathan Mills and Ben Sturt also featured in the lists

Draft local chess calendar (adult)

Juniors welcome at all events

DCCA TOURNAMENT CALENDAR FOR 2024-25 (DRAFT)

Trophies

We thought we'd do the trophies differently this year. We'll offer prizes for 1st/2nd/3rd as before (and maybe 4th) but we won't share places, and instead use tie-breaks. This will mean the prize-giving should follow much more quickly after the last game is played (because Mr Onions won't have to sort how many trophies get which labels), but it does mean we will be awarding fewer prizes.

(We'll still be doing girls' prizes if we have more than one girl enter a section and where they meet a minimum score.)

Devon Juniors play for SW England against Wales

Pengxiao Zhu and Viacheslav Ovcharenko both played for the SW England U14 Team against Wales on Sunday 26th May.

The SWE Team won the U14 by a wide margin but the U11 event was very close.

Well done to all taking part and many thanks to the organisers for making everything happen.

5th Simon Bartlett Memorial Congress 2024

Congratulations to Suhayl Abdalla who won the Minor section with 5/5!

Devon Juniors Daniel Smith, Vincent Dong and Pengxiao Zhu also took part, scoring at least half-marks in their respective sections.

Pages

Chess Tips

MIDDLEGAME TIPS:

Don't seek or avoid exchanges without good reason. Exchanges are just moves, they make changes, and you must assess these changes. [It seems to me that many players exchange almost by reflex. I have a theory that when learning chess we may become anxious about leaving exchanges 'on', in case we leave the piece or pawn undefended later, and do not like the tension of unresolved exchange possibilities. A mark of maturity in a player is the capacity to manage tension in the position.]

Devon Junior Chess Association (DJCA)

Supporting junior chess in the county

Devon Junior Chess