IN THE NEWS: 
 
London u-10 champion Advait Keerthi Kumar (in both pics below, along with BBC presenter Farzana Choudry and Watford coach Roger Lancaster) interviewed at BBC 3 Counties Radio on 26 February.   On 15 April,  Advait went on to beat international grandmaster Keith Arkell while scoring 6/11 in the British rapidplay - see also April issue of 'Chess Moves' 
 
 
 
BBC 3CR pic1.jpg
 
 
 
BBC 3CR pic 2.jpg
 
Watford Juniors receive intermittent coverage in the local media.  As well as BBC 3CR, they were also mentioned in two pieces about the West London Chess Academy in ECF magazine 'Chess Moves' and at https://www.hillingdontimes.co.uk/news/19998200.check-mates-young-players-come-together-uxbridge-chess-academy/
 

 

WATFORD v UXBRIDGE, JUNE 2021.   WATFORD  JUNIORS WHOLLY OR PARTLY VISIBLE ARE [L TO R] DENIS, AARAV, SEB, LEO, DHAIRYA, ISHAAN, JOEL

 
AWARD:  Watford Juniors were 2021 recipients of a British Chess Educational Trust award, having been nominated by the Southern Counties Chess Union.  Each such award, derived through the generosity of the late Sir George Thomas, comprises an engraved board, a wooden set and a DGT3000 digital chess clock.
 

CLUB POLO SHIRTS:  Club polo shirts can be purchased at https://myclothing.com/ in varying sizes costing £6.50 to £7 [juniors] or £8 (adults) with £3.75 delivery charge.   T-shirts available at similar cost but disregard other items 

 

8-year-old Akshata Balakrishnan, below with LJCC trophy, is another young star

 

                                                                                                                                       

ONLINE CHESS:
 
4 NATIONS LEAGUE - Season 6, which has just ended, was a difficult experience as most of our stronger juniors seemed to have had their fill of online chess and elected not to take part.   As a result, the 'A' team in Division 3 scored +0 =2 -5 (and 8.5 game-points from a maximum possible of 28) with the 'B' team in Division 5 faring even worse.   Interest in online chess having diminished somewhat, we've entered just one team (Division 3) in season 7 where we've won one and lost five of the first six matches..
 
JUNIOR 4 NATIONS LEAGUE - Season 6 has ended here too with the 'A' team, although again without most of our stronger players, managed +3 =2 -2 (28 game points out of a possible 56) in Division 2 but the 'B' team, which unluckiIy also played in Division 2, suffered seven straight losses.   As with the main 4NCL, we've reduced our entry to a single team (Division 2) in season 7 where we've started with two matches won and four lost.
 
 
Open photo
 
WORLD CHESS LEAGUE LIVE :  The 2022-23 international event attracted 108 teams, mainly adults including top grandmasters, chasing a $5000 prize fund.  Joint winners were the two teams from Chess Club Politika from Belgrade, Serbia. Watford Juniors finished in 77th place.
 
For 2023-24, the teams have been divided into 12 groups.   Watford Juniors' group contains Warwick University, two teams from China and one each from Fiji, Mexico, Phillipines and South Africa.   Play starts October,
 
The juniors also have occasional friendly matches, the most recent (below) being against the UK Parliament Chess Club (including Members of Parliament as well as supporting staff such as researchers) on 21 May.