30th Yarm Chess Championships

The 30th event in this very long running series took place at Yarm Preparatory School yesterday, as the recent storm kindly stepped aside for one day to allow everything to proceed very smoothly indeed.

The Under-11 section saw Yarm A in dominant form. They won every game - 20/20 - to secure first place.

As always, the bare scores never reveal the full story and there were at least a couple of games which could have gone the other way, but champions know how to show resilience and how to dig in deep and keep going through troubled times, instead of giving up.

Yarm B finished in second place and Holy Trinity played very well indeed to secure a very meritorious third place.

The Under-9 section brought a stern challenge for the defending champions, as Yarm A found themselves chasing the leaders, Thornaby Library, all day long.

Ultimately, Thornaby Library proved to be the best team on the day and they deservedly took the title.

Yarm A held second position, with Yarm B taking third place.

Full Scores

Under-11s

1st: Yarm A, 20

2nd: Yarm B, 13.5

3rd: Holy Trinity, 10.5

9: Billingham South

4.5: Yarm C and Yarm D

Under-9s

1st: Thornaby Library, 17

2nd: Yarm A, 15

3rd: Yarm B, 13

10: Yarm F

9: Yarm C

7.5: Yarm E

4.5: Yarm G

4: Yarm D

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the day such a great success, including Johannes Grundmann and the Yarm Preparatory School staff, Catherine Lloyd and Chris Swales.

Our special guest of honour was Jessica Lloyd, who not only helped with the running of the tournament, but also presented the prizes to the teams.

We awarded trophies, medals, certificates and a special chess keyring, courtesy of Chess in Schools and Communities.

Here is a gallery from our busy day.