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BLACKPOOL & FYLDE CHESS LEAGUES

REPORT 1 October 2018

Blackpool & Fylde League player Niamh Bridgeman recently had an excellent World Cadets Chess Championship in Santiago De Compostela. The England team consisted of 14 of the best boys and girls from around the country and 4 coaches. Niamh finished very strongly over the second half of the competition to come equal 50th out of a field of 107 of the best Under 12 Girl players in the world, with 5.5 / 11. Her best result came in the final round, where as a big underdog she held European Union Under-12 Champion and Woman's FIDE Master, Lucia Sevcikova of Slovakia to a draw. She played 11 games in total, including playing the world number 8 and two European Champions. Other players Niamh encountered were from Russia, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Spain, Moldova, Greece, South Africa and Jamaica. In total across all events there were 827 players competing from 86 different countries.

Leyland Chess Club's initiation into the Blackpool & Fylde League resulted in a fine 2 - 2 draw at Lytham against the Lytham 4th team. Club representative David Clayton and his four man team of Sean Fitzgibbon, Ken Lawson, Martin Craveny and young Bharath Cheralathan enjoyed their first outing. Victories for Sean and Ken for Leyland were countered by Lytham wins for Colin Wilks and John Cox.