Congratulations to Om Jayar as our Junior Champion for 2025. With a great score of 6/6, Om is deservedly the Junior Champion for 2025, with the championship trophy and 1st prize of £50. Runner-up was close rival, Max Fyson. In the Challengers section, the winner decided in the final round, with Sara Kundan Khan winning and taking the prize of £50.
The Under-12 Champion for 2025 is Oliver Quick with a score of 5.5/6 and 1st prize of £50, runner-up was Charlie-James McIver and 3rd place was Leon Kesiak. Natalie Haydock won the female prize for the Open/Challengers section, Veda Vinakota won the female prize in the U12 section. Last but not least, Daniel Siggers won the prize for the most combative performance. Congratulations to all our winners.
| Prize | Winner |
|---|---|
| Junior Champion | Om Jayar |
| Runner Up | Max Fyson |
| Challengers Winner | Sara Kundan Khan |
| U12 Champion | Oliver Quick |
| U12 Runner Up | Charlie-James McIver |
| U12 3rd Place | Leon Kesiak |
| Best Female | Natalie Haydock |
| Best Female U12 | Veda Vinakota |
| Best Combative Player | Daniel Siggers |
Sunday 23rd March saw the first Lancashire Junior Championships since 2019, with Covid impacting the 2020 series and the events that followed. The hiatus was longer than planned, to get things up and running again for Lancashire Juniors.
The main section combined the Open and Challengers into one pairing group, while we held a separate competition for eligible U12 players. The event took place the at Parish Hall of Our Lady & St Edward Catholic Church in Preston, and special thanks to the church and to Frank for their support for Lancashire Chess.
A good turnout for our first championship event. Players travelled from across the county. We had players from Lancaster, Blackpool, Blackburn, as well as Preston. With this year’s success, we hope to build on this for next year and increase participation and increase the prize sections.
The championship was run slightly differently from our normal events. All games were ECF rated, and all players needed to be ECF Gold Members. All brilliantly run by our arbiter on the day, Hambel Willow. The Main Section comprised 19 players, competing for the Championship and Challengers trophies. The U12 Championship comprised 27 players, all competing for the crown of U12 Champion.
The event was a long day for some of the younger players, with some as young as seven competing in the U12s. Six rounds of 15+10, play started at 10am, and the last round finished just after 4:45pm. For most players, their first taste of real competitive chess.
A big thank you to parents who stayed behind for prize-giving, and those that stayed on a little longer to help us pack up everything and do a general tidy up. Special Thanks to Gordon, Mark and Dolores for setting up, running administration and lock up.
Junior Championship
Challengers
Under 12 Championship
Full Results
The full results are available on Chess Results. Most of the children were unrated, so we used a local LCA grade from previous congresses or applied a flat rate for rating floor. Primarily to help with pairings and tie-breaks.
Final Ranking Crosstable – Championship Section
Final Ranking Crosstable – U12 Championship
Gallery
Some other photos from the day, if you are a parent who would be interested in a copy of the originals, please use the contact form and let us know. We resized and compressed these files for web display.
