ECF National Schools  Winners 2009

Wellington College

The 2009 Final of the ECF National Schools Championship sponsored by Yateley Manor took place at Uppingham School over 2 days at the beginning of July. Wellington College won a hard fought tournament for the first time in their history.

Route to the Final

Wellington qualified for the Finals by wining their division for the first time, however they were well tested in the divisional stages by schools with strong reputations in this tournament.

The first match was against Queeen Elizabeth Barnet School for boys. This was a tremendously hard fought game with Akash Jain securing the match in the last minute of play.

The next match was the Quarter finals and Wellington played the current National Champions Millfield School in a very hard fought match that could have gone either way. Again the match was decided in the last minute of the game when Felix Ynojosa on Board One won his match, resulting in 4.5 - 1.5 win overall. This meant Wellington had now qualified for the Semi Finals, and hopefully the Finals, scheduled to take place in early July at Uppingham School.

These two matches set up a tremendous finals competition; possibly the strongest in the history of the tournament. Wellington prepared for this by arranging friendly fixtures with Crowthorne Chess Club who were able to field a team stronger than any of the schools in the competition. Wellington had their confidence boosted by drawing the first and then winning the second of two matches. In the week before the competition the team were further put through their paces by GM Nick Pert who played half the team simultaneously on consecutive days. A 6-0 win to Nick Pert ensured that the team were not over confident going to Uppingham.

The team travelled up the day before the tournament in order that they could use the morning to warm up for their matches. On the morning of the competition they prepared with a mini tournament against each other.

In the Semi Finals Wellington faced Norwich School who proved to be a formidable force and punched well above their grade weight. Initially Wellington found themselves 1-0 down after 10 minutes. The pressure increased when the next game to be decided looked to be going Wellington's way but a mistake in the end game meant that Wellington found themselves 2-0 down. The rest of the team responded magnificently with solid wins from Matthew Kim on board 6 and Felix Ynojosa on Board 1. This left Wellington needing 1 point to win on board count from Alex Galliano and Akash Jain. They were both in poor positions but managed to retrieve the situation with seconds left on the clock, which meant they both secured a vital half point each. Much credit must be given to Norwich who played some excellent chess and were unlucky the match to lose on board count after drawing 3-3.

On the day of the final the Wellington team had their 'games faces on' and within a few minutes of the opening play it was clear that this would not be a repeat of the semi-finals. Nottingham who had appeared in each of the last five finals was slightly stronger on overall grade, but Wellington was confident having won a tough semi final. Wellington quickly notched up three wins to secure the match on age handicap with Adrian Archer Lock securing the winning point. The final score finished 4.5 - 1.5 to Wellington

The top two performers were Matthew Kim on board six and Felix Ynojosa on board one who both finished up with 2 out of 2. Many thanks go to both GM Nick Pert and IM Andrew Martin who coached the players in the team during the year.

Team Felix Ynojosa, Alex Galliano, Akash Jain, Lateefah Messam Sparks, Adrian Archer Lock, Matthew Kim.