EPSCA U11 Finals 2026 – Good result at the Minor, great result at the Major!

This year’s EPSCA Inter-Association Under 11 tournament organisers had great difficulty finding venues, and this continued with the Finals, which were only confirmed just over two weeks before the events on Saturday 14 March 2026. It was originally intended to have both finals in the same location, so it was very disappointing that they ended up nearly 200 miles apart: the Major at Beech Hall School in Macclesfield, and the Minor at Bohunt School in Farnborough, Hampshire.

More disappointment followed as seven teams pulled out of the Minor and one from the Major. This left Essex as the only association with a team in both finals. In the Minor Final, Sussex decided to mix their players to make two teams of equal strength (as they did in the qualifiers), meaning Essex was the only B team left.

Having two teams left the team manager with a major organisational headache. Several players were unavailable, and it is to the great credit of parents that three players from the Minor team, having agreed to go to Hampshire, then agreed to go to Macclesfield instead. Three new players were also prepared to join the Minor team at very short notice. We were able to fill teams for both events, including reserves. Most importantly, one of the parents, David Morris, kindly agreed to manage the Minor team.

So it was that an Essex team appeared in both finals.

The Minor Final

The Minor team had a challenging day, losing to both much stronger Sussex teams. These results bookended two much closer rounds: a narrow loss to Hertfordshire in round two, and a narrow win against host team Hampshire in round three. It was a tough day, but Essex players gained valuable experience and scored excellent points against much higher-graded opponents.

Top three: 1st Barnet (32), 2nd Sussex B (30), 3rd Sussex A (29).

My thanks go to team manager David Morris for stepping in at very short notice. David praised the organisation of the day by John Upham and the Hampshire team, and said the players had an enjoyable day. In turn, thank you to all players and parents for being a credit to Essex chess.

Team: Ishaan, Vian, Joshua, Mahathi, James, Shervin, Arjun, Nicholson Ronaldo, Zac, Ezara, George, Anthony and Eva.

Results: https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr1365516.aspx?lan=1&SNode=S0

Special mention: George was unbeaten.

The Major Final

A nice early start (5:30am) to make sure of the early train from Euston. We arrived at school just after 10am. Team rooms and reserve playing area were in the same building. The main playing area was the school gymnasium, which was fine apart from the long walk from the team room.

There is always a busy period for team managers sorting out logistics before play begins, especially if players are late. Fortunately, everyone turned up and, with some excitement, we made our way to the playing hall for the start.

Round 1: Essex faced Nottinghamshire. Notts started strongly, but Essex’s top-board strength told and we won 7-5.

Round 2: Against Oxfordshire, Essex delivered a stronger performance and won 8-4.

Round 3: Against Manchester, Essex again won 8-4 and moved into contention.

Round 4: Against a very strong Richmond side, Essex recovered brilliantly from behind to win by a point in a dramatic finish.

Final top three: 1st Kent (33), 2nd Essex (29.5), 3rd= Oxfordshire, Hillingdon & Ealing, Manchester (28.5).

Watch a video from the day: Facebook Reel

The Essex team finished an unbelievable second. To put that in context: Essex last finished in the top three in this competition in 2002. It was fantastic to see the team’s joy as they received their trophies at prize giving.

Thank you to all parents for their support before and throughout the day. Thanks also to Lewis for helping with tee-shirts and to John for support in the playing hall. Thanks to organiser Sarah Longson, Chief Arbiter Sacha Torregrosa, and all helpers from CNW. Thanks to Mike Forster from EPSCA for not giving up. Finally, thanks on behalf of the team to Dave Hawkins, the EJCA committee, the coaches, and everyone involved in Essex junior chess.

Team: Grace, Mary, Sarwayogan, Srishwan, Joshua, Digby, Aashini, Malhar, Jacob, Daniel, Alexander, Arjun, Dhruv and Sarah.

Results: https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr1371021.aspx?lan=1&art=0&turdet=YES&SNode=S0

Special mentions: Aashini won all her games. Mary, Sarwayogan and Malhar were unbeaten.