Taking on the Giants

Hats off to the juniors that represented both Castell Nedd Chess Club and the West Wales Chess League in the Welsh Juniors. This is one of the strongest junior tournaments so to see the ever-growing number of our juniors taking part was impressive to say the least. Of the three youngest, Ethan Tirukoti and Misha Nagari played in competitive chess for the first time, manging to pick up some points in the U8 despite the standard. Arush Ram came out with a decent 3 out of 5. Getting such a good score and still finishing 5th shows just how hard the tournament is.

Another Castell Nedd newcomer, Virat Nagari, played in the U10 and achieved 7th out of 12 in his first major tournament, but a hats off should be given to Morriston’s Thomas MacDonald-Wright, an up-and-coming star who took 2nd place.

As players age we know just how much more difficult the games can be in the U12, so Advik Ram, Jakob Josh-Wright and William O’Connor-Gunston of Castell Nedd had a major battle on their hands. Even Advik, now on 1390 grade after playing his first season of league chess, was out-graded soundly by the top player, Tobby Blankley, of 1566! Advik’s highlight of the tournament had to be drawing with this highly rated player! Jakob showed the strongest results in the U12, achieving 3.5 out of and manging to beat his close friend, Advik, in the final round. This gave him 7th place despite the standard.

It should also be remembered that the Castell Nedd players have been playing club chess for barely a year, Advik and Arush since January 2024 and Ethan Tirukoti, the least experience, since August! Such results, determination and enjoyment of the competitive game show just how popular chess has become, and we hope to see them make their way further into the game over the following years.