This is the official website for the Junior Chess League in South Australia and it is used to inform you about all our junior chess activities. You will find here all the details about the interschool primary and secondary matches, as well as how to take part in tournaments and - very exciting - make use of chess on the Internet.

The SAJCL been promoting Junior Chess in SA for over 50 years thanks to the dedication and passion of Evelyn and Gary Koshnitsky and many other tireless volunteers and we are very grateful to all the support given to us by many schools and teachers. And as a non-profit local organisation, we endeavour to make chess affordable and accessible to everyone.

Last updated Thursday 15th September 2011

Hello - welcome to chess in 2011

There are lots of exciting ideas in the pipeline for junior chess this year - we are determined to build on the success of the juniors who went to the Australian Junior Championships in January. Congratulations especially to Alistair Cameron from Mercedes who won the Under 16 Championship - a huge feat.

The Interschool Matches have Finished- click here to see the final places.

Secondary

Divison 1 was won by St Peter's College; 2nd PAC; 3rd St Ignatius'

Div 2 was won by PAC Gold; 2nd Glenunga Blue; =3rd St Peter's Blue; PAC Red; St Ignatius' Blue

Div 3 was won by Blackfriars. 2nd Scotch College; 3rd Glenunga Orange.

The Secondary Champion School was won by PAC.

Primary

The Primary A Grade was won by Magill PS; 2nd PAC Red; 3rd St Peter's Blue.

The B Finals was won by Magill PS; 2nd Nairne PS; 3rd East Adelaide PS.

The C Finals was won by St Mark's School; 2nd was Scotch College; 3rd Blackfriars; =4th Campbelltown Library; Walkerville Red; Norwood PS.

Chess Events over the holidays

The SAJCL will be running be running the State Under 11 - State Under 9 Junior Championships on the last Thursday and Friday of the holidays (13th & 14th October) at the Chess Centre. There will be one-day events just for those able to attend only one day. The cost per student is $30 and pizzas can be ordered each day.. These are great fun, cater for students of ALL ages and abilities and will provide a gentle introduction to tournament chess. Please click here for the entry form and details of a holiday coaching class on Thursday 6th and Friday 7th October.

Rookies Club

A reminder also that the Rookies Club runs tournaments on the first and last Sunday of each month at the Chess Centre. The cost is $10, it is suitable for players of all strengths from beginners to experts, and you simply register and play on the day. See below for more details.

Rules

There was considerable debate over the rules for this year's competition at the AGM and the following was passed - see rules

the dates for the four 'week 8 half-day tournaments' we will be running this year - a great and inexpensive excursion for your students and good introduction to the excitement of real chess.

The Rookies Club is resuming - and will be held at the Chess centre on the Last and first Sunday mornings of each month - mainly tournaments but a bit of coaching thrown in for good measure - an ideal opportunity for any keen youngsters to really improve.

Please check our here for further info. More details shortly, but registrations for the school teams won't start until mid-March.

THE ROOKIES CLUB IS BACK - Sundays AM

We are delighted to announce the return of the Rookies Club, an Adelaide institution for over 15 years. It will be held on the first & last Sundays of the month, where practical, from 10 am - noon. Roughly 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. It will be run as a joint effort with the SAJCL and Knights & Bytes.

Venue: The Chess Centre, 10 Ranelagh St Adelaide 5000
Cost: $10 per morning.

Format: There will be a general tournament each week with prizes, along with friendly games and short lessons for novices and youngsters not keen on competitions yet.

Suitable: for ALL juniors aged 5 and above - beginners to advanced

Juniors do not need to turn up for all these events - they can simply turn up on one or more of the following days:

27th February - 6th March - 27th March - 3rd April
1st May - 29th May - 5th June - 26th June - 3rd July
24th July - 7th August - 28th August - 4th September
25th September - 30th October - 6th November
27th November - 4th December 2011

2011 Australian Junior Championships

The next Australian Junior Championships will be held in Victoria in January and the format has changed markedly with three different events - the U16/U18: 9 days, U12/U14: 5 days and the U8/U10: just 3 days - much more feasible for most families. Lots of fun and great prize money - $5000 - ideal for keen youngsters. Please check the flyer here and if you have any questions regarding suitability, please give me a ring on 0401 67 2481

2010 COMPLETED EVENTS

This year's State Under 11 Championship ended in a tie for first between Charlie Wilkinson and Peter Gregoric, with Xavier Lyons and Lincoln Harris finishing equal third.

The State Under 10 was won by Daniel Petashvili; second was Kee-An Seet and equal third were Cormac O'Brien and Irakly Tsagareli.

The State Under 9 was won by Arseny Galliamov and equal second were Danny Guo and Damian Harris.

The October Junior Tournament was held at the same time and was won by Lachlan Cameron, with Stuart Nicholls coming second and Aashray Gupta third. The U15 Section was won by Alexios Spiliotis, the U13 by Umar Khasanov and the U12 by Alena Chizova.

The Evelyn Koshnitsky Shield took place on Friday September 17th and was won by Mitcham PS - see here for details

See the Final Results of the Interschool Matches for 2010 (If, when you look at the Draw, it seems out of date, try refreshing the page)

Primary B and C Finals

These took place on Friday 10th September at the Chess Centre, were wildly exciting and resulted in Magill PS running out winners in the B Final by the narrowest of margins ahead of Ascot Park PS and Clapham PS.

The C Finals were equally exciting and was won by Nairne PS ahead of Pimpala PS and St Mark's Lutheran School. Well done to all he teams involved -it's fabulous seeing so many youngsters so keen.

See the Results and scoretables of the 2010 Primary B and C Finals andthe 2010 Secondary Lightning

A big congratulations to St Peter's College on winning the Secondary Division 1 Competition this year, just ahead of PAC. Mercedes College won the Division 2 Competition just ahead of Glenunga IHS. The Secondary Division 3 Competition was won by Glenunga IHS, jush ahead of Blackfriars. The Secondary Presentation night takes place on Friday 10th September 2010 at 7.30pm - and will be followed by a teams lightning competition.

We are currently confirming venues but we are delighted to announce that the following are fine in 2010:

• The Chess Centre for Secondary Matches and Primary B and C on Friday afternoons,
• St Pius X for Thursday evenings
• PAC for Primary A and Primary B on Friday nights
• Ascot Park PS for Primary B and C on Friday nights
• West Lakes Shore PS for Primary C on Thursday afternoons
• Burnside PS for Primary C on Friday afternoons
• St Andrew's for Primary C on Thursday afternoons
• Wilderness School and Linden Park PS for Primary C on Friday afternoons
• Parkside PS for Primary C on Tuesday afternoons
• St Ignatius Junior for Primary B on Fridays at 4pm

Special Combined Primary/Secondary competition at Darlington on Fridays at 4pm in Term 2

We are trying something new at Darlington PS this year - we are making a special competition for primary and secondary students that allows any number of students to take part from a school but the winning primary school will be the one who has the highest total score from its top 5 players and the the winning Secondary will be the top 4 scores. The winning Primary and Secondary team will go into the SAJCL Finals. The matches will be played only in term 2 but on consecutive weeks - please check the calendar for the Darlington dates. It's going to be a great comp - and for more details, please ring me or send an email to the organiser, Tim Seeley - this should be a great competition for schools in the Southern Districts!

NEW

To download a flyer about the City of Adelaide Junior Championships and some holiday chess classes, please click here

Now that the AGM is over, please submit your team entries by simply emailing me with your team names and details and they will be added to the team lists at the venues. It's easy and quick.

The cost per team of 5 players is $55 for Primary or $75 for secondary for the whole season. There is also a $20 school affiliation fee for all schools, except new schools this year and host schools.

2009 - the year that was!!

Chess Finals & Secondary Presentation and Lightning

The Primary B and C Finals were played on Friday 11th September at the Chess Centre and saw a huge, exciting battle between 6 teams in the B Finals and 16 teams in the C Finals.

Congratulations to Magill PS on winning the B finals and to St Pius X and Good Shepherd School on tying for first in the C Finals. Great fun!

The Secondary Lightning Competition was held immediately after the Presentation of Prizes and ended in a tie for first between Alistair Cameron (Mercedes) and Malcolm Borg (St Ignatius'). Saint Ignatius' narrowly won the School Competition ahead of St Peter's and Glenunga IHS. It was particularly pleasing to see a team of teachers involved - Peter Serwan (St Ignatius'), Anne Martin (Immanuel College) and Emil Russein (Glenunga IHS).

SUPER 8 Chess Tournament

Week 8 - Tuesday 8th September 2009 - Westminster School - open to students of any age and ability - starts 9.30 - finished by 12.30 - costs just $8 - lots of prizes and excitement - to register some players, please send a list to Alan Goldsmith

Chess Finals

The B and C Finals will be held at 4pm on Friday 11th September at possibly the Chess Centre, 10 Ranelagh St, Adelaide - SEE DRAWS FOR FIRST ROUND - B - C

The Evelyn Koshnitsky Shield will take place on Friday 18th September at 4pm at the Chess Centre.

Check the draws for the Interschool Matches

The Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 12th March 2009 at the Chess Centre, 10 Ranelagh St Adelaide. The calendar was discussed, along with the election of the League's officers and consideration given to reducing the number of players per team to just 4.

It was decided to just try reducing the numbers of players per team to 4 in the Secondary Division 3 competition only - all other teams will remain 5 players.

Current Venues for 2009

We appear to have almost the same venues for last year - many thanks to those schools! - but instead of Rostrevor we now have Linden Park PS.

Many thanks also to Wilderness School who will be holding a 12 team C Grade Competition on Friday afternoons at 4pm and to Scotch College for a Thursday competition at 4pm.

Final registrations taking place Now please

Check the current registrations

If you are a secondary school, please start registering teams now - simply email Alan with the names of your teams and which Division they will play in. Similarly, if you are a Primary School and know where you want your teams to play and there is a vacancy, please let me know the name of the team and venue and your team will be added to the list.

Many thanks

Alan

Think about playing overseas!

There are many events that you might be eligible to apply for, so please check here for more details - but do it soon as there are certain deadlines that need to be met.

Find below details from the 2008 Season - a lot happened! And while much of the same will occur in 2009, but not the Australian Schools Teams Championship or the Lidums Australian Junior - that will be a few years away again - there are lots of exciting developments being planned.

Items from 2008

The 2008 Australian Schools Teams Championship results are now up on the site.

The Next Super 8 Half-day Tournament will be at Westminster Junior School on Tuesday December 2nd; the Wednesday Tournament will be at the Chess Centre - costs just $8 per student - lots of fun - eligible to anyone - more info

Interschool Matches

Congratulations to the following schools on their success in the 2008 Interschool Matches:

Secondary:

Div 1: 1st PAC; 2nd Saint Ignatius'; 3rd St Peter's

Div 2: 1st: Glenunga IHS; 2nd St Ignatius; 3rd Wilderness College

Div 3: 1st Glenunga IHS; 2nd Blackfriars; =3rd Rostrevor and St Ignatius' College

Primary:

A Grade: 1st - Magill PS 2nd Mitcham PS

B Grade:

Ascot Park Venue: Eq 1st Clapham & Ascot Park; 3rd Westminster

Chess Centre: 1st St Peter's; 2nd Walkerville; 3rd St John Bosco

Magill PS Venue: 1st Rostrevor; 2nd St Raphael; 3rd Magill PS

C Grade:

Ascot Park Venue: 1st Scotch College; 2nd Tabor; 3rd Mitcham

Burnside Venue: 1st Burnside Gold; 2nd Burnside Black; 3rd Linden Park Green

Chess Centre: 1st St Peter's; 2nd: St John's Lutheran; =3rd Tenison & St John Bosco

Hills: 1st Hills Christian; 2nd: St Michael's Lutheran

Parkside: 1st: Sunrise White; 2nd: Sunrise Green; 3rd: Parkside PS

Rostrevor Venue: 1st Pembroke; 2nd Magill PS; 3rd Rostrevor

Southern League : 1st: Pimpala PS

St Andrew's: 1st: St Andrew's Purple; 2nd Rosary Gold; 3rd Rosary Blue;

St Peter's 1 Comp: 1st St Andrew's Silver ; 2nd Magill Silver 3rd: St Peter's Gold;

St Peter's 2: St Andrew's Aqua; 2nd St Peter's Blue; 3rd St Peter's White

St Pius X: 1st The Heights; 2nd Good Shepherd Gold; 3rd St Pius

West Lakes Shore: 1st St Michael's; 2nd KidmanPark; 3rd West Lakes Shore PS

The B Finals ended in a tie for first between St Raphael's and Clapham PS; Ascot Park PS was third.

The C Finals was won by The Heights School, with Sunrise White and Sunrise Green comming second and third.

The Evelyn Koshnitsky Shield was won by Magill PS after a playoff with St Peter's JS.

The 2009 Lidums Australian Junior Championships

The SAJCL is delighted to announce that SA has been selected to host the next Australian Junior Championships in January 2009. We are very grateful to Saint Ignatius' College for providing a beautiful air-conditioned hall as a venue and to Mr Aivars Lidums for his very generous sponsorship.

We hope that many schools and youngsters will become actively involved.

The Lidums Australian Junior website is now available and more details will be added shortly!

The 2008 Australian Schools Teams Championships

The SAJCL is delighted to host the 2008 Australian Schools Championships on Saturday 6th December and Sunday 7th December 2008. It will be played at Rostrevor College and the College is offering two excellent accommodation and meals deals - but book soon. Special thanks to Mr Robert Hoile for his generous sponsorship. More details.

The 2008 Under 18, 16, 15, 14, 13 and 12 Championships

These were held during the school holidays and the new state junior Champions are:

Under 18: Fabian Ivancic

Under 16: Tom Milton

Under 15: Sophie Eustace; 2nd Fulei Liu

Under 14: =1st Alistair Cameron & Natasha Bortsova

Under 13: =1st Timothy Selvanderan & Sean Liew; =3rd Aashray Gupta & Ned Nelson

Under 18 results in full

Under 12: 1st Punala Kiripitige; 2nd James Bowditch; 3rd Lachlan Cameron

Under 12 results in full

Other events

As well as the normal State and City of Adelaide Junior Championships scheduled through the year, there are many events held by the SA Chess Association that are very suitable for youngsters, such as the Interclub Matches which start on Tuesday 29th April and the fabulous Freytag Checkmate Weekend Tournament on July 5th and 6th.

More details will be posted here shortly.

Affiliations

We are also delighted to be affiliated with the Southern Chess League, based at Woodcroft College in Morphett Vale. The SCL has been running a fabulous competition for students down South for many years and sending the winning team to us to play in our Finals competitions. If you are from a school down South, please check their website for their programme - it's a lot of fun and may be a more convenient competition for your students.

A Northern League is also being setup this year based around Playford HS - more details shortly.

Many thanks

Alan Goldsmith

20/3/08

Congratulations to the winners of the 2007 Secondary Interschool Competitions:

2007 Secondary A Grade
1st St Peter’s Blue

Second – PAC Red

Third – St Ignatius Gold

2007 Secondary B Grade
1st St Peter’s Gold

Eq Second - CBC and Scotch College

2007 Secondary C Grade
1st St Ignatius Red

Second – Glenunga IHS

Eq Third – St Ignatius Blue and Mercedes Gold

2007 Secondary D Grade
1st – Wilderness Gold

Eq Second – Concordia College and CBC Blue

2007 Division 3
1st – Glenunga IHS; Second – St Ignatius; Third – Sacred Heart

2007 Champion Secondary School
Winner – St Peter’s College
Runner-up – St Ignatius College

Congratulations to the winners of the 2007 Primary Interschool Competitions:

2007 Primary A Grade
Winner – Mitcham PS
Second – Kidman Park PS
Third – Magill PS

2007 Primary B Group 1
Winner – St Peter’s
Second – Burnside PS
Third – Walford Gold

2007 Primary B Group 2
Winner – St Peter’s Green
Second – Linden Park Checkmates
Third – St Peter’s Gold

2007 Primary B Group 3
Winner – Magill Red
Second – Clapham PS
Third – Westminster Prep

2007 Primary C Group 1
Winner - St John Bosco
Second – Tenison Knights
Third – St John’s Lutheran

2007 Primary C Group 2
Winner - Scotch College
Second – Mitcham PS
Third – St John’s Grammar

2007 Primary C Group 3
Winner – Paradise PS
Second – Good Shepherd Gold
Third – St Martin’s Red

2007 Primary C Group 4
Eq First – Hills Christian School
Eq First – St Michael’s Lutheran

2007 Primary C Group 5
Winner - Pembroke
Second - Rostrevor Silver
Eq Third - Rostrevor Red
Eq Third – Magill Yellow
Eq Third – Magill Blue

2007 Primary C Group 6
Winner - St Raphael’s 1
Second – Pulteney Red
Third - St Raphael’s 2

2007 Primary C Group 7
Winner - St Andrew’s Purple
Second – Rosary Gold
Third – St Andrew’s Orange

2007 Primary C Group 8
Winner - St Peter’s White
Second – PAC Red
Eq Third - St Peter’s Red
Eq Third – Burnside Red
Eq Third - St Peter’s Black

2007 Primary C Group 9
Winner - Sacred Heart
Second – Westminster
Third – Kidman Park PS

2007 Evelyn Koshnitsky Shield
Champion Primary School
Winner – St Andrew’s School
Runner-up – Magill PS
Eq Third – PAC
Eq Third – Linden Park

2007 Primary B Finals
Winner – Magill PS
Second – Burnside PS
Third Clapham PS

2007 Primary C Finals
Winner – St Peter’s
Second – Pembroke
Third – St Raphael’s

Congratulations to the winner of the following State junior titles

2007 State U18 Championship
Winner - Anthony Milton
Equal Second - Jakob Sterk
Equal Second - Matthew Borg

2007 State U16 Championship
Winner - Malcolm Borg
Second - James Griggs

2007 State U15 Championship
Winner - Calvin Fong
Second - Stephen Daenke

2007 State U14 Championship
Winner - Alistair Cameron
Second - Sophie Eustace

2007 State U13 Championship
Winner - Katrina Knapp
Eq Second - Tom Milton
Eq Second - Elee Mayo

2007 State U12 Championship
Winner - Lachlan Cameron
Second - James Bowditch
Third - Natasha Bortsova

2007 State U11 Championship
Winner - Lachlan Cameron
Second - Robert Tan
Third - James Bowditch

2007 State U10 Championship
Winner - Adrian Sarstedt

2007 State U9 Championship
Winner - Dinula Kaludewa
Eq Second - Erin Eustace & Stefan Ivancic

2007 State U18 Girls Championship
Winner - Sophie Eustace

2007 State U16 Girls Championship
Winner - Natasha Bortsova

MEDIA RELEASE for 2006

Congratulations to the winners of the 2006 Secondary Interschool Competitions:

A Grade:

1st: St Peter's Blue, 2nd: St Ignatius Red, Eq 3rd: St Peter's White and PAC White

B Grade:

1st: CBC Purple; Eq 2nd: Woodville and St John's Grammar

C Grade:

Eq 1st: PAC Gold and St Ignatius Green, 3rd PAC White

D Grade:

Eq 1st: St Ignatius Blue and CBC Purple, Eq 3rd: Mercedes College and St Peter's Blue

Division 3:

Equal 1st: Rostrevor Red and CBC Purple; 3rd : Glenunga IHS

Congratulations to the 2006 State Junior Champions:

1st U18: James Griggs

1st U16: Fedja Zulfic

1st U15: Malcolm Borg

1st U14: Sophie Eustace

1st U13: Calvin Fong

1st U12: Alistair Cameron

For more details: Under 18 - U13, Under 12

Congratulations to our new Under 18 Girls Champion Zhi Lin Oh

Second was Natasha Budnikova (pictured) and third Katrina Knapp

We hope you have lots of fun and register for our e-newsletter - that way you will be sure to know when the next event will take place.

Alan Goldsmith

SAJCL President