European Schools Championship Krakow

[robin moore]

Best wishes to Jonathan McKay in the European Schools starting on Saturday 30th June.

http://escc2018.eu/en/home/

[AndrewGreen]

Best wishes to Jonathan McKay in the European Schools starting on Saturday 30th June.

http://escc2018.eu/en/home/

Goodluck Jonathan!!

[andybburnett]

Thanks for the good wishes for Jonathan I'll be there as his coach in what promises to be a tough event (under 15) and will try to keep you updated on his progress and perhaps report back on the event in the next issue of the CS magazine. Quite a few English players going too, with former Scottish congress regular Tim Wall as coach I believe, according to his FB.

Anyone else involved with our juniors over the summer are more than welcome to write up reports and games for the magazine too Good luck to everyone playing the Scottish and the Glorney/Stokes/Robinson/Gilbert as well!

Andy Burnett

[robin moore]

Andy,

Are you still based in the Czech Republic? See a couple of very strong junior events are out in that neck of the woods in 2019. The European Youth Team Championships at Pardubice 10th-18th July and the big one, the European Youth to be held in Slovakia. No venue or dates finalised on the latter event but Poprad in September is a possible.

[robin moore]

http://www.chessarbiter.com/turnieje/201...b=1_&rd=1_

Jonathan seeded 14 of 24 in his section. Round 1 he is black on board 2 against a 2029 graded Polish boy. Sadly, it doesn't appear as if there are any live boards.

[ruairidhmckay]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for your support. Sorry just seen this. The top 4 boards are live from each section and on Chess 24. Jonathan was eventually in a lot more time trouble at the end than the chess 24 clock suggests which explain the last few moves which don't quite match the standard of the previous 30. But a good experience and he goes again tomorrow.

[robin moore]

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourna...018/1/1/10

Ruairidh,

A good effort against a very strong opponent. Plenty of points to be won in the days ahead.

[andybburnett]

Two good wins in rounds 4 and 5 have brought Jonathan back to 50%, and he will face one of the higher-rated English juniors, Oliver Howell,  this afternoon in round 6.

The rest day yesterday seemed to be enjoyed by everyone, Jonathan and Ruaridh visiting the Schindler Factory museum in the morning while I wandered off and got lost somewhere. The hotel is good, and although the food isn't exactly haute cuisine, it's plentiful and the staff are happy to help with any dietary requirements (veggie and gluten-free meals on request, for example).

The organisers seem to know what they are doing (with parents and coaches kept kept out of the playing hall as they should be!) and Krakow is a beautiful city - though a bit too hot for my liking!

We visited a really nice fan zone for the England-Colombia match the other night. A fair few England fans in the city, although most of the Polish seemed to be rooting for Colombia. Sitting between three English fans, we were all suitably well-behaved

So, 4 days/4rounds to go - an early start tomorrow to allow for a children's blitz tournament in the afternoon - and so far very positive for anyone thinking of playing this event next year.

Andy Burnett