2008 Tasmanian Junior Chess Championships : Under 12 Division

The contest in the U12 section saw Vincent Horton, 12 years from Ulverstone start as firm favourite, attempting three titles in a row. Other players were hoping he would err and there was keen competition from a field of experienced and new players seeking the other titles over the 11 rounds of play.

Round 2 saw Ashton Fitzallen develop well against Vincent Horton but when the combinations started to pile up he was unable to find a safe answer and lost material before going down in a solid battel. Ashton played well against other competitors and went on to take out the U12 runner’s up trophy in his first year of chess.

In round 3 Vincent overcame his previous nemesis, Miles Deka to be equal first with Harrison Briant. Mitchell Reid refocussed to win a tough game against Deon McKenzie to start him on a roll for 3 consecutive wins. Players on boards 3-11 scored wins and losses equally revealing the close competition and the freakishness of U12 play.

Harrison Briant put together his best tournament to beat Ashton Fitzallen in a crucial round 5 match, a rook down against a passed pawn, to go on and record a final score of 8.5 from 11 games and outright second. Meanwhile Alina Krasnicki, Zoe Deka, Erica Davis and Laura Wood were quietly racking up the points and working toward the Girls’ titles.

Zoe upset her brother Miles to grab hold of the U10 Girls’ title and Alina went on to record 8 wins in a stella performance to take out the U12 Girls’ title. Sebastian Krasnicki finished off the tournament tin style with 2 draws and a win to take out the U10 Runner up prize.

Jem Thain and Callum O’Rourke put on a fascinating duel with forays into enemy territory, an array of pins and a delightful discovered attack by Jem to win the queen from Callum. This prize wining game was replayed on the large screen for the entertainment of the crowd.

In the Under 8’s Bradley Vincent and Shuqi Yu were neck and neck round after round and tied for the last 4 rounds. A contingency plan of torture was devised to determine the U8 title. This involved two rounds of blitz followed by sudden death. While this was being carried out a committee decision was hatched to award joint titles ­ a great decision. Nathan Williamson in his first few months also put up a good fight in the U8’s and learnt plenty from the weekend and showed good form by the end of the tournament to keep the wind away from his king. Madeline Krasnicki showed great persistence to win the U8 Girls’ trophy.

Vincent Horton demonstrated his experience at 12 years of age with excellent board vision and combinational play to score a picket fence from 11 games and the U12 crown!

Latrobe High school provided an excellent venue. Next years’ championship will be in the Hobart and will provide a good warm-up to the 2010 Australian Junior Championships to be held in Hobart.

Players and familles are urged to keep an eye on the web site from time to time.

Final results