The TeraFinal 2018

” The Terafinal 2018, was played last weekend (Sept 15th and 16th) at the Holiday Inn West Peterborough”

As we already know we had three players who qualified

Kandara Acharya in the under 10 section

Chirag Hosdurga in the under 14 section

Oliver Stubbs in the under 18 section

It was a long 3.5 hour journey to Peterborough on the Friday evening, but once there we found a very attractive hotel, with lots of facilities and plenty of space to relax. The playing arena was also excellent, and over the weekend there were 6 games to be played (time control, one hour each with 10sec increments).

What was new this year was the number of games on live boards through Chess24.

All Oli’s and Chirag’s games were on live boards and several of Kandara’s.

The other big attraction (apart from the huge prize fund-see photo) was the fantastic commentary room with GM’s David Howell and Matthew Turner running the show. This was entertaining as well as  being very instructional. The G.M’s did a great job !

The key point of  The Terafinal is that it is a severe test of both skill and determination (as well as opportunity) for most of the best under 18  chess players in the UK.  This included F.M’s Toby Kalavanan and  Jonah Willow, as well as over 20 other players ECf graded between 180- 217

“How did our three get on” ?

Oliver Stubbs 2.5/6    

Oli found the under 18’s a real challenge.  He played 4 players over 180, and learnt a heck of a lot over the weekend by going through his games with his opponents, as well as tips and advice from grandmasters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chirag Hosdurga 3.5/6

Chirag had a fine weekend, with an excellent score of over 50% with 3.5/6. His only losses to players over 180. Again, Chirag has learnt a lot from this experience and showed tremendous resourcefulness in every game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kandara Acharya 3/6

Kandara had a solid weekend with an excellent score of 3/6.

As with the other two, this was a fantastic experience and opportunity for Kandara. In particular, she played one memorable game against the eventual under 10 winner Yichen Han (6/6). Yichen is graded at 196, but Kandara gave him a real test. The G.M’s had a close look at this game and were very impressed with her play.

To sum up it was memorable weekend, with plenty of time for our players and parents to socialise.  What is also for sure, is that Oli, Chirag and Kandara will be better players for their experience. We look forward to seeing this much in evidence in their league play this year 🙂

Finally, we must say a big well done/congratulations to all our juniors who competed in the UK Chess Challenge. It was a great success

with everyone at least qualifying for the Gigafinal. Then, Max, Jack, Toby and Jonathan qualified for the Challengers, and Oli, Chirag and Kandara for the Terafinal.

Can we improve on this for next year ? I am sure they will !

Update:

Jack Tye played in the Southern Challengers under 18 section (Sept 9th), Jack had an excellent score of 4/6

Jonathan Zeng played in the Northern Challengers under 11 section (Sept 22nd). Jonathan also had an excellent score of 3.5/5

John Stubbs (Bristol & District League Junior Officer)

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