Harrogate's chess team tournament for primary schools was closely contested with Manhattan Junior Chess Club winning by one point from Pannal School and their 2nd team took third place by a similar margin ahead of Rossett Acre.

Below is a report of HDPSCA's team chess tournament which I hope you can find room for in the next edition of Harrogate Advertiser group of papers. You might like to pick from the 31 photos from the event which are in the section headed Harrogate Primary Schools Team Championships 2024 on https://www.facebook.com/JuniorChessHarrogate/ Approval was obtained by parents/guardians for these to be used in publications.

Harrogate & District Primary Schools Chess Association's team chess tournament was held on 7th December at The Manhattan Club who sponsored the event. Sponsorship was also provided by AM&Co Chartered Accountants and a grant was received from The John Robinson Youth Chess Foundation. A total of 37 children represented 9 teams of 4 players with one reserve allowed. The tournament was played on a Jamboree basis so that in each round teams would play 4 children from 4 different teams. Played over 5 rounds, 3 points were given for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss. The games were played under strict "touch move" rules. The very enthusiastic children all competed in fairness and in a sporting manner.

The winning team was awarded the Lloyd Duckworth Shield and members of the 1st four teams each received a prize. The final scores out of a possible maximum of 60 were:

The carol service is a public event that the school hosts for the local community; who are invited to join them in the festivities

placeholder image — The carol service is a public event that the school hosts for the local community; who are invited to join them in the festivities

1st Place - Manhattan Junior Chess Club A- 51 Blake Lewis Harry Whoriskey Oliver Taylor Samantha Lusted

2nd Place - Pannal Rooks - 50 Joseph Hirst Freddie Leek Rocco Leek Percy Mackie

3rd Place - Manhattan Junior Chess Club B - 42 Lucas Bonev Alex Weatherhead Joaquin Rodrigo Jacob Ross

4th Place - Rossett Acre Move Matters - 41 Archer Kirby Max Wright Jake Davies Luke Davies

Other scores were:Adam's Brackens (Brackenfield) - 40 Pannal Kings - 39 Richard Taylor Primary School - 35 Rossett Acre Team Mates - 31 Connor's Brackens - 31

The competition was particularly fierce on board 1 where Archer Kirby of Rossett Move Matters, Adam Manzoor of Adam's Brackens and Jenson Gilroy of Pannal Kings all won 4 and lost 1. There were many other notable individual performances in particular by Harry Whoriskey of Manhattan A and Percy Mackie of Pannal Rooks who won all five of their games on boards 2 and 4 respectively, Samantha Lusted who had four wins and a draw on board 4 for Manhattan A and Jack Masterson who was the reserve player for Connor's Brackens but was loaned to fill the board 4 place for Rossett Team Mates and scored 11 points.