Matthew Clarke wins Under 18 Title

Maxim Micevski wins Under 12 Title

Matthew Clarke of Newcastle has regained his NSW Country Junior Championship title, which he had previously won in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Second was the 2019 winner Vincent Qiang of of Wollongong. Both players are aged 17, which means that there will be a new winner next year.

The Under 12 Championship was won by Maxim Micevski aged 9 of Newcastle ahead of Marcus Wells aged 9 of Woongarrah. Maxim finished strongly after trailing Marcus in the first half of the double round robin.

For full results click on "Results" in the menu at left.

The dates of our school holiday events have been confirmed and the details are now available - see "Coming Events" in the menu at left.

Please note the following:

●  Our tournaments this summer include the NSW Junior and NSW Girls Championships which were deferred from last winter and spring. Age eligibility will be based on age on the first day of the tournaments as originally scheduled. (i.e. in winter or spring).

●  Due to COVID-19 restrictions there will be limits on the number of players. For the Summer One- and Two-Day Tournaments priority will be given to early entrants. For the Championships priority will be given to the higher rated players.

●  The entry deadline has been changed from two to three days before each tournament (except the NSW Junior Under 18 Title Division for which the deadline is unchanged at five days).

The ASTC was this year held online due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Each state's teams played in a single venue under strict supervision to avoid the possibility of cheating (which unfortunately can be a problem with online chess). James Ruse Agricultural High School hosted the NSW teams and this proved to be an excellent venue. The event was organised at short notice and there was insufficient time for the usual qualifying playoffs to select the NSW teams. Instead the four teams were selected primarily on ratings.

The results are summarised below:

Secondary Open: 1st Scotch College (Vic) 21.5/24
   NSW team: Sydney Boys High School 12.5/24, place 4th/7
Secondary Girls: 1st PLC Melbourne (Vic) 18/20
   NSW team: James Ruse Agricultural High School 8/20, place 4th/6
Primary Open: 1st Anglican Church Grammar School (Qld) 15/20
   NSW team: Murray Farm Public School 8/20, place 5th/6
Primary Girls: 1st Glendal Primary School (Vic) 20/20
   NSW team: Neutral Bay Public School 9/20, place 4th/6

For further details click HERE.

St Columba Anglican School Port Macquarie from the North Coast Region has won this year's Country Secondary Schools Competition for the first time, defeating Mudgee High School from the Western Region in the grand final. The competition started in first term but was disrupted by COVID-19, which forced several schools to withdraw. However, most schools were able to continue by playing online, which for many years has been an option in this competition. Even the finals, which are normally played in Sydney as a round robin between the six region winners, was played online.

For full details click on "Schools" in the left-hand column and then look under the heading "Country Secondary Schools Competition".

(17 Sept 2020):

COVID-19 Update
Spring School Holiday Activities Cancelled
NSWJCL Annual General Meeting to be held by Zoom

●  Our spring school holiday events have been cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

●  The NSWJCL Annual General Meeting, which was postponed from the autumn school holidays, will now be held by Zoom on Sunday 11 October  starting at 2:30pm. Details will be provided to current members.

●  The 2020 NSW Junior Championships, which were postponed from winter, will probably be held in the summer school holidays if the COVID-19 restrictions have been sufficiently relaxed by then.

●  The 2020 NSW Girls Championships, which were postponed from spring, will probably be held in the summer school holidays if the COVID-19 restrictions have been sufficiently relaxed by then.

(19 July 2020):

Inter-School Competitions

The Primary Schools and Metropolitan Secondary Schools Competitions are due to start on Friday 31 July and most of the draws are now available – click on "Schools" in the menu at left.

Appropriate precautions must be taken during inter-school matches to prevent the spread of Coronavirus – see the guidelines which may be found via links on the "Draw & Result" pages of these competitions.

(18 June 2020):

COVID-19 Update
Winter School Holiday Activities Cancelled or Postponed
Inter-school Competitions to Resume in Term 3

●  Our winter school holiday events have been cancelled, except for the NSW Junior Championships, which have been postponed to the spring school holidays.

●  The Primary Schools Competition and the Metropolitan Secondary Schools Competition (which normally start in Tern 2) are to commence in Term 3. Schools which have already entered and those which have played in recent years will be contacted with further details.

●  The Country Secondary Schools Competition, which started in Term 1, is continuing (with a revised schedule) as matches in this competition may be played online.

●  Because the main Primary Schools Competition will occupy Term 3 and its finals will extend well into Term 4 there will almost certainly not be time for the Primary Schools One-Day series this year.

(21 May 2020):

Online Chess

There has been a huge increase in the popularity of online chess over the past couple of months due to the coronavirus-imposed restrictions on playing face-to-face. There are many chess servers available on the internet – some free, some not – and while waiting for our competitions to resume we encourage you to make use of them to play against friends or against anyone around the world. Some also provide instructional material, such as puzzles to solve to improve your play.

See "Play Online"  in the menu at left for our (newly updated) recommendations for which chess servers to use.

(26 April 2020):

COVID-19 Pandemic

●  Our autumn school holiday events in Sydney, Newcastle and Orange have been cancelled.

●  The Newcastle and Wollongong tournaments planned for May have been cancelled.

●  Our Annual General Meeting has been postponed (details to be advised).

●  The start of the Primary Schools Competition has been deferred (details to be advised).

●  The start of the Metropolitan Secondary Schools Competition has been deferred (details to be advised).

●  The Country Secondary Schools Competition, which started in Term 1, is continuing (with a revised schedule) as matches in this competition may be played online.

(7 Feb 2020):

New Term-time Tournaments at Chatswood

The NSWJCL is pleased to announce a new series of tournaments to be held in the early evenings during term time. The first tournament will take place on seven Saturday evenings from February 22 to April 4 starting at 6pm. The venue is 5D College at 12 Thomas Street, Chatswood, a two-minute walk from Chatswood Interchange, and thus easily accessible by train, the new metro line and bus.

The tournament will be held in two sections, the first for players rated 400 or more and the second for players rated below 400 and unrated players. The tournament is being run by the NSWJCL in collaboration with 5D College, which has generously provided the venue.

For details click on "Coming Events" in the menu at left.

(23 Jan 2020):

Summer Tournaments 2020

Shaheel Faizal wins Sydney Summer Three-Day Tournament
Sayum Rupasinghe wins Sydney Summer One-Day Tournament
Justin Wayne-Lowe and Toby Huey tie in Sydney Summer Two-Day Tournament
Sarayu Prakashbabu, Eamonn FitzGerald and Edward Spiteri-Stevens tie in Orange Summer One-Day Tournament
Vincent Qiang wins Wollongong Summer One-Day Tournament

Eleven-year-old Shaheel Faizal has won the Sydney Summer Three-Day Tournament, finishing half a point ahead of 16-year-old Ryan Lee. The tournament attracted 76 players, a record for this time of the year.

The Sydney Summer One-Day Tournament has also been won by an 11-year-old – Sayum Rupasinghe. Sayum conceded only two draws in ten rounds to finish half a point ahead of Ryan Lee.

Justin Wayne-Lowe (aged 16) and Toby Huey (aged 12) have tied for first place in the Sydney Summer Two-Day Tournament. Eight-year-old Vayum Goel achieved an impressive result by finishing clear third.

The Orange Summer One-Day Tournament produced a three-player tie for first place between Sarayu Prakashbabu (aged only 10), Eamonn FitzGerald and a visitor from Melbourne, Edward Spiteri-Stevens.

Vincent Qiang has won the Wollongong Summer One-Day Tournament, his fourteenth Wollongong win.

For detailed results click on "Results" in the left-hand menu.