06 Dec Luca qualifies to compete in the London Junior Chess Championship from 28-30 December!
Luca Hyman-Jackson, Year 6, has qualified to compete in the London Junior Chess Championship from 28-30 December!
The London Junior Chess Championships originated in 1924 as the London Boys Championship and is one of the most prestigious youth chess tournaments in the country, run by the English Chess Federation. Luca has qualified to compete in the Under 12 category, where he will represent Campsbourne School and the Barnet Knights Chess Club (which is also run by Rob Willmoth, who administers the Campsbourne Chess Club).
The qualifying pre-tournaments were incredibly tough: each qualifier is 8 hours long with six consecutive chess games. Luca competed in four of these tournaments this autumn and winter, all of his own volition, and he qualified twice over, continuing to sign up for the qualifying tournaments just to gain experience and have fun with his opponents.
Luca’s chess coach said that in order to prep for nationals, he should do one thing — READ BOOKS. Apparently a long attention span is the hardest part of chess, so we are instructed to have Luca read for 30 minutes, then 40 minutes, then an hour or more, to ensure that he can hold a thought for over an hour.
Please help cheer Luca on at the LJCC!