UK Chess Challenge - Grand Terafinal 2021 - Report

The 'live idea' didn't quite work...
https://lichess.org/@/CHlivelylemon/blog/uk-chess-challenge-2021-grand-terrafinal-blenheim-palace-overview/5UyaP3uv - Overview !

I was at this event.

I might also do some game annotations...
I might be adding some more photos as well.

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The UKCC Banner at the event.

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The games, and report are below..
including some Photography..

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LIVE GAMES

U8 https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/ukcc-terafinal-2021-u08-2/1/1/1
U10 https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/ukcc-terafinal-2021-u10-2#live
U12 https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/ukcc-terafinal-2021-u12-2#live
U14 https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/ukcc-terafinal-2021-u14-2#live
U18 https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/ukcc-terafinal-2021-u18-2#live

CHESS SERVER ( Results ) :

U8 https://chess-results.com/tnr580600.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30
U10 https://chess-results.com/tnr580601.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30
U12 https://chess-results.com/tnr580602.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30
U14 https://chess-results.com/tnr580603.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30
U18 https://chess-results.com/tnr580604.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30

Website ( official ) - https://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com/

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WINNERS :

Advait Keerthi Kumar ( U8 ), Elis Dicen ( U10 ) - also first female winner in a mixed gender section, Fredrick Gordon ( U12 ) - first Scottish winner, FM Rajat Makar ( U14 ), CM Aaravmundhan Balaji

BEST GIRL ( S ) :

Bodhana SIvanandan - U8, Ruqayyah Rida - U10 ( who came 2nd, and a girl also won U10s ! ) , Olga Latypova - U12's, Nina Pert - U14's , Imogen Dicen - U18's

The winner of each section received a decently large trophy, there are some photos of the winners, which I will eventually put ( credits to Rahul, UKCC team and I took a few, these are coming soon.. )

The 2nd - 5th places in each section received a special 'er' medal in a nice box, and everyone else got a participation medal.

The best girl prize was a 'plate' style thing, I forgot it's name...

U8 2-5 : George Zhao , Rithvik Deepak Ambattu , Kushal Jakhria , Adithya Vaidyanathan ( Advait won )
U10 2-5 : Ruqauyyah Rida , Alfred Soulier , Soham Kumar , Emils Steiners ( Elis won )
U12 2-5 : Stanley Badacsonyi , Ethan Li Bingxuan , Kenneth Hobson , Harry Zheng Z ( Fredrick won )
U14 2-5 : Arjun Kolani , Manmay Chopra , Hayk Mesropyan , Savin Dias ( Rajat won )
U18 2-5 : Tanmay Chopra , FM Yichen Han , Edward Jackson , Alex Leslie ( Aravamundhan won )

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A view of the palace

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Fun facts :

Winston Churchill's birthplace
Only 'Palace' in the UK not owned by the royal family.

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PRIZE - GIVING PHOTOS !!

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Now time for a bit more of a 'report' , I have done a bit of a report above so check that as well...

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I arrived at the front gate around 9:20 ish, I have a photo of it , coming soon...

The car park was quiet and not too far from the actual palace.

The games were played in the Marlborough and Spencer Chruchill rooms, situated near the Orangery and Oxfordshire pantry.

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The little 'lobby' outdoors ( where the parents were )

Parents waiting area ( well where they were, under the mini marquees near the pantry restaurant .

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All the games were on live boards which was quite cool, especially for some of the 5yr old U8's playing some of their first OTB events ever.

Matt Carr, Alex Holowczak and Shoreh Bayat ( all IA's and ECF L4, the highest level of arbiter ), so the panel was VERY experienced.

Time control was 25+10, and the format was an 11 round all play all swiss, with 6 games on Saturday, and prize giving + 5 more rounds on Sunday.

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***I have removed images containing children, and are going to re-input them but with blurs / coverings.

U12 + U14 playing area - Credit - Sarah @ UKCC

Behind this door was the U12s + U14s

The Corridor leading to the older age groups.

The building in which the U10 and U8 was played in.

A view from the palace stone area towards the park, and Victory Monument is in the background faintly ( I'll add a proper image of that soon ) + The Harry Potter Tree

The 'Other side' view of the palace.

The Clock which stands at the entrance

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Sarah and Alex Longson, Pauline Whitehead and Nevil Chan were also present.

Out of 2200 players, only 60 made it here, I think it was 61/62 as some people pulled out.
Nevertheless, it was less than 3% !!!

50 from the Online prelim, and 10 from the challengers.
( There are 5 age groups )

In the U8's section, almost all of the players were rated over 2000! lichess, showing how strong the field was even in the younger sections, including some 2200+'s in the prelim , who co-incidentally came 1st and 2nd...

There were also quite a few titled players, 4 to be exact, 2 FM's and 2 CM's.

A variety of FIDE 'federations' were represented, including :

England ( obviously! )
Scotland ( Also a bit obvious )
Latvia
India
The Netherlands / Holland
France
No Welsh players though...

Each section had 3 female players, and special female prizes ( mentioned earlier ).

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Prize Money : Left to right in rank order ( Best girl = 2nd place prize )

U8 - £100 , £50 , £25 , £15 , £10
U10 - £150 , £75 , £40 , £20 , £10
U12 - £200 , £100 , £50 , £25 , £15
U14 - £250 , £125 , £65 , £40 , £20
U18 - £300 , £150 , £75 , £50 , £25

https://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com/2021-results/ - Results / All standing can also be found here.

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Eveyone / parents stayed and waited under the mini marquees and benches in that 'lobby' area, (photo above).

Spectators were not allowed ( covid and fair play )
Masks were also not required.

Some people ( inc. me ) decided to take a walk around the formal gardens and the park, and see some of the sights ( photos coming soon ).

If you bought as pass you could also see the palace and Churchill display ( which was amazing ! ) , photos coming soon as well.

Something that stunned me the most was the Walled Garden. It was great.

There was a maze, a pizza restaurant, adventure playground, you name it.

Best of all though, the butterfly garden. It had exotic plants and it's own little microclimate. It was amazing to see all the butterflies and see how the hatch, including their cocoons and some caterpillars.

The maze was very confusing towards the end :)

Overall the venue was great !

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I've pretty much gone through everything now.
Stay tuned for a best games report, some more photos and more event reports in the future....

Have a great day..