Seth-Riley Adams (15), Matthew Saunders (16) and Nathaniel Clarke (14) travelled from Mitchells Plain to participate in the South African Junior Chess Championships (SAJCC) 2018, which was held in Boksburg, Johannesburg from the 15th – 20th Dec 2018. The tournament had more than 2000 participants from around the country, competing against each other in various age groups, ranging from Under 8 to Under 20, in teams representing their respective provinces.
These three juniors from Mitchells Plain Chess Club (MPCC) in Rocklands, represented Western Province in the Under 16 (Seth-Riley Adams & Nathaniel Clarke) and Under 18 (Matthew Saunders) age groups respectively. The team spirit was truly felt among the players, coaches and managers as they worked together to win their respective divisions. The atmosphere was exhilarating as the participants flooded the hall, eager to start their matches and battle it out on the chessboard.
Nathaniel battled it out on board 4 for the Under 16 C-Team and Matthew fought on board 9 for the Under 18 A-Team, with Seth-Riley leading the Under 16 A-Team on board 1; Nathaniel’s team won gold, while Matthew’s team came in second. The Under 16A team ably led by Seth-Riley Adams won gold and the Championship title.
The outstanding achievement for the tournament was the fact that the Under 16 A-team, consisting of 10 players, all won gold on their respective boards with the exception of board 2 and finished on 61.5 out of 70 points, a whopping 12.5 points clear of 2nd place Tshwane on 49 points.
https://mitchellsplainchessclub.co.za/community-events/sjcc-2018#sigProId33aea86e4f