After keeping our Saturday afternoon fees unchanged for 3 years, our costs are creeping up and we reluctantly find it necessary to increase our fees to ensure the financial well-being of the Club. The basic membership for 2010/11 will be set at £200. We do hope you consider that this still represents excellent value for money as it includes the following:-

• 38 three-hour Saturday afternoon sessions
• Free entry to 6 blitz tournaments
• Free entry to the UK Chess Challenge qualifying competition
• Free entry to watch the London Chess Classic international tournament
• Reduced entry to the London Junior Chess Championships qualifying competition
• Eligibility to participate in the Junior 4NCL and EPSCA competitions

As a ‘thank you’ to those of you who have supported the club so enthusiastically in the past, we will not introduce the fee increase until the start of next season (September 4th). If you want to take out a club membership for 2010/11 at 2009/10 rates, you can do so by PayPal here or by returning the membership form to:-
Peter Sowray, 62 Latymer Court, Hammersmith Road, London W6 7JE
(cheques payable to Richmond Junior Chess Club)

We are pleased to inform you of the Club’s plans for the coming year, 2010/11.

Saturday afternoons

The club will be open every Saturday afternoon during term time at the ETNA Community Centre, 13 Rosslyn Road, Twickenham TW1 2AR, with the session running from 14.00 to 17.00.

We will usually have three experienced coaches present:- James Coleman, Marie Gallagher and myself. Our aim will be to provide an educational, stimulating and enjoyable experience through a mixture of coaching and playing activities. The sessions will be suitable for children from 7 to 16 years old and will be divided according to age and ability. Participants should know the rules of the game and be playing regularly either at school or at home to obtain the maximum benefit.

We recognise that a 3-hour session can be quite demanding, particularly for younger children. We take a relaxed attitude to time-keeping, so please feel free to arrive a bit later or leave a bit earlier. As a rough guide, the first hour is usually devoted to coaching, the second hour to playing a serious game, and the final hour to fun activities. Parents are welcome to stay and observe the sessions, but please do not feel under any obligation to do so.

Our dates for 2010/11 will be as follows:

Autumn Term:	September 4th 2010 to December 4th 2010 inclusive, with a special event on December 11th 2010
Spring Term:	January 8th 2011 to April 2nd 2011 inclusive
Summer Term:	April 30th 2011 to July 9th 2011 inclusive

On Saturday December 11th 2010, the club will organise a trip to the London Chess Classic at Kensington Olympia. This is a unique opportunity for club members to see some of the world’s best chess players in action, including World Champion Vishy Anand from India, world ranked #1 19 year-old Magnus Carlsen from Norway, Vladimir Kramnik from Russia (the man who defeated Garry Kasparov!), alongside the top British players. As well as being able to the watch the competition, there will also be coaching sessions, lectures and opportunities to play. Again, entry will be free to Richmond club members. The ETNA Centre will not be open on December 11th.

Tuesday evenings - Richmond Junior Chess Club at Twickenham Prep School (TPS)

The club also runs sessions on Tuesday evenings during term time, taking place at: Twickenham Prep School, Beveree, 43 High Street, Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2SA. We meet from 17.00 to 18.30 (please note this has changed from 2009/10). The club is grateful for the considerable support we receive from Twickenham Prep School. Children attending TPS should contact the school directly to enroll.

The dates for the Autumn term are September 7th to December 14th inclusive, excepting October 19th, October 26th and November 9th - a total of 12 sessions.

Competitions

We know that many of our members enjoy playing in individual competitions and representing the Club in team competitions. We also recognise that one of the best ways for young players to develop their chess skills is to take part regularly in competitions. We have therefore expanded our programme of competitive events this year as follows:

1) Blitz tournaments

We will organise two blitz tournaments each term. These will now take place on Saturday afternoons and will run alongside our normal club sessions. Everyone will be encouraged to take part in these tournaments and there will be cash prizes on offer. These tournaments will be open to non-members and entry will be free to Richmond club members.

The blitz tournament dates will be:

Autumn Term:	September 25th 2010 and October 16th 2010
Spring Term:	January 22nd 2011 and March 5th 2011
Summer Term:	May 14th 2011 and June 18th 2011

2) Richmond Junior Chess Club Championship

This will include a qualifying competition for the UK Chess Challenge Megafinal and will take place over three afternoons in the Spring term (January 8th, January 29th and February 12th). Once again, entry is included within your membership fees. The winners in each age group will receive trophies and the title of RJCC Champion.

3) London Junior Chess Championship qualifying competition

We will host an LJCC qualifying competition at Twickenham Prep School on Saturday October 2nd 2010. Club members can play in this event at a reduced entry fee. The ETNA Centre will be open as usual on that date.

4) Junior Four Nations Chess League (4NCL)

We will field teams in the Under 18, Under 14, Under 11 and Under 9 competitions, which will be played in Oxford on the weekends 13th/14th November 2010, 5th/6th February 2011 and 9th/10th April 2010. This competition attracts some of the best players and coaches in the UK and gives players in the Under 18 section an opportunity to gain an International rating.

5) English Primary Schools Chess Association (EPSCA)

We will again enter the Under 11 and Under 9 competitions.

6) We also hope to arrange more ad hoc matches against other clubs or schools.

The club still maintains connections with the Richmond Rapidplay tournaments and would encourage all club members to consider playing in these events. More details can be found at here. We’d like to thank everybody for their support last year and we hope that the club will continue to go from strength to strength. If anybody has any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to be in touch. With best wishes for a successful season.

John-Paul Wallace and Wallace Chess will be running two Summer Chess Camps from July to September this year, at the Hellenic Centre in Baker Street and at Swiss Cottage Community Centre. Wallace Chess has been running chess activities for children for over 4 years. The Director, John-Paul Wallace, is an International Master and two-time Australian Champion and is well known to many of the children and parents at Richmond Juniors.

If you want more information, you can download details here or contact John-Paul directly via his web site.

Richmond Junior Chess Club (RJCC) meets on Saturdays during term time from 14.00 to 17.00 at the ETNA Community Centre and on Tuesday evenings during term time at Twickenham Prep School ... more details about the club here.

I trust you will forgive a bit of commercialism ...RJCC has linked up with Chess & Bridge, who are the UK's largest specialist retailer of chess goods. Any items you purchase in their shop will make a modest contribution to our Club's funds. You can find Peter's recommendations here.