The 31st of May marked the beginning of the 2024 European Schools Chess Championship, where nearly 200 players from 17 European federations made the long journey to Ireland to do battle over 9 days, with each game having the potential to last over 3 hours, this is a brutal format meant only for the toughest of players. Luckily, representing England, Bradford’s own Adamjeet and Amandeep Singh stepped up to the challenge of their international debut in the under 9s and under 7s respectively.
Anyone who has played in the Bradford chess league this season is familiar with the fear you feel when you sit down at the chess board and one of these lads walks in and sits down opposite you. The boys are the first Bradford players to represent England in over 20 years and it’s safe to say that everyone from the Bradford District Chess Association is incredibly proud of them.
Both Adamjeet and Amandeep have only been playing chess for 2 years after being taught to play by their dad Jatinder Singh, since then they have become valued players for Q Gardens Chess Club who they play for in the Bradford league. They are also members of the 2023 ECF club of the year, Leeds Junior Chess Club run by John Hipshon, one of the biggest junior clubs in Yorkshire that provides high-level coaching for the boys from Nick Nixon. On top of this, the boys also get specialist coaching from FIDE master Tim Wall. When the boys aren’t playing chess, they love to learn and practice their martial arts.
“We are delighted to see Adamjeet and Amandeep selected to represent England at such a young age. They are exceptionally talented boys, who have a great future in the game. We look forward to seeing their progress in the future.”
Andy Wainwright, president of the Yorkshire Chess Association
Andy runs Ilkley Chess Centre as well as several of the Junior classes in and around Bradford, many of which have recently seen a massive boom in the amount of extremely talented young players who want to play chess competitively.
Adamjeet started off his tournament in the under 9s incredibly well with a win in the first round and then went on to prove his skill and determination in the second round by fighting his way out of a completely losing position and gaining himself a well-earned draw. Round 3 didn’t quite go his way however missing out on a point, he didn’t let that stop him though and he bounced straight back earning a breathtaking 2 and a half points in his next three rounds leaving him sat at a tied 4th place after round 6. He had some tough opponents in the coming rounds, but he stayed strong getting a great win in round 8 which put him against the tournament leader in the final round. His opponent from Turkey needed a win for their best chance for first place, but Adamjeet had something to say about that and locked in an amazing draw, his opponent still had their chance in the tiebreaks and in the end, earned the gold medal. Adamjeet’s draw in the final round placed him tied in 5th place with a final score of 5.5 out of a possible 9. Unfortunately, he ended up losing out on the 5th place in tiebreaks placing him at 6th to end the tournament, a fantastic accomplishment that he and his family should be extremely proud of. In under 7s it was clear Amandeep was up for the challenge. He came out swinging going on an unstoppable three-game winning streak in the first rounds cruising his way into joint first place. In round 4 he had to face off against the other player in first place Omer Taha Dede from Turkey. It was a tough game and didn’t go Amandeeps way. After a hard loss like that, it’s easy to focus on the negatives so It was vital that Amandeep kept his head up for the final three rounds of the tournament and that’s exactly what he did, going on to win an astonishing 2 of the next 3 games. He earned a grand total of 5 out of a possible 7 points earning him the bronze medal in the under 7s category of the 2024 European Schools Chess Championship.
“I feel happy because I won bronze and it was my first time playing chess at such a big competition. I also made lots of new friends from different countries who also like chess.”
Amandeep Singh
These results are a testament to all of the hours of hard work these two superstars are putting into improving their game and they deserve every bit of praise and celebration that comes their way.
“I am very proud of what Amandeep and Adamjeet achieved. This has been their first international tournament so to end on 3rd and 6th place is incredible when you consider some of the best young players in Europe were in attendance. I think winning Bronze is a testament to Amandeep’s passion for chess, but also he could not have achieved this without the support from his coach FM Tim Wall and all the coaches and players at Leeds Junior Chess Club, as well as the Bradford District Chess Association who have been unwavering in their support and development of the boy’s chess.”
Sarah Kaur
Their results also show the strength of not only English chess but Chess in Yorkshire as well, with several junior-focused clubs operating in and around Bradford and chess in schools becoming more mainstream it is clear that the future of chess is looking very bright.