e2 to E17 - Walthamstow Schools Chess Tournament
CSC was delighted to work in partnership with Walthamstow Chess Club to organise a new event for NE London - the Waltham Forest and Haringey Schools Chess Tournament. Over 150 children from 15 local primary schools joined us for a day of chess activities hosted by the Big Penny Social an amazing venue which was very kindly given to us free of charge by Big Penny Community CIC.
On arrival, the children received chess lessons and coaching from an illustrious group of chess experts including WFMs Emmanuelle and Eunice Hng, currently #3 and #4 in the FIDE rankings for Singapore women, CM Jacob Yoon, part of the University College London first team which won the 2025 BUCA championship, CM Daniel Lindner, president of the City Chess Association, Rauf Khalilov, author, singer and a generous contributor to the local chess scene, and Chase Tecimer, founder of Fintech start-ups Doorway and Flagships and participant at the 2025 Pro Biz Cup.
Next the children got to test their own skills against these experts as they took them on in a giant simultaneous display. We will spare the blushes of our chess experts but it’s sufficient to say that the children certainly seemed to hold their own judging by the number of medals we gave away for outstanding performances!
After lunch, the serious chess began as all the children took part in a tournament against their peers. At stake were trophies for the schools whose teams scored the most points and more medals for the highest individual scores. All the children played amazingly well. A special mention must go to those who attend Higham Hill Chess Club - Steph Miller’s coaching was rewarded with two gold and two silver medals. However, nobody left empty handed as every child left with some chess goodies to encourage them to keep up the game. For most it was their first experience of competitive chess and, judging by their enthusiasm, it won’t be their last.
A huge thank you to all the volunteers for contributing to such a special day, and to their employers, including the Bank of England, JP Morgan, Barclays Bank, and Amazon for allowing their employees to take a day off work to help out as part of their excellent employee volunteering schemes. Thank you too to the ECF Grassroots Scheme, Andersen LLP, the Waltham Forest Community Funding Team and to several private donors for their generous financial support. Finally, our thanks and congratulations to Alfie Heath and Cennydd Bowles from the Walthamstow chess community for their vision, time, and energy in devising and organising what we hope will become an exciting new annual event.
