Fernwood Girls in U19 Schools National Final

West Nottingham girls, playing as Fernwood and managed by John Crawley, played exceptionally to finish 5th against some of the top girls schools in the country, held at St Catherine's School, Bramley on the 1st and 2nd April.

John Crawley reports

An excellent competition, very well organised with everyone well looked after for the weekend.

In the Under 19 section there were some very highly graded players (over 160) so some sympathy for Ritika (board 1 for the Fernwood A Team) and Emma (board 1 for the Fernwood B Team). It didn't seem to phase any of them, though, and they went into every game with the same excellent attitude.

From our girls there was a definite improvement in playing standard to last year's competition. This is probably due to the amount of chess they now play in the league and in other competitions. To compete with teams like Howells School and North London Collegiate this is going to have to continue. The girls in other schools are coached by highly graded coaches and they have more opportunities to take part in competitions in the south of England.

To be placed equal fourth (5th on countback!!!) was a big improvement on last year's competition.

Individual results for the girls were:

A Team - Ritika 3.5/7, Alana 2.5/7, Isabella 4/7

B Team - Emma 1.5/7, Mathilde 2/7, Alexandra 3/7

We all had a great weekend (it is quite a social event as well!!!) and I was very proud of all of the girls.

Many thanks to the parents who gave up their weekend to support their daughters.

Results are published on the ECF website.