Petko Petkov, a Year 7 Rydal Penrhos pupil, took second place in the extremely competitive Under 12 event at the Welsh Junior Chess Championships held in Port Talbot last week. Petko had to play seven long games over two days and racked up a score of 4.5 points out of the seven on offer. One of his most satisfying wins came against a former junior Welsh Champion, which is a clear measure of his recent impressive progress.
Going into Round Seven, Petko had a chance of winning first prize but he had to rely on himself winning and one other person either losing or drawing. Although Petko fulfilled his half of the bargain with a simple win, his rival managed to grind out a win in his last game to just pip Petko to the post with half a point more.
A few days before, in Colwyn Bay, the second North Wales Junior Chess Championships were held at Rydal Penrhos School. The tournament showed a significant growth on last year’s inaugural event with an increase of 40 per cent in entries, and children coming from all over North Wales to compete. The strength of chess-playing at Rydal Penrhos School was evident, as Rhys Buttle, Liam Farrell and Harry Buttle swept the board in the youngest section, the U7s. In the U8 section, Christian Cheesley and George Watkins came 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In the U10s and U11s two Rydal Penrhos pupils were crowned North Wales Champions: in the U10 section Petko’s brother, Anton Petkov, had a magnificent tournament winning all six of his matches, while Morgan Kendall, despite competing in a section with two Welsh International players, played very well to win the U11s.
Rydal Penrhos pupils also put in impressive performances in the senior sections, with Abhishek Buthula taking 3rd place in the U12 event, Imogen Camp winning the Under 14 Championship, Robert Warrington winning the U18 Championship, and Ho Wing Ma taking 3rd place.