A chess superstar from Rydal Penrhos School was delighted to learn that she is one of only two girls in her age group in Wales to be selected to represent the country at the FIDE World Youth Chess Championships in Greece.
Imogen Camp will join twenty-five other Welsh chess players between the ages of eight and eighteen travelling to Halkidiki for the World Youth Championships in October, but is one of only two girls from the Under 14 contingent and the only one from North Wales.
The Rydal Penrhos Year 9 pupil, who has been playing chess since the age of four, already has a string of chess successes to her name in her impressive playing career, adding a third place and an unbeaten performance in the Welsh Junior Championships to the Under 14 British title she already holds. Alongside her fellow Rydal Penrhos pupils, brothers Petko and Anton Petkov, Imogen also represented Wales in the recent Under 14 regional matches against South East and South West England and was unbeaten in four games, winning two and drawing two, all against higher graded opposition.
Chess is extremely popular at Rydal Penrhos School with some very promising talent emerging in the Prep school which recently celebrated several successes in the UK Chess Challenge Mega-Final with two players, Harry Buttle and Jonathan Osbourne, qualifying for the Northern Giga-Finals in Manchester in July. Together with Imogen, who already qualified at an earlier event, this means that three out of the eight North Wales Giga-Finalists are pupils at Rydal Penrhos School.
The school was also delighted with the news that Rydal Penrhos Prep School teacher and Imogen’s father, Mr Andrew Camp, will be accompanying the players to Halkidiki in his newly appointed role of Head of Delegation and National Manager for Wales at the fortnight-long event.