As part of the prestigious Delancey Chess Challenge. The central organisers send us a box of trophies and medals. There are a select no of Megafinals across the UK. We have been part of this for years. Players qualifying to play in the next round the GigaFinals have in the past done very well. We had one young player winning their age group and going onto the last round the Terrafinals where you meet finalists of all ages.

Unfortunately nos were low for todays tournament. We were forced to combine some age groups, ending with 2 sections. An under12 section with 8 players and an under18 with 6 players. With a need to play a full 6 rounds for the Under18 we played 5 rounds of all-play-all followed by a round 6 which was done manually.

As players arrived we registered them and they took a puzzle sheet and pencil - always a top part of the day is the puzzle solving. With trophies for the top solvers and a certificate for all players who hand in a sheet.

Under 12 Puzzle Champion : Kia Jahandizi

Under18 Chess Champion: Ethan Cole

Some of the brilliant puzzles that were considered and hopefully solved!

Have a go - the solutions are at the bottom of this page.

I have included some of the check-mate in 2's these are usually easier than the above puzzles. But when there isnt an obvious check to start the solution and there are less pieces on the board offering lots of choices for the moves these can be very difficult. Try these for fun - again solutions at bottom of the page.

The two sections played in different rooms. I looked after the Under12's and Geoff Hindley looked after the Under18's.

As parents registered their youngsters, I explained that for the Under 12's if a round completed early we would run the next round almost immediately and that this would mean the likelyhood of an early finish. If also lunch was going to just extend the finish time we might skip lunch. This was welcomed and infact we finished the Under 12 section at about 2:00pm much to the delight of both parents and players.

Below are the results of the rounds and photos - most of which are from my room (apologies to the Under18's - I didnt get much opportunity to get photos from their room).

We collected the puzzles at the beginning of Round 5. to give us time to mark them. So no photos for round 6.

Under12: Round 1

Results

No Name                      Feder Total  Result   Name            Feder Total

 1 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada U10   [0]      1:0    Nathan Johnston U12   [0]  
 2 Sohan Kesavarapu          U10   [0]      0:1    Alex McKeown    U10   [0]  
 3 Jatin Jakati              U10   [0]      1:0    Rishi Sharma    U10   [0]  
 4 Rizwan Arshed             U8    [0]      0:1    Kia Jahandizi   U12   [0]  

by Swiss Perfect (TM)  www.swissperfect.com

Players were given approx ratings. The first round went to rating.

Under12: Round 2

Results

No Name            Feder Total  Result   Name                      Feder Total

 1 Kia Jahandizi   U12   [1]      1:0    Shreyas Chandra Marrivada U10   [1]  
 2 Alex McKeown    U10   [1]      0:1    Jatin Jakati              U10   [1]  
 3 Nathan Johnston U12   [0]      0:1    Rizwan Arshed             U8    [0]  
 4 Rishi Sharma    U10   [0]      1:0    Sohan Kesavarapu          U10   [0]  

Rizwan gets a good win against Nathan. Kia gets a good win from Shreyas.

Under12: Round 3

Results

No Name                      Feder Total  Result   Name            Feder Total

 1 Jatin Jakati              U10   [2]      1:0    Kia Jahandizi   U12   [2]  
 2 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada U10   [1]      1:0    Rishi Sharma    U10   [1]  
 3 Rizwan Arshed             U8    [1]      0:1    Alex McKeown    U10   [1]  
 4 Sohan Kesavarapu          U10   [0]      0:1    Nathan Johnston U12   [0]  

Jatin Jakati goes into the lead winning against Kia.

Under12: Round 4

Results

No Name            Feder Total  Result   Name                      Feder Total

 1 Nathan Johnston U12   [1]      0:1    Jatin Jakati              U10   [3]  
 2 Alex McKeown    U10   [2]      1:0    Shreyas Chandra Marrivada U10   [2]  
 3 Kia Jahandizi   U12   [2]      1:0    Sohan Kesavarapu          U10   [0]  
 4 Rishi Sharma    U10   [1]      0:1    Rizwan Arshed             U8    [1]  

Jatin continues to win and qualifies.with over the necessary 3 1/2 points. The Top 3 of each age group also qualify.

Under12: Round 5

Results

No Name          Feder Total  Result   Name                      Feder Total

 1 Jatin Jakati  U10   [4]      1:0    Shreyas Chandra Marrivada U10   [2]  
 2 Kia Jahandizi U12   [3]     .5:.5   Alex McKeown              U10   [3]  
 3 Rizwan Arshed U8    [2]      1:0    Sohan Kesavarapu          U10   [0]  
 4 Rishi Sharma  U10   [1]      1:0    Nathan Johnston           U12   [1]  

Alex McKeown and Kia qualify with 3 1/2 points. Jatin continues with another victory.

Under12: Round 6

Results

No Name                      Feder Total  Result   Name          Feder Total

 1 Sohan Kesavarapu          U10   [0]      0:1    Jatin Jakati  U10   [5]  
 2 Alex McKeown              U10   [3.5]    1:0    Rishi Sharma  U10   [2]  
 3 Nathan Johnston           U12   [1]     .5:.5   Kia Jahandizi U12   [3.5]
 4 Shreyas Chandra Marrivada U10   [2]      0:1    Rizwan Arshed U8    [3]  

Jatin wins on full points 6 out of 6. Also doing well with 4 out of 6 is the young Rizwan.

Under12 - Standings

Place Name                      Feder Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

  1   Jatin Jakati              U10   6         9.5  14.0   21.0
  2   Alex McKeown              U10   4.5      12.0  18.0   15.0
 3-4  Kia Jahandizi             U12   4        12.0  18.0   15.5
      Rizwan Arshed             U8    4         9.5  14.0   11.0
 5-6  Shreyas Chandra Marrivada U10   2        14.5  22.0   10.0
      Rishi Sharma              U10   2        12.0  18.0    7.0
  7   Nathan Johnston           U12   1.5      12.0  18.0    4.5
  8   Sohan Kesavarapu          U10   0        14.5  22.0    0.0

Qualifiers

We have 7 qualifiers - and are looking forward to seeing them play in the next round - the Gigafinals.

These take place on the dates below : for full details and entry goto the https://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com/

https://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com/gigafinals-2026/

"Gigafinals

Once again we are hosting four Gigafinals; three in-person and one online. To compete in a Gigafinal a player must first qualify via a Megafinal. Players may play in as many Gigafinals as they like, regardless of whether they have already qualified for the next stages.

Scottish Gigafinal

One boy and one girl will qualify from each section.

Saturday 21st June – Scottish Gigafinal U8s and U10s (University of Stirling)
Sunday 22nd June – Scottish Gigafinal U12s, U14s and U18s (University of Stirling)

Northern Gigafinal

We are once again holding the Northern Gigafinal at one of favourite and most popular venues, Wright Robinson College in Manchester.

Two boys and one girl will qualify from each section.

Saturday 12th July – Northern Gigafinal U8s and U10s (Wright Robinson College, Manchester)
Sunday 13th July – Northern Gigafinal U12s, U14s and U18s (Wright Robinson College, Manchester)

Southern Gigafinal

Taking place at Sandown Racecourse in Esher.

Two boys and one girl will qualify from each section.

Saturday 19th July – Southern Gigafinal U8s and U10s (Sandown Racecourse, Esher)
Sunday 20th July – Southern Gigafinal U12s, U14s and U18s (Sandown Racecourse, Esher)

Online Gigafinal

One boy and one girl will qualify from each section.

The Online Gigafinal takes part in two stages: Stage 1 is Saturday 6th September at 10am with the top 12 players in each of the 5 age sections then qualifying for Stage 2 on Sunday 7th September."

We will report on players attending to let you know how they do.

Many thanks to volunteer Geoff Hindley for looking after the Under18 section.

Under18: Round 1

Results

No Name             Feder Total  Result   Name           Feder Total

11 Logan Moore      U14   [0]      1:0    Nathan Murray  U18   [0]  
12 Matthew McColgan U14   [0]      1:0    Andrew Riddell U14   [0]  
13 Ethan Cole       U14   [0]      1:0    Shubham Saha   U14   [0]  

Under18: Round 2

Results

No Name           Feder Total  Result   Name             Feder Total

11 Nathan Murray  U18   [0]     .5:.5   Shubham Saha     U14   [0]  
12 Andrew Riddell U14   [0]      0:1    Ethan Cole       U14   [1]  
13 Logan Moore    U14   [1]      0:1    Matthew McColgan U14   [1]  

Its a fight to see who qualifies for the Under14s. Nathan Murrary will qualify as the top Under 18.

Under18: Round 3

Results

No Name             Feder Total  Result   Name           Feder Total

11 Matthew McColgan U14   [2]      0:1    Nathan Murray  U18   [.5] 
12 Ethan Cole       U14   [2]      1:0    Logan Moore    U14   [1]  
13 Shubham Saha     U14   [.5]     1:0    Andrew Riddell U14   [0]  

Under18: Round 4

Results

No Name             Feder Total  Result   Name           Feder Total

11 Nathan Murray    U18   [1.5]    1:0    Andrew Riddell U14   [0]  
12 Logan Moore      U14   [1]      0:1    Shubham Saha   U14   [1.5]
13 Matthew McColgan U14   [2]      0:1    Ethan Cole     U14   [3]  

Ethan Cole leads the tournament on 4 out of 4 and qualifies for the GigaFinals.

Under18: Round 5

Results

No Name           Feder Total  Result   Name             Feder Total

11 Ethan Cole     U14   [4]      1:0    Nathan Murray    U18   [2.5]
12 Shubham Saha   U14   [2.5]    1:0    Matthew McColgan U14   [2]  
13 Andrew Riddell U14   [0]      0:1    Logan Moore      U14   [1]  

Shubham gains 3.5 points and also qualifies.

Under18: Round 6

Results

No Name           Feder Total  Result   Name             Feder Total

11 Matthew McColgan U14   [3]    1:0    Logan Moore      U14   [2] 
12 Shubham Saha   U14   [3.5]    0:1    Ethan Cole       U14   [5] 
13 Nathan Murray   U18  [2.5]    1:0    Andrew Riddell   U14   [0] 
     

Under18: Standings

Place Name             Feder Score

  1   Ethan Cole       U14   6    
  2   Shubham Saha     U14   3.5  
  3   Nathan Murray    U18   3.5  
 4-5  Logan Moore      U14   3    
      Matthew McColgan U14   2    
  6   Andrew Riddell   U14   0    

Qualifiers

End of a brilliant day. With lots of worthy qualifiers for the next round. The Gigafinals. We will track the players and let you know how they do.

The targeted dates for next years monthly tournaments are book them in your diaries - have a brilliant summer:

Chess Events 2026/2027

Puzzle Solutions

Challenging Mates in 2