National Primary Schools’ Chess Championships 2022

After a gap of two years due to the pandemic, the competition returned with events all round the country. All the results are below. Congratulations to all the schools who participated and especially to Westminster Under, who won both sections.
Huge thanks to Glynis Purland and Ian Burford who are stepping down after running the competition this year and for the past 9 years.

EPSCA gives a massive thank you to Glynis Purland and Ian Burford who are stepping down after running this competition for the last nine years. Here is their farewell message:

Ian and I started to run the NPSCC competition nine years ago. Since then we have gained four, fifth on the way, grandchildren. I have become a church warden and Ian continues to work. Ian's son, who lives in Poland, is getting married Finals week next year. With all this in mind we are now finishing running the competition.
The npsccuk@outlook.com email address will no longer be available. A new email address will be set up in the future, please monitor your spam boxes just in case.
We thank you all for the friendship and support we have received. We wish the competition every success in the future.

NPSCC Final 2022

NPSCC Qualifying Events 2022

2020 The competition was cancelled after the zones had taken place due to emergency measures, because of this the semi finals and Final did not run.

2021 Again due to emergency measures in 2020 there was no competition.

An Introduction to the NPSCC (National Primary Schools’ Chess Championship)


2020 Championships

2020 Zone results

2019 Championships

2019 Final
2019 Prestatyn semi-final
2019 Camber Sands semi-final
2019 Bristol semi-final
2019 zone results (doc opens in new window)

2018 Championships

2018 Final
2018 Prestatyn semi-final
2018 Camber Sands semi-final
2018 Bristol semi-final
2018 zone results (doc opens in new window)
2018 Gallery

2017 Championships

2017 Final
2017 Prestatyn semi-final
2017 Camber Sands semi-final
2017 Bristol semi-final
2017 zone results (doc opens in new window)

School teams from all areas of the country compete in EPSCA’s very popular National Primary Schools’ Chess Championship (NPSCC).

This three stage competition begins with regional qualifiers at the start of the year and culminates with national finals in July. It has separate competitions for teams with players aged under 9 or under 11 and schools can enter one or more teams. All teams which play in the first round will either qualify for the semi-finals, or be invited to the Plate competition.

First round (also called zones)

The first round is a one day competition where teams from different schools in an area compete against each other. Half of those teams will qualify for the semi-finals, and the other teams there on the day will be invited to a plate competition. There are gold, silver or bronze medals for players in teams which finish first, second or third.

Semi-finals

Successful teams from the first round can choose to play their semi-final either at Bristol, Sussex or North Wales, in May and June. Sussex and North Wales are weekend competitions lasting two days. Bristol is a one day semi-final. Three teams from each of the Sussex and North Wales semi-finals will qualify for the final, along with two teams from the Bristol semi-final. The plate competitions are weekend events, held in Sussex and North Wales at the same time as those semi-finals.

The finals

For the best eight teams in each age group, the finals are two day all-play-all competitions, held in July. The winners are the Under 9 or Under 11 Champions.

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2019 Championships

Under 11 - King’s College
Under 9 - Westminster Under

Championship finals (held 2 and 3 July)

Under 11 Final

Cross-table and match results

Under 9 Final

Cross-table and match results

Report on the 2019 NPSCC final by Peter Purland, chief arbiter:

On July 2nd 16 teams from 12 different schools gathered for the final of the largest schools’ event in the UK. The initial entry was over 420 teams and there were 8 Under 11 and 8 Under 9 teams who were to play a 7 round all play over all over two days to decide the champion. The tournament would be decided on game points so every game counted.

Last year’s winners in both sections was Westminster Under and they were at Birmingham West by Accor Hotel to defend their crowns. With an all play all it can be difficult to gauge who are the strongest teams in the early rounds but after three rounds Westminster Under were ahead in both competitions but with matches against the second placed team in both sections due in round four. It would be interesting to see who went in to the break ahead. At U11 level it was King’s College who beat Westminster 3-2 and, at least in theory, had the easier last three rounds (but is it ever easy at this level?). In the U9s, Westminster beat Hallfield 4-1 and finished the day 2 points ahead of St Paul’s who they would play in round six.

The second day brought the teams even closer. In round 5 The Hall beat Westminster Under 3-2 whilst St Paul’s won 3.5-1.5 to reduce the deficit to half a point with both The Hall and Hallfield still within striking distance. At U11 level both King’s and Westminster won but King’s gained an extra half point. The Pointer School were third and would play Westminster in the next round. A 5-0 win for King’s School extended their lead to three points going in to the final round despite Westminster getting the better of Pointer School in a hard-fought game.  The U9s was quickly sorted with Westminster winning 4-1 to retain their trophy in emphatic fashion. Runners up were St Paul’s with The Hall 3rd, Haberdashers’ Aske’s 4th, Hallfield 5th, North London Collegiate 6th, St Joseph’s 7th and Garden Suburb 8th. Meanwhile at U11 level King’s had scored the point they needed to guarantee them the title with Westminster as runners up. Pointer School 3rd, Hallfield 4th, North London Collegiate 5th, Dulwich Prep 6th, Haberdashers’ Aske’s 7th, Wetherby 8th.

Thanks are due to all who have worked throughout the year to make this tournament such a success and especially to Glynis Purland and Ian Burford for 12 months hard and efficient organization.

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2019 NPSCC Semi-finals

Prestatyn Under 9 semi-final
1. North London Collegiate 'A' 27 points
2. Hallfield 'A' 20.5 points
3. Garden Suburb 'A' 19.5 points
These three qualified for the Under 9 final.

Prestatyn Under 11 semi-final
1. Hallfield 'A' 25.5 points
2. North London Collegiate 'A' 21.5 points
3. Wetherby 20 points
These three qualified for the Under 11 final.

Prestatyn Plate
1. Hallfield Under 9

Round by round semi-final results from Prestatyn

Round by round plate results from Prestatyn

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Camber Sands Under 9 semi-final
1. Westminster Under 'A' 24 points
2. Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' 'A' 20.5 points
3. The Hall 'A' 20 points
All three teams qualifed for the Under 9 final.

Camber Sands Under 11 semi-final
1. Westminster Under 'A' 23 points
2. Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' 'A' 21 points
3. Dulwich Prep. 20 points
All three teams qualified for the Under 11 final.

Camber Sands Under 9 Plate
1: Sheldwich 20 points
2: Coldfall 20 points
3: Upton St. Leonard’s 19.5 points
Sheldwich won on tiebreak

Camber Sands Under 11 Plate
1: Dulwich College 21.5 points
2: Anthony Roper 20 points
3: Dulwich Prep. 19.5 points

Round by round semi-final results from Camber Sands

Round by round plate results from Camber Sands

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Bristol Under 9 semi-final
1: Westminster Under ‘A’ 22½ points.
2: Claires Court 16½ points.
3: St. Andrews, Oxford 16½ points.
Westminster Under ‘A’ and Claires Court in first and second place have qualified for the under 9 final.

Bristol Under 11 semi-final
1: Kings College 19½ points.
2: Westminster Under ‘A’ 19 points.
3: Westminster Under ‘B’ 18½ points.
Kings College and Westminster Under ‘A’ in first and second place have qualified for the under 11 final.

Round by round results from the Bristol semi-final

2019 NPSCC Zone Results

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2018 Championships

Under 11 - Westminster Under
Under 9 - Westminster Under
Championship finals (held 3 and 4 July)
Under 11 Final

Cross-table and match results

Under 9 Final

Cross-table and match results

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2018 NPSCC Semi-finals

Prestatyn Under 9 semi-final
1: Wetherby
2: Hallfield ‘A’
3: North London Collegiate ‘A’ (Third on tie-break)
4: Aughton St Michaels ‘A’ (Fourth on tie-break)
Wetherby, Hallfield ‘A’ and North London Collegiate qualified for the Under 9 final.

Prestatyn Under 11 semi-final
1: North London Collegiate
2: Hallfield ‘A’ (Second on tie-break*)
3: Heathside ‘A’ (Third on tie-break)
North London Collegiate, Hallfield ‘A’ and Heathside ‘A’ qualified for the Under 11 final.
*Hallfield ‘A’ and Heathside ‘A’ were tied on 19½ points each after the final round, but Hallfield ‘A’ had beaten Heathside ‘A’ by 3½ – 1½ in the final round so Hallfield were awarded second on tie-break.

Prestatyn Under 9 Plate
1: North London Collegiate

Prestatyn Under 11 Plate
1: Upton St Leonards

Round by round semi-final results from Prestatyn

Round by round plate results from Prestatyn

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Camber Sands Under 9 semi-final
1: Latymer Preparatory
2: Haberdashers’ Aske’s
3: The Hall ‘A’
Latymer Prep, Haberdashers’ Aske’s and The Hall ‘A’ qualified for the under 9 final.

Camber Sands Under 11 semi-final
1: Brentwood Prep ‘A’
2: Beacon ‘A’
3: Homefield
Brentwood Prep ‘A’, Beacon ‘A’ and Homefield qualified for the under 11 final.

Camber Sands Under 9 Plate
1: Dulwich Prep
2: Amherst
3: North Bridge House
4: Roundwood

Camber Sands Under 11 Plate
1: North Bridge House
2: Anthony Roper ‘A’
3: Roundwood

Round by round semi-final results from Camber Sands

Round by round plate results from Camber Sands

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Bristol Under 9 semi-final
1: Westminster Under ‘A’ 22½ points.
2: Claires Court 16½ points.
3: St. Andrews, Oxford 16½ points.
Westminster Under ‘A’ and Claires Court in first and second place have qualified for the under 9 final.

Bristol Under 11 semi-final
1: Kings College 19½ points.
2: Westminster Under ‘A’ 19 points.
3: Westminster Under ‘B’ 18½ points.
Kings College and Westminster Under ‘A’ in first and second place have qualified for the under 11 final.

Round by round results from the Bristol semi-final

2018 NPSCC Zone Results

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2017 Championships

Under 11 - Westminster Under & Haberdashers’ Aske’s (joint)
Under 9 - Westminster Under
Championship finals (held 4 & 5 July)
Under 11 final

Under 9 final

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2017 NPSCC semi-finals

Prestatyn Under 9 semi-final
1: Hallfield ‘A’
2: Wetherby ‘A’ (Second on tie-break)
3: Akiva (Third on tie-break)
Hallfield ‘A’, Wetherby ‘A’ and Akiva qualified for the under 9 final.
Akiva and Wetherby ‘A’ were tied on 21½ points each after the final round, but Wetherby ‘A’ had beaten Akiva 3 – 2 in round four so Wetherby were awarded second place on tie-break.

Prestatyn Under 11 semi-final
1: North London Collegiate
2: Heathside ‘A’ (Second on tie-break)
3: Brookland ‘A’ (Third on tie-break)
North London Collegiate, Heathside ‘A’ and Brookland ‘A’ qualified for the under 11 final.
Brookland ‘A’ and Heathside ‘A’ were tied on 20 points each after the final round, but Heathside ‘A’ had beaten Brookland ‘A’ 3 – 2 in the final round so Heathside were awarded second on tie-break.

Prestatyn Under 9 Plate
1: Hallfield
2: RGS Newcastle
3: Belmont

Prestatyn Under 11 Plate
1: North London Collegiate
2: Ecclesall
3: Bishop Fitzgerald

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Camber Sands Under 9 semi-final
1: The Hall ‘A’
2: Homefield
3: Dulwich Prep
The Hall ‘A’, Homefield and Dulwich Prep have qualified for the under 9 final.

Camber Sands Under 11 semi-final
1: North Bridge House ‘A’
2: Heycroft
3: Homefield (Third on tie-break)
North Bridge House ‘A’, Heycroft and Homefield qualified for the under 11 final.

Camber Sands Under 9 Plate
1: The Hall ‘A’
2: Dulwich Prep
3: The Hall ‘C’

Camber Sands Under 11 Plate
1: Dulwich Prep
2: Thames Ditton
3: Coldfall

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Bristol Under 9 semi-final
1: Westminster Under ‘A’ 22 points.
2: St. Paul’s Juniors ‘A’ 20 points.
3: Kings College School 19 points.
Westminster Under and St. Paul’s Juniors in first and second place qualified for the under 9 final.

Bristol Under 11 semi-final
1: The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ Prep ‘A’ 21 points.
2: Westminster Under ‘A’ 19½ points.
3: The Pointer School 18 points.
Haberdashers’ Aske’s and Westminster Under, in first and second place qualified for the under 11 final.

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