Sarah has been teaching chess to my two boys for about three years now. They both enjoy the game and say that Sarah makes the chess lessons fun. From being complete novices they are now playing and winning in the school and county teams. Sarah has gone out of her way to support them and give extra training before competitions. She has developed the school chess team as well which is doing very well. She is passionate about teaching chess and the boys have greatly benefited from learning chess from her.

Hi Sarah, Giya also wanted to let you know that she performed 3 fork moves in the chess MEGA tournament today that she had learnt in your tuesday lessons, which I have attached to this email. She says that this really helped her to come 5th and is really happy about it. She also says that your lessons are always packed with information and tactics and is always looking forward to them! Have a great weekend. Many thanks, Sree

Thanks so much for organising a great tournament. We didn’t get to thank you in person at the end, so wanted to write in. Alex really enjoyed the competition and we really enjoyed the venue!

Very well organised and slickly run tournament in simply the most stunning location! Great for the parents to have a lovely environment to explore while the kid’s get stuck in with their games! Great idea - well done to your team! Honestly we both genuinely mean it - it was the best tournament we have been to in the uk, and a great role model for others to think about doing similar things.“

If there is any real desire in English chess to retain children beyond the primary school stage, then there is so much for those concerned to learn from the way the UKCC communicate about and organise their events, and this was most notable in the running of the 2021 Terafinal. The organisation of such events is clearly a major operation in itself, which UKCC are not alone in achieving successfully. However, it was the thought that went in beyond that organisation which will inspire kids. The prestigious location of Blenheim Palace was a major motivator for children to compete. The quality and quantity of the photos made freely available on social media – properly marking an amazing experience for our children – will cement the experience in theirs’ and their parents’ memories. Finally, and certainly not least importantly, the closing ceremony celebrated all of the children’s achievements and made it clear how amazing they were to have made it so far. These types of thoughtful elements will inspire kids to continue – and others to take up – chess in their teenage years. On the back of increased participation over the last 18 months, organised English Junior Chess just received a timely boost in its image.

Fantastic weekends of chess - very well organised. Sophie enjoyed them immensely. A big thank you to Sarah, Alex and Pauline and all the coaches for giving up so much of their time to make it such a success.

I cannot thank you enough!! You have no idea how grateful we are for this! Thanks so very much xx

Thank you very much Sarah and team for such a fantastic Autumn Term chess club. For these youngsters who love chess and are used to attending chess clubs at school (prior Covid), the possibility to continue with this online has been amazing. You guys have made it fun but also challenging. Carlos has really enjoyed the Wednesday's lessons and the many tournaments he has taken part in. And the fact that there were 3 possible tournaments (Wednesdays after the lesson, Saturdays and Sundays) has meant that he was not upset when he had to miss some due to other commitments. It has worked really well. As a teacher myself, I know how much work it takes to plan, find resources and produce good and engaging lessons, and you have certainly done this. Many thanks and I hope you guys enjoy a well-deserved break. Kind regards, Pilar Navarro (mother of Carlos Patterson-Navarro)

This has been a really good pair of weekends Sarah and Alex, it's obvious you've both put loads of effort into making it interactive. In fact so good that in some ways it's actually better than a normal academy weekend. I'd be quite happy to keep some of the weekends like this after lockdown returns to normal. 👍🙂

“Thanks for organising the Delancey UK chess challenge this year Sarah. It was extremely well organised and the grandeur of Blenheim for the final gave a perfect setting for what was certainly the highest standard of junior chess I have ever seen at a UK tournament. My son had some wins to smile about and made new friends too. Many relatives and club players watched the action from afar on the live feed and my son will I'm sure remember this event fondly for many years to come."

Hi Sarah, it was an amazing event, my daughter loved the venue and really enjoyed the challenge of the games. There’s always something special about the Terafinal and this year was great, thank you for running the event as always! And with a week old baby! Amazing really! Kindest,

Dear Team, I'd like to congratulate you all on the fantastic megafinals and gigafinals that you've organised. I can only imagine what a logistical challenge this must have been! My son, Sammy Musa, really enjoyed playing in both tournaments and it was a really exciting and educational experience for him. I'm sure all the children learnt a lot from this wonderful opportunity and experience. Many thanks, and well done again on organising this fabulous competition. Kind regards, My-Anh

Hello Pauline, I am writing to thank everyone there at the UK Chess especially Mr. Trueman who is my daughter’s (Tina) Coach. Tina has gained a lot of sef-confidence as the result of Mr. Trueman’s lessons and outstanding conduct. He encouraged her to the point that she plan her chess scenario even when in bed. She also came 3rd on the Manchester competition few weeks ago and Mr Trueman’s response to that was just what we needed in our life. Tina lost her confidence since the pandemic and was so much struggling to attend any club and to meet people. I am so grateful for what he did the way she’s trusting herself now, is just remarkable. Next September, She will start high school. She will go to Alderley Edge for Girls I am wondering if you will run a club there? Is there a club she can join in next year ? Thank you so much for everything Best Regards Mariam

Hi Alex and Sarah, Niamh absolutely loved her prize in the post today. We had no idea that she had one until she opened the letter so it was a lovely surprise. It made her day. The chess sessions have been brilliant. I am at work 3 days each week and my husband works from home so the chess camp has kept all three childrem occupied on the days that I am at work and has really improved their chess. Thank you Maria

We would like to thank everyone at UKCC for the excellent job they have done in teaching and stimulating our son to love chess. Our son loves his class and we find the teaching approach amazing.

To play in a Palace felt extra special especially against so many really strong boys and girls from England and Scotland. I liked the fact there was room to play football between rounds so we could relax and make friends instead of worrying all the time about the last game and the next.

hank you very much for providing the chess summer school. Milo has really enjoyed taking part and has improved so much that he has now managed to beat his dad at chess for the first time! He celebrates his 7th birthday tomorrow and had a homemade chess birthday cake with chocolate chess pieces that he wanted to show you. Apparently I set the board up the wrong way round though! Thank you again for providing this wonderful experience for them. Kind regards, Katja

Hi Sarah and Alex, Do hope all is well with you, I expect Isabel is growing fast…and hopefully sleeping through the night! This is to let you know that after 48 years, I shall be retiring from teaching at the end of December so will need to cancel receiving your lovely weekly chess puzzles which we have forwarded to all our players since September. I’ve run Chess Club at Broomgrove Junior School for over 20 years but our association with first Mike Basman and then yourselves has been the thing that has kept me going with tactics, puzzles and general support, but I’ve got to say that the highlight of all those years was you coming to play a simul with our children. They all still remember and talk about it, such was the impact and for this I thank you again. The Delancey UK Chess Challenge is simply an inspired and wonderful tournament that is so exciting and encouraging to all the players be they Megafinal qualifiers or not, however, winning a mascot seems to be the most cherished goal for everyone! I’ve attached my leaving letter to the club members and highlighted a plug I’ve given your organisation. Long may UK Chess Challenge continue and go from strength to strength. With my very best wishes for your successful future, Jean Quinn

Our 3 children have all been coached by Sarah Hegarty starting from as young as 4. She has been fantastic at helping them to understand the game but making it enjoyable as well. She’s been able to very quickly get the children to a very high standard, playing competitively around the country. Can’t recommend Sarah highly enough, and we thank her for giving our children a life long passion for chess.

“Sarah has been an inspirational chess mentor and coach to our son Ethan and to ourselves as chess parents! Ethan has benefited tremendously from her knowledge and advice. Sarah has helped Ethan develop from a talented 6 year old chess player, into a strong player that represented England at age 9 in the under 11 section at European Schools Chess Championships in Poland. Above all, Sarah’s enthusiasm and passion for chess rubs off on all around her and this makes her a very special coach, especially for young players.”

Dear Alex, Thank you again for inviting Tristan to take part in Friday morning’s lesson. It was really good for him and he enjoyed the afternoon much more on Friday. He told me half way through the afternoon that he has his confidence back and we’ve played chess a few times over the weekend which has been lovely. He’s enjoying the Three Check (hope that’s what it’s called!) too and he is thinking ahead much more like he used to. Thank you very much for your feedback and the encouragement to continue. Tristan has asked to do this week’s afternoon sessions so I have signed him up. Hope you, Sarah and your team have a good week. Best wishes, Claire

“My son has been learning chess with Sarah for over a year now. In this time I have seen all the benefits of playing chess: how it helps improving the concentration and the memory, the strategy thinking, how it helps the children dealing with failure, the respect for others, resilience ....all that comes as a given with chess. What Sarah does with chess is taking it to another level, she can make an under9 feel like a Champion, she empowers the children and passes on the passion for the sport. You can tell that she is not only a teacher but also a coach, and she is there when the children feel demotivated or not capable. For me Sarah gives the children chess as a tool for life”

Nicely presented, with some engaging commentary by Danny King and practical examples from Sarah on some endgame positions. A good intro into endgames, and certainly whetted the appetite of our kid - hungry for more of the same!

ECF Academy is a great place to learn intermediate to advanced chess for children who are planning to get into serious chess. The coaching provided by ECF Academy is by experienced and passionate people from the World of Chess.

This weekend, school set some history homework to write about any area of history that they were interested in. Kenneth chose the Fischer-Spassky 1972 world championship, wrote about the two players and how the Cold War was being played out over the chess board. What I’m trying to say is thank you both for the inspiration from March! Best wishes Anna

Great, great intro the endgame. It's presented in such a way that it's easy to understand: Not too long or longwinded, and straight to the point with relevant examples The puzzles are just tricky enough to give a good sense of achievement and make perfect logical sense, so no ambiguous moves here like some courses I have done. Easy for a beginner, even I could understand it! (1000 online), but something tells me that more experienced players would definitely get something out of it. What I also really appreciate is that the example puzzles in the video are not the ones included as training in the course - so you don't get the answers in the video before you train, wasting variations. There are other courses in this Tournament Ready series that are just as good, but I had so much fun with this particular one. This should probably be the first endgame that we beginners should do. The only criticism I can think of, and it's minor and hardly worth mentioning, but so I can add pros and cons - at the end of the course, they mention opposition and say "more on that later". But it's the last video in the course. This doesn’t affect learning in any way though. Absolutely recommended without a doubt. Go Get! If the 'See comment' button does not work, please copy and paste the following URL to your address bar: https://www.chessable.com/discussion/thread/671850/loved-this/

Hi Sarah What a great photo – and I am so pleased to hear how all the boys had such a wonderful attitude too. I will certainly mention them in celebration assembly, as well as put in our weekly newsletter. I am delighted you love the club because it is certainly reciprocal. I think your club has been the most successful external one we have ever had, so thank you so much for offering that opportunity to our children.

Hi UK_Chess_Challenge, the comment is: I'm around 800 elo in chess.com at the moment. That makes it quite hard to find resources because I'm new, but not that new. I know how the pieces move, I know the basic tactic patterns, opening principles, etc. So most content was either too advanced or too basic. But this is just perfect.It's advertised as up to 1600 elo and I think it's true. With people comenting that even if they are on the higher end they got a thing or two. This helped me a lot realize that even though I can solve harder puzzles, the most simple and fundamental things I sometimes still get wrong. Also there were lots of things I didn't know! This is great for filling gaps in knowledge. Solid fundamentals can take you far!

Hi Alexander, I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my last email. Your dedication to making the tournaments enjoyable for everyone is really appreciated, and I’m grateful for the effort you put into organizing them across the UK. I also wanted to say thanks for explaining how the Swiss Manager pairing system works. As a parent of a chess-loving kid, it’s important for me to understand how things like this work, and your explanation was really helpful. After looking into it more, I’ve got a better idea of how the pairings are decided. I remembered there are three basic rules for the Swiss pairing system:       1.    Players with the same scores get matched up.       2.    No player faces the same opponent twice.       3.    Players with similar scores from the top half play those from the bottom half. When I looked at the pairings for the tournament again, I noticed that the first two rules were followed, but there seemed to be some issues with the third rule. Example ,the pairings for the 5th round didn’t seem to follow the usual pattern. The top-ranked player was matched with the third-ranked player, and the second-ranked player with the seventh-ranked player seemed inconsistent with the typical application. While I understand the complexity involved in pairing players with similar scores, I was curious about the rationale behind these specific pairings. In today’s world, where we rely a lot on AI systems, it’s important to understand how they work. Encouraging kids to play chess not only helps them think strategically but also teaches them to think for themselves, which is super important. Thanks again for chatting with me about this and for suggesting the Aberdeen tournament. We’ve decided to go to the Manchester one instead and are looking forward to it. Thanks once again for all your hard work in organizing these tournaments. They’re a great opportunity for chess enthusiasts to show off their skill

I'm a big fan of the whole "Tournament Ready" series. They say specifically they are for Novice / Beginner / Intermediate players and thats correct, obviously more on the beginner side. BUT, that is what makes them great. If I would rank them it would go: Endgames, Tactics, Checkmates ("Opening" not applicable to me) This Endgame course is hands-down my favorite. Most endgame courses get complex too quickly, but this does not. THIS is the basic foundation you really need. I loved it. For reference I bought this course over a year ago when I was 1100 chess.com. I am currently 1550 chess.com, and I really enjoy when these puzzles pops up at the 6-month review mark for a refresher :) I also purchased the video for all of their courses.... and well... I can't say the video is needed. You can see just by how short the videos are that probably not worth it and I guess I didn't see that originally when I bought them lol. FANTASTIC little course though 100% highly recommended!!! (Text only)

"We’ve been spending chess time on your excellent chessable modules. It’s the sort of teaching I’ve been looking for, for Zakariya, for a long time. Thank you”

Really appreciate the time and dedication you and Sarah have put into the program. I'm quite smitten by chess so think it's great thing you're doing 😊

Dear Alex, It was a great day of chess in yesterday’s Southern Gigafinal and the weather was also kind ! Firstly, thank you for the organisation and the choice of venue which is the first time of visit. The day went seamlessly. I am also very happy to find that my son, Jia-Arn Yeung, has qualified for the Challengers round. As it is the first time for him to enter this next round, I am, unfortunately, not able to find the Challengers registration page. Therefore, please could you point out on where one can register for it. Finding that there was a Play off in the U10 group was thrilling, and for parents who were keenly watching over the results, could the Play off results be announced on the WhatsApp chat. This will give out a nice closure to the Gigafinal round. Looking forward to the next round in this exciting competition. Kind regards, Ting Yeung

Hi... Jamie so enjoyed the game today... love seeing him enthusiastic. Thanks take care all. Tess

Dear Sarah and Alex - Thank you for your amazing efforts keeping the UK Chess Challenge going! It is so great that the kids have had something to work towards. And excellent job dealing with the fair play issues. My son feels as though these are being handled well and has faith in the integrity of the online tournament - no mean feat from your side I expect. Thanks again and we look forward to next years event. Kind Regards Tanya

Bodhana finds the ECF Academy and the Club classes really interesting and useful, especially the interactive classes with many questions to the students by John, Adam, Brandon and Sarah that makes her think about various chess games planning and strategy.

Hi Alex and Sarah, Adam is now in gcse year! The school work is increasing and the exams are approaching, unfortunately he's not going to be able to continue with the academy - and we both wanted to say a big thank-you to you both for the work you've put in to the academy and the uk chess challenge! From a parent's point of view, the academy is a great source of inspiration for finding new things for our children to learn - it's hard work as a parent without something like this and you do it so well! Adam's chess has developed so well through the Academy programmes, when I asked Adam what he liked best about the academy - he actually liked the weekend training events more than online - which is interesting, the parent's probably prefer the online approach. He seemed to prefer the more interactive and intensive days, maybe it's something to consider as an event? Adam is only playing a few games at the moment, but he has been enjoying helping with the junior coaching at Guildford chess club over the last year. And I played for an Eng over 50's team this year (with a game published in Chess magazine this month!). I'm considering playing again this year at the world over 50's teams, but only if they move the comp away from Russia! - surely they will!? I wouldn't have been playing if it wasn't for Adam - it's good when families can get involved together, something that I'm sure you will be considering for your children! Adam says he wanted to learn chess after seeing one of my junior trophies on a shelf - the first I knew that he was keen on it was when he came home from school with a megafinal qualification letter - we had no idea what the megafinal was, it was his first proper chess competition and I remember how delighted he was when he qualified for the gigafinal! From there we found a local club and on we went... I'm sure we will see you at a competition or event somewhere at some point?! But in the meantime - we wish you all the very best, and thank

Hi Alex Thanks to you as well for expertly & enthusiastically running the chess academy and - maybe - see you in Leicester at the British ! With best regards Philipp

Dear Alex, Thank you so much for taking the time out and explaining the Hastings tournament. Nice personal touch and the video was spot on, I really appreciate this. Kind Regards Paul

Hi Alex, Thank you for your nice and encouraging email. Also thank you for your tips and of course the improvement framework. Word of mouth is the most powerful sales tool, I only have good things to say about your academy. I'm sure we will bump into each other in due course. Kind Regards Paul & Zac

The materials look ace and I love the progression-they will make a big difference to the my clubs and getting them at the beginning of week is perfect in terms of preparation time

Hi Sarah, This is Madhav's mum. Hope all well. Thank you for running a fabulous chess camp these past weeks. Madhav was super thrilled with his chess puzzle streak and was very keen that I share it with you. Please find it attached. Best wishes Madhuri

William really enjoyed his lessons with the chess academy, but has now started to have 1:1 chess tuition and we just couldn't afford to do both. His sister (Ada Etchells) will be keeping her subscription going though. She really loves doing the checkmate challenge with Sarah and it's motivated her to do a lot more puzzle practice. Kind regards, Lily

Hi Alex / Sarah, Hope all is well. We received the UKCC Gigafinals (Ultima) trophy. Also, we received the medal, cheque for the Blitz and Variant game. Bodhana was very happy and motivated. Thanks for organising such a wonderful event during these tough times. Greatly appreciate your hard work. Message from Bodhana: "Thank you for the Gigafinal Ultima cup, I'll do my best in the Terafinal." Regards, Siva / Lakshmy (for Bodhana)

Sarah’s enthusiasm for chess is infectious. She has a wonderful way of teaching and gives excellent support to chess parents too

Hi Sarah, I trust you are well. A quick email to say thank you for your help and guidance through this tournament. Juliette really enjoyed it, even though the quality of the play was very high! We look forward to joining in again next year! Thanks, Jon (Juliette Elsmore - jetchess3 dad!)

Hi John Just wanted to say a huge thank you for today. It cannot have been easy to pull it together and from our perspective it was very well organised. Furthermore the experience was fabulous for Sebastian and will have increased his confidence no end. He is pleased to have got through to the next round and has enjoyed the day. All the best, James Temperton

Hi all, I just wanted to thank you all so much for the fabulous event over the weekend. It was really well organised and must have been a lot of work sorting out all the logistics for such a big event. Daniel really enjoyed it and it was a pleasure to see so many children enjoying themselves over the board again. James

Merlin really enjoys the sessions and has definitely progressed a lot since this time last year. It has been great that he has had the opportunity to improve during the various lockdowns when so much else has been cancelled. Please pass on our thanks to Sarah for her hard work!

Dear Alex, Many thanks for following up, and also thank you so much for the lovely flowers that just arrived - extra special as it’s my birthday today! Really thoughtful of you. Best wishes, Carly Carly Silver

Sarah is always so professional and Alex really enjoys all the UKCC tournaments and lessons!

I think overall your academy is a very good value for so many lessons per week. My son has definitely improved with Sarah’s puzzle activities.

Yes thank you Sarah and Alex for all your hard work and juggling behind the scenes and well done to all the children who took part. Our child has loved every moment. Thank you.

Thank you so much for arranging the tournament. It's been wonderful that you have managed to offer an online solution in this unusual situation. My daughter has not qualified but we wanted to say well done to those who have qualified and to wish them well in the next round. Thanks again

Hi Sarah and Alex and team - another great effort this year. Can't imagine organising an event for 40000 people. You are doing a brill job 😀

Many thanks to the organisers for organising this amazing tournament online. Kids were really happy to participate especially when so many things got cancelled this summer.

Thanks Alex and Sarah for organising these opportunities for our children....my two have thoroughly enjoyed!!!

Thanks a lot Sarah Alex and the entire team for your hard work to organise and manage the event. It has also helped kids to keep themselves engaged during lock down period by playing different tournaments.👏👏👏👏

Thank you Sarah and Alex my son studied hard after Megafinal and now he got 6 points . Wow. my son studied hard after Megafinal and now he got 6 points . Wow.

‬Thank you Sarah Alex and all the organizers. A really well run event - my son has loved participating!

‬Thanks for organising.... Especially in these times... it is so important for the kids

‬A big thank you to Sarah Alex and team for arranging such a wonderful tournament and providing a great chess platform for kids.👍👍

‬Thanks to all the organisers for the fantastic experience that our children have been given I wouldn’t fault it. You have kept our children extremely motivated during this lock down. Great challenges ahead to look forward to. Thanks Alex

‬Thank you Sarah and Alex for organising One of the best things this lockdown

Made organising hundreds of children look easy

Many thanks! Well organised initiative lot of thought and experience on show !

‬Super contest. Brilliantly organised and great value. Thank you

‬Thanks a million. Has been a wonderful lockdown of fantastically organised chess! Perfect length of time for my 9 year old xx

Regarding the post about cheating..With the current global pandemic a formal chess setting with hundreds of children in one room is not possible. The best we can wish for is an online tournament Yes people may cheat. And while the organisers will do everything they can to catch the worst offenders minor offences can't be screened. It's not feasible to put 50 children in a zoom call (nevermind the possibility for abuse) the logistics would be unmanageable on a day with multiple tournaments. I am totally impressed with the set up and the service we're getting from the tournament managers and thank them for the effort. I worry for the children that are being allowed to cheat or encouraged to. I really feel like people need to stop complaining about what they want or point out that this covid lifestyle isn't a perfect chess environment and work together to help the organisers find any troublemakers

Agreed. A big thank you to Sarah and Alex; a stellar effort to organise somuch chess!

Thanks so much for organising a really great event. Our son really enjoyedit(we chose not to tell him the req score so he doesn’t know how agonisingly close he got - maybe next time..)

It’s been a really well organised tournament so far given the circumstanceswell done to Sarah Alex and the rest of the team 👍

Agreed - brilliant organisation and mind stimulation with all its challenges.Thanks Alex and Sarah.

Thank you very much for running the Delancey tournament despite the stressesandconstraints of the pandemic. It is brilliant that there is this opportunity available and the additional coaching throughout the day is really valuable. Thank you.

Yes I agree - my son has really enjoyed the opportunity to play lots of chessduring lockdown. Thanks for all the hard work that has gone into the organisation of it all

Thanks Sarah and Alex my son Ethan has enjoyed all the competitions. It's a great opportunity to get to play with other kids who love chess. He was a point short of qualifying today but still had a great time. Well done to all those who qualified for the terafinals!

An enormous thanks for four fantastic interactive chess training days to Sarah, Alex, Pauline, the coaches and everyone involved!!

Huge thanks from Riya and ourselves too. She had two great days and is looking forward to the next one! 👏🏼 👍🏻

Great weekends of chess. Thanks Sarah, Andrew and Ravi for last and this weekend sessions. And Alex and Pauline for organizing. Louis enjoyed both.

Many Thanks to Sarah, Alex and all the people involved in making these weekends a big success. Sen really enjoyed both weekends. The format worked really well for remote learning and a good option for the future! 👍🏼👌🏼🙏

A big thank you to Alex, Sarah, the instructors and everyone involved for a fantastic remote academy weekend. 👍🏼👌🏼🙏

Sarah and Alex - thank you for two lovely weekends of chess. Idhant enjoyed them thoroughly and the rotation between coaches worked fantastically well

Thank you to everyone involved in making these weekends as enjoyable!

Thanks Sarah, Alex, Pauline and all the coaches. Krishna was totally engaged through these four days and what a wonderful way to spend his time whilst at home! Although glued to his screen which is not ideal (but he may have been so anyways!), the flip side is that this also saves long trips for chess weekend which itself is exhausting! All in all many thanks for taking the initiative to set these up and whilst it may well have been tougher to set up afresh and run than face to face, it was perhaps even more effective overall. Have a nice evening! Priti and Raghav

Sarah, Alex, Pauline and all the coaches totally agree with all the previous comments really great two weekends. Well done for making the most of these challenging times and coming up with a great solution. Not always easy to cope with all the IT challenges, but well done for getting it sorted!! Joseph really enjoyed it all.

Thanks Alex! Really appreciated! Clement is really enjoying the camp so far. Thank you and the team for great organisation! Kind regards Jun

I can also confirm that Avyanna has received her medal in the post and she is extremely grateful and happy to receive it.

Ah brilliant thanks for getting back to me. Yes that probably makes sense. Thanks again for all the chess over the past few months, Ethan has thoroughly enjoyed it and it has kept him occupied! Thanks Eimear

Thanks Alex Well done on everything UKCC has done this summer. It’s been fantastic. Best wishes James

Dear Alex, Thank you very much for your email. We are greatly appreciate all your and Sarah efforts, it is enormous important for children! Thank you so much! Kind regards, Polina ( Lion’s mother)

Hi there, To all involved in organising the summer chess camps over the last few weeks, many thanks. Whilst our son Nicolas was not able to join in this week, he was fully engaged over the last fortnight and it was time very well spent. It was great to see his enthusiasm for the game and for learning, and particularly to have the online interaction in the mornings beyond playing games against random people on Lichess. Thanks very much and look forward to signing up for future programmes and events with Sarah and the team. Kind regards, Stephen Quin

thank you Jamie really enjoyed week 2, he found some bits hard and spent sooooo long trying to do some of the puzzles. May be if you ever do an on line camp again. You could add a note points for trying.. and points for doing... He loves chess, we where asked to leave one club because he could not seat still he struggles staying focused, and becomes a distraction, but he has done so well and everyday keen, thank you... One of the reasons the on line chess challenge suits Jamie is that he can do as much as he wants when he wants so when he wakes in the night, or just can not settle he on there doing puzzles. And the getting rewarded for the work he done in points for different levels he finished is lovely as he finds it fun, but challenging, he seems to have the same approach to the work sheets. He greatest joy and sorrow is getting the questions right I don’t know how much to get to see of Jamie but he jumping around and every so often does a mini sprint to the end of the room and back again... LOL Tess Jamies mum

Terafinal experience was such a wonderful thing. Thanks for making it such a grand success. We are looking forward for these kind of events in the future.

Just a quick note to say a huge thank you to you, Sarah, and the entire team for the wonderfully organised Chess Challenge competition this year that took place under these strange circumstances.

This couse was fun and amazing, I hope more courses for free was be the same quality.

Hi Sarah, I hope you and your family are well and that the nights have improved from the last time we spoke. Just to say thank you for today, it was another well run day and it was interesting to break it up more with the input from Nevil and Paul. It is appreciated again and I hope you are managing to enjoy some of this lovely weather.

Dear Sarah & Alex, Thanks for everything in Chess this year for my daughter! Wish you all lots of rest and happiness over Christmas & New Year. Kindest, Bharath Reya's dad

Hi Sarah Thanks for asking -- she found it very stimulating and at about the right level. We played a game afterwards where she actually managed to put some of the ideas Adam was talking about into practice :) She still has a problem with making random blunders which obviously she will need to work on separately. btw I also watched the lesson and thought Adam was a really good coach, and the game was very instructive. I'll let you know how she goes on subsequent lessons, take care Dharsh

Many thanks for clarification, Alex. And thanks again to you and the whole team for organising such a great event (imho, most well organised in UK junior chess). Regards, Yuri

Hello Alex I was at Sandown Park for the weekend and just wanted to pass on my congratulations to everyone for such a well organised event in a brilliant venue. They'll be some tired arbiters and organisers today! Best Wishes Robin

Thank you for your email. It was an amazing experience to be part of this grand event. We enjoyed it a lot and Kanishka got a chance to play with all very strong players. Thanks again for the opportunity. Thanks Reshma

Sarah and Alex thank you for staging such a wonderful tournament - the pinnacle of youth chess in the UK - While it proved too tough a challenge for Mia, we are proud of her effort and resolve against the very best young players out there. All best wishes, John Michael Mouskos

Hi Alex, Thank you very much for the excellent organization of Terafinal 2023 and for the opportunity for our family to attend. It was a uniquely inspiring experience, providing insight into chess tournaments at the highest level. Although our daughter Liubava Maksak, 7 y.o., became overexcited and showed a result much lower than her usual capabilities, participation in the Terafinal became a new challenge not only from the point of view of chess as a game but also an important stage in the formation of sports psychology for her. Liubava is determined to prove herself next year and has already begun her preparations with enthusiasm.

Hi Alex, Sarah I just wanted to let you know how much Jack (jakawaka) has been enjoying the coaching with John on Wednesday and Brandon on Friday. It’s definitely enthused him and he’s been working hard on his game. Thanks Andy

Thanks for your response! I'm pleased to say we received it today! Thankyou so much, it looks fantastic and I showed it to the kids tonight at chess club and they were really excited! Just need to get my head round how it works and how I run it now!! Kind regards Lisa.

Hi Alex and John Thank you so much for today, Teddy had a brilliant time. Super well organised and I agree that the venue was fabulous, what a treat to have inhouse caterers too! We look forward to seeing you at the GigaFinal! Best wishes Alice & Teddy O’Meara

ust today also that this was her first chess tournament and it was such a fun and positive experience for her which was in no small part down to the fantastic organisation and hard work of all the volunteers. Thank you!

Hi Alex Thank you for your email - the extra ideas and videos are so kind and thoughtful of you - very much appreciated! I will watch them and ask Leon to do the same. Just got back from the Stroud rapid and he came joint second (again!) so is in a good mood, all ready for Frome tonight, with some classical. Thank you for sending ideas to help my son on the start of his Chess journey. Kindest regards Berin.

That's all good! Kid really takes away a lot from the sessions, we've recommended it to our School group as well, it's a good way to take it to the next level. A lot of our kids are kind of treading water, they excelled in the beginning, and now have kind of plateaued, so this is what is needed for them to step up their game! Many thanks! t.

Hi Sarah/UKCC Team - Many thanks to you all as he has really enjoyed participating. Best wishes Steve

Dear Alex and Sarah, Thank you for organising the Chess Challenge - it is a great opportunity for children to experience competitive chess at a national level. My son enjoyed the tournament, and we have many happy memories of the competition.

Dear all, Thank you for putting in such a fantastic event yesterday. My daughter, Olivia Gee, loved it.

Thank you for organising the Chess Challenge - it is a great opportunity for children to experience competitive chess at a national level. My son enjoyed the tournament, and we have many happy memories of the competition.

I have just signed Zac up for the classic lesson membership. He has really enjoyed his lessons and has learnt a lot from them.

Thank you for everything you are doing to instil a love for chess with the junior players. Lochlan loved being part of the academy.

Dear Emma-Jane, Thank you so much for arranging the Oxford Megafinals on Saturday. It was very well organised and both Ameya and Aaron enjoyed it. Sorry that I did not thank you in person – I saw that another parent was speaking to you after the prizegiving and my kids were tired and want to go home. I can see it was a huge amount of work for you to organise this tournament. Also, I think it is great how you gave prizes separately for girls/boys and among each age category. Thank you for doing this and it really does help to encourage more girls to continue with chess. We will attend again next year. Many thanks, Bevin

Well organised Alex and Sarah again.

Thank you Sarah and Alex. My daughter has loved being part of this.

Thank you for all your hard work. You gave so many children something to look forward too.

Thanks Sarah and Alex for your hard work.

Thanks Sarah and Alex did not think we would get to play this year but bravo for putting it on.

Thank you so much!

Thanks Sarah and Alex! It was a great fun for my son.

thank you all for organising this event!! 👏👏

Thank you for organising this for our children.

Sandesh Tathare: Thanks a lot Sarah Alex and anyone who is helping in arranging online Chess Tournament. ☺👍🏻 Cheers.

Thanks for organising this event 🙌

‬Thanks Sarah and team!!

‬Thanks Sarah Alex and the entire team

Thanks for organising Sarah and team. A great experience! x

‬Many thanks everyone such an invaluable experience for the kids.

‬Great work and thanks to the organising team for keeping the fervour despite the ongoing situation. 👍👍👍

‬Many thanks for organising the tournament despite the situation. I hope they can shake hands physically next year. I think 7 games with 2 min intervals might be a bit tight for kids. Even one half time break for drink and toilet would be appreciated.

‬Great tournament good chess . Greatly Appreciate all efforts for organising. 👌👍

‬Thank you Sarah and team! See you in the next one!

‬Thank you organizers.. A good day and well done!

‬Thank you so much to Sarah & Alex and team. After a full day of chess here I have 2 very tired but happy players 😀

‬Thanks to Alex Sarah and the entire crew behind all the preparations x

‬Thanks a lot Sarah +++

‬Thanks Sarah- great organisation and appreciated the timings with not too long a day for my 9 year old. Jayne

‬Thanks!

‬Thanks to Alex Sarah and team.

‬Many thanks guys my son really enjoyed taking part today 😊

‬Dear Sarah and Alex thank you very much!

‬Thank you 💕

‬Thank you Sarah Alex and all the organisers for the great event.

‬Thank you! Brilliant event!

‬Thank you great contest

‬Thank you Sarah and team for a wonderful event

‬Thank you for the contest

‬Many thanks to the whole team!!!

‬Thank you for the organising and hard work behind the scenes. !!

‬Thank you for all your hard work on behalf of the children 👍

‬Thank you Sarah Alex and the team

‬Great effort Alex Sarah & organising team! Thank you on behalf our kids.

Great run this weeknd thanks Alex!

I concur time limit a good balance organisation was faultless and only so much organisers can do about cheating. Wonderful event overall

Thank you !

Thank you Alex and Sarah for all your efforts

Thank you for the contest

Thank you very much for the great work Sarah and Alex.

Thank you Sarah and Alex 😊 greatly organised tournament.

Thank you!

Thank you to the organisers for organising this tournament.

Great weekend of chess. Thanks again Sarah ,Alex and all the teachers and helpers. 👏

Thanks Alex and Sarah and all the coaches and the organisers. Great weekend 👍🏼

Thank you very much to Sarah, Alex and the team! Naavya really enjoyed the two chess weekends.

Thank you for the excellent event, Alex, Sara and Tim - Andy had lots of fun and enjoyed it too.

Thank you Sarah, Alex, Pauline & all the Coaches for offering another great weekend👏

Thanks to the Academy & all faculty members for a great weekend👏

Thanks v much indeed- excellent weekend all round!

Thanks very much - Bryony really enjoyed it. Shes looking forward to next weekend 😊

Absolutely. Great job Alex & Sarah. 👏

Yes very true. Thank you a lot for the organisation and the streams! Everyone enjoyed it! 👍

Thank you to the instructors and organisers! Terrific weekend

Thank you very much to Alex and Sarah and the team ! 👍

Thanks so much Alex, Sarah, the instructors and everyone involved for an excellent weekend. 👏

Thank you Sarah, Alex, Pauline and all the coaches for another great chess weekend. Charles really enjoyed it. Thank you 🙏

Thanks Sarah, Alex, all team who contribute for this event to happen during this tough time - Krrish enjoyed very much

Many Thanks to all involved

Thanks Sarah, Alex and all the people involved in making these weekends a big success.

Many Thanks for everyone’s time and effort 😊

Thanks very much. Great weekend, and it ran very smoothly.

Thanks a lot Sarah, Alex and the whole team !!

Thank you, it was a productive chess weekend

Thanks Alex, Sarah and Tim - Joseph really enjoyed the two days.

Thanks to all involved

Many thanks to sarah, Alex and all the people. Krrish really enjoyed.🙏🙏

Thank you very much indeed 😊

Thank you for both weekends. Worked really nicely and cheaper than hotels 😁 Though we do miss these weekends for the friendship and camaraderie face to face

Thanks Sarah, Alex, all - Krishna enjoyed very much and engaged through the weekend!

It’s been terrific thank you so much ☺️

Thanks Sarah and Alex, plus David last week, Andy and Danny, from Kenneth’s dad.

Thank you for hosting this event and for the certificate. Regards, Apuva

p.s. loved the Sandown venue. Thanks, Regards, Derek

Thanks for the invite. Aaron really enjoyed the gigafinals, although he will be unable to play in the challengers as we are both playing in the Hull Congress. On a personal note I thought the competition was really well run. Thanks to Sarah and yourself and good luck for the next year.

What a wonderful summer of chess you created thank you... I know I said it before but you gave so much time and energy to this been amazing... Thanks to everyone else to and Pauline for all she done. Jamie already pestering for the autumn camp... I will have to see as school will be sorting after school activities differently this year and I will not know about these for the first 2 weeks. Was Jamie meant to give his points in and comments...?? Thanks again

Hello... Jamie LOVES the Battle Royale. His pleasure and excitement is great... I hope you are proud of yourself too as not everyone can capture Jamie's attention and keep him interested as you have. I am so grateful for all you done

I have been thoroughly enjoying the academy sessions so far :-)

Thank you SO MUCH for the activity sheets which my chesskids absolutely love!! One girl said, "Oh Gary this is so much fun!!". My respect for you and Sarah and anyone who sets them. ....And for kids who can solve them....Do exa kids exist??? Oh yes. This is a mate in 6. Or even 8. !!??? What??!! I struggle with mate in three. I now have 15 kids each week and several of them have signed up for packages and play in your ukchesschallenge tournaments. I am starting a four year old this week and the Deca sheets will be ideal.

Thanks for the update and a I think you’ve done a great job with the online tourneys and training, rgds. Dave Graham

Sarah has been an inspirational chess mentor and coach to our son Ethan and to ourselves as chess parents! Ethan has benefited tremendously from her knowledge and advice. Sarah has helped Ethan develop from a talented 6 year old chess player, into a strong player that represented England at age 9 in the under 11 section at European Schools Chess Championships in Poland. Above all, Sarah’s enthusiasm and passion for chess rubs off on all around her and this makes her a very special coach, especially for young players

At breakfast today, Reya reviewed the FIDE Game 1 - something we are both looking forward to continue during the week. I am really pleased we discovered ECF academy for Reya when we did. The programme curriculum & execution is top notch.

“Thank you for arranging wonderful event and competitions. We appreciate the effort you guys putting over twitch and running the tournament”

Our daughter really enjoys the ECF Academy classes, puzzles, tournaments, evaluation of various chess positions and the lectures by experienced world-class chess speakers. Some of the classes/puzzles improved her to become a better chess player in a short span of time. Also, we have seen a vast improvement in her thinking abilities and reasoning skills.

Thanks to Alex Longson, Sarah Longson and the entire team behind ECF Academy.

We strongly recommend ECF Academy for chess players of all ages. Keep up the good work.

Thank you Alex and Sarah for your support

It was very fun and go a new pb of 22 correct in a row (mate in 3)