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Written by: James Gallagher

Published: 19 February 2019

Merseyside Junior Chess Overview

Junior Chess on Merseyside is growing rapidly with a many schools and chess clubs offering chess lessons and the chance for juniors to play against each other competitively.

Merseyside Junior Chess Clubs

There are 3 main chess club that offer junior chess on Merseyside:
Liverpool Chess Club and Liverpool Chess Club
Southport Chess Club and profile of Southport Chess Club
Hoylake Great Meols Chess Club - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Details of all above clubs can be found on the MCA Chess Clubs website.

Chess in Schools

Many junior schools on Merseyside run Chess Clubs, some of these school chess clubs are run by school teachers or volunteers from chess clubs whilst others receive chess coaching from the Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) charity.

More information on how your school could get training from CSC can be found on their website:
https://www.chessinschools.co.uk

Alternatively, if a school requires general advice or assistance on how to set up your own school chess club or some chess sets etc. to get you started, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Merseyside Junior Chess League

A number of Merseyside chess clubs and School chess clubs compete in the Merseyside Junior Chess league on a regular basis. This allows juniors and teams to compete head on with other clubs and games are rated by the English Chess Federation so juniors can see how they rank on a  national level compared to players from around the country.

The Merseyside Junior chess league can be found here:
MCA Junior Division 1
MCA Junior Division 2

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Merseyside Junior Chess Congresses

The Merseyside Chess Congresses take place a couple of times a year to let individual players compete against all other juniors on Merseyside and to see who becomes the Merseyside Junior chess champion. These tournaments are usually in categories of under 9, under 11 and over 11.
Details will be published on the Merseyside Chess Association website.

Any individual junior chess players can get involved in the Merseyside Junior chess squad and congresses, even if you are not a member of a chess club or a school that runs a chess club on Merseyside. To get registered please send the completed registration form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

National Junior Chess Overview

Merseyside junior chess players may also have the opportunity to get involved in chess competitions on a National Level:
Individual Chess Congresses
Merseyside junior Chess Team competing with other Counties for national titles
U9/U11 - Inter Association Championships (below)
U12, U14, U16, U18 - NYCA Championship (below)
National Primary Schools Chess Competition (NPSCC)
Merseyside Primary school Challenge at St George’s Hall - Liverpool
GB Quadrangular Event - U12, U14, U16 - Liverpool
Junior 4NCL Team weekends - competing for National Titles  - http://www.4ncl.co.uk
England EPSCA Team - if selected (English Primary Schools Chess Association)
England ECF Team - if selected

ECF Chess Congresses:

The English Chess Federation and many clubs run National Chess Congresses for juniors only and others for juniors and adults combined. Details of all the ECF registered Chess Congresses  can be found on the ECF Chess Calendar.

Merseyside Junior Chess Teams - Inter Association Championships

The Merseyside Junior chess teams compete in the National EPSCA County championships. There are Northern heats/zones held in the North of England for U11s and U9s (March) with the top Northern qualifying teams going on to play in the National Finals (April) usually in a Midlands location.

The Merseyside teams will be selected from the Merseyside squad on Teamer App. If you would like to be added to the Merseyside squad, please register on teamer.net or contact James Gallagher (contact details above).

2019 dates:
U11’s - 9th March - Manchester (20 + 4 reserve places)
U9’s - 16th March - Liverpool Broadgreen (12 + 4 reserve places)

National Youth Chess Association Championships (NYCA) - U12, U14, U16, U18

Merseyside and County Teams from all over the UK will compete head to head in this 1 day Rapidplay NYCA event to decide who are the top County team in the UK.

September - U14, U18 - Midlands - 1 day
November - U12, U16 - Midlands - 1 day

NYCA Webpage on National Chess Junior Squad site.
(James Gallagher organises the Merseyside teams)

GB Quadrangular Junior Chess Event - U12, U14, U16

Each December North of England Junior Chess team takes on teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Midlands in this Quadrangular event for U12, U14 and U16 teams.

This is a 2 day event usually held in Liverpool College School and a chance for Merseyside juniors to play on a National level competitively against some of the best players in UK/I - (if selected)

This is organised by EPCSA team Peter Purland and Glynis Purland https://www.epsca.org.uk
Primary School Team Chess Competitions

National Primary Schools Chess Competition (NPSCC) - organised by EPSCA (Jan-July)

Any UK primary school may enter the NPSCC tournament. There is a Merseyside qualifying zone (Jan - March) with qualifying teams progressing to one of the three North/Midlands/South Semi Finals (May-June) with the final usually taking place in July to decide the best primary chess school in the UK for Under 9s and Under 11s.

Round 1 Zones - 1 day - (Jan-March) Merseyside - (half of teams qualify for SF)
Semi Finals and plate - 2 day - (May-June) Pontins Prestatyn - (3 teams qualify for Finals)
Finals - 2 day - (July) - Venue TBC - Midlands - (8 teams compete for U9 and U11 Titles)

Teams not qualifying for the Semi-Finals may still attend the Semi-Final event and compete for the Plate title, which is open to all teams who did not qualify for the Semi-finals. This allows teams to take part in the exciting experience of the Semi Final event and compete for the Plate title.

All Merseyside primary schools are very welcome to enter 1 or more teams into this event.

Further details of the competition may be found here on the EPSCA NPSCC webpage.

https://www.epsca.org.uk/npscc.html

Merseyside Primary School Chess Challenge - St Georges Hall Liverpool - (May/June/July)

Every summer “Chess in Schools” run an event for all primary schools in Merseyside to compete at the fabulous St George’s Hall in Liverpool for U7,U8, U9, U10 and U11 titles.

Last year nearly 400 children coming from 35 school from Merseyside and beyond gather in the beautiful surroundings of St. George Hall on Monday 25th June to compete in the 4th Chess in Schools and Communities Merseyside Junior Chess Tournament. The Mayor of Liverpool chancellor Joe Anderson presented the prizes.

All Merseyside primary schools are welcome to enter a team to the event.

Details can be found on the Chess in Schools website.

Top Level Junior National Chess

The highest level of chess for the UK is: Junior 4 Nations Chess League (Merseyside Junior Team) - (4 places + 1 reserve) - Open to all juniors Under 18 and below Team competition - Takes place over 3 weekends a year in Midlands region which usually means staying at hotel/venue on the Saturday evening. Merseyside Junior team selection by invitation
(Merseyside Junior Team organised by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

EPSCA England Team - Under 11’s: England Primary school age England Chess Teams playing against other countries both home and abroad - Requires serious commitment from juniors and parents to travel away if selected.

Selection for the England EPSCA Team is found on the EPSCA Website.
(EPSCA England Team organised by Peter Purland)

ECF England Junior Team - Under 18: Then Ultimately the “English Chess Federation Official England Team” which is of course by special invitation only based on grade and performances on other National competitions.

This is the Official England Junior Chess Team for very best junior players in England up to U18 which will compete on a global stage regularly requiring the highest level of commitment from juniors and parents for fixtures. (Organised by Alex Holowczak - Director of Junior Chess at English Chess Federation)

National Chess Links and Phone numbers:

ECF Grading Database Website: https://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/new/menu.php

ECF Membership Guidelines: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/new-membership-system/

ECF Membership Registration: https://ecf.azolve.com/

ECF Membership Phone number: 01424 775222

Teamer App  - (for organising teams and players) - www.teamer.net”

The Teamer App/website (teamer.net) is used by Merseyside Juniors and Liverpool Chess club to organise all fixtures.

The Teamer app is GDPR compliant and all contact details of players and parents can only be viewed by the administrators, no players can see other players contact details.

James Gallagher has been using the teamer application successfully to organise Liverpool Chess team selections for some years and therefore recommends the application for the Merseyside Junior team selection process.

Prior to registering we refer you to read the Teamer Terms and Conditions and Privacy policy regarding their use of data  

Players register on Teamer and are then included in the Merseyside Junior squad for their relevant age. Team captains may then select players for tournaments/congresses and events easily, with all selected players notified of selections and upcoming events.

Please send your “ Registration details’ as shown above to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or request that your school chess club coach forward the details to James Gallagher on your behalf.
“Date of birth of Players must be provided”

If you ask for your child to be added to the Merseyside Squad, you will receive a request from “teamer” to accept your registration on the TeamerApp. After this you will be notified of all Merseyside Junior Chess events automatically and you can remove yourself from this service at any time if necessary.

Join Junior Squad
You can request your child to be added to the Merseyside Junior Chess Database below.
Links to Junior Junior Teams based on DOB (School year) here:

DOB September 2003 to August 2004

DOB September 2004 to August 2005

DOB September 2005 to August 2006

DOB September 2006 to August 2007

DOB September 2007 to August 2008

DOB September 2008 to August 2009

DOB September 2009 to August 2010

DOB September 2010 to August 2011

DOB September 2011 to August 2012

DOB September 2012 to August 2013

(Once your request has been received you may be contacted for verification purposes and then added to the team)