Nottinghamshire were represented by two schools in the EPSCA National Schools Semi Finals, on 8th June 2025, by Fernwood Primary School in the Under 11s and Nottingham High Infant and Junior School in the Under 9s. Only the top two schools in age group would go to the National Finals.
Both schools did remarkably well and finished in fifth place in their respective age groups.
They played five rounds of chess against the best chess playing school teams from the north of England.
In the under 11 tournament Fernwood Primary got off to a superb 5-0 winning start. Then a close second round match coming out on top 3-2. A draw followed 2.5-2.5 and then a fourth round loss by 5-0 meant they needed a good win in the last round and other schools to do them a favour. Sadly it was not to be as a narrow 3-2 win meant a 5th place finish.
In the under 9s tournament Nottingham High lost their first match of the tournament 0.5-4.5 against a strong St Bridget’s School. Then followed a 4-1 win and a stunning 5-0 win over Bolton Grammar. Then after a 3-2 win over Dame Allan’s they had moved up to fourth position. In the final round they had to play the joint leader. Sadly a 4-1 loss dropped them in the final standings to fifth, only one and a half points from a third-place finish. It was a valiant effort and they should be proud of their team performance in a very strong tournament. Congratulations also to Nottingham High’s board one player who won four and drew one of his five matches.
Full results are on Chess-Results: