TAFCA SEASON 2023-24 – REPORT
TAFCA 2023-24 SEASON – Oct 23 – Apr 24
The TAFCA 2023-24 season is now over and while as always it`s great to play in, it was not the best season for Castlehill Chess Club. Having said that, we did have some bright points! In the TAFCA Individual, Iain Sneddon won the Presidents Cup (U1650), while Ana Belen Otero Seijas won the Challenge Shield
(U1400). Jan Klingelhoefer finished runner-up (as did Iain, but only one title allowed!) in a strong field, with Scottish Champion Ed Spencer (Dundee) winning the TAFCA Individual.
Rishi Vijayakumar (J13) finished runner-up in the TAFCA Online Allegro series, just being pipped to the post by David Findlay. But Rishi Vijayakumar, and Andre Babin, tied for 1st place, along with David Findlay and Ed Spencer (Dundee) for the TAFCA Online Singles Championship!
Alexander Barron-Majerik (J12) took the Most Improved Junior in TAFCA award, just finishing in front of Josh Dickson. Well done Alexander!
Our TAFCA teams did not fair so well, with Castlehill A finishing in 3rd place on 12 points, and Castlehill B 6th place on 9 points. Castlehill C, did well to stay out of the relegation spot by just two board points after finishing tied on 5 points with St Andrew B! Castlehill D, in a division mostly made up of “A” & “B” teams found the going tough and finished bottom and are relegated to division two.
Our juniors in division two, despite being out graded by all the other teams managed to finish in 7th place out of 9, on 5 points. I consider that to be an outstanding achievement by our juniors and all bodes well for the future! Well done, Matthew Hunter (J15), Josh (J13) & Noah (J11) Dickson, Haoqi Liu (J13), Alexander Barron-Majerik (J12) & Armando Lambertino (J11).
In the TAFCA Online Team Battle, Castlehill finished runners-up to Dundee and in the TAFCA Knockout, all our teams (4) were out by the Q/final stage!
Castlehill Chess Club would like to congratulate Dundee A on their 11th title in a row, an amazing achievement! Also congratulations to our friends across the silvery Tay, Newport Knights on winning the division two title and getting promoted to division one!
Of course, we cannot finish without mentioning the outstanding season the Dundee Chess Club legend, Ed Spencer had! It started off at the Scottish Championships in July 23, when Ed won the Scottish championships and was crowned Scottish Champion 2023!
Ed Spencer (Dundee) 2023-24 season
- Scottish Champion 2023
- TAFCA division one Champions (Dundee A team)
- TAFCA Online Team Battle Champions (Dundee)
- TAFCA Individual Champion
- J.R.Chalmers Grand Prix Memorial winner
- The OTB George Pyrich Allegro Overall Champion (3rd year in a row)!
- The OTB George Pyrich Allegro champion of Perth & Newport Knights
- The joint TAFCA Online Singles Champion
- 4NCL Online division one champion (Dundee City A)
I may have missed something, but as you see, what a season by Ed Spencer, Dundee, TAFCA & Scottish legend!
Thank you all for your support for Castlehill Chess Club, Dundee in the TAFCA League season 2023-24. We have a break now until Sept/Oct 24, when it all kicks off again!
TAFCA WINNERS – ROLL OF HONOUR
OTB
- Division One Champions: Dundee A
- Division Two Champions: Newport Knights
- Knockout Winners: Dundee A
- TAFCA Individual Champion: Ed Spencer (Dundee)
- Presidents Cup (U1650): Iain Sneddon (Castlehill)
- Challenge Shield (U1400): Ana Belen Otero Seijas (Castlehill)
- George Pyrich Allegro Overall Champion: Ed Spencer (Dundee)
Perth & Newport Champion: Ed Spencer (Dundee): Dundee Champions: David Findlay & Jacques Ophoff CM (Dundee)
Kirkcaldy Champion: Martin Gourlay (Perth) & Castlehill Champion: Matthew Deighan (St Andrews) - J.R.Chalmers Grand Prix Memorial winner: Ed Spencer (Dundee)
- TAFCA Most Improved Junior: alexander Barron-Majerik (Castlehill)
ONLINE
- TAFCA Singles Champions: David Findlay, Ed Spencer (Dundee), Rishi Vijayakumar & Andre Babin (Castlehill)
- TAFCA Allegro Grand Prix Series Champion: David Findlay (Dundee)
- TAFCA Team Battle Champions: Dundee Chess Club
- TAFCA Individual Battle Champion: Joshua Crofts (Dundee)