THE next monthly Family Chess morning will be held on Saturday at the Discovery Centre (Library) in the town centre.

All are welcome to attend, which is free and starts at 10.30 am It was a great day for the Basingstoke Junior Club players at this year's Hampshire Mega-Finals at Winchester College.

All 12 performed well and each scored a minimum of three points over the six rounds.

At the conclusion no fewer than 10 of the 12 qualified for the Giga-Finals (south of England) Championships.

At the younger age groups Sid Dixit (five points) and Gavin Wang (four points) claimed second and third prizes at the Boys under-sevens qualifying for the Giga-finals.

The youngest and smallest player Alex Yazaki scored a remarkable three points. Edison Brown scored 3½ points at the Boys under 8’s and qualified for the Giga Finals.

In the Boys under-nines’s Owen Wang claimed the first place and title of Supremo with 5½ points.

Vir Dixit in the same age group claimed second place with five points and both qualify for the Giga-Finals.

In his first Congress Liam Durangpanang scored a creditable three points in the same age group.

Eva Yazaki played her best chess in claiming third place and in a tough girl's under-10 section scoring an excellent four points and qualifying for the Giga-Finals.

The dependable Ted Mayne scored four points claiming third place prize in the boy's under-10 and qualifying for the Giga Finals.

George Dayman had a solid competition in gaining 3½ points in the Boy's under-11 which was enough for qualification to the Giga Finals.

Jay Negargar claimed the third place prize in the Boy's under-12s with four points and also qualifies for the Giga Finals.

Jenna Fyfe competed in a very tough Girl's under-14 group and claimed second place with 4 points and qualification to the Giga Finals.

The Basingstoke Chess Clubs league season has drawn to a close.

Overall it has been a successful season for the club. However there was disappointment for the Berkshire League team who finished bottom of the ultra tough Division One.

In the Borders League the A team in Division One were in contention for most of the season but fell just short of winning the league.

In the final match they won 3 ½-1 ½ over Crowthorne C who are favourites to win it.

The points came from wins by Ivan Stipcevic and Daniel Yu plus draws from David Graham, Mo Negargar and Barry Kocan.

The B team finished in mid table after a 3-1 reverse at Crowthorne D. John Shaddick gained the point with a win.

However the C team won the newly created Division Seven with a 3 ½-1 ½ win at Crowthorne F.

The points came from wins by Peter Beldaus, Shwetal Bhatt and Adam Matthews plus a draw from Philip Ware.

In the Southampton League, Basingstoke finished second despite a good 3 ½ -1 ½ win in the last match at Winchester A.

The points came from wins by Liam Blanc, Ivan Stipcevic and David Graham plus a draw from John Shaddick.

In the final of the Basingstoke Individual Chess Championship (Joe French Cup) Steven Jones will play Liam Blanc in the Final. In the Charles Henshaw Shield Final Philip Ware will play Shwetal Bhatt.

Basingstoke Chess Club meet at Maydene in Sherborne Road every Wednesday. New and old members welcome. Details and information can be obtained from Club Secretary David Graham davidgrahambcs@yahoo.co.uk