New Club teen prodigy beats adults winning chess tournament in Yorkshire

Ted enjoying a recent chess event in Guildford

Ted enjoying a recent chess event in Guildford

Ted Filby, new to the game of chess, has just won his section at the Scarborough Chess Congress, a prestigious annual event in English Chess.

14 year old Eastbourne school ‘Gildredge House’ student Ted only started playing chess in January this year after watching Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit”.

The event, held in the seafront Scarborough Spa Centre from the 29th until the 31st of October 2021, entailed five rounds of matches played over the weekend, lasting up to 4 hours each making them a test of stamina as well as skill.

As an unranked player Ted had to start at the bottom of the list in the intermediate section against 65 adult and far more experienced players from all over the country.

He was able to put in a lot of practice time during lockdown and has also benefited from personal coaching by Eastbourne Chess Club’s Lithuanian-born WFM (Women’s FIDE Master), now Eastbourne resident, Rasa Norinkeviciute and that the Hastings & St Leonard’s Chess Club and Sussex Junior Chess have helped him advance from his initial interest.

Winning his first three matches earned him the promotion into the final day of moving up into the leading group of players.

In the fourth round he faced the only other player with a 100% record, but still beat Leeds University PhD researcher Luke Gostelow. In the finale, after 90 minutes play, Ted knew that a drawn (half point) match would be enough for a podium finish so he happily accepted his opponent’s offer. Following a nervous wait, news of other results eventually came through that confirmed Ted had taken first place, plus prize money of £400.

Ted said “As it was my first senior tournament I was just very pleased to win a couple of matches but then I realised I might be able to win a prize. In the last match I probably also had winning chances but it worked out well for me with the draw being enough.”

For this ‘Post-The Queen’s Gambit’ ‘would-be King’, after his great achievement of winning his first senior tournament, Ted’s next aim is to get selected for the Sussex Junior Chess Team and to ascend the English Chess Federation (ECF) ranking list.

Since putting this information together Ted has had further success in that he took 3rd place in the 6 Round Sussex U18 Swiss Championship held on Sunday 7th Nov at Hassocks, again against a strong field of older and much more experienced players. He got a draw against the number one seeded England player Jonathan Britnell in Round 4; he followed that up by beating second seed Alec Hedger in Round 5 and so was in contention to completely ‘upset the form book’ until coming unstuck in the final round of matches.

 

Media, Press & Publicity Officer