The ECF runs standard-rate ones for age-groups U8, U12, U14, U16 (no longer U18 or U21) with 7 rounds over seven days at the traditional British Championships being held this year in Liverpool (see https://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/).

The Delancey Chess Challenge created by the late Michael Basman runs mixed rapid and standard-rate events for age-groups U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18, and U20 in a four-stage system. Schools run their own events to provide qualifiers for regional ¼-final stage events called Megafinals to sound exciting to juniors, which provide qualifiers for four regional ½-final stage events called Gigafinals, which provide qualifiers for the final event called the Terafinal, held at Blenheim Palace. At each pre-final stage, 1 or 2 boys and 1 girl qualify for the next stage. That’s the broad outline. (See https://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com/2025-dates-and-overview/.)

The English Junior Coaches and Organisers Association (EJCOA) runs events for age-groups U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18 and U20 in a two-stage system. First there are Zonal events played at either rapid or standard rate, each of which provides 1 boy and 1 girl qualifier, then a standard-rate Final which takes place this year in Nottingham from 11th to 13th July 2025. Another way of qualifying for the Final is by current standard-play rating: U08, 800+; U10, 1000+; U12, 1200+; U14, 1400+; U16, 1600+; U18: 1700+; U20, 1800+. The Sheffield Zonal is one of only two Zonals this year *, the other being in London on 1st of June. Clearly, virtually all players in the Final will have qualified by rating as the Zonals will generate only 4 qualifiers, though the Zonals of course have value in themselves. (See https://ejcoa.co.uk/national-youth-championships/.)

(* PS Apparently there were in fact 26 to 30 such events earlier in the season, but as they passed by they are removed from the list, and no results are published on the website, and no cumulative list of qualifiers maintained on the website.)

The Sheffield EJCOA Zonal was organised by Jonathan Arnott at Sheffield Chess Centre, 329A Coleford Road, Sheffield, S9 5NF, on 31st of May 2025. Phil Beckett was the chief arbiter. Both Jonathan and Phil are of course former schoolteachers. The event was billed on Chess-Results.com as “Last-Chance EJCOA Qualifier: Sheffield”, reminiscent of “Showdown at the OK Corral”. Timing meant it helpfully coincided with the end of half-term in many schools. The time limit was 15 minutes per player plus a 10-second increment per move. Round 1 was scheduled to start at midday to avoid noise which tends to penetrate the playing area from other parts of the building.

Originally, U20/U18/U16/U14/U12/U10/U8 age-groups were advertised as being catered for. With entries capped at 50 players, that would allow on average 7 players per section. In the event, three sections materialised, Under‑8, Under‑10, and Under‑12‑and‑above, the latter possibly to be split. In the event, splitting of certain sections at least did occur, so the following result tables derived from Chess-Results.com with not tell you who won what age-cum-boy/girl category.

Reference to the EJCOA website will in time provide the answers.

	Under 12 & above

No	Name	Rating		1			2			3			4			5		SPS

1	Seth Woozeer	1835	1	W	6	1	B	8	½	W	2	1	B	4	1	W	5
	SASCA			1			2			2½			3½			4½		13½
2	Adamjeet Singh	1734	1	B	12	1	W	9	½	B	1	1	W	3	1	B	7
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			1			2			2½			3½			4½		13½
3	Amandeep Singh	1483	1	W	17	1	B	18	1	W	5	0	B	2	1	W	6
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			1			2			3			3			4		13
4	Zayd Iqbal	1553	1	B	13	1	W	19	½	B	10	0	W	1	1	B	11
	SASCA			1			2			2½			2½			3½		11½
5	Maksym Kryshtafor	1844	1	B	7	1	W	11	0	B	3	1	W	9	0	B	1
	Eagle And Child			1			2			2			3			3		11
6	Aranya Ghosh	1039	0	B	1	1	W	14	1	B	11	1	W	10	0	B	3
	Leeds *			0			1			2			3			3		9
7	Hugh Shipley	1061	0	W	5	1	B	17	1	W	16	1	B	8	0	W	2
	SASCA			0			1			2			3			3		9
8	Benjamin Findlay	1190	1	B	14	0	W	1	1	B	19	0	W	7	1	B	13
	SASCA			1			1			2			2			3		9
9	Anshuman Panda	1183	1	W	15	0	B	2	1	W	18	0	B	5	1	W	14
	Wakefield			1			1			2			2			3		9
10	Patrik Krajci	1198	½	-	bye	1	B	20	½	W	4	0	B	6	1	W	12
	SASCA			½			1½			2			2			3		9
11	Samiksha Yerabati	1216	1	W	16	0	B	5	0	W	6	1	B	15	0	W	4
	Alwoodley			1			1			1			2			2		7
12	Daniel Plant	945	0	W	2	0	B	16	1	W	15	1	B	19	0	B	10
	Dons			0			0			1			2			2		5
13	Elizabeth Alexander	795	0	W	4	0	B	15	1	W	17	1	B	16	0	W	8
	SASCA			0			0			1			2			2		5
14	Jacob Fletcher	0	0	W	8	0	B	6	1	W	20	1	B	18	0	B	9
	SASCA			0			0			1			2			2		5
15	Rohun Kaza	0	0	B	9	1	W	13	0	B	12	0	W	11	1	W	18
	Coventry Chess Academy			0			1			1			1			2		5
16	Harri Singh Ajula	0	0	B	11	1	W	12	0	B	7	0	W	13	1	B	20
				0			1			1			1			2		5
17	Drupta Vangapally	710	0	B	3	0	W	7	0	B	13	½	B	20	1	W	19
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			0			0			0			½			1½		2
18	Edward Alexander	852	1	B	21	0	W	3	0	B	9	0	W	14	0	B	15
	SASCA			1			1			1			1			1		5
19	Adhwaith Kartha	707	1	W	20	0	B	4	0	W	8	0	W	12	0	B	17
	Alwoodley			1			1			1			1			1		5
20	Ethan Findlay	1389	0	B	19	0	W	10	0	B	14	½	W	17	0	W	16
	SASCA			0			0			0			½			½		1
21	Rico-Bradley Ellis	1717	0	W	18
	Appleby Frodingham			0			0			0			0			0		0

	Under 10

No	Name	Rating		1			2			3			4			5		SPS

1	Amiruth Anbu	886	1	B	13	1	W	6	1	W	2	1	B	4	0	B	3
	Derbyshire *			1			2			3			4			4		14
2	Samarth Ranjan Mishra	1210	1	B	10	1	W	12	0	B	1	1	W	7	1	B	5
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			1			2			2			3			4		12
3	Raphael Stamolampros	1244	1	W	11	0	B	4	1	W	10	1	B	9	1	W	1
	Leeds *			1			1			2			3			4		11
4	Adam Manzoor	776	1	B	14	1	W	3	1	B	5	0	W	1	0	B	7
	The Chess Centre			1			2			3			3			3		12
5	Archisman Saha	998	1	W	8	1	B	9	0	W	4	1	B	6	0	W	2
	Leeds *			1			2			2			3			3		11
6	Henry Stevenson	0	1	-	bye	0	B	1	1	W	11	0	W	5	1	B	14
	London			1			1			2			2			3		9
7	Reyaansh Renjish	862	0	W	9	1	B	8	1	W	14	0	B	2	1	W	4
	Wakefield			0			1			2			2			3		8
8	Alfred Tinkler	707	0	B	5	0	W	7	1	B	13	1	W	12	1	W	11
	Yorkshire Juniors			0			0			1			2			3		6
9	Timothy Ogah	656	1	B	7	0	W	5	1	B	12	0	W	3	½	B	10
	RGS Newcastle			1			1			2			2			2½		8½
10	James Stevens	712	0	W	2	1	B	15	0	B	3	1	W	14	½	W	9
	SASCA			0			1			1			2			2½		6½
11	Alexander Hardie	736	0	B	3	1	W	13	0	B	6	1	W	15	0	B	8
	Victoria Dock			0			1			1			2			2		6
12	Anandhavalli Jeyaganesh	762	1	W	15	0	B	2	0	W	9	0	B	8	1	-	bye
	Darnall & Handsworth			1			1			1			1			2		6
13	Aaron Jinnet	685	0	W	1	0	B	11	0	W	8	1	-	bye	1	B	15
	Yorkshire Juniors			0			0			0			1			2		3
14	Reyansh Vangapally	618	0	W	4	1	-	bye	0	B	7	0	B	10	0	W	6
	Leeds *			0			1			1			1			1		4
15	Viktor Mairesse	410	0	B	12	0	W	10	1	-	bye	0	B	11	0	W	13
	SASCA			0			0			1			1			1		3

	Under 8

No	Name	Rating		1			2			3			4			5		SPS

1	Seth Woozeer	1835	1	W	6	1	B	8	½	W	2	1	B	4	1	W	5
	SASCA			1			2			2½			3½			4½		13½
2	Adamjeet Singh	1734	1	B	12	1	W	9	½	B	1	1	W	3	1	B	7
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			1			2			2½			3½			4½		13½
3	Amandeep Singh	1483	1	W	17	1	B	18	1	W	5	0	B	2	1	W	6
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			1			2			3			3			4		13
4	Zayd Iqbal	1553	1	B	13	1	W	19	½	B	10	0	W	1	1	B	11
	SASCA			1			2			2½			2½			3½		11½
5	Maksym Kryshtafor	1844	1	B	7	1	W	11	0	B	3	1	W	9	0	B	1
	Eagle And Child			1			2			2			3			3		11
6	Aranya Ghosh	1039	0	B	1	1	W	14	1	B	11	1	W	10	0	B	3
	Leeds *			0			1			2			3			3		9
7	Hugh Shipley	1061	0	W	5	1	B	17	1	W	16	1	B	8	0	W	2
	SASCA			0			1			2			3			3		9
8	Benjamin Findlay	1190	1	B	14	0	W	1	1	B	19	0	W	7	1	B	13
	SASCA			1			1			2			2			3		9
9	Anshuman Panda	1183	1	W	15	0	B	2	1	W	18	0	B	5	1	W	14
	Wakefield			1			1			2			2			3		9
10	Patrik Krajci	1198	½	-	bye	1	B	20	½	W	4	0	B	6	1	W	12
	SASCA			½			1½			2			2			3		9
11	Samiksha Yerabati	1216	1	W	16	0	B	5	0	W	6	1	B	15	0	W	4
	Alwoodley			1			1			1			2			2		7
12	Daniel Plant	945	0	W	2	0	B	16	1	W	15	1	B	19	0	B	10
	Dons			0			0			1			2			2		5
13	Elizabeth Alexander	795	0	W	4	0	B	15	1	W	17	1	B	16	0	W	8
	SASCA			0			0			1			2			2		5
14	Jacob Fletcher	0	0	W	8	0	B	6	1	W	20	1	B	18	0	B	9
	SASCA			0			0			1			2			2		5
15	Rohun Kaza	0	0	B	9	1	W	13	0	B	12	0	W	11	1	W	18
	Coventry Chess Academy			0			1			1			1			2		5
16	Harri Singh Ajula	0	0	B	11	1	W	12	0	B	7	0	W	13	1	B	20
				0			1			1			1			2		5
17	Drupta Vangapally	710	0	B	3	0	W	7	0	B	13	½	B	20	1	W	19
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			0			0			0			½			1½		2
18	Edward Alexander	852	1	B	21	0	W	3	0	B	9	0	W	14	0	B	15
	SASCA			1			1			1			1			1		5
19	Adhwaith Kartha	707	1	W	20	0	B	4	0	W	8	0	W	12	0	B	17
	Alwoodley			1			1			1			1			1		5
20	Ethan Findlay	1389	0	B	19	0	W	10	0	B	14	½	W	17	0	W	16
	SASCA			0			0			0			½			½		1
21	Rico-Bradley Ellis	1717	0	W	18
	Appleby Frodingham			0			0			0			0			0		0