Bootham Students Shine at Yorkshire Junior Chess Cup and International Chessmates Tournament

Published by Bootham School on Wednesday 2nd of April 2025

The weekend of 23rd – 24th March was a busy and successful one for Bootham’s chess players, with several students competing in both the Yorkshire Junior Chess Cup and the prestigious International Chessmates Tournament.

Jasper Kell had a fantastic showing in his first official chess tournament, securing 2nd place in the U1400 Junior Classical Category of the Yorkshire Junior Cup. Jasper finished with an impressive performance rating of 1308, earning a trophy presented by International Master Richard Pallister. His success has already spurred him on to enter the York Mega Final this June – congratulations Jasper!

On Saturday evening, the Blitz competition took place right here at Bootham, in the Meeting Hall, creating an electric atmosphere as students competed on home turf. Bootham was well represented by Julius Lam, Nathan Tan and Jasper Kell, who all rose to the challenge in this fast-paced and demanding event. Julius earned an impressive performance rating of 1575, and Nathan achieved 1238.

Also competing in the Blitz was Alex Morris, who brought his County-level experience to the tournament. Despite a full day of ISSP courses, Alex managed to find the time to compete and delivered an excellent performance, finishing with a performance rating of 1434. Alex also represents York Chessnuts, adding to his breadth of chess experience.

The Junior Classical event coincided with the 12th International Chessmates Tournament, where Grandmaster Gawain Jones was in attendance. Bootham’s Maksym Kryshtafor was competing, representing Estonia. Maksym played his way into the Champions Group, delivering an outstanding series of games and achieving a remarkable performance rating of over 1700 – an extraordinary accomplishment, especially at just 11 years old.

Remarkably, despite the demands of the international competition, Maksym also found time to take part in the Blitz tournament on Saturday evening. In one memorable round, he even faced off against fellow Bootham student Julius Lam, showcasing the strength and depth of Bootham chess!

A huge well done to all the Bootham players who took part – we’re incredibly proud of their efforts, skill and sportsmanship.

If you’d like to learn more, visit the York Press feature here: https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/25027896.chessmates-international-tournament-guildhall/