The playing hall at Brentwood School during the event.
Report by Joshua Buka – Year 6
I went to the 5th Brentwood Bank Holiday Rapid Play Tournament, held at Brentwood School on Saturday 29th August 2026. It was a very enjoyable experience, with over 100 players competing in the Open and Minor events. The time control was 20+5, which was perfect for slower players who didn’t want to take part in faster tournaments.
The tournament was organised by Brentwood School’s Director of Chess, International Master Richard Pert, and Head of Chess, Robin Slade. The arbiters were Mohammad Rezaul Islam (father of 12-year-old chess prodigy WFM Ruqayyah Rida) and International FIDE arbiter John Bowley.
I went in the Open section, which was a very strong category with 45 players participating. I was ranked around mid-table in the start list, with my improved rating from the Gigafinals.
- Round 1: Paired against my friend I was put up against my friend Jacob Broad. He could have gone in the Minor but he chose to go in the Open. I was White and went for the Ruy Lopez, an opening which I don’t play much but decided to use in the game. I had a good position in the opening, took advantage of his uncastled king after a few mistakes, and won. (1/1 so far :-))
- Round 2: An interesting game Because of my win in the first round, I was paired against Peter Stone, an adult with a rating of 1948. In the middlegame, I lost my bishop for two pawns. I managed to find some counterplay and came close to winning, but perfect defense from my opponent led to a losing endgame down a bishop, where I had no choice but to resign. (1/2)
- Round 3: My best win of the tournament! I was paired against Vishal Lachani, a junior with a rating slightly lower than mine. After another Ruy Lopez played by me, Vishal doubled my pawns on the kingside so my king was exposed, but I took advantage of the open file to start a deadly attack on his king. A rook sacrifice broke through his position and I won a neat game with checkmate a few moves later. (2/3)
- Round 4: A terrible loss Without doubt, this was my worst game of the tournament, as everything good came crashing down with this 30-move loss. I came in feeling confident against my opponent Karl Gesserman, who had come all the way from Germany to play in the tournament. I was losing early in the opening, and in the middlegame it got worse and I got checkmated. (2/4)
- Round 5: A dominant win I was paired against David Harrington, an opponent who I have faced before in other tournaments. After a normal opening, I used my initiative to create an attack, and then a tactic won me a piece, and the game quickly followed. (3/5)
- Round 6: A dramatic battle! I was facing Thomas Farmer, someone I know well from many other tournaments. As White, I expected to play the Ruy Lopez from his past games, but instead he went for the sharp Sicilian Defence. I picked up the gauntlet and played the Open Variation. In the middlegame, a few minor pieces came off the board and I lost a pawn because of a clever tactic. The endgame appeared and – despite me being down a pawn – I had a queenside majority and was likely to get a passed pawn through. But a sudden flurry of complications led to Thomas having a winning move, which he missed (phew!). After that the win was straightforward, and my pawn majority led to me being up a queen! (4/6 – pretty good!)
Prizegiving was very enjoyable. There were lots of prizes in the two different categories, and lots of books, magazines and even a game of Dobble!™
The Minor was a gargantuan tournament, with 73 players in total playing, many in their first tournament:
- There were three players tied for third place on 4.5 points, which in most tournaments would be enough to get second. They were: Aaryan, Aarav and Owen!
- In second place there were SIX players tied on 5 points, which proves how big this tournament was! They were: Malhar, Rumi, Jazz, Darragh, Regnald and Anirudhan!
- But the winner, on 6/6 points, winning all his games, was… William! His prize was £60!
Now to move on to the tournament I played in: the Open.
Despite being called the Open, this tournament was much tighter:
- Third place with 4.5 was shared by Anushka and Peter!
- Coming up in joint second place was Olga, on 5 points. Her only loss was to Ruqayyah, who also got 5 points.
- And the winner…was: FM Max Pert! His prize was £100!
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the blog!
Joshua Buka focusing hard on his game.
Open Winner FM Max Pert receiving his first-place prize.
Report by Jazz Banoy – Year 10
Going into my first chess tournament, I was super nervous, but also confident and excited to finally play in a tournament after returning to chess a couple of months earlier. I would have been content with 3/6, as I thought that would be a decent result for a first-timer. More than anything, I was looking forward to meeting other players who enjoyed chess like I did.
Round 1 was an amazing feeling because I got my first ever win in an actual tournament, and I was feeling great going into the next round. Round 2 was much harder emotionally. I had a winning position but unfortunately gave it away, and I felt pretty crushed afterwards. However, I didn’t let it loom over me and decided to focus on the games ahead.
That paid off, as I went on to win Rounds 3, 4, 5 and 6, finishing with an amazing score of 5/6 and taking 2nd place!
Looking back, I couldn’t have asked for a better first tournament. I went in expecting 3/6 to be a good result and ended up scoring 5/6 and finishing 2nd. I’m really grateful that I got the opportunity to play, meet other chess players and experience tournament chess, and especially grateful to my mum for supporting me all the way. The tournament has definitely made me want to keep playing and improving at chess.
Jazz Banoy celebrating his 2nd-place trophy in the Minor event.
Report by Anushka – Year 11
As a student and fellow chess player at Brentwood School, I was delighted to be playing in the 5th Brentwood Bank Holiday Rapid Play, as I have done so for the past 5 years I have been attending the school. Despite the gloomy weather of rain and stormy clouds that day, I had quite a lot of fun socialising with junior chess players from around Essex and even the globe, with a player coming over from Berlin.
Similar to previous years, I played in the Open section of the tournament buzzing with anticipation and a bit of nervousness, knowing I would be up against many strong players, a couple even titled. However, I managed to keep my head down and focus, and ended up coming 5th with an overall score of 4.5 points out of 6.
I had a wonderful time playing in this tournament and would recommend it to adults and junior chess players alike, as it was lovely learning from experienced adult players and helping out the younger ones. It wouldn’t have been such a lovely day without the tireless efforts of dedicated chess adults such as Robin Slade, who are the reason we have a thriving junior chess community at Brentwood School and in Essex. I had a great time and am looking forward to playing future events similar to this chess tournament :)
Akaash and Anushka facing off in the Open section.
Report by Jacob Broad – Year 5
For this tournament there were two categories, the Minor and the Open. My rating was just under the level for the Minor, so I could have entered either section. Between myself, my Dad and my coaches Chris & Robin, we decided I should play in the Open, even though I knew I would be one of the lower-rated players. This was an exciting opportunity for me because all of my opponents would be more experienced, and I knew that I could learn a lot.
Before the start of the tournament I was feeling a bit nervous. I stopped feeling nervous almost immediately though, because I was paired against my best friend in the first game, Joshua, who was rated 1560. I lost this game quite quickly and was a bit disappointed, but I managed to recover really well in the next games.
In Round 2, I was paired with a 1400-rated experienced adult player; I drew this game, which felt good. I then beat an adult rated nearly 1500 in the third game, one of my biggest wins in rapidplay! This gave me a big confidence boost. My Dad doesn’t show me other players’ ratings before my games, and we only talk about that after, so these points were a really nice surprise.
I lost the next two games to two very strong adult players, but I managed to finish well with another win against a strong opponent in the last game, and that felt fantastic!
I finished the tournament with 2.5 points out of 6. I was very proud of that score because most of my opponents were much stronger and more experienced than me. Even though it’s disappointing to lose sometimes, I know that playing stronger players is a good way to learn and improve. I was happy at the prizegiving after the tournament because I won a chess book for playing in the Open section, even though I could have entered the Minor section. I learnt a lot from playing in this tournament and recorded all of the moves so that I can learn more from the games that I played.
Ani in the playing hall.
Players battling it out across the boards in the main hall.