SJC Online Club Awards 2026 - Suffolk Junior Chess

It’s time again for the SJC online club to present awards for the previous season; the period from September 2025 to August 2026. This season’s awards are as follows:

Best Newcomer
Club Player of the Year
Performance of the Year
Most Improved Player
Player of the Year

Winners have been awarded one of a range of books for different abilities.

Best Newcomer

How To Win At Chess – by Daniel King

Thomas Porch

Joined the SJC online club just under 1 year ago
Attacking blitz player
Quickly improved their level of play and chess knowledge
Attended first OTB tournament in Martlesham Heath

Club Player of the Year

This year, three members receive a club player of the year award.

Logical Chess: Move by Move: Every Move Explained – by Irving Chernev

Kalp Vyas

Regular attendee in all online club events for over five years
Played over-the-board chess too and represented Suffolk in the EACU Championship
Always chirpy and makes the club a more interesting

Chess Player’s Bible – by James Eade

Angus McFarland

Regular attendee
Very communicative and keen to learn
Plays fair and fights tough

Chess – by Stefan Zweig
👕 Suffolk Junior Chess Sweatshirt

Jon Ferris

Outstanding contribution as Team Manager of SJC online J4NCL (Junior National League) teams
Back-to-back promotion from division 3 to division 1
Encouraging players of all levels to participate and experience competitive online chess
Suffolk Juniors retained division 1 status

Performance of the Year

Elena Young

Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games – László Polgár

Probably deserves to share the best newcomer prize too, as she’s been a regular since joining at the end of 2025
Represented Suffolk in the EACU County Championship last year
Perfect 4/4 score in the SJC Wednesday Evening session was one of the highlights of the year

Most Improved Player

Build up your Chess, The Fundamentals: 1 – by Artur Yusopov

Claire Hersey

All members have improved over the past year
Super-keen to learn about chess and since she began playing on Lichess more regularly with the SJC online club, her rating has increased quite significantly in a short period
Attended the summer coaching sessions
Improved via more than one route; Claire’s participated in long-play events, represented her county, joined in with online events too, and worked hard on different aspects of her game

Player of the Year

Attacking Chess: The French: A Dynamic Repertoire for Black – by Simon Williams

Lenny Horn

This is becoming the norm, but over the course of the year, this player has improved their online and OTB ratings, represented SJC in the majority of the events, including over the summer coaching sessions
This season, there are likely to be more members biting on Lenny’s toes, so watch out Lenny!