The Crossley’s Chess A Team travelled down the M1 to face Nottingham High School in the M1 North Regional Final of the U19 English Schools’ Chess Championship. With a place in June’s national finals at stake, both teams arrived knowing every move would count.

Earlier rounds had seen Crossley’s face mostly lower‑rated opposition, but this match promised to be a real challenge. Nottingham fielded a team closely matched to ours, and the classical 50‑minute time control meant that even the smallest mistake could decide a game.

Board 2 finished first: after capitalising on an early opening error, Alex secured a decisive material advantage and delivered the first point of the day. Soon after, Sri on Board 1 converted a passed pawn to victory against a highly rated opponent, giving Crossley’s a strong 2–0 lead.

Nottingham struck back on Board 6, where Lewis fell to a sharp tactical sequence from the Nottinghamshire U12 champion, narrowing the score to 2–1 and keeping the match very much alive.