Alyssa makes it a family hat-trick in chess finals

Alyssa Morris (left) with her champions trophy along with fellow medalists Rhian Morris and Lucy Hunt and Josh Necesito

Alyssa was one of eight pupils from Parish Church Primary School who took part in the event, which was part of the National Delancey Chess Competition.

Her win maintained an extraordinary family record in the event as this was her second win in three years, her victories sandwiching a win for her twin sister Rhiann last year.

Alyssa was the highest scoring under-11 girl with five points out of six, including a victory against Rhian in the final round to give her the gold medal while Rhiann took silver.

Alyssa will now travel to Manchester in July to take part in the North of England Championships which is the final step before the British Finals.

Alyssa said “Two years ago I was the Suprema and then last year it was my sister Rhian, so we are keeping the trophy in the family.

“Last year Manchester was so hard but this is my final year with Parish to try and get to the British finals.

“It will be really difficult to get four points there but I will do everything I can to do it.

“I really love playing chess and practising with my family.

“Mr Fisher and Mr Anderson have made me an even better player this year and Mr Anderson only just managed to beat both myself and Rhian when we were waiting between games.”

John Anderson, teacher and chess club organiser at the school, believes chess to be a very important game for children.

He said: “It really gets them to think critically in different ways and some countries believe it is so important they make it compulsory for children at school.

“To have a child getting to Manchester for the third year in a row is a real achievement, which we are all immensely proud of.

As well as Alyssa and Rhiann, Parish had plenty of other success in Lincoln as Lucy Hunt took third place overall in the under-10s section, while Josh Necesito was praised by the organisers for his sporting attitude and manner of his play.

Mr Anderson continued: “We must say a big thank you to all the parents involved as they are not allowed to watch the games due to the chess fair play rules, so have to sit in another room all day.

“We all wish Alyssa the very best of luck at Manchester and it is nearly 20 years since a pupil from a Gainsborough school made it to the national finals so it’s about time that we had a modern qualifier.”