BROTHERS Joseff and Jac Thomas have recently returned from representing Wales in the Under 10 section of the World Junior Chess Champion-ships in Oropesa de Mar, Spain.
Joseff, aged 10, is joint Welsh champion at Under 10 level and recently came third in his age group in the all-Britain Chess Gigafinal at Alexandra Palace, London. He also performed well at the British Championships in Millfield in August and two of his best games have been included in the official bulletin of the championships.
Brother Jac is also joint Welsh champion at Under 10 level and he came third in the British Champion-ships Under Eight event. Aged only eight, he was the youngest Welsh competitor in Spain where the age range went up to 18.
He was almost the youngest of the 800 children at the event. In August he became the youngest ever holder of the Roy Clues Trophy for the best performance of a Welsh player (junior or adult) at the British Championship.
Both boys attend The Grange, Monmouth School, where there is a thriving chess club.
Father and coach Kevin Thomas said: "They were both absolutely delighted at this opportunity to represent their country. We had to take their work books with us as they had to miss some school."
There were many Grandmasters of the future at the event in Spain. Ninety-four countries were represented in the Boys' Under 10 event, with each boy playing eleven games.
Joseff won games against Kenya, Slovakia, Sweden and Slovenia and drew against Belgium.
Jac won matches against Bolivia, Sweden, Estonia and Kenya. There were several other games which, although they ended in defeat, were great cut and thrust encounters with boys from all corners of the globe, including Chile, Bulgaria, Argentina, Costa Rica and Poland. They will certainly now have heard of the Thomas brothers in those countries!