Keep a check on Mitchell

Mitchell Burke

FAILSWORTH teenager Mitchell Burke has continued his stealthy progress up the chess ladder.

The 16-year-old Failsworth lad, a pupil at Hulme Grammar School, has been selected for the England junior squad to take on the Czech Republic in Frydek Mistek in April.

Mitchell, who won the Lancashire under-16s title in 2008 and was runner-up in a national under-18s event, has just returned from the London under-21 championship in which he took on older players yet was able to win three of his six matches.

Among the valuable experience he gained last year was his participation in the British Championship in which he was beaten by Heywood-based grand master Keith Arkell, who went on to finish runner-up in the tournament.

Mitchell also represented England in a junior international match in Poland.

A member of the celebrated 3Cs club in Chadderton, Mitchell has been playing chess since he was 10.