Teenage Purbeck chess champion Florence has made her move on a place in the England squad after a remarkable year of success on the national stage.
16 year old Florence, who plays for Purbeck Chess Club based in Corfe Castle, Dorset, has already represented England’s youth squad at international tournaments in Paris in France, and Tallinn in Estonia.
Florence and her mother Lucy are looking forward to more success in the world of chess
One to watch in the future
Thanks to her performances in those winning teams, she was selected for the England Under 18 Girls A team in the Glorney Cup, a Home Nations championship held in Wales at the end of July 2025.
With help from an unbeaten run of games from Florence, the Under 18 Girls A team won comfortably, earning her an individual trophy and marking her as a player to watch in the future.
Sadly, when she took part in the National Chess Championship over ten days in August 2025, she went down with a severe cold on the day of her 16th birthday, meaning that she had to withdraw from a couple of her matches and concede a chance to improve her all important ratings.
But despite her illness, Florence still managed to be crowned girls’ champion in the Under 16 Rapidplay championship and share the winner’s title in the Under 16 girls’ Blitz championship.
Before being taken ill, Florence won the girls’ Under 16 Rapidplay championship at the nationals in Liverpool
“Chess takes a lot of resilience”
Florence, who is hoping to become a women’s Candidate Master by taking her rating from 1730 to 2000, said:
“I did quite well until I went down with a really heavy cold. My rating had been increasing, but then it started to go downhill from there as I had to withdraw from two games because I was feeling so bad.
“Chess takes a lot of resilience and actually burns up calories while you play – you need to concentrate for up to four hours at a time, although it goes by quite quickly when you are there.
“But when you are so ill and very hot and you just don’t want to be there, then it was daunting. You have to be able to plan several moves in advance, memorise openings and concentrate on what your opponent is doing.
“I call it a sport, and it was featured in the Sydney Olympic Games as an exhibition event, so you do need to be totally focussed when you play.”
The 2025 National Chess Championship was held at St George’s Hall in Liverpool in July and August 2025
“I beat all the chess club teachers”
Florence added:
“My granddad taught me to play when I was around five or six years old. I liked winning, but I wasn’t allowed to play in my primary school club until I was in Year Five and then I beat everyone, including the teacher.
“I played at senior school, but also beat all the chess club teachers there, though I had to take a long break to concentrate on my GCSEs, I have played some tournaments but haven’t been concentrating so much on chess recently.
“I do really want to get to the rank of Woman Candidate Master, so I play every day for a couple of hours, but now it is mostly online.
“Chess sucks up a lot of intelligent people who miss out on a wonderful career because they get obsessed and can’t stop playing. I’ve seen people forget about their qualifications because they are playing chess, especially the boys.”
Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit has sparked a new interest in chess, but it is the internet which is driving the game’s current growth
Only top players can make a career of chess
Florence is aiming to take maths, further maths, chemistry and computing at A Level, before looking to study computer science at university and go into it as a career.
She says that only the top 20 or so players can make a career just by playing chess, or else end up coaching, but she does want to keep on playing and improving.
She already has plans to enter a tournament in Calais in October 2025 to improve her chess ratings, and will also participate in the Delancey UK chess challenge, where the terafinals will be held at Blenheim Palace.
Her mother Lucy said that tournaments were still heavily dominated by men and only a handful of females played at top level, which made Florence’s inclusion in the mixed sex England teams even more impressive.
Florence helped England Girls U18 A team win the Gilbert Cup in the international Glorney Cup festival in Wales
Missed chance to play a Grand Master
Florence’s mother Lucy said:
“It has been a really successful year for Florence, so it was such a shame about her illness at the national championships. They were held in St George’s Hall in Liverpool, which is a really beautiful building, but crowded, not very well ventilated and with lots of germs going around.
“She got ill on her birthday and had to withdraw from a couple of games in the main competition, but before that she did really well in her games and finished as top female in the Under 16 rapidplay tournament, getting a cup for that.
“There was a chance to play a Grand Master at the end of the tournament, but Florence was very ill by that point, so she sadly missed out on that.
“But before that, she played for England in Paris, where the tournament was held in the Eiffel Tower, and in Tallinn, then for England’s Under 18 Girls A in the Glorney Cup when she was still only 15 years old.
“Florence only likes to go on holiday if chess is involved, so we are going to Calais for a week in October – which is not where I’d choose to stay in France!”
Florence only likes to go on holiday if chess is involved – but it does take her to some wonderful places!
Surge in number of child players
A current surge in the number of children playing chess has been put down to the internet making it so accessible to players of all skill levels.
The Netflix mini series The Queen’s Gambit is also credited with boosting a new interest in chess among women.
Derek Mount, of Purbeck Chess Club, said:
“We meet on a Monday evening at the village hall in Corfe Castle between September and May and have two teams in the Dorset chess league.
“But because of increasing numbers of players we are also planning to enter another team in the Bournemouth chess league when the next chess season starts in September.
“Swanage Library is also encouraging chess in Swanage by organising a regular chess session on the first Wednesday of each month, which is attracting many new players – in particular children.
“It’s not really surprising because chess is now of huge interest, the online site chess.com had 12.5 billion games played on their site in 2023 which equates to 35 million games a day, with numbers rising.
“Purbeck Chess Club is just playing a small part in encouraging chess in the area.”
Further information
- Details of Purbeck Chess Club are on the Dorset Chess website
- Play online opponents or bots at any level at chess.com
