CHESS talents from Swindon were squeezed into second place in an English championship at the weekend.

The Wiltshire Under-14 girls' team were competing in the major finals of the English Counties Girls' Chess Federation Cup in Milton Keynes, having won their West of England qualifier last November.

The team was made up of six girls who played three games each.

After the final round the Wiltshire team were neck and neck with Surrey.

Unfortunately, a board count totting up the number of wins on individual boards pushed them into second place and Surrey retained the trophy.

Helena Thomas, the girls' team manager of Wiltshire Junior Chess, said: "This was a great achievement by the Wiltshire team, as Surrey have won this competition every year since it began six years ago.

"Wiltshire has just 19 girls actively playing competitive chess, while Surrey has 230 girls."

Top scorers on Saturday were 12-year-old Alex Torregrosa-Jones, from St Andrew's Ridge, and 11-year-old Samantha Musgrave, from Wootton Bassett, who won all their games.

Fourteen-year-old twins Nicola and Sarah Thomas, from Wroughton, played well against international junior players, while the youngest team members, Megan Owen, from Monmouth, and Holly Carter, from Stratton, both nine, put up a fight against older opposition.