On Wednesday 8 students from John Colet School’s Senior Chess Class competed in the Local Heat at Artarmon Public School of the Sydney Interschool Chess Challenge, which is run by the Sydney Academy of Chess.
There were 90 students competing from 8 schools. Each child had to play 7 timed matches which started at about 9.30am and went through till 2pm, when presentations were made. The team displayed a commendable attitude of sportsmanship, resilience and die-hard competitiveness. It was a very tough field! Daniel S from 5th class inspired the rest of the team with a very impressive score of 5.5/7, meaning that he only lost one match the whole day. He earned himself a Trophy for coming 5th overall and first from our school.
Maisy T from 6th class, a recent recruit to the Chess club, achieved a respectable result of 2.5 points and displayed a tenacious and positive attitude, even having a friendly rematch with another young girl from Willoughby.
On 5/7 points Leo G from Year 5 turned out an amazing performance for a student only recently promoted to the Senior Chess Class. When Daniel s, Leo s, Liam’s and Sean’s scores were added together we had a equal second score of 19.5 points. After consideration was given to the level of our opponents JCS were awarded 3rd place for the Tournament which qualifies us to go through to the Semi-Final Tournament in Term 3.
Miro, our Chessmaster, responded to the news by saying “I cannot believe that such a young inexperienced team qualifiesd to the semis so soon. It was a very tough field/opposition. It is so uplifting to start term 1 on a very positive /successful note. You made my day &”
For the Semi-finals we will be able to take our strongest 5 Chess Players to compete with other School’s from across the State!
In between matches the children enjoyed supporting their fellow team members by spectating their matches and going to the school canteen for ice blocks.
Next week we will taking a diverse team of 12 to the Northern Beaches Primary School Chess Challenge at Mona Vale Public School.
I d like to thank Michael T’s mum, Sascha and Leo G’s mum Gaya, who helped with the transport and a long day of supervision.
Yours in Chess,
Simone P
