Chess Championships

Somerset Chess students were busy over the holidays with two major events taking place. Over Scholars' Day weekend, the Australian Schools Teams Championship took place with Somerset College represented by Eason Wang, Anson Qu, Melody Yang, Sophia Ahern and Kona Baldock in the Open Primary division, the team battled admirably across the weekend to finish equal second.

Welcome to Somerset Chess 2020! Co-Curricular lessons have now commenced. If you have missed out on signing up so far, please make sure to do so ASAP.

Information can be found via the My Somerset Community – Electives Tab. The Thursday afternoon sessions for Senior students and for the advanced Junior School students have also commenced – sign up in the same way as Co-Curricular lessons.

Lunch clubs have also commenced as follows:

Years 1 and 2: Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday in Year 2 classroomsYears 3 to 6: Monday/ Wednesday/ FridaySecondary: Thursdays

Australian Schools Teams Championship

The Australian Schools Team Championship was held at Canberra Grammar School on the weekend of November 30/December 1. We flew down to Canberra on the last day of school with our coaches Dusan, Shaun, Mr Gardiner and some of our parents and grandparents. For the first day we just relaxed and went to Questicon, where we played 4 player air hockey and did a six-metre free-fall!

When Day 1 started we all turned on serious mode. We all started training and preparing for our first matches against WA, NSW and ACT. We did well scoring 4 to 0, 3 to 1, 2.5 to 1.5 respectively (total 9.5/12 on day 1), and were ready for Day 2. In the fourth round we had to play SA - one of the strongest teams, and very hard to beat. Unfortunately we down 1.5 to 2.5 - an okay result, but we knew that if we wanted to win the whole tournament, we would have to win all our games against VIC, the strongest team.

As we prepared for our final match, with our coaches preparing us to the final second, we started feeling nervous yet excited, our hearts pumping as the adrenaline coursed through our veins, talk about pressure! As went sat down opposite our opponents, we tried to remember everything we ever learnt about this game. Soon the clocks started ticking. Everyone in the Somerset team pushed as hard as they could for that victory, without relent. With every game going on for more than an hour our parents quickly started getting more and more anxious, waiting for the result of the game. Finally, when the pieces had all been reset and all the games were finished, could they breathe a sigh of relief. Even through the best of the efforts of the team, VIC was just too strong and we did not manage to pull of that flawless victory.

We ended up placing third in Nationals just losing the tie-break for second against SA. We all had an amazing time on this trip having fun and playing chess side by side, we will never forget it.

I would like to thank Gardiner Chess for making this whole tournament possible, our amazing coaches Shaun, Dusan and Mr Gardiner, and last but not least our wonderful parents and grandparents - without them none of this could have been achieved. I am honoured representing my school Somerset College and hope to have many more opportunities in the future. Thank you.

The Australian Junior Chess Championships were held in the last week of the holidays on the Gold Coast. The standout performance was Calen Tang in the Under 8 tournament as he finished in 3rd place! In total 16 students took part in the various tournaments.

Under 8 Open – Calen Tang 7/9, Alessandro Martinese 5/9, Dylan Hu 3/9

Under 8 Girls – Kitty Pallister 3/8

Under 10 Open – Oscar Credland-Ballantyne 4/9, Elijah Hadikusumo 2.5/9

Under 12 Open – Sasha Hanford 3.5/9, Ken Wu 3.5/9

Under 12-18 Girls – Sophia Ahern 4/9

Under 14 Open – Eason Wang 6/9, Kenny Ming 5.5/9, Kona Baldock 5/9, Melody Yang 3.5/9

Under 16 Open – Jason Li 5/9, Charlie Liu 3/9

Under 18 Open – Oliver Yang 5/9

Under 18 Blitz Achievement – Oliver Yang, 2nd Under 14

If you have any queries about the chess programme at Somerset College, please contact us via info@gardinerchess.com.au or on 5522 7221.