We saw 56 keen Somerset students attend the Gold Coast Primary Hinterland Interschool Chess Championships at Clover Hill State School, Thursday 3 September. This was the first opportunity for players to take part in an event this year due to Covid-19 disruptions.
For many Year 1 students this tournament was their first ever Interschool event!
In the A Division, the Somerset 1 team of Calen Tang, Alessandro Martinese, Michael Rossiter and Elijah Hadikusumo battled fiercely against a large number of students from King's Christian College and All Saints Anglican School throughout the day, finishing equal second to qualify for the Queensland Interschool State Finals in October. Another star in this division was Oscar Credland-Ballantyne who along with Calen finished as Somerset’s top scorers with 5/7. Somerset 2 finished in seventh position.
In B Division the star of the show was Year 1 student Dylan Hu who finished first with 6/7! Somerset also did very well in the teams component with Somerset – Baillie finishing in second place (William Baillie, Paris Liu, Michael Narizhniy, Zhander Griffiths) and Somerset – Yeung in equal third (Dylan Hu, Nate Van Den Brink, Kush Veeramachaneni, Jackson Yeung).
In C Division, Somerset again had another Year 1 star, with Oliver scoring 7/7 to win the division. Somerset – Moir finished equal third (Oliver Moir, Franklin Yang, Ansh Sutaria, Blake Nobbs) which is a great result for an all Year 1 team!
Playing in the lunch clubs, Interschool or external chess tournaments is a vital part of a student’s chess development and I would encourage all students to play as much as they can. ChessKid is another valuable resource that is available to all students enrolled in Somerset Chess programmes.
QLD Rapids: Saturday 12 September at King's CC, Reedy Creek. A great event for juniors and even adults are welcome to play. A number of students mentioned above are regular attendees! Register here.
Nell Van de Graaff Classic: Saturday 19 and Sunday 20th September @ William Duncan SS. Spots filling fast but a perfect event for rated players of all ages. Register here.
Gardiner Chess Online Holiday Program: Tuesday 22 to Thursday 24 with top Gardiner Chess coaches! A perfect opportunity to learn and then put it into practice with a tournament! Register here.
The latest Queensland Junior Ratings have just been released and year 1 student Harrison Qu is the biggest improve from Somerset with +43! Other significant jumps were Lyanna Chan +35, Charlie Liu +28, Dylan Hu +23, Lachlan Hartley +22, Elijah Hadikusumo +22.
For any questions on the Somerset Chess program please contact Andrew at Gardiner Chess.
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