Somerset Chess Holiday Recap

Welcome back to school everyone! Here we have a quick look at some of the highlights for Somerset students from tournaments in the school holidays.

Congratulations to the 2021 Captains of Chess: Byron Morris and Jennifer Yeung!

Australian Schools Teams Championships

Held online for the first time due to border restrictions, the Somerset Senior Girls team of Lyanna Chan, Jennifer Yeung, Melody Yang and Nina Varcoe took on schools from NSW, ACT, VIC, SA and WA. In the hunt throughout the tournament, Somerset went close to upsetting the favourites and eventual winners Presbyterian Ladies College (VIC) in Round 1, before accounting for Perth Modern School (WA) and then going down to James Ruse Agricultural School (NSW) in Round 3. In Round 4 the girls defeated The Wilderness School (SA) before drawing with Lyneham High (ACT) for a final result of third position. Individually, Melody Yang scored 4/5 on board three to win the board prize. The girls are keen to return in 2021 and push further up the podium!

Queensland Junior Championships

• In the Under 8 Championship, Dylan Hu, Harrison Qu and Calen Tang took part, with Calen finishing = tenth.
• In the Under 10 Championship, Harrison Qu and Calen Tang took on the older age group, with Calen finishing = fourth.
• In the Under 12 Championship, Oscar Credland-Ballantyne, Harrison Qu and Calen Tang all took part, with Calen finishing = sixth with both Calen and Harrison playing up two age groups.
• In the Under 14 to 18 Championship, Eason Wang (=eighth overall and shared third Under 14/16) and Byron Morris (third overall and Under 16 Champion) performed very well and should be super proud of their efforts.
• In the Queensland Junior Blitz Championships, Dylan Hu and Byron Morris took part in the Under 12/18 divisions respectively, with Byron Morris getting second place Under 16

Xmas Swiss Weekender (Brisbane)

Despite being seeded 11th in this tournament, Byron Morris (pictured, defeating one of Queensland top players, Gene Nakauchi) pulled off a fantastic achievement in winning this event with 5.5/6, including defeating the first and third seeds. According to Mr Gardiner this is likely the first Open event (event with no entry restrictions) won by a Somerset student. Kenny Ming (4.5/6, = fifth) performed very well, as did Calen Tang (3/6) and Harrison Qu (2/6) who performed well against much more seasoned opponents.

Gold Coast Summer Cup

Many Somerset students took part in this event, and the surprise packet was Harrison Qu – one of the younger players in the event - who put in a superb performance 6.5/7 to win the event outright. Harrison performed at a level nearly double his rating at the time! Dylan Hu (4.5/7), Paul Sangyon (from Prep!) Annika Lim, Ben Blashki, Ashton Jennings, Harry Couper, and Sam Gilshenan also took part.

On the latest rating list there were some huge jumps with Calen Tang +162, Harrison Qu +86, Oscar Credland-Ballantyne +42, Dylan Hu +42, and Byron Morris +40.

There plenty of opportunities coming up this year with co-curricular programmes for the Junior and Senior Schools, a secondary Thursday afternoon club, a Friday afternoon Years 1 to 12 club and regular lunch clubs all available.

Please check Schoolbox for more information!