Queen’s College dominated the recently held Secondary Inter-School Team Chess Championships, with its A teams capturing titles in all three divisions.
The competition featured Under-13, Under-15 and Under-20 sections, with teams comprising five players each. Players earned one point for a win, half a point for a draw and none for a loss. The team that scored the most points was the champion of that division.
In the Under-20 division, Queen’s College A secured the title with 27 points from a possible 30, finishing ahead of around 12 teams.
Loki Clarke won all his games for Queen’s College A in the Under-20 category.
The team — Noah Clarke, Chanon Reifer-Belle, Amari Blackett, Loki Clarke, Isaiah Archer and Eden Gibson —won all six of their matches, with their closest contest a narrow 3-2 win over Harrison College A. The Clarke brothers both won their six games.
Harrison College A finished second with 23 points. The team of Mileke Sinckler, Aaron Jaikaran, Jeremiah Farley, Nathan Reid and Naomi Lewis delivered consistent performances but fell short of the top spot. Jaikaran won all six of his matches.
Queen’s College B team edged Combermere A on tie-break after both teams finished on 17 ½ points.
In the Under-15 division, Queen’s College A produced another dominant showing, winning the title with 28 points from a possible 30.
Nathan Simmons-Patterson won all his games for Queen’s College A in the Under-15 section.
The team of Savion Little, Cristopher Greene, Nathan Simmons-Patterson, Jayden Howell, Zefan Scott and Ziede won all of their matches. Greene and Simmons-Patterson each recorded six wins from six games, while Scott scored 100 per cent of his five games.
The Harrison College A team finished in second place with 23 ½ points. Aidan Singh, playing on board one, did his school proud as he won all six of his games, including an upset over the Queens College A team board one player, Savion Little.
The young team of Singh, Kayla Culpepper, Muaz Hussein, Ethan Watson and Luke Conliffe will be looking to improve next year, as they will all be eligible to play in this category.
Combermere’s A team edged out St Winifred’s School by a half point to finish in third spot. Comberemere scored 15 games points versus St Winifreds 14 ½.
In the Under-13 section, Queen’s College A team took the title by a bare one point over the Harrison College A team.
Queens College A scored 26 points while Kolij A scored 25 points. When Queens College A defeated Harrison College A 3-2 in round two of the event. It was just a matter of them holding on to that slim lead throughout the next four rounds. Even as both sides dropped some points to other teams, it was Queen’s College A who held their nerve until the end.
The team of Chaz Reifer-Belle, Jaeda Herbert, Zane Ward, Aiden Greaves, Donte Young, and Nye-Moore Thompson secured the achievement.
Combermere A team finished in third place on 15 points, ahead of the foundation school in fourth place with 15 points.
Approximately 200 players took part in the event from nine schools.
