Schools’ chess tournament on a high
SOUTHERN junior chess is on a high, as a record 14 teams competed in the annual OtagoSouthland secondary school team tournament in Dunedin at the weekend.
Held in the Learning Centre at John McGlashan College, the tournament was held on Saturday afternoon.
Director of play Quentin Johnson was pleased the tournament had attracted the largest number of teams since it began 14 years ago, and participation was well up on last year’s 11 teams.
The fourstrong individual teams faced a challenging quickplay schedule during the fivehour event, using clocks to complete seven games in which each team had 20 minutes to complete its moves.
‘‘It’s really fun. I love it,’’ year 11 Otago Girls’ High School pupil Cailyn McConnell (15) said of the event.
Cailyn is a member of the recently reestablished chess club at Otago Girls’, and pupils from Otago Boys’ High School have also provided chess coaching at the girls’ school, tournament organisers said.
The Otago Boys’ A team won with 28 points, James Hargest College, of Invercargill was second (19.5), and, after a blitz playoff, Logan Park High School (18) was third, having earlier tied with Kavanagh College, tournament organisers said.
Southland Girls’ High School was the best allgirl team, gaining 6.5 points.
Mr Johnson said the top three teams had qualified for the South Island secondary school chess finals, usually played in September, and the two top teams had qualified for the national team finals in Palmerston North.