Chess Success!!

“The game of chess is a lake in which a mosquito can bathe and an elephant can drown.” Indian proverb

On Tuesday 17 October, a team of 21 players travelled to Avoca State School to represent Shalom in the Term 4 Inter-School Chess Competition. The Term 4 competition is the ‘money round’ where cash prizes are offered attracting teams from Bundaberg, Gladstone, Hervey Bay and Maryborough. Shalom players went into the competition with confidence after winning gold in the Term 3 competition and participating admirably at the State Championships recently.

Once again it was fantastic to see the size of our chess team – the biggest in the region. To have people participating in the noble art of chess is the main aim, so the number of players representing Shalom was particularly pleasing. Furthermore, we have quite a depth of talent at the school, with numerous players who are competitive at the higher levels.

Our top team of Callum M, Waylen H, JJ W and Seth G played some excellent chess falling agonisingly close to the gold medal to take out the silver – an impressive result. Each of these players won 5 out of their 7 games, with Waylen winning 6 games and Callum winning 5 games and a draw. On almost any other day this would be enough to comfortably win the gold. Well done boys!

The Shalom Red team of Luke R, Harry L, Max C and Jacob B, all talented players, was the next highest placing Shalom team playing some excellent chess. Luke has been a fast improver over the last couple of tournaments, again winning five out of his seven matches. Shalom is fortunate to have such depth that we can field multiple teams of very good chess players.

Not far behind was the Shalom Blue team of the next generation chess players consisting of Taniela K, Lachlan B, Cannon Z and Tyler P. Taniela, Lachlan and Tyler won 4 of their matches with Cannon winning three, an impressive effort for a young team.

The Shalom White team of Nicota F, Jack M, Jonathon E and Luca H also performed well on the day, led by Nicota F who won five of his matches – an excellent performance.

It is fantastic that Shalom can field these teams and still have such talent left in the Shalom Yellow and Shalom Green teams represented by Max L, Zach G, Mason C, Beau K and Will M each showing their chess potential. It is hoped that these boys continue to play as they will be formidable in future years.

As mentioned above, Term 4 is the ‘money round’ where cash prizes are given to the best performers on the day. Several Shalom players received money on the day as displayed in the photo below.

If you are interested in playing or learning chess, then you are more than welcome to join us at chess club on Tuesdays at 11.25am-12.00pm in Beerarlem. We would love to see you there. If you wish to keep in touch with all things Shalom Chess, then follow our Sia Chess Group page (https://schoolbox.shalomcollege.com/homepage/6024).

Chess joke of the day:

What does Arnold Schwarzenegger say at the start of a chess game? Ans: I'll be black.

Mr Brendan Maher
Chess Coordinator
maherb@shalomcollege.com 

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