Chess Team competes in the Otago Championship

Kavanagh's chess team (of 4 players) was comprised of mainly Year 9 and Year 10 players this year, due to one or two of our older players being unavailable. Understandably, they were nervous, with two players competing in a school tournament for the first time.

The competition consists of 7 rounds played over 5 hours. The level of concentration is intense, and one slip can mean the difference between winning or losing.

Our team scored 3.5 out of 7 possible points, which was a solid showing for our young team. Some of the highlights included our captain on board 1, Alison Latawan (Y13), beating the top OBHS player. She also won the prize for top female player of the tournament. Ethan Then also had a good day's play with 5 wins out of 7, and he beat the player from the winning team (LPHS) on board 2.

Yakim Gonen was on board 3. He is an up-and-coming player and scored 4 points for the day. Thanks, too, to Ché McGivern, who played in his first-ever chess tournament and managed 3 points for the day - a great effort from our "rookie"!

Thanks to the whole team for a great day. The future of Kavanagh chess looks good.

- Mr Kelly