Two recent Interschool Zones have seen more qualifiers for the National Finals, which will be held at Pigeon Mountain Primary School on 18 October (full details here).

At Howick on 18 August Bucklands Beach Intermediate won the Intermediate division ahead of Ponsonby Intermediate, while Pigeon Mountain Primary won the Primary division ahead of Hillsborough and Bucklands Beach Primary School.

At Papakura on 31 August hosts Rosehill Intermediate took the gold medals in the Intermediate division, with Pukekohe Intermediate having to settle for silver and bronze. Opaheke won the primary division ahead of Clendon Park School.  Troy Bencich of Rosehill Intermediate was the star of the day, scoring an impressive 7/7.

Full details of these tournaments are at our results page here.

The Rodney Zone of the Chess Kids Super 14 Interschool Chess also attracted the attention of the local media; here is the Norwest News take on the event.

That was the theme of the Chess Kids Super 14 Interschool Chess event at The Cathedral Grammar School in Christchurch at the end of term 2, in connection with the Sir Peter Blake Foundation Red Socks Day. The idea captured the attention of the local media; here is Bernadette Cooney’s article in the Christchurch Mail on 7 July.

Lincoln Primary School team

A stunning 7 out of 7 score by 8-year-old Farhana Halim led her Lincoln Primary School team to victory at the Christchurch Interschool tournament held at The Cathedral Grammar School on 30 June. So impressive were the Lincoln youngsters that their team topped all others on the day, including three Intermediate School teams. Runners-up in the Primary Division were The Cathedral Grammar School, with St Michael’s Church School in the bronze medal position.

The host school went one better in the Intermediate division, snatching gold from Heaton Normal Intermediate School, with Rangi Ruru Girls’ School finishing in third place. So Lincoln Primary School and The Cathedral Grammar School Intermediate qualify for the National finals to be held in Auckland in October.

Full details are on our results page here.

Helensville Primary School, Waiuku Primary School and Rosehill Intermediate School are the latest schools to qualify for the Super 14 Interschool Chess National finals in October. Helensville blitzed a field of schools from all over the Rodney district on 16 June.

On 22 June the Pukekohe/Waiuku Zone saw Waiuku Primary School narrowly home in the Primary Division, while Rosehill Intermediate, who have travelled considerable distances to participate in Super 14 Interschool Chess events this year, had a happy trip home after dominating the Intermediate division.

For full results of all Super 14 Interschool Chess events go to http://chesskids.co.nz/ratings/ and click on the links.

This video was put together by Paul Macdonald at the Rodney event.

View Road School was the winner of the Super 14 Interschool Chess tournament held at Waiuku Primary School on 24 March. They scored 20.5 points to win convincingly from Opaheke School, who just pipped the hosts Waiuku Primary for silver medals. Final scores:

View Road School 20.5

Opaheke Primary 16.5

Waiuku Primary (A) 16

Waiuku Primary (B) 9.5

Opaheke Intermediate 6

Pukehohe Intermediate 5.5

Waiuku Intermediate 4.5

On the North Shore later that week Milford Primary School sent a warning that they are keen to defend their position as New Zealand’s top Primary School with an outstanding display in the North Shore Zone.  Winston Yao, Crystal Zhu, William Zhang and Martin Zhu all managed a perfect 7/7 as they won convincingly from Northcote Intermediate and Whangaparaoa College.

Chris Depasquale gives a simul at North Shore

Although they could not improve their team score on the day, the kids know they still have much to learn, as was evidenced when none of them could beat me in a simultaneous chess exhibition I gave in the lunch break.

The first MC Cup event for the year was won by Max Wu, of Hillsborough Primary School, who scored a perfect 7/7 in the event held at Howick Recreation Centre on 28 March. The Cup and medal winners in each division were:

Under 14:  1st John Deng 5/7; 2nd Jaghoman Singh 4.5

Under 12: 1st Max Wu 7/7; 2nd Basant Singh 4; 3rd Aryaman Taore 3.5

Under 10: 1st Satnam Singh 6/7; 2nd Jonathon Ngoi 4.5; 3rd Eugene Ngoi 4; 4th Arul Gaundar 3.5

Under 8: 1st Alphaeus Ang 3.5/7; 2nd Daniel Gong 3.5; 3rd Arav Gaundar 2