Somerville Intermediate School, which, in October, became back-to-back winners of the Super 14 Interschool Chess Intermediate Division took their skills on the road to Melbourne and came out on top of the best Australian school teams in their division. The success was all the sweeter for having finished a narrow second in Melbourne last year. The team was led by Luke Li, who was the only player in the three divisions contested by New Zealand teams (Primary, Intermediate & Open Secondary: NZ was not represented in the Girls Only competition) who managed a perfect score of 7 wins from 7 games over 2 days of competition.
Despite Li’s efforts Somerville trailed Melbourne’s Mazenod College for much of the event, but Li’s team-mates Leo Zhu, Byron Lam, Cameron Low and Danny Chan all contributed, and a maximum last round score of 4 points enabled Somerville to overtake their rivals in a thrilling finish. Leading final scores were: Somerville Intermediate 21.5 out of a possible 28; Mazenod College (Melbourne) & Scotch College (Melbourne) 19.5.
Somerville Intermediate top scorers Luke Li (left) and Leo Zhu
Heartbreak for Milford
In the Primary Division Milford Primary from Auckland’s North Shore was involved in a three-way tussle with two Melbourne Schools, Deepdene Primary and Spensely Street Primary, throughout the two days. Last year Milford finished 8th in the competition and had real chances for top spot this year, but just faded in the finish and had to settle for second place. Milford had good even contributions from all team members with William Zhang scoring 6 out of a possible 7, Bella Qian, Martin Zhu and Winston Yao 5, while Crystal Zhu contributed 4 points.
The leading final scores were Deepdene Primary 23.5 (out of a possible 28); Milford 21; Spensely Street Primary 20.
Tokoroa Show Teeth On Day 2
With Auckland Grammar, who won the Open Secondary competition in Melbourne in 2009, not defending their title, New Zealand was represented by Tokoroa High School, who won the NZ Secondary Super 14 final in October. Their relative inexperience showed on day 1 when just 4 points were accumulated, but all five members of their team put in a better showing on day 2, and by competition end Tokoroa had risen to a creditable =11th place with 11.5 points out of a possible 28.
Leading scores in the Open Secondary competition were: Brighton Grammar 22; Melbourne High School 21; Ivanhoe Grammar School 19.5. All three are Melbourne schools, with Ivanhoe edging out The Tasmanian Academy for bronze medals on tie-break.
