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

The first ever MC Cup event will take place at Howick Recreation Centre on Sunday March 28 from 1 to 5 pm.  An individual 7-round Swiss tournament open to all players born after 1991 offers trophies and other prizes in Under-18, Under-14, Under-12, Under-10 and Under-8 categories with additional prizes for top girl players.

The MC Cup is named in honour of Murray Chandler, New Zealand’s first and only home-grown chess Grandmaster. A series of tournaments will be held throughout the year, with trophies awarded at each event and overall trophies awarded at year end, based on the best 4 scores achieved in the year.

Played in a fun, friendly atmosphere and a safe environment, this is an ideal first tournament for beginners, as well as being suitable for more experienced players seeking to establish their strength. All participants play 7 games, each time against an opponent on the same score to ensure evenness of match-ups.

For more details, or to enter the event, download the tournament information/entry form.

Howick 28 March

The first Super 14 Interschool Chess Championship took place at Bucklands Beach Intermediate School on Thursday 11 March. In the Intermediate division Somerville Intermediate School, who were silver medalists in Melbourne last December, confirmed their class by cruising to victory and the gold medals. Two of their players, Leo Zhu and Luke Li, had perfect 7/7 scores. The host school provided both the silver and bronze medal teams. The primary division was won by Pigeon Mountain Primary School, who finished just half a point behind the top Somerville team, and very nearly caused a huge surprise after leading all Primary and Intermediate teams for most of the day.

Intermediate final scores: Somerville Blue 22; Bucklands Beach B 20.5; Bucklands Beach A 20; Somerville Intermediate Green 16.5; Somerville Intermediate Red 16.

Primary final scores: Pigeon Mountain 21.5; Botany Downs B 15; Bucklands Beach Primary 12, Botany Downs A 12.

More details, including photos from the day, to follow.

No, that is not wedding bells you hear, but alarm bells which have been ringing in some schools, concerned that the new National Assessment system will create problems for them. We have proposed to the Minister that we allay those fears by offering to run our chess programs as part of the curriculum in low-decile South Auckland schools, in the process demonstrating that every school and every student can meet or exceed the national standards.

Letter to education minister Feb 2010