QE confirmed its place among the country’s élite chess-playing schools with a strong performance at the game’s U19 national finals at Uppingham.
The Queen Elizabeth’s team reached the two-day event at the Rutland boarding school as one of 14 zonal winners from across the country, with two other places awarded after a repechage held at Eton College. Each of the 16 teams played four games at the championship, where QE took joint-sixth place.
Teacher in charge of chess, Geoff Roberts, said: “After an excellent victory against our local rivals, Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, in the zonal final, QE’s team acquitted themselves extremely well at Uppingham, with only a narrow loss in our final match preventing us from achieving a top-three finish.”
Congratulating all the boys, Mr Roberts added: “This competition is the one which every school has aspirations to win so for Queen Elizabeth’s to come through a very strong regional group to qualify for the finals and then perform so creditably at the Uppingham finals is highly pleasing.”
With a total score of 201, Federico Rocco, of 2017-2018’s Year 11, was one of only seven players at the Uppingham finals to top 200.
Federico is one of eight boys who represented QE in the course of this year’s competition. The others, with their 2017-2018 year groups, are: Aneesh Chopada (Year 13), Yuri Evdokimov (Year 13), George Ivanov (Year 11), Senthuran Jeevan (Year 10), Devin Karia (Year 10), Rishul Karia (Year 13) and Shai Kuganesan (Year 11).
Mr Roberts paid a special tribute to Aneesh, Rishul and Yuri, who left QE this summer, for their “commitment to, and excellence in, chess throughout their seven years at Queen Elizabeth’s”.