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Year 10’s Rishul Karia is hoping his experience of taking on a chess grandmaster will help him to improve his own game.

The 14-year-old went up against five-time World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, in the Super Rapidplay Open at the London Chess Classic at Olympia. Anand, who was undisputed World Champion from 2007-2013, is currently ranked sixth in the world.

And although he lost, Rishul relished the opportunity: “It was an amazing experience, even though I don’t think I played very well,” he told the Barnet and Potters Bar Times. It was really interesting to see how a grandmaster thinks; I learned a great deal from playing against him and he had a chat with me afterwards to help me.”

The first round of the competition gave young people the opportunity to take on one of 30 grandmasters, many of whom took the time to encourage their opponents.

“He told me that I could have tried a trick to keep the game going, rather than lose straight away,” said Rishul. “He thought I could have got into the game a bit more; but there was a bit of pressure and I made a mistake.”

Rishul was introduced to chess by his father and has been playing for 10 years. “I love the tactical thinking it involves. I’m glad I had a go and want to keep getting better; maybe one day I could be a grandmaster.”

He has represented the School regularly in both regional and national competitions, and was part of the U12 team which won the National Schools’ Chess Championships in Somerset.

The London Classic is staged by Chess in Schools and Communities, a registered charity whose mission is to increase children’s educational attainment and foster their social development by teaching chess in state primary schools and inner city communities. 

The new term at Queen Elizabeth’s School got off to a memorable start with a special visit from the American Ambassador.

Matthew Winthrop Barzun, US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, spoke to Year 13 boys on Perceptions of America. He also presented two special Embassy coins to previous and new School Captains, Adam Hilsenrath and Norbert Sobolak.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We were very honoured to receive this visit from Ambassador Barzun. Furthermore, he gave a most stimulating talk, which certainly challenged many boys’ perceptions of the United States.”

The Year 13 boys and staff gathered in the Main Hall for the hour-long visit from Mr Barzun, who was nominated to be the Ambassador to the UK by President Obama in 2013.

The first part of his address was interactive: boys were given ‘clickers’, and when asked about a certain aspect of the USA, they clicked from a selection of answers. A pie chart of answers given was then almost immediately displayed.

Some were survey-type questions, such as “Where would you rather find yourself in need of emergency medical treatment, UK or the USA?” The boys overwhelmingly selected the UK.

Others had a right and wrong answer, such as “Where are you most at risk of suffering from violent crime, UK or USA?” Most boys chose the USA. However, Mr Barzun pointed out that, if you exclude the most serious type of violent crime which ends in death, the correct answer is in fact the UK.

The visit was arranged by Liam Hargadon, who is both Head of Year 13 and Head of Politics.

Mr Barzun has a number of famous ancestors, including John Winthrop, founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the city of Boston.

A graduate of Harvard, he was an internet pioneer and was the fourth employee at CNET Networks, where he worked from 1993-2004. After leaving CNET, he advised and invested in internet companies.

He was one of the first to join Barack Obama’s National Finance Committee before the President’s election in 2008. He served as US Ambassador to Sweden from 2009-2011 and was National Finance Chair for the president’s re-election campaign in 2012.

Mr Barzun is married with three children. In his present post, he has brought a degree of informality to Winfield House, the ambassadorial residence in Regent’s Park. He invited David and Samantha Cameron to an Ed Sheeran gig there and, posted an outtakes video of his attempts to master certain Welsh phrases ahead of President Obama’s arrival for the Nato summit last autumn at Celtic Manor in Newport.

QE’s participants in this year’s UK Senior Mathematics Challenge easily outstripped the national average tally of certificates – and Year 13 boy Bhavik Mehta performed so strongly that he qualified for the élite British Mathematical Olympiad.

Across the country, the top 60% of those taking part in the UK Mathematics Trust competition receive gold, silver or bronze certificates, but 86% of the 107 QE Sixth-Formers were ranked.

The competition involved answering 25 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes. Bhavik Mehta, of Year 13, achieved QE’s highest score – 106 out of a possible 125 marks. The best performer in Year 12 was Daniel Cheung. Twenty boys were awarded gold certificates, 29 received silver and 43 bronze.

In addition to Bhavik reaching the Olympiad, Daniel Cheung, Tianlin Zhang and Ravin Parekh all qualified for the Senior Kangaroo – a competition for those who narrowly miss out on the 101 points needed to qualify for the Olympiad. These rounds have now taken place and the results are awaited.

While Year 13 boys’ individual strengths were tested, their Year 12 counterparts enjoyed working as a team in another UKMT event, the regional Senior Team Maths Challenge at the Camden Centre. This competition is run jointly with the Government-funded Further Mathematics Support Programme.

Yash Patel, Ronak Patel, Jas Shah and Daniil Slavin were selected as the QE team (pictured). They finished eighth from 38, competing against leading schools such as City of London and North London Collegiate.

The competition combines mathematical, communication and teamwork skills, and promotes camaraderie among mathematicians from different schools.

“It was really enjoyable and challenging and we were naturally disappointed not to qualify for the national final,” said team leader Yash. “The different rounds were great fun because it was the first time we’ve experienced solving Maths problems as a team, rather than individually.”

A QE team has qualified for the final of a prestigious national chemistry competition, overcoming the challenge of 19 local schools.

Sanchit Agrawal, of Year 11, James Tang, of Year 10, and Year 9’s Bashmy Basheer and Nico Puthu won the Chilterns & Middlesex Section of the Top of the Bench competition, scoring 90%. In second place was Westminster School on 75%.

The competition for 14-16 year-old students is run by The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and requires entrants to answer some questions individually and some as a team. It is part of the RSC’s outreach programme through which they aim “to inspire and enthuse the next generation with chemistry”.

“The boys did exceptionally well,” said Chemistry teacher Dr Elizabeth Kuo. “They achieved a very high score and are now looking forward to the final at Loughborough University in April.”

The final is organised by the RSC’s Education department and includes a short test of factual chemical knowledge and a practical, chemical, problem-solving team exercise. The Top of the Bench title goes to the school with the best overall school performance and there are also prizes for the five runner-up teams. There is also a prize, The Jacqui Clee Award, for the outstanding individual contribution to the day.

QE has been awarded Champion School status for encouraging its Year 11 boys to take part in a national citizenship initiative.

The National Citizen Service (NCS), which presented the School with a plaque in recognition of its new status, is a Government-backed youth citizenship programme. It is one of the lead organisations in promoting The Challenge, a charity which brings together young people from different communities, giving them opportunities to build work and life skills by tackling projects together.

Increasing numbers of QE boys have been taking part in The Challenge each year. It requires a high level of commitment, entailing a three-week programme during the summer holidays and three weekends in the autumn.

In addition to activities which challenge the individual participants physically whilst developing teamwork qualities, a key component is action in the local community. QE boys have undertaken a number of tasks, including working in local allotments, visiting a care home and fund-raising for a hospice. The Challenge thus dovetails with QE’s ethos of sending out young men committed to serving their communities.

Representatives of The Challenge attended QE’s Careers Convention this autumn. “The students were very appreciative of the time they spent with us; it is so important that our students make the most of all the opportunities available to them,” said Sarah Westcott, Head of Pupil Progression.

“As a result, two of our boys signed up for training as ambassadors: Valavan Ananthakumaraswamy and Jaysal Patel, from Year 12, will now take an active role in assisting me to push The Challenge programme, not only to Year 11 boys at QE but also more widely across London,” added Dr Westcott.

This will include writing testimonials and giving presentations to other students both at QE and in other schools, raising awareness of the benefits of The Challenge.