Raphael Herberg has been crowned the 2015 Year 7 Chess Champion after an exciting finish to the popular QE competition.
Both Raphael and Om Deshpande finished the tournament undefeated, with each winning six games and drawing one. Raphael then triumphed in a very competitive play-off.
Yuvraj Manral finished third and Varun Vijay Kumar fourth, with 6 points and 5.5 points respectively.
Congratulating Raphael on his victory, teacher in charge of chess, Geoff Roberts, said: “I am very pleased to see a large group of highly able and enthusiastic chess players developing in Year 7.”
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The tournament attracted a “high-quality” field of 61 boys, who took part in an “enjoyable and competitive morning” and demonstrated “a good standard of chess” at this early stage in their School careers.
Mr Roberts also praised Sixth-Formers Ananth Balaji, James Bunyan and Jake Breindel for their support. The trio administered the pairings for each round and acted as arbiters when there were queries over the rules. “The Year 7 boys undoubtedly enjoyed receiving coaching and advice between rounds from Sixth Form boys who have been highly successful at chess over many years,” he added.