Hard-fought chess tournament, with Federico crowned a “worthy champion”

Rising chess star Federico Rocco won the annual Queen Elizabeth’s School tournament for Years 8–11 with a perfect score of 7 points from seven games.

The tournament attracted 47 boys from the middle years of the school and was, said teacher in charge of chess, Geoff Roberts, “an enjoyable and competitive morning of chess”.

“I am very pleased to see the number of highly able and enthusiastic chess players we have at Queen Elizabeth’s. I’m particularly delighted to see England player Federico Rocco secure the title for the first time. Federico, who is in Year 10, is a highly dedicated chess player who attends regional and national tournaments outside of school and has made considerable strides with his game in his time at QE; he is an especially worthy champion, having won all of his games against a high-quality field.”

Sixth-Form chess stalwarts Ananth Balaji, Rishul Kari, Elan Ilango and Yuri Evdokimov made invaluable contributions to the smooth running of the tournament, Mr Roberts added. Not only did they administer the pairings for each round and act as arbiters when there were queries over the rules, they also provided sagacious chess hints and advice to the younger boys throughout the day.

“All of the competitors undoubtedly enjoyed receiving coaching and advice from Sixth Form boys who have been highly successful at chess over many years, including Ananth Balaji, himself a two-time winner of this title.”

Other top performers in the tournament were:

• Jamie Watkin-Rees and George Ivanov who tied both for second place overall and for the title of Best in Year 10, with 6 points apiece
• Joel George – Best in Year 11 (5 points)
• Ari Karthiyeyan – Best in Year 9 (5 points)
• Om Deshpande and Ish Chhabra, who tied for title of Best in Year 8 (5 points)