Joseph Levene from Year 11 has won the annual Years 8-11 School Chess Tournament, defeating Year 9’s Ananth Balaji in a close-fought play-off. The two boys, who have both represented England at chess, were undefeated in the tournament rounds, each securing six wins and a draw.
“I was very pleased to see the number of highly able and enthusiastic chess players we have at QE,” said Geoff Roberts, teacher in charge of Chess. “Joseph is a worthy winner.”
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The event attracted a high-quality field of 66 competitors, with excellent performances from Jake Breindel of Year 10 and Girishanth Sureswaran, of Year 9, who both finished in third position, Mr Roberts added. Jake and Girishanth were also the leading points scorers in their respective year groups, along with Ilan Elango, the top scorer in Year 8.
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In a change of format from previous years, the School made use of the chess expertise developed by Year 12 boys. Madhi Elango, Kiran Modi and Rushil Sajip all helped run the tournament, administering the pairings for each round and acting as arbiters in the case of rule queries. They also provided chess hints and advice to the younger students 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,” said Mr Roberts.