SCHOOL NEWS

MCK CHESS CLUB

Victorian Interschool Chess State Final

On Monday 13 October, the McK Chess Team Aaron Todes (Year 11), Stanley Luo (Year 11), Alex Do (Year 11), Vibhan Jivanjee (Year 11), Arnav Chitnis (Year 9), Sivanesh Veerappan (Year 8), Vihaan Bhalla (Year 7), Lucas Huang (Year 10), Jonathan Huang (Year 10), Shraavan Balaji (Year 10) travelled to Brighton Grammar School to compete in the 2025 Chess Victoria Secondary School State Final.

From left: Vihaan, Arnav, Stanley, Sivanesh, Alex, Vibhan, Aaron, Shraavan, Jonathan, Lucas

Playing against 26 other elite schools at an event with more than 230 players, the 6-hours contest was formidable. Despite that, our team showed a lot of resilience throughout the day and achieved a respectable result with a total of 34 wins, 9 draws and 36 losses. The individual performances were:

5 pts: Aaron Todes
4.5 pts: Alex Do, Stanley Luo & Shraavan Balaji
4 pts: Sivanesh Veerappan & Jonathan Huang
3.5 pts: Vibhan Jivanjee
3 pts: Lucas Huang & Vihaan Bhalla
2.5 pts: Arnav Chitnis

Well done to everyone for their effort and dedication.

McK Chess Awards 2025

To recognize the achievements and contributions of our distinguished players at the school in 2025, the McK Chess Club has recently awarded them their medal and trophy.

Congratulations once again to Stanley Luo (Year 11) (2025 McK Chess Champion, 2025 McK Chess GP Winner), Aaron Todes (Year 11) (Runner-up at both the 2025 McK Chess Championship and the 2025 McK Chess GP), Alex Do (Year 11) (3rd Place at the Championship, 5th place at the McK Chess GP), and Arnav Chitnis (Year 9) (4th Place at the Championship, 2nd place at the East Campus Chess GP).

In addition, we acknowledged the lifetime contribution of Howie Nguyen (Year 12) (class of 2025) for his ongoing support of the chess club, and the McK Chess Squad during his years at McKinnon. Howie played over 110 official games, achieved an amazing McK rating of 1403 and a McK Queen Class Player title, played in almost every interschool zonal event since 2022, as well as representing us at the State Final three times. Furthermore, he was runner-up at the McK Chess GP in 2022 (East Campus Division) and in 2024 (McK Master Division). A fantastic achievement, Howie!

McK Chess Rating/Title (Oct 2025 update)

Congratulations to Alex Do (Year 11), Arnav Chitnis (Year 9), and Vihaan Bhalla (Year 7), who have recently been awarded the King (KG) Class, Rook (RK) Class, and Bishop (BP) Class McK Player Title (& badge) respectively for their consistent performance in 2025.

The current top 10 McK Rated Chess Players at McKinnon:

Stanley Luo Y11 1559 [KG]
Aaron Todes Y11 1536 [KG]
Anh Quan (Alex) Do Y11 1456 [KG]
Howie Nguyen Y12 1403 [QN]
Lucas Huang Y10 1272 [RK]
Arnav Chitnis Y9 1268 [RK]
Sivanesh Veerappan Y8 1265 [RK]
Vibhan Jivanjee Y11 1245 [RK]
Khang Nguyen Y12 1217 [BP]
Jonathan Huang Y10 1211 [RK]

McK Player’s Titles are in [...].

All students who have played in any tournament organized by the McK Chess Club in the past will be in the McK Chess Rating database. Rating is used for competition seeding, school team’s selection, as well as determining player’s titles. The updated rating list for 2025 can be accessed via this link.

Sandy Law

McK Chess Club

SENIOR ART SHOW

Students and staff from the Visual Arts Faculty warmly invite you to the opening night of our Senior Art Show on Thursday, 7 November. Celebrate the incredible inspiration, innovation and skill of our future creatives!

Award ceremony commences at 5:00pm sharp in the Alan Lawrence Theatre and features guest speaker Angie Pai, fresh from her mentorship with reknowned Australian Painter and Sculptor, Lindy Lee AO. Honorary guest Uncle Mark Brown, Bunurong Elder and 2025 McKinnon Artist in Residence will be in attendance, celebrating the progress of our Storypoles and McKinnon Surface Graphic initiatives.

Refreshments will be served in the T-Block courtyard and live music will accompany your viewing of the exhibition.

📅 When: Thursday 7 November, 5:00pm – 7:30pm

📍 Where: McKinnon Secondary College, Main Campus

🏆 Award Ceremony: 5:00pm sharp in the Alan Lawrence Theatre

Design: May Ding (Class of 2023)