Chess Mates

Vernon Clarke

Chess Coordinator

Seven Brunswick Secondary College students were  invited to the Chess Open and Girls  state finals.  All the students on this excursion qualified for this competition through their success at the Brunswick Chess Tournament held earlier this year.

The ChessMates travelled up the highway to PEGS to compete alongside 368 students from all over Melbourne and surrounds. Chess has become very popular, so the competition was made up of only the top 30% of student chess players within the state. Brunswick finished in 25th place, with the winner,  Mazenod College, beating out Nossal High School, Suzanne Cory High School and John Monash Science School. 

In the Girls’ State Final competition,  Georgia Breen finished in 17th place, with Harriet Forge not far behind in 25th place.

Oscar Watson

Year 8

 I felt nervous at the start!  The [participants]  were all very formal but nice. I learned that I needed to put more faith in my ability to play and not rush through the opening and middlegame too quickly. I am pretty happy that I went along as I gained a lot of experience. I performed way better than last time, but I still have some mistakes that I can learn from. My tip?  Subscribe to Gotham Chess, - it makes you one thousand times better at chess!

Juztyn Starc

Year 11

It was a great day for us at the state final. We all played very well in a tough environment and gained lots of experience - playing in a very professionally run chess tournament. There was some very fierce competition and opposition but we never backed down and never gave up. 

Personally, I played impressively, with my best match being Round 7. I drew this game,  which then put me up against Greta Bandt - a very strong opponent who is rated much higher than me.