Chess

On Friday 9 October, four St Monica’s College students participated in the Northern Star Chess Open State Final against several of Melbourne’s elite schools. This event, which was held at Xavier College, hosted a field of 164 students from 50 competing schools. After 7 rounds of fierce competition, the College scored 12.5 points, finishing in equal 16th place out of the 50 schools that competed. This was a commendable effort in a very strong chess tournament.

The College congratulates the following students who participated in this chess event:

Year 8: Joseph Cahayon

Year 9: Christian Portnick

Year 10: Andrija Saletic & Mark Touma

Given that the Monicans who participated in this tournament were younger than many of their opponents and were pitted against many of Victoria’s top junior chess players, the future is looking very bright for chess at SMC. 

Mr C Zuccala

Chess Coordinator

Northern Star Chess Girls State Final

On Thursday, 15 October, four students represented St Monica’s College, Epping at the Northern Star Chess Girls Secondary State Final at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar, Keilor East.

The squad members - Maryna Maqdasi (11 Green), Ava Sladic (8 Silver), Davina Mathew (8 Bronze) and Gabriella Vitale (7 Pink) - were all performing at a State Final for the first time, and they played excellent chess all day to finish in 6th place out of the 26 competing schools. All four girls won multiple matches, with Maryna (4 points from 7 games) narrowly missing out on an individual medal.

This event was a tremendous learning opportunity for these players, as the standard of competition was very high, and improvement in many aspects of their play was noticeable throughout the day. With all four girls eligible to compete again next year, the future looks very promising for our girls squad for 2027 and beyond. Congratulations to Maryna, Ava, Davina and Gabriella.

Mr C Zuccala

Chess Coordinator