McKinnonNEWS

SCHOOL NEWS

YEAR 9 CAMP

Year 9 camp at Campaspe Downs was the most fun and adrenaline filled camp I have ever been on! There was never a boring activity. 

 

On the first day, we did different team-building activities and abseiled down a giant tower! In the evening, we participated in a trivia night, and our team won! On day two we played laser tag in the forest, running and hiding behind trees and logs, and faced the giant swing before lunch. In the afternoon, we canoed in the rain and zipped down the flying fox with our friends. A sports night was the evening activity, and we competed in a range of sports. The final day brought archery and the scariest activity in my opinion, the Leap of Faith. 

We were very sad to leave but came home with so many memories.

 

Anastasia Saliba

Year 9 Student

McK CHESS CHAMPION 2025

Congratulations to Stanley Luo (Year 11) for becoming the 2025 McK Chess Champion🏆!!

After a long and tough battle against last year’s champion Aaron Todes (Year 11) in the final on Friday 22 August, Stanley came out victorious, becoming the highest rated player at the school for the first time. 

 

It was a promoter’s dream with three of the highest rated players at McKinnon playing on the final day. Apart from Aaron and Stanely, Alex Do (Year 11) (3rd highest rated) was playing rising star, Arnav Chitnis (Year 9) in the bronze medal match. 

Their match was eventually decided by an Armageddon tiebreak after more than two hours of roller-coaster! 

 

The final results:

  • Gold/Champion 🥇Stanley Luo (Year 11)

  • Silver/Runner-up🥈Aaron Todes (Year 11)

  • Bronze/3rd place 🥉 Alex Do (Year 11)

  • 4th place Arnav Chitnis (Year 9)

Stanley Luo
Aaron Todes
Alex Do
Arnav Chitnis
Stanley Luo
Aaron Todes
Alex Do
Arnav Chitnis

See the official Championship website for more details. 

McK Chess Rating/Title (Aug 2025 update)

Congratulations to Arnav Chitnis (Year 9) (rating: 1247), Vihaan Bhalla (Year 7) (rating: 1144), and Shraavan Balaji (Year 10) (rating: 1101) for obtaining their McK Chess Player Title (& badge) after their recent outstanding performance at the McK Chess Championship 2025. 

 

Arnav Chitnis (Year 9) (Bishop Class Title) 

Vihaan Bhalla (Year 7) (Pawn Class Title)

Shraavan Balaji (Year 10) (Pawn Class Title) 

 

The current top 10 McK Rated Chess Players at McKinnon:

  1. Stanley Luo                 Y11      1550    [KG]

  2. Aaron Todes               Y11      1532    [KG]

  3. Anh Quan (Alex) Do   Y11      1430    [QN]

  4. Howie Nguyen            Y12      1403    [QN]

  5. Sivanesh Veerappan  Y8        1262    [RK]

  6. Lucas Huang               Y10      1261    [RK]

  7. Vibhan Jivanjee          Y11      1257    [RK]

  8. Jonathan Huang         Y10      1256    [RK]

  9. Arnav Chitnis               Y9        1247    [BP] 

  10. Khang Nguyen            Y12      1217    [BP]

 

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