SCHOOL NEWS

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT HOMESTAY

At McKinnon we have a small number of international students living in homestays with local families.

If you would be interested in providing homestay for an international student in 2025 can you please send me your contact details including mobile number to:

bak@mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au

Regards

Stuart Baker

International Student Coordinator

MCK CHESS CLUB

Inter-school Chess State Final (6th in the state)

Eight of McKinnon’s top chess players traveled to Brighton Grammar School on Monday 14 October to take part in the Chess Victoria Secondary School Open State Final.

The well-balanced team which consisted of our seasoned Year 12 players: Steve Le, Tim Nicolaides and Jonathan Kui, together with the next generation of talents: Aaron Todes (Year 10), Howie Nguyen (Year 11), Stanley Luo (Year 10), Alex Do (Year 10), and Nathan Wen (Year 8) scored 27 team points for McKinnon.

With everyone in the team winning at least four games throughout the 6-hour long contest, plus the individual brilliance of Stanley Luo and Tim Nicolaides, the McKinnon squad neutralized their higher rated opponents on a number of occasions, leading to a very respectable equal 6th place overall in the State!

This is by far McKinnon’s best achievement at the State Final. In fact, among all government schools qualified, McKinnon came 2nd (only behind Melbourne High), finishing ahead of Balwyn High, Glen Waverley SC and Kew HS. Well done!

Individual score:

6 pts: Stanley Luo, Tim Nicolaides
5 pts: Aaron Todes, Howie Nguyen, Alex Do
4.5 pts: Steve Le
4 pts: Nathan Wen, Jonathan Kui

2024 LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Three Year 12 students from the Class of 2024 were honoured at the recent General Assembly by the McK Chess Club, for their enormous contribution to chess at McKinnon. Timothy Nicolaides, Jonathan Kui and Steve Le have played a combined of over 400 rated games during their time at McKinnon. They have supported every event the McK Chess Club has organized. From the annual McK Chess Grand Prix and McK Chess Championship, to inter-school zonal tournaments and Victorian inter-school chess state finals, they have rarely missed a session, and have always performed at the highest level for McKinnon.

All of them have already earned a King Class Player Title, the highest possible honour at the McK Chess Club, and are consistently our top rated players in the school community in the last few years. They are part of the generation of players who helped to build the chess culture at McKinnon and have been pivotal in our recent success at inter-school competitions.

2024 Lifetime Contribution Awards:

Timothy Nicolaides (Gold Contribution Award, 156 games)
Jonathan Kui (Silver Contribution Award, 137 games)
Steve Le (Bronze Contribution Award, 124 games)

MCK CHESS RATING & PLAYER TITLES (Oct 2024)

Congratulations to Stanley Luo (Year 10) who has been awarded the Queen Class Chess Player title & badge by the McK Chess Club after a superb performance (with five wins, two draws and only one loss) in the recent Victorian Inter-school Chess State Final, and subsequently, reaching a McK rating of 1402.

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. As of Monday 14 October 2024, the top 10 rated players at McKinnon are:

Timothy Nicolaides - Year 12 (1576)
Steve Le - Year 12 (1562)
Aaron Todes - Year 10 (1510)
Jonathan Kui - Year 12 (1435)
Stanley Luo - Year 10 (1402)
Howie Nguyen - Year 11 (1384)
Alex Do - Year 10 (1338)
Nathan Wen - Year 8 (1329)
Rohan Baker - Year 11 (1194)
Ben Green - Year 12 (1180)

To see all the McK rated players: click here.

Sandy Law

McK Chess Club