Chess

Term 4 Oxley Friendly Game

On the 15th November, the McCarthy Chess Club travelled to Oxley High School to play a series of friendly games. The aim was to help develop playing skills and was a great way to meet players from Oxley. 

All players had a good time and the 1.5 hours just flew by. Before they realised the time,  they were packing up the chess sets as it was time to return to school. The games were such a success that both schools will meet three times a term in the future.

The players were practising with the timers to prepare for the final chess event for 2023, The Sarah Sommerlad Shield. I would like to thank Oxley High School for hosting the games.

Fun Chess Fact: ‘Archeologists have discovered ivory playing pieces and chess artefacts in Uzbekistan dating back to 760 AD – chess spread quickly and far!’

Well done to all players.

Sarah Sommerlad Shield

On Friday, 1st December, the McCarthy Chess Club hosted the second year of the Sarah Sommerlad Shield. This competition is named after one of the teacher’s who restarted the chess club at the school but sadly passed away.

All schools who have played chess against McCarthy during the year were invited to come and take part in the competition. This year, players from NEGS, Oxley High School, St Mary’s and St Xavier’s Primary School from Gunnedah came to take part in this event. 

The whole day was a success, thanks mainly to Edd Heap who ran the competition. 

In the end, McCarthy won the trophy thanks to a strong performance by Thomas Errington who came first in the competition, followed by Tobias Porter who came second. Third place player was Sean Gander, who was representing St Xavier’s Primary School. Special mention goes to Matt Manzano, Izayah Simmons, John Nguyen, Chaise Gwaitkin and Jackson Medlock who took positions 4 to 8 in the competition.

It was a successful end to the chess season for 2024. The chess club will resume next year with the staff vs students game and the intra school competition, which will determine next year's representative players. I would like to thank all the players who have supported the club for this year.

Fun Chess Facts:

  “About 70% of the adult population has played chess at some point in their lives, and about 605 million adults play chess regularly!”

Winners from this years competition, from left to right are Sean Gander (3rd), Tobias Porter (2nd) and Thomas Errington (1st)

Matt Manzano playing against a player from St Mary’s 

Chaise playing against a St Mary’s player, while Tobias is seen playing against an Oxley player.

                                                                                                                                   Shaun Nichols