BGS was delighted to host the National Semi-Finals of the English Primary Schools’ Chess Championships in the Great Hall on Saturday, returning after a four-year gap.
The BGS Junior School players all did superbly and were great ambassadors for the school, both in the way they played and through their help in welcoming our visitors. In their first tournament, our Under 9 players found the level of competition to be challenging, but they did themselves great credit. Particular congratulations go to the Under 11 Team, who finished well towards the top – fourth equal out of 26 schools – holding their own against some very strong opposition, including several of the top London schools. This is by some way our best result in the eight years that we have hosted this event, with wins from all of the players and our top board, Anay, standing out for the standard of his play.
Whilst only the top two teams go onto the national finals, our team of Year 5 players now have a target to aim for next year when they are in Year 6. Well done all!