Chess Success

Kemnay Primary School entered, and won, the longest running chess event for juniors in the North East, the Primary Schools team tournament. This competition has been held annually for 33 years and this time the event was run jointly by Aberdeen Chess Academy and the North-East Junior Chess Association at Northfield Academy on May 10^th. Nine of the top teams from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire joined battle in a 5-round Swiss event, where winners play winners and losers play losers.

The 4-player teams from Smithfield and Kemnay Primary set the early pace with victories in the first two rounds but when they met in round 3 the Aberdeenshire side emerged victorious in a titanic struggle. In the next round they were given a real scare, however, by Muirfield who won on the top boards to ensure a drawn match. Going into the last round any of 3 teams could still take the trophy and with 7 sides in contention for second and third spot. Kemnay held their nerve to defeat Tullos and move into an unassailable 9 match points and 15 game points (boards won). St Joseph's overcame Smithfield to move into second spot with 6 match points but they could be passed by Quarryhill if they could gain a clean sweep against Kinellar, but in the end they could only win 3-1 and so had to settle for the third prize.

Incredibly, three other teams also scored 6 match points and so final places depended on game points, indicating how close the competition throughout was. The victorious Kemnay side was skippered by Sean Wilson, ably supported by team mates Charlie Roberts, Iain Kelly and Nicholas Straw. Photos of these young stars in action and triumphantly holding aloft their trophies can be seen at www.NEJCA.co.uk.

Hopefully, this and other recent successes by these youngsters will encourage others to join the local club that meets from 6.15-7.30 pm on Tuesday evening at Kemnay Primary school.