2018 has been another big year in chess for St Mary’s and the annual St Mary’s Chess Competition was hotly contested, with 26 students from Year 1 to Year 6 entering the event.

I have said on numerous occasions that one's ability in chess is not always dictated by age, and 2018 was a great example of this.  The competition saw two Year 2 students, three Year 3 students, one Year 4 student and two Year 6 students progress to the quarter-finals, with two of the students being unseeded competitors in the tournament.

The semi-final games saw Ned Brown matched up against Alex Murdoch and Ted Curry matched up against Charlie Murdoch.  With the possibility of a showdown between brother's in the final, the tension of the competition rose to new levels.  Both pairings were extremely close contests with each match being replayed due to a stalemate outcome.  Ironically, the player who had the advantage in the first match was outplayed by their opponent in the second match. It was Charlie that found his feet in the second match to win by "Queen with protection" in the first final. Unfortunately the fairy tale final match between the brothers was not to transpire with Ned settling his nerves in the second match of the second final to win by "electric fences".

With 24 competitors in the audience, the tournament was down to the final two, Ned from Year 4 and Charlie from Year 3.  The game progressed steadily with both players making cautious and calculated moves.  The crowd, watching by video link in the library, were waiting with great anticipation and it was Ned that was to make the first mistake.  The crowd saw Ned’s situation, however Charlie had missed his chance, moving his knight rather than his queen.  Ned was quick to pounce and take full advantage of his opponent's missed opportunity.  He took Charlie's queen and then proceeded to make positive moves, a highlight being a king and rook forking move.

Ned eventually positioned himself for another "electric fences" finishing move and was crowned St Mary’s Chess Champion of 2018.  Charlie’s runner up effort was a great result and both boys will be in the position to duplicate their performance in years to come.