National Interschool Finals 2015 Report

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The Chess Power National Finals 2015 attracted 206 competitors from 41 schools to Alexandra Park, Auckland on Sunday 4 October 2015.

Junior Division - 14 schools

Intermediate Division - 12 schools

Senior Division - 15 schools

Chess Power Staff

Paul Macdonald was the Chief Arbiter for the Junior & Intermediate divisions and Bruce Pollard was the Chief Arbiter for the Senior division.

We had a number of Junior arbiters helping too! Jack Sun, Prabhanjan Muthukannan, Rohit Mudaliar and Suruthi Sureshkumar assisted with arbitration of the Junior & Intermediate divisions for the day.

Rishit Patel assisted with Bruce Pollard with the Senior division.

Theo Tusa worked in the Puzzle section. Israfil Roshdi was on the product desk. Israfil also was our photographer.

And Akshay Sharma ran our popular coaching clinics through the day.

Unfortunately during the prize giving ceremony we had a problem with our camera and didn't realise that all the photo's were over-exposed ;^(

The Venue

The whole interschools event comprised of 103 boards across two large rooms 

The Chess Power store had a wide selection of chess sets, clocks, games and books

Each student received a personalised name badge
as well as a packet of mentos and a chocolate fish each

Medals were aplenty awarded for individual champions and individual team champions

And of course the Nationals Finals trophies available to the
winning Junior, Intermediate and Senior school champions

Some teams understood the significance and proudly dressed to the 9's
like this impressive team from Hauraki Plains College, Ngatea

Hauraki Plains College finished the event in 8th place overall.

Lets Get Started!

The Junior & Intermediate divisions were bustling with activity

The Senior division was relatively more spacious

Like the famous Mikhail Tal, Findlay Lister (Kaurilands School)
stares down Sylvia McDougall (Hillsborough School)

Darroch George-Bodle [right] (Masterton Intermediate) goes incognito
against Ian Busby [left] (Mt Roskill Intermediate). Poker anyone?

On the table behind Lenny Esler (Barton Rural School) [right] takes on
AJ Salisbury (Hebron Christian College)

Charlie Samson [right] (James Hargest College) tries to contain
Boss Wongs' (Somerville Intermediate) activity

On the table behind, Jim Hsu (Somerville Intermediate) begins to understand
a small innocent looking girl shouldn't be underestimated
Nina Nguyen (James Hargest College) came 4th overall in the Intermediate division!

Aaron Guo [left] (Hebron Christian College) executes a powerful fork
on Harrison Coates' [right] (St Kentigern Primary) queen and rook

Harrison had a great tournament with this game being one
of only two other losses for the whole event

Shriya Kelderman [right] (Mt Roskill Intermediate) comes out of the opening
with a space advantage against Josh Speakman [left] (St Kentigern Primary)
Shriya went on to win this game and finished 10th overall in the Intermediate division

Daniel Dennis [right] (Nelson College Preparatory School)
looks to prove extra hair can bring extra power to the board
Te Kaha Rangiwhetu [left] (Rangeview Intermediate) isn't phased
and focusses on the job at hand. Te Kaha won this game in the end.

Mt Roskill Intermediate make themselves at home on boards 1 and 2.

Board 1 far board: [left] Rico Fraser (Nelson College Preparatory School) vs Daniel Gong [right] (Mt Roskill Intermediate)
Board 2 close board [left] Mackinley He (Somerville Intermediate) vs Euan McDougall (Mt Roskill Intermediate)

Dejan Jones [left] (Te Puke High) takes no chances with a solid setup
against Frances Rose-Ross [right] (Hauraki Plains College)

A local match-up - Bodine Taukiri [right] (Paeroa College) takes on Tyson Skinner (Hauraki Plains College)

Raymond Wang [left] (Mt Roskill Grammar) vs Connor Mcarthur [right] (Paeroa College)
On the table behind, Jordan Sinclair [left] (Hauraki Plains College) vs Mark Sirikham [right] (Te Puke High School)

Miles Lee [left] Auckland International College vs John Eccles [right] Hauraki Plains College
Miles Lee finished individually 3rd overall

Chocolate Chess Fun!

Yes, everything is chocolate! - even the board

We kept the plastic on to protect the board!

The girls played the boys and this year the boys won on the Junior board!

Puzzle Prizes

Craig Oliver (Masterton Intermediate), Dominic Coleman (Barton Rural School), and Liam Moore (Barton Rural School) all scored zero in the Knights Tour!

Highest Rating Gainers

Junior Division - Brena Merz (St Cuthberts College) gained 339 points!

Intermediate Division - Sam Fletcher (Masterton Intermediate) gained 358 points!

Senior Division - Michael Ellis (Taupo-nui-a-tia College) gained 259 points!

Each ratings gainer won a book of their choice.

Supporter of the Year Award

Each year we recognise someone special that has done significant work to encourage Chess in their region. This year we recognised Minty Hunter who has done amazing work supporting kids and schools in the wider Wairarapa area.

Chess Power Supporter of the Year 2015 - Minty Hunter

Merit Award Winners (4.5 or less points from 9 games)

Junior Division Merit Award Winners

Intermediate Division Merit Award Winners

Senior Division Merit Award Winners

Credit Award Winners (4.5 or 5 points from 9 games)

Junior Division Credit Award Winners

Intermediate Division Credit Award Winners

Senior Division Credit Award Winners

 

Excellence Award Winners (5.5 or 6 points from 9 games)

Junior Division Excellence Award Winners

Intermediate Division Excellence Award Winners

Senior Division Excellence Award Winners

Note Benjamin Nylund in the front row doesn't have a growth deficiency
He is only 10 years old but played up in the Senior division for his team, Tasman Home Ed

Distinction Award Winners (6.5 points or more from 9 games)

Junior Division Distinction Award Winners

From left: Samuel Darr (Eastern Hutt School), James Yang (Point View School) & Findlay Lister (Kaurilands School)

Intermediate Division Distinction Award Winners

From left: Gaurav Pahuja (Mt Roskill Intermediate), Ted Nguyen (James Hargest College), Nina Nguyen (James Hargest College), Euan McDougall (Mt Roskill Intermediate), Daniel Gong (Mt Roskill Intermediate)

Best Individual Girls

Junior Division Best Girls

From Left: 
Aysha Vossen-Chong 3rd on tie-break (Hillsborough School)
Renae Ghadiali 2nd on tie-break (Hillsborough School)
Saasha Ghadiali 1st on tie-break (Hillsborough School)

Intermediate Division Best Girls

From Left:
Crystal Chanwong - 3rd place (Mt Roskill Intermediate)
Shriya Kelderman - 2nd place (Mt Roskill Intermedaite)
Nina Nguyen - 1st place (James Hargest College)

Proud Mums of two of the best girls

Senior Division Best Girls

The Senior best girls were Sarah Yan - 3rd Overall (Mt Roskill Grammar)
Alina Mansuevna - 2nd Overall (Edgewater College)
Caroline Yan - 1st Overall (Mt Roskill Grammar)

Best Individual Performance

 

Junior Division Best Individual Performance

From Left:
Eric Zheng - 3rd place overall (Hillsborough School)
Richard Meng - 1st place overall (Forrest Hill School)
Aaron Wang - 2nd place overall (Hillsborough School)

Richard Meng has been awarded the Junior Master title for his performance.

Intermediate Division Best Individual Performance

From Left: 
Gaurav Pahuja - 3rd place (Mt Roskill Intermediate)
Euan McDougall - 1st place on tie-break (Mt Roskill Intermediate),
Daniel Gong - 2nd place on tie-break (Mt Roskill Intermediate)

Euan McDougall and Daniel Gong have been awarded the Junior Master title for their performance.

Senior Division Best Individual Performance
The best three seniors were all from Auckland International College
Miles Lee, JM Ngoc Minh Tri Nguyen & Johnson Chen

Miles Lee and Johnson Chen have been awarded the Junior Master title for their performance.

Team Awards

Junior Divison - 3rd Place Overall
Kaurilands School, Auckland

Sebastien Bramley, Liam Ferguson, Romaan Wilcox, Findlay Lister, Max Van Der Westhuizen

Note: Papatoetoe Central School scored the same number of points as Kaurilands but scored a lower tie-break based on their 5th players score.

Junior Divison - 2nd Place Overall
Willowpark School, Auckland

Matthew Chen, Richard Jia, Nathan Jin, Jay Chen, Julie Li, Emma Zhuang

Chess Power Interschool National Finals 2015 Junior Division Champions
Hillsborough School
[ No photo available ]
Aaron Wang, Eric Zheng, Renae Ghadiali, Saasha Ghadiali, Aysha Vossen-Chong, Sylvia McDougall, Adam Ali, Celia Chanwong

Intermediate Divison - 3rd Place Overall
Hebron Christian College, Auckland

Aaron Guo, Peter Luo, Aj Salisbury, Justin Zhao, Zachary Luo

Note: Somerville Intermediate scored the same number of points as Hebron Christian College but scored a lower tie-break due to not having a 5th player.

Intermediate Divison - 2nd Place Overall
James Hargest College, Invercargill

Finn Holden, Nina Nguyen, Charlie Samson, Ted Nguyen

 

Chess Power Interschool National Finals 2015 Intermediate Division Champions
Mt Roskill Intermediate, Auckland

From Left: Paul Macdonald (Chess Power), Ryan Jiang, Gaurav Pahuja, JM Daniel Gong, Shriya Kelderman, Crystal Chanwong, JM Euan McDougall, Nimit Parekh, Wayne McDougall (Coach & Mentor), Ian Busby

Senior Divison - 3rd Place Overall
Newlands College, Wellington

Kieran Hodson, Glen Williams, Connor Graham, Spandan Mukherjee, Dre Urwin, Niran De Silva

Senior Divison - 2nd Place Overall
Mt Roskill Grammar, Auckland

Eric Chow, Kashyap Choudhary, Zi Yuan Tee, Sarah Yan, Caroline Yan, Daniel Morrin, Joshua Simmons, Raymond Wang

Chess Power Interschool National Finals 2015 Senior Division Champions
Auckland International College

Yizhou Cao, Xutong Wang, JM Miles Lee, Tone Xie, JM Johnson Chen, JM Ngoc Minh Tri Nguyen

A big thank you to all for your support of this event - we can't wait to bring you a bigger and even better event in 2016!

View Chess Power Interschool National Interschool Finals 2015 Results

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