Stepping up: both QE chess teams reach regional finals after qualifier victory

Stepping up: both QE chess teams reach regional finals after qualifier victory

The School’s top chess players of all ages are looking forward to doing battle in the new term in the regional finals of the English Schools’ Chess Championships, after emerging triumphant from a qualifier. 

QE’s A team, comprising players from the senior years, successfully took on teams from Aylesbury Grammar School, the Lycée Internationale de Londres, University College School, and from the hosts, Harrow, to secure first place in the regional qualifier.  

The younger B team came fifth, with both the teams successfully going through to the regional knockout stages. 

The successes capped a term in which no fewer than 168 boys took part in in-School tournaments for Years 9, 10 & 11. 

Teacher in charge of chess Geoff Roberts said: “My congratulations go to our A team, who played superbly at Harrow, winning four matches, and to the B team, who also put in a very creditable performance, winning two and drawing one of their four matches.    

“There were particularly strong performances from the A team’s Daiwik Solanki and B team’s Hubert Bates, who both won three of their matches and drew the remaining one. Well done, too, to Nishchal Thatte, Joshua John, Jason Tao, Rithwik Gururaj, Callistus Bhattachrya and Karthik Kalairasan, who also notched up three wins apiece.” 

Eighteen teams took part in the regional qualifier. 

In QE’s own tournaments, Rithwik, of Underne House, and Nishchal, of Leicester, were joint winners of the Year 11 tournament.

Rohan Katkar won the Year 10 tournament and Yue Song secured first place in the Year 8 event. 

Tournaments for Years 7 & 9 will be played in the first half of the Spring Term.   

The School A and B teams were as follows:   

A team 

Joshua John, Year 13
Andreas Angelopoulos, Year 13
Jason Tao, Year 13
Daiwik Solanki, Year 12
Rithwik Gururaj, Year 11
Nishchal Thatte, Year 11 

B team 

Karthik Kalaiarasan, Year 12 
Callistus Bhattacharya, Year 10
Aayush Dewangan, Year 9
Bharat Jayakumar, Year 9
Elliot O’Donnell, Year 9
Hubert Bates, Year 7