On Friday 27 April, ten students from our Primary College competed at the annual SCIPHA Chess Tournament held at Suncoast Christian College. Around 100 students participated in this event this year. With players from novice to advanced, Year 1s to Year 6s, played in a friendly atmosphere of sporting attitude, coupled with a very competitive edge. This is one of the Sunshine Coast’s premier tournaments on the junior chess calendar every year.

In the Open Division we had Matthew O’Shea and Sam Viney representing our school in this division for the very first time. To do so they had to play at a very high standard and compete against some very experienced junior players. Both boys displayed determination and committed concentration in each of their seven matches.

In the Novice Division we had two teams of four competing. This included Ethan Wilson,
Tyler Short, Troy Ward, and Alex Stout in one team and Jayden Neideck, Joel Newell, Archie Cruise and Flynn Lewis. All of these boys were new to tournament chess and some were quite nervous at the beginning of the day. All of them performed commendably, both in application and their sportsmanship on the day. Most of all, we were very excited when it was announced that Jayden Neideck had come a close second in the individual placings. Well done Jayden.

Next year we hope to have a full team of four playing in the Open Division. The team we sent to the SCIPHA tournament this year included some of our younger students. Their experience and skills will continue to grow and develop through practice at our weekly chess club and further opportunities to compete in tournaments in the coming years.

Mark Bowman