Chess Team Exceeds Expectations at Championships

Brentwood Preparatory School’s young chess aficionados exceeded expectations at the National semi-finals of the English Primary School Chess Championships held on a gloriously sunny May weekend at Pontins in Camber Sands. 

The championship included an U9 and U11 section with 60 teams and over 350 players taking part. Teams played 6 matches over the two days, facing teams in each round with a similar overall score to themselves. The top 2 teams in the section would qualify for the National Finals.

Brentwood’s U11 team included George (Year 5), Pranav (Year 6), Dhruv (Year 4), Aarav (Year 5), Tiffany (Year 5) and Nikith (Year 4). Theodora also took part, winning 3 games out of 6 as part of a reserves team in the U9 section.

Brentwood School Head of Chess, Robin Slade, said:”I was impressed by the level of play and application by the Prep team and also how well they encouraged each other through the weekend. They were an absolute pleasure to spend the weekend with and performed above my expectations. We only lost to the schools that finished 1st (Dulwich Prep) and 2nd in the whole competition.”

Team Captain, George, said: “We were thrilled with our eventual finishing position, which exceeded our original expectations. We learned a lot and will be coming back even stronger next year so watch out Camber Sands!”