St George’s School Chess Club take on Irish players in online competition

Members of the St George’s School Chess Club were in full battle on Tuesday morning, against opponents thousands of miles away.

Professor Colm Smyth, from Ireland, pitted his players against the Drumlish
club in his home region of County Longford.

“We’ve had a few kids qualify for nationals this year, all of which have been online, and that got me thinking about whether any schools would be interested in having chess tournaments,” Smyth said. .

“I noticed on Facebook that my cousin’s kids back home in Ireland were playing chess, so I contacted the local chess club and they immediately said ‘yes, that would be really, really great’.

“The children there [Ireland] are still in lockdown.”

The students were in the middle of a team speed chess battle when the Chronicle came to a halt.

“They play, chat and meet someone different,” Smyth said.

“A student said ‘this person spells his name ‘Smyth’, just like you do. I was like ‘yes, that’s my cousin’.”

Smyth said he restarted St George’s Chess Club when he started teaching there two years ago.

“The children were in class and saw the board. They didn’t know the rules, but they wanted to play.

“Now the club operates during morning tea on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.”

St George student Liam Meijer won the Intermediate Section of the Whanganui Regional School Chess Championship in June, with fellow Chess Club member Jack Bowen third.

The school took out the team event, before taking part in the national competition in November.

“It was supposed to be held in Rotorua, but it was moved online because of Covid, obviously,” Smyth said.

“We had two days of competition from 8 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. It was quite busy. The team finished 15th out of 25 teams.

“Our best player was Lucas Peneflor, who managed to finish in the top 50. He’s only a year 7 too, so we have him for another year.”

Although he encouraged the students to play the game initially, it was up to them to continue, Smyth said.

“If they don’t show interest, it doesn’t matter if you have all the equipment.

“That goes for parents and carers too. They’re the ones who have to drop them off at 7.45am so they can play chess.”

Smyth said the game itself helps teach self-management and controlling emotions when it comes to competition.

“When things go wrong, there’s no one to blame but yourself.”