October 10, 2023
Outstanding Performance by the WUS Chess Team at the National U19 Rapidplay Tournament.
Our talented chess team recently participated in the prestigious ECF U19 Rapidplay Chess Tournament hosted at Eton College. This event brought together more than 50 senior schools and nearly 400 young chess players for a day filled with exciting matches.
Here, William Yu, the captain of the WUS chess team, shares his experiences of the day.
On Sunday 1st October, WUS participated in the ECF U19 rapidplay at Eton College. Over 50 other (senior) schools and almost four hundred players participated in this annual team event. There were some delays at the start due to a record number of entries, but soon the games got under way.
In the first round, WUS was paired against North Liverpool Academy. It was a very tough first round pairing, and with some games going down to the last minutes on the clock. In the end, WUS emerged victorious by a narrow margin of 3½ – 2½. The second round went smoothly for WUS, as every team member won their game against Crickhowell School.
Our success was rewarded with an early lunch and a round 3 encounter against St. Paul’s School. In a predictably tight affair, many games were close, but St. Paul’s managed to edge ahead. However, some superb play on the final two boards in must-win situations ensured that WUS came out equal, with the match score tied at 3 points each.
After a comfortable score of 5 – 1 against Exeter School in round 4, we were drawn against one of the strongest teams, Magdalen College School, in the final round, a team boasting an international chess master on their top board. Despite our team’s valiant efforts, and some superb play with many games again going to gruelling endgames, we were eventually defeated by the score 4 – 2.
In the end, WUS ended in a respectable position of 7th place amongst senior schools, congratulations to the team of: Kameron Grose, George Zhao, Ethan Pang, Felix Johnson, WIlliam Yu and Brian Tang.
William Yu
(Captain)
