St Paul’s Represented at English Chess Finals

After progressing through the regional qualifiers, the SPS chess team were contenders in the national event for U19s, competing with the best in the country.

The team this year consisted of Vedaant Saggi (Upper Eighth), Ryan Ng (Upper Eighth) Amar Ali (Lower Eighth), Liam Clery-Luta (Sixth Form), Richard Zhan (Sixth Form), Lior Yedid (Fifth Form) and Ian Ding (Fourth Form). Following a bye in the first round, the team met Brentwood School in the second round and secured a 4-2 victory.  The third round against Latymer School proved tough against the clock, but decisive victories from Vedaant, Ian and Lior helped secure a draw. The final round of the first day against Eltham College saw SPS held to a draw after 2 hours of play time.

Thanks to a restful evening and an inspiring speech from team captain Vedaant, the team started the second day on good form. Facing off against the seventh seeded Queen Elizabeth’s School in the fifth round, decisive victories from Liam, Richard and Ryan secured a well-deserved draw. The final round was an evenly-matched challenge against the sixth seeded Haberdashers’, whose experience won through, ending the SPS unbeaten run. Given that this was the majority of the team’s first time at nationals, they must be congratulated for their impressive joint 5th place in the competition.

A special mention is owed to Ian for his spectacular performance of 3.5/5, helping the team secure some well-needed wins.