Strong Season for Chess

The Caterham Chess team has had a strong and encouraging season, showing real progress across a range of competitions. In January, the team secured an impressive second place in the Team Chess Challenge, a national rapid play tournament.

In the ECF National Schools’ Competition, a prestigious classical chess tournament, the team reached the regional semifinal before bowing out to Wilson’s School, one of the top teams in the country. Despite the loss, Caterham was given a final opportunity to reach the national finals through a series of repechage matches. The team rose to the challenge, winning two qualifying rounds. In the final round, however, they placed seventh, narrowly missing out on a spot in the national finals.

All players who featured in the Under 19 A and B team played impressive matches, but Leonid Stepanenko has been my player of the season after claiming some impressive results against some extremely strong opposition.

There is a strong core of talented players within the school, and with more joining next year, the future of Chess at Caterham looks very bright. Participation is growing, and with it, the team’s potential for success. We look forward to building on this year’s achievements in the seasons to come.