Varsity events were introduced at The Two Counties Trust during the last academic year as an opportunity to bring together students from across our family of schools in the spirit of friendly competition.
On 9th October Frederick Gent School hosted the second Varsity Chess Competition. Last year’s event was an incredibly well attended event, with this year being just as successful. Students from years 7, 8 and 9 took part in a series of 8, competing against peers from every other school within the Trust, 10 schools in total.
Matches followed a ‘blitz’ format, giving each player only five minutes thinking time across 40 chess moves. Matches were decided via checkmate, most pieces taken after 40 moves or if their opponent used up all of their thinking time. The added pressure of blitz rules led to some additional adrenaline to all the matches played.
The Selston High School team had a great day finishing as one of only two schools to be awarded 4 medals in the different categories of competition.
Our students really enjoyed the experience with comments including “I loved getting to represent my school and meet new people.” and “Chess doesn’t just bring people together; it’s chance for us to see who we really are.”
For the overall competition we were narrowly pipped by Friesland School who we congratulate on this year’s win. We look forward to many more Trust Varsity events throughout the academic year, giving students more opportunities, connect, compete and understand what it means to be part of our family of schools.
