Chess Round 4

History with Knox Grammar

Knox has always been a tough team and our strongest rival when it comes to CAS Chess, and last Friday was no different. The players were evenly matched in every regard and the match is always a great contest. Knox had the title from last year and we the team that aimed to take it back!

Jeremy Gergis  |  2022 Chess Vice Captain

Junior Team

Last week, we were happy to have a full team of four players competing again. We were competing against reigning champions, Knox Grammar, so we knew this was going to be a challenging round. Eddie Huynh (7Ke) competed in his first CAS chess tournament game and he competed confidently in a demanding game.  Finn Canadas (8Ar) competed bravely against a formidable opponent. As always, Alexander Kountouris (8Mu) and Ashvin Nagaratnam (8Yo) played determined and strategic games and fought their opponents through long and challenging games. In the last round of CAS that is coming up, we are hoping to come back strong and triumph over our next opponent, Cranbrook.

Finn Canadas   |  2022 CAS Junior Team

Intermediate Team

On Friday 4 March, Trinity played Knox in the penultimate round of CAS Chess ’22 in what was a tight fixture across the grades.

On Board 1 of the intermediate team, Albert Zhou (9WJ) came prepared as white against Seth Peramunetilleke, playing into a Semi-Slav Meran and effectively move-ordered black into a positionally hopeless position with a blocked light square bishop on move 14, after capturing with the wrong pawn. From then onwards, white had the central space initiative and had several promising tactical opportunities against black’s loosened kingside. Pera sought counterplay down the opposite flank and the semi-open c-file, attempting to liberate his bishop pair, and trying to break with a 3-2 queenside majority. However, white was always a bit better throughout but lacked the resources for a successful pawn-storm against black’s lone kingside. Both sides ended up neutralising the enemy’s activity on the wings and consolidated, while the centre remained relatively blocked and the game drifted into drawn territory. Seth played staunchly and strategically, much like Moiseevich Botvinnik, to hold the game. A challenging encounter, not without its fair share of missed opportunity but overall a good experience to build upon in upcoming games.

On Board 3, Max Anderson(10Hi) was white. He played white in a closed Sicilian, most of the action was played on the queenside trying to target a weakened pawn structure. Max played aggressively with dramatic pawn pushes on the flank and dynamic rook moves, increasing the pressure on his opponent. He played an interesting, double-edged exchange-sacrifice, giving up his rook for a bishop. This gave both sides winning chances. As discussed in post-mortem, Max may have had more chances by consolidating his positional trumps, especially with a significant time advantage but the game would have likely fizzled out into drawn waters. Overall, an exciting game, showing that Max is a chess player with a very promising future ahead of him.

Albert Zhou  |  2022 CAS Intermediate Team

Very special mention to Ethan La (9La) playing for the first time this season and precisely outplaying his opponent the whole game for a great win! He had a positional advantage from the opening and professionally converted into a winning game where he checkmated his opponent. Jeffrey Huang (10St) also played a great game on Board 2. Despite the strong competition, he still played an intense and amazing game which was contested by both sides very well.

Jeremy Gergis  |  2022 Chess Vice Captain

Senior Team

The Senior team had a challenging performance against Knox. James Kim (11Ar) played nearly 90 minutes in what was an amazing contest as he demonstrated his ability to get a winning position against his opponent on Board 1. Jeremy Gergis (12Du) had a strong game in a very short game. Kevin Zhang (12Ho) defeated his opponent with consistent pressure and correct play. Rory Briscoe (12Du) played a tiring game where he displayed great skill and composure.

Jeremy Gergis  |  2022 Chess Vice Captain

Overall results

The overall result was 3.5 – 8.5 in favour of Knox Grammar School. The boys played well and unfortunately luck was not on our side. We had a great start but the exhaustion and fatigue of playing takes a toll on players. Nonetheless, we are very proud of the efforts and aim to get the still very prestigious 2nd place for CAS 2022. Every boy deserves great recognition as the competition was very close and intense.

Jeremy Gergis  |  2022 Chess Vice Captain