Glenmuir keep Campion in check

Glenmuir High regained the RBTT National Schools Chess Championship title when they defeated defending champions Campion College 2-1/2-1 1/2 in the final at Ardenne High School last Saturday.

Campion went ahead 1-0 when Zachary Ramsay beat Mikhail Gillespie on Board Four, after the latter blundered away a piece and failed to recover.

Glenmuir, however, rebounded to level the scores, then take a 2-1 lead through clinical victories from Walter Williams on Board One and Onaje La Mont on Board Three, against Chad Simeon and Brian Ewbank respectively.

In the remaining two board matches, Campion's Phillip Pryce failed to capitalise on an error made by Glenmuir's Lucien Rowe and had to settle for a draw, which gave Glenmuir their second hold on the national school's title which they first won in 2005.

Category awards

After the match, category awards were presented to Glenmuir's Walter Williams, Lucien Rowe, Onaje La Mont and Campion's Zachary Ramsay for being the best players in the tournament on Boards One, Two, Three and Four respectively, while Melisha Smith of The Queen's School was adjudged the best reserve player.

Williams and La Mont were joint winners of the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Queens, who were knocked out in the semi-finals, copped the Best Female team award and Glenmuir took home the Best Rural team prize.