Kryal Castle Chess Shield

On the 23rd of August Winters Flat made the journey to Victoria's own winter wonderland, Ballarat, and attended the inaugural Kryal Castle Chess Shield held in a picture post card perfect setting that could have been in medieval Europe. Two days before we arrived, the hills surrounding the castle were blanked in snow.

Upon arrival we were guided to the Banquet Hall, also known as the Abbey Tavern, where the tournament was held, by guides dressed in medieval paraphernalia and the women dressed in courtly gowns & period costumes. The Banquet Hall had a huge open fire place which was augmented by a modern heating system, none of which seemed to avail against the arctic conditions.

The Banquet Hall had medieval lighting which left the room very dark. At the end of the Hall was a bar with a sword that looked like it belonged to Vlad the Impaler. The kids were in their element! In between rounds there was so much to see including the Maze and 'Knights Tower and Throne Room'.

The kids seemed to have a built in compass and with out any encouragement quickly located the 'Dragons Labyrinth', 'Dungeon and Torture Museum' and the 'Tooth Fairy Lolly Shop', all places of great educational value.

Our team consisted of; Lewin Blanch, the best year 4 chess player in rural Victoria and in the top 12 chess players for his age in Victoria, Kai Henderson, Zephyr Norden-Williamson, Iestyn Cotterell, Felix Mensah, Caleb Mountford, Stanley Maloney-Kearns, Arki Snowball and Byron Plousi. All these students have shown fine commitment to the school chess program and have worked consistently throughout the year. One enduring lesson school chess programs teach, which generalises to other areas of students lives, is goals plus hard work equals success (G+W=S).

There were 21 schools participating and nearly half were from Melbourne including View Bank P.S., Richmond West P.S., Pascoe Vale P.S, Mooney Ponds P.S, Glenroy Central P.S, Montmorency P.S., and a host of local Ballarat Schools.

With so many Melbourne schools competing and well coached Ballarat schools in attendance we knew the competition would be stiff. The students brought us their results at the end of the rounds and they were doing well, and one could predict a top 8 finish. As the results were read out in ascending order, at the end of the day, starting from 21st WFPS name wasn't mentioned and when they got to the top three we heard the name Cambridge P.S. and suddenly a 1st or 2nd place result was looming. The excitement was growing amongst the team. The Tournament Manager called out WFPS 2nd place! Wow what a mighty achievement. Mt Blowhard came 1st beating us by only 2.5 points.

Congratulations to our top boards, Lewin, Zephyr, Kai, Caleb and Iestyn who performed brilliantly on the day and whose efforts won Winters Flat the Runners up Trophy. Also to Felix for his commitment and consistent work which is bringing big improvements. Stan, Arki and Byron, our novice players, battled on all day and remained tireless and optimistic against the toughest competition we have faced this year.

I would like to thank WFPS staff for all their support and particularly Suzanne, our principal, who once again drove the kids to the tournament and supported and encouraged them all day. The day would not have been possible without her generosity.

WFPS developed the school chess program under its SPACE Philosophy which strives to develop each child's Social, Physical, Academic, Creative and Emotional wellbeing. The SPACE philosophy places a strong emphasis on EQ and thinking outside the box. This has enabled the school to compete state wide against the best chess kids in the country, often with great success. The school chess program is an example of the WFPS SPACE Program in action and of the school delivering on its goals, realizing its vision and making its mission statement a reality.

On Wednesday the 18th of September Winters Flat will be competing in the Mt Alexander Chess Challenge at Castlemaine Secondary which is a WFPS initiative.

We are looking for parent volunteers who would like to help out on the day.

We would also like to thank Rotary Castlemaine for its ongoing support over 12 years and donating $1000.00 again this year to support the upcoming Mt Alexander Chess Challenge.

Harry Poulton

Chess Tutor