Following the successful staging of the Gauteng Chess Championships last month, the Gauteng Sports Confederation (GSC) believes yet another milestone was reached in developing and growing the sport.
From the planning, administration, to the initiation of the competition, the GSC was pleased with the outcome of the competition especially with all the hard work before the event to ensure everything was run accordingly.
The competition saw a total of 1,800 learners, including children with special needs, going head to head to determine the rightful candidates to compete at the National Chess Championships in December.
In order to progress to the Gauteng Champs, the schools had to compete at the district champs. All the action took place at the Hoerskool Waterkloof in Pretoria on 28 and 29 August and it seems the school capitalised on their home ground advantage as they won their boys and girls under-15 merit categories and claimed gold.
The under-15 development gold medalists were Vuwani School from Johannesburg Central. For the Primary Schools, the bigger age group- under13 were claimed by Hlangabeza primary school in both boys and girls categories. Lesabe from Ekurhuleni won gold in the under-13 development category while Wonderboom from Tshwane North took gold in the under-13 girls merit.
The schools that won gold will proceed to the nationals in December.
The GSC, through General Secretary Yaseen Lombard, wished all the schools going to the nationals well and said they would love to see more Gauteng schools coming out victorious.
“The championships were a great success and this comes to show that good preparation indeed prevents failure. Everything went smoothly because we, together with all the stakeholders, including schools and parents worked together to plan and organise the event,” said Lombard.
“Chess plays a vital role in a child’s life as it also teaches one how to be tactical in decision-making and making wise moves as well. This also promotes social cohesion within learners which is very critical for youngsters. What is more exciting is that there will be a Top 8 battle at the nationals and this will see players bringing in their best ever performances.”
