Published on: 4 September 2015


Christ Church recently defended its title of champion school in the PSA Chess Tournament. It is the sixth consecutive year the chess team has won the event.

It was a transitional but progressive year for chess at Christ Church. With the bulk of the inter-school squad graduating from Year 12 in 2014, the task of maintaining the number one position was going to be a challenge.

The first test back in Term 2 was the Four Schools Tournament where Christ Church, Guildford, Hale and Scotch faced off, each fielding an eight-man squad. With a team of Liam Tien (Year 10), Eric Pan (Year 8), Jiayi Mu (Year 11), Joshua Fry (Year 7), Nicholas Pizzino (Year 11), Jesse Zhou (Year 10), Alden Lands (Year 10) and Michael Lukin (Year 12), the boys did not disappoint. Their commanding performance resulted in Christ Church finishing outright winners on 38.5 points with second place, Guildford, amassing only 20.5 points.

The real challenge, however, took place last week where a formidable Wesley College team, boasting state champion ‘George,’ presented a very real threat to the team’s chances. The fresh faced and somewhat youthful line up for the five-man PSA event was Liam Tien, Eric Pan, Jiayi Mu and Joshua Fry, with Nicholas Pizzino and Jesse Zhou alternating the reserve position.

The new look format for the PSA event involved a gruelling six games, each taking 30 minutes. The decider between Christ Church and Wesley fell in round five, with both teams entering the round undefeated.

On Board 1, Liam Tien had the unenviable task of defeating ‘George,’ who has never lost a PSA game. Unfortunately for ‘George’ his teammates were not as consistent. Jiayi Mu posted a quick win followed by Joshua Fry, and although Jesse Zhou was frustrated with a draw, Eric Pan soon ensured victory was ours with a 3.5 to1.5 win over Wesley. This was followed up with a clinical 5 to 0 clean sweep over Trinity.

“When Christ Church received the trophy they acted like true gentlemen, living by the philosophy engraved in their minds, you win as you would lose, cool, calm and collected,” said Mr Dominic Hodnett.

“This was the sixth consecutive year Christ Church has won the PSA event and this can only be attributed to the coaching skills of Ned Robles, the hard work and camaraderie displayed by all the boys and a positive philosophy instilled within the minds of players. We look forward to fielding an unchanged team for 2016 and extending our legacy of chess.”