Hallfield School Chess 2023 – 2024

Champion of Champions Tournament

Our final team event of the year was a prestigious tournament dubbed the “Champion of Champions”. The top 8 schools in the country in both U11 and U9 were invited to play an all-play-all, 5 player per team, tournament at Kings College Junior School in Wimbledon at the end of June. It was a who’s who of some of the top independent schools in the country including The Hall, University College School, Westminster Under, Dulwich Prep, St Paul’s and the hosts, Kings College. Hallfield have strength in depth and so had been invited to compete in both the U9 and the U11 sections.

Every single game was against a top player and the schedule was brutal with each player needing to play 7 games in one day. Our experienced U11 team scored steadily but the long day took its toll, and they ended up finishing in the middle of the pack with Westminster Under finishing the U11 event first. Our U9 team, for a while, looked like they might win the event but, once again, we slowed down towards the end of the day but still finished a magnificent third just behind the winners Kings College and second placed Westminster Under. Hallfield were the only non-southern school to be invited to the event and can rightly claim to be the top chess school outside of the M25.

A summary of our 2023/2024 season:

• Warwickshire Primary School Team Champions
• 10 Players selected for County Team
• National Finalists in the U13 Junior Team Chess Challenge
• IAPS U11 and U13 Team Champions
• National Schools Team “Champion of Champions” U9 3rd Place