View photos of the tour on Flickr
Thursday 2 – Sunday 5 February 2023: The top four WBHS chess teams competed in the annual chess tournament hosted by Grey College in Bloemfontein. This prestigious tournament has been running for the last 21 years, with Wynberg participating every year since 2010, with the exception of 2021 when Covid restrictions prevented the Tournament from being staged.
This tournament provided the opportunity for Wynberg players to test themselves against some of the strongest chess teams in the country. For many years we entered just a single team, then a few years ago sent two. Last year we signed up three teams to participate, but the current depth of chess at Wynberg saw our four teams able to hold their own this year at the tournament.
Our First and Second teams played in the A section of the tournament (26 teams) and our Third and Fourth teams in the B section (34 teams). The quality of Wynberg chess shone through with our A team winning the A section and our B team placing fourth. In the B section, our two teams earned a bronze medal and seventh place respectively.
The first team must be commended for only losing 3 points during the entire tournament, compiling 15 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss in their 20 games. Kevin Karengera playing at board one was the player of the Tournament winning the Board One prize for his four wins and a draw – all against nationally rated players.
Other individual accomplishments were achieved by the majority of our players winning far more matches than they lost: overall we had 53 wins, 7 draws, and only 20 losses.
Every player worked hard last year to make the touring squad, and their dedication continued throughout the tournament, as demonstrated by their results. They can be very proud of their individual contributions toward a collective and emphatic statement culminating in the final results and placings:
1st team: Kevin Karengera (Captain), Keean Vassen, M Saalih Tasriet, and Hasan Smith.
4 – 0 vs Grey College C
4 – 0 vs Duineveld High School A
3.5 – 0.5 vs Trinity House Randpark A
3.5 – 0.5 vs Paarl Boys’ High A
2 – 2 vs Stirling High School A, the 2022 tournament winners
Final ranking – 1st out of 26
2nd team: M Isah Deshmukh, Damian Hetherington, Liam Storey, and Daniel Budge.
4 – 0 vs Cradock High A
3 – 1 vs Affies A
1 – 3 vs Paarl Boys’ High A
2 – 2 vs Hoerskool Fichardpark A
3 – 1 vs Sentraal Hoerskool A
Final ranking – 4th out of 26
3rd team: Andrew Killick, Sebastian de Klerk, Amien Gierdien, and Gabriel Le Roux,
2 – 2 vs Paarl Boys’ High B
4 – 0 vs Afrikaans Hoer Meisieskool C
3 – 1 vs Trinity House Randpark B
0.5 – 3.5 vs Wynberg Boys’ High School D
2 – 2 vs St Andrew’s B
Final ranking – 7th out of 34
4th team: Benjamin Budge, Xavier Brown (Captain), Ross Read, Ethan Pinn, and Thomas Roberts.
4 – 0 vs Cradock High C
3 – 1 vs Petunia Secondary School A
2 – 2 vs Selborne College B
3.5 – 0.5 vs Wynberg Boys’ High School C
2 – 2 vs Stirling High School B
Final ranking – 3rd out of 34
Report courtesy Mr Louis Schultz
