St Robert's Catholic Primary School chess stars dominate district tournament

Harrogate & District Primary Schools Chess Association's recent tournament was attended by 58 children from 10 different schools. Picture: Submitted

The event was sponsored by and held at the Manhattan Club in Beech Avenue.

Represented were Aspin Park Academy, Bilton Grange Primary School, Bishop Monkton C of E Primary School, Oatlands Community Junior School, Pannal Primary School, Richard Taylor C of E Primary School, Rossett Acre Primary School, St Peter's C of E Primary School, St Robert's Catholic Primary School and Saltergate Community Junior School.

Edmond Macmullen-Price from St Robert's came first in the Year 6 section, followed by Zachary Maunder of St Peter's. There was a tie for third place between Jasper Crawford of Bilton Grange and Marius Ruksenas of St Robert's.

In Year 5, Aidan Ferguson of St Robert's, a member of the Manhattan Junior Chess Club, claimed top spot, while there was a triple tie for the runner-up position between Ethan Baudach, also of St Robert's, Asher Knight of Oatlands and Albert Kempton of Richard Taylor.

St Robert's also took the prize for first place in Year 4 thanks to the success of James Smith. Second place was a tie between Joseph Hirst of Pannal and Henry Yallup of Oatlands.

In the section for Year 3 and under, Archer Kirby triumphed for Rossett Acre, with Charles Ferguson second for St Robert's and the Manhattan. Third place was shared between Joshua Abbott of Pannal and the Manhattan, Esmer Baudach of St Robert's, Ellie Huband of Oatlands and Tak-Yui Lee of St Peter's.

Book prizes for the Best Boy Player went to Macmullen-Price, while the Best Girl Player was Samantha Lusted of Oatlands and the Manhattan.

The Best Game prize was won by George Wen of Pannal and the Best Check Mate by Ethan Baudach.

Prizes were presented by Georgia Taylor, a chess loving semi-professional rugby league player, who plays as a winger for Super League team York Valkyrie.