On the afternoon of 14th July, a team of seven Year 7 boys took on seven girls from Newstead Wood School, brought over by Dr Beaven, who recently taught some maths at BGS. This was the first inter-school chess competition that has happened at the school in more than eighteen years. It was initiated by Dr Beaven for our students to compete for the Asker-Beaven Cup (sadly more notional than real). Across four hard-fought rounds, the boys had to deal with the ebb and flow of emotions that come with sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but they ended the day as champions, with captain Enzo undefeated in all his games.

The players were: Enzo, Chaitanya and Rantimi (7JR), Rassim, Matty and William (7TMR), and Soham (7LC).

The team did brilliantly to keep themselves calm and focused as they faced strangers across the boards. At the halfway stage, it was neck-and-neck, before the BGS team stretched ahead. Credit to every player, each of whom won at least one of their games, contributing to a final score of 17-11.

My thanks to Dr Beaven for giving us the opportunity to venture into the brutal world of competitive chess! Here's to many more matches in the future.

Mr Asker, Chess Club Coordinator