The first round of the trials to select the Chris Hani District’s chess team for 2020 was held on Monday afternoon, 10 February.
This set of matches saw 21 schools participating and took the format of an individual Swiss Open chess tournament.
110 entrants battled it out in the Union High School hall in Graaff-Reinet, while a further 80 players pitted their skills against one another at Marlow Agricultural High School in Cradock.
The chess tournament was keenly contested by players from start to finish and saw a wave of promising young talent emerge.
(The second round of the trials will be held in March and the third soon thereafter, after which the the top players will be invited to a closed tournament in August, where the final selection will be made for the team that will represent the district at the South African Junior Chess Championship to be held in Johannesburg in early January 2021.
Union extends its thanks to all those who assisted in making the tournament a success – the section controllers, arbiters and all those who assisted in the many smalls tasks on the day.