St George's School chess club goes up against Irish players in online competition

Colm Smyth restarted the St George's chess club two years ago. Photo / Mike Tweed

Members of the St George's School chess club were in the midst of battle on Tuesday morning, against opponents thousands of kilometres away.

Teacher Colm Smyth, originally from Ireland, pitted his players against the Drumlish club in his home region of County Longford.

"We had a few kids who qualified for the nationals this year, which was all held online, and that got me thinking about whether any schools would be interested in some chess tournaments," Smyth said.

"I noticed on Facebook that my cousin's kids back home in Ireland were playing chess, so I contacted the local chess club and they immediately said 'yes, this would be really, really great'.

"The kids over there [Ireland] are still in lockdown."

Students were in the midst of a team speed-chess battle when the Chronicle stopped by.

"They are playing, chatting, and getting to meet someone different," Smyth said.

"One student said 'this person spells their name 'Smyth', just like you do. I was like 'yeah, that's my cousin'."

Smyth said he restarted the chess club at St George's when he began to teach there two years ago.

"The kids were in class and saw the chessboard. They didn't know the rules, but they wanted to play.

"Now the club runs during morning tea on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday."

St George's student Liam Meijer took out the intermediate section of the Whanganui Regional School Chess Championship in June, with fellow chess club member Jack Bowen coming in third.

The school took out the team event, before competing in the national competition in November.

"That was meant to be held in Rotorua, but that went online because of Covid, obviously," Smyth said.

"We had two days of competition from 8am to 4 or 5pm. It was pretty full on. The team finished 15th out of 25 teams.

"Our top player was Lucas Peneflor, who managed to finish in the top 50. He's only a Year 7 too, so we've got him for another year."

While he encouraged the students to play the game initially, it was up to them to continue with it, Smyth said.

"If they don't show an interest then it doesn't matter if you have all the gear.

"That goes for the parents and caregivers as well. They are the ones that have to drop them off at 7.45 in the morning so they can play chess."

Smyth said the game itself helped to teach self-management and to control one's emotions when it came to competition.

"When things go wrong, there's no one to blame but yourself."