College chess team create history with Secondary Schools victory

The team of Halen Harrison, Magnus Levergren, Koby Dickson, Peter Foster, Elias Neuberg and Tatenda Midzi won the fourth staging of the tournament by finishing ahead of the previous three-time champions on a tiebreak.

A nail-biting team triumph was clinched by Halen in the only match still being played in the hall at the end of the tournament.

He followed up an illegal move by an opponent from competition hosts Bootham School to seal victory with a series of well-planned moves.

Earlier, Magnus' thrilling round two win was named Match of the Day and, having won four out of five match points to secure the Secondary School title, the College students were also presented with the coveted Ewan Cameron Chess Set, named after the former president of York Chess Club.

Our talented team of 16 and 17-year-olds have now qualified for the Regional Championships, which will take place in Darlington at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College on Tuesday 19th November when, if they are successful again, they will go on to compete in the National Championships.  

A total of 22 teams from secondary and primary schools across York and North Yorkshire contested the event at Bootham School.

York College & University Centre Student Progress Leader Alex Godfrey launched the chess enrichment club at the start of this academic year and they meet up on Campus once or twice a week.