The Barbreck Chess Program has continued to flourish this semester, with numbers growing and our representative Chess Teams achieving success at interschool competitions. 

Earlier in the semester, the Barbreck Chess Tournament was held for the second year. Seventy girls (up from 46 in 2022) participated in two separate tournaments, one for Years 4 to 6 and another for Prep to Year 3.  

Once again, it was exciting to see the girls embrace the challenge of playing consecutive games and demonstrating their Chess skills and concentration throughout the Tournaments. For many girls, the Tournaments was their first opportunity to experience playing competitively under tournament conditions.   

There were some impressive performances this year, with new girls matching the skills and experience of our more accomplished players and finishing in the top placings for the first time.  

In equal third place were Anna Roosenberg (Year 6) and Aimee Davenport (Year 5), and in equal first place were Junya Jiang (Year 6) and Sienna Yu (Year 5). Excellent performances were also awarded to Ziwen Yu (Year 5) and Sienna Xu for being the Top Year 4 Player.  

During our Monday Chess Club sessions, our Prep to Year 3 students followed up with their own competitions in Term 2. This attracted many girls, many of whom were competing for the first time.  

Our final placings for the Year 3 girls were Elva Jiang in first place, Weijie (Jenny) He in second place and Emma Gao placing third. Mia Tien was also commended for her excellent result.  

The Prep to Year 2 winners were Annabelle Qin and YuMeng (Charlotte) Gan, placing equal first. Congratulations to all players who participated as without their enthusiasm and competitive spirit the high standard of games would not have been achieved. Another highlight for Chess in Term 2 was the successful performance of our Representative Chess Teams at the Zonal Interschool Chess Competition held in Week 5.  

A team of 12 students competed against seven other primary schools from across Melbourne. The competition was very strong, with 60 boys and girls each playing seven games across the day.  

Our girls performed extremely well, with Sienna Yu (Year 5) winning the Top Girls’ Award and Aimee Davenport (Year 5) placing second. Along with three other players, Sienna and Aimee are now eligible to compete as a team at the Chess Victoria Primary School Chess Finals in Term 4. We wish them well with this upcoming event. 

Our Chess coach, Mr Ross Neumann, continues offering coaching sessions Mondays before school for a small fee.  

If your daughter wants to try Chess, we encourage her to attend our Monday sessions in the STEM Lab. Further information is available below.  

Barbreck Chess Monday Session Details 

Location: STEM Lab, level 1 
Cost: Free of charge 
Days: Mondays during lunch from 1.20pm to 1.50pm (bring your lunch)  

Whilst we encourage girls to commit to attending for the term, it remains open for girls to come and go as they please.   

For further information about the Barbreck Chess Program please contact:  

Mr Tim Tainsh ttainsh@stcatherines.net.au
Mrs Louise Thompson – lthompson@stcatherines.net.au