13 December 2011
The last few days of term saw a flurry of chess activity. On Monday 12 December, the afternoon of Inter-House Sports Competitions included chess for the first time. Teams of three competed in a four-round "Swiss" tournament in which every player competes in every round. 48 games of chess were played to decide the final rankings: 1st Davies', led by Alexander Lee, 2nd Boyd's, 3rd Webb's, 4th Franklin's, 5th Crescent, 6th O'Doherty's, 7th School and 8th Southwell-Sander's (Christodoulou's did not enter a team).
On Monday evening four of these same players - Alexander Lee, Omri Faraggi, Edward Reynolds and Rafi'i al-Akiti - lined up to face Cumnor Chess Club's top team in the Oxford and District Chess League and helped defeat them convincingly 4.5-1.5.
Finally, on Tuesday 13 December, the Lower School and Middle School knockout tournaments were concluded. Joseph Truran beat Ray Ren to win the Lower School Trophy and Edward Reynolds beat Leon Wu to win the Middle School trophy.
Edward Reynolds' feat of chess endurance was particularly impressive. He won two of his four games in the House Chess, won his game against Cumnor in the evening, and the next afternoon won the Middle School Trophy. He's certainly earned his Christmas break.