Clash of the Chess Titans has been a seven-game match for Year 12’s Rowan and Nikolai, two of the School’s strongest players. Competing to discover who is indeed, the best Chess player in School, they’ve been surrounded by the noise and support of their fellow students through each and every move.
Our Head of Chess, Dagne Cuiksyte shared her report from each of the games:
With a time control of 10min+1sec/move for the whole game, the first game was won by Rowan, with only 12 seconds left on the clock, while Nikolai had just two! Trying to play a sideline variation, prepared in advance for Rowan’s King’s Indian Defence with Black, backfired for Nikolai who had entered the match with immense confidence. At the right moment, Rowan struck in the centre of the board, using a tactical motif, to stop Nikolai’s attempt to attack on the kingside. The result: 1-0 in Rowan’s favour.
Nikolai lost the second game as well, much to his frustration. Rowan was a strong opponent, whose pieces seemed to be on the right squares at the right time to open up Nikolai’s king’s hiding place in this game. The result: 2-0 in Rowan’s favour.
In the third game, Nikolai had a strong formation around the centre in the King’s Indian Defence again, realising that in order to win against his confident opponent Rowan, he would need to play in the most solid way. This strategy worked nicely bringing a win to Nikolai. The result: 2-1 in Rowan’s favour.
In the fourth game, the players battled in the French Defence Exchange variation with Rowan getting material advantage at one point and losing it later. In the time trouble, the position was a theoretical draw with both players rushing to make their moves within one second of increment per move! At one point, Rowan slowed down and ran out of time. The result: 2-2.
In the penultimate game, yet another complicated and rich in strategic decisions, Samisch variation in the King’s Indian Defence appeared on the board. This time, Rowan gained material advantage, kept it and pushed Nikolai to losing on time. The result: 3-2 in Rowan’s favour.
The sixth game saw Rowan winning all the way through – on the chessboard and on time, but it was Nikolai who eventually won! Rowan made only one wrong move, which doesn’t sound much, but was enough to throw away all the hard work built up to that point. He was disappointed to say the least. But this is what Chess is all about, as both our brilliant players know only too well – but for every disappointment a player may feel, there’s also the equal joy and happiness of an unexpected win. The game was closely followed by a huge crowd of fellow students, cheering both players on, celebrating all moves. The result: 3-3
The final was won with a tie-breaker – the Armageddon game! Nikolai was White with 10 min + 1 sec/move, needing a win to take the match. Rowan was Black with 8.5min + 1 sec/move, but a win or draw would have given him the overall win. The Armageddon game came with ups and downs for both of our players. Nikolai put pressure on Rowan during the middlegame, but misplayed it somehow and got himself into a losing position. Fortunately for Nikolai, both players were low on time, but it was Rowan who ran out of it first!
Congratulations to Nikolai, and well done to Rowan; both of these players have been exceptional, respectful, kind and supportive of one another – true sportsmanship throughout every game. Well done to them and thank you to everyone who supported them throughout.
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