HB Region Secondary Schools Chess Tournament 2013

Hastings Sports Centre - Friday 17th May

Narrow escape for schools chess champion

Bailey Diack from Tamatea High School won the Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools Chess Championship in Hastings today. The Year 12 student won all five of his games to be the clear winner of the Open Grade of the tournament at the Hastings Sports Centre.
However Diack admitted that a stroke of good fortune had helped him win the title.
In a key game with Year 11 Taradale High School student Nicholas Jacobs, he was a whole Rook down and headed for defeat - till he spotted the opportunity to threaten a sneaky checkmate.
"I saw it and I was just hoping he wouldn't," Diack said. "I was just lucky that he didn't see it coming."
Jacobs, perhaps losing concentration in expectation of imminent victory, failed to defend against the threat and was swiftly checkmated. He finished second.
Diack is largely self-taught. "I don't belong to a club; I just play with friends, it's just constant playing," he said.
Winners of other grades were: Year 11, Ezra Palmers, Hastings Christian High School; Year 10, Liam Millar, Havelock North High School; and Year 9, Levi Hawkins, Karamu High School.
About 45 students contested the championships, which were organised jointly by the Hastings District Council and Hawke's Bay Chess Inc.

Bernard Carpinter
Hawke's Bay Chess Incorporated


Bailey Diack (Photograph credit Hugh Forlong-Ford)

Results
Year 9
1stLevi HawkinsKaramu High School
2ndBen CaldwellHavelock North High School
3rdJu-Won KimNapier Boys' High School
Year 10
1stLiam MillarHavelock North High School
2ndRichard BeereNapier Boys' High School
3rdHope-Eloise EveryHavelock North High School
Year 11
1stEzra PalmersHastings Christian
2ndAlex KingNapier Boys' High School
3rdRueben Rahui-TuriFlaxmere College
Open
1stBailey DiackTamatea High
2ndNicholas JacobsTaradale High School
3rdReuben SharkoNapier Boys' High School

Links

HB Region Secondary Schools Chess Tournament 2012