A delegation of Merchant Taylors’ chess players travelled with maths teacher and chess coach Mr Patel to Harrow School for their annual Blitz tournament.
Blitz is a short form of the game, and each player had a time control of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move.
Over 12 rounds, it is a gruelling day but provides players with valuable competition experience. Pranav M. (Divs) won 7 points, with Aarav A. (U3rd) finishing a close second with 6.5. Ronav A. (Divs) won 5.5 points. Ryan S. (Divs), Ishaan P. (U6th) and William L. (5th) all scored 5 points, while Rayyan K. (Divs) and Aditya Pillai won 4 of their matches. MTS Chess now looks forward to the qualifying round of the English Schools Chess Championships in November, and we will be hoping to make it one step further and win the regional final this time around. Please enjoy Ryan’s account below.
Writes Ryan S. (Divs):
Last Sunday, I competed in a chess tournament along with seven other players (Pranav M. (Divs), Aditia P. (Divs), Rayaan K. (Divs), Ronav A. (Divs), Ishaan P.(U6th), William L. (5ths), Aarav A. (U3rds) and Mr Patel. It was held at Harrow School, starting at 10am the morning and running until 4pm in the afternoon. The room was filled with a quiet intensity as we each focused on our individual matches throughout the day, with only the soft ticking of clocks and the occasional click of chess pieces filling the air. The atmosphere was friendly yet competitive, with moments of laughter and casual conversation between rounds interspersed with tactics and strategies shared between Mr Patel and the team. Some games were quick and decisive, whilst others stretched nearly to the time limit, testing both patience and strategy.
As the day went on, the games grew more intense, especially as the leaderboard began to take shape. Everyone brought their unique style to the board – some were aggressive whilst others were more methodical and defensive. By the end of the final round at 4pm, we were all tired but proud of the day’s effort. With Taylors’ ending on 42 points overall, we just missed out on the top three schools. Despite not winning this time, it was a day characterised by a love of the game. Good luck to the team for next time!
