Two teams from Otago Boys’ qualified for this event and they travelled up to Ashburton to take on the regional winners from the rest of the South Island.

Each team played six rounds and the standard of chess was very high throughout the day. Our B team (Taine Box, Max Lough, Ethan Lau and Ryan Laugh) played well above their expectations and secured valuable points which helped the A team to dominate proceedings at the top of the points table. 

After six hours of intense concentration the A team won the event for the first time since 2011 and congratulations must go to Riley Jellyman, Naser Tamimi, Joseph McKee and captain Sean Lau. 

Naser needs special mention as he was the only player on the day to win all of his games. The B team were narrowly beaten into third position but this was an outstanding achievement on their behalf and all eight players did OBHS proud.

The A team now face the challenge of playing in the National event during the next holidays.