Basketball

6C BASKETBALL

SEATED ROW: N. OXLEY, Z. NIXON, C. ROBERTS, B. WILSON SECOND ROW: V. GANGASANDRA, A. MARKOVSKI, D. ARMENIS COACH: MR D. YEE (ABSENT)

5B BASKETBALL

L TO R: C. FITZPATRICK, T. BARUA, L. ROSS, J. KIM, J. YOO, D. SELBY COACH: MISS S. MATTHEWS 5A BASKETBALL

L TO R: T. CONDON, H. STAPLETON, C. MARKS, P. SOPHIOS, J. RYAN, D. TYLER-BATTAGLIA ABSENT: JAMES GILMOUR COACH: MR J. GREGORY

KERRIE ANDERSON

Prep Chess Coordinator

2014 has been another very exciting year of Chess at TSS Prep, particularly as it was our first-ever year in the GPS competition. GPS Chess and the associated trips to Brisbane and Ipswich demanded a significant level of commitment from our Prep boys and indeed their parents, who were there for late-night pickups! Our GPS Prep results are most impressive, as we won or drew against the following five out of seven schools: BBC, GT, IGS, BSHS and TGS. With narrow losses of one point to NC and ACGS, one could say we had some very serious GPS success.

Queensland Inter-School State Finals saw TSS achieve some wonderful scores, and 80% of our 24 boys outperformed their opponents. Notably the top performer in his division was Frank Fei who scored 6.5, thus winning his grade. Our top team in the premier division, comprising Alexey Shtengelov and Louis Chabert accompanied by Year 7 boys David Liu and Taisei Fujii, qualified for the Inter-School State Championships at Brisbane State High School where they came an impressive fifth overall. The State Finals were games with one hour each on the clock, and at least as intense as GPS. The day at State Chess brought pleasing results, rewarded by a trip to Southbank and a picnic on the banks of the Brisbane River. Our final tournament was the Individual Age championships held at Emmanuel College, where Prep was represented by 17 boys. Our top three scorers were Max Carr who won his age with a distinguished score of 4 out of 7, followed by Tae Yoon with 5.5 and Louis Chabert on 5.

House Chess saw Shepherd House boys Nino Bruhlman, Louis Chabert, Ettiene Chabert and Spencer Lee blitz the field. Top scorer in the fiercely fought competition was the determined Ettiene Chabert.

A great deal of success in Prep Chess can be attributed to the quality Wednesday and Friday morning Chess programs. As well as our experienced older boys, we have a healthy number of very young boys through enrolling in Wednesday chess.

TSS Prep has some impressive players emerging, and we anticipate some exciting achievements next year. Thank you to ever-willing Shaun Ledingham, the terrific 2013 Chess Captain. Thank you to Coach Doug and Coach Alex from Gardiner Chess who inspire the boys with new and exciting strategic direction. They fuel a great enthusiasm for the game as well as promoting an intellectual rigor so beneficial to growing young minds.

ROB CLEGG

Chess Coordinator

“When you see a good move, look for a better one.”

Emanuel Lasker

This year was an exciting year in GPS Chess, seeing the competition expand to include Years 5, 6 and 7 to make it a Years 5 to 12 competition. The younger boys certainly brought a lot of enthusiasm and were very successful overall.

Our Premier Team this year consisted of Ryan Shim on Board 1, Anthony Furney (Chess Captain for 2014) on Board 2, Jesse Martin (Chess Vice-captain) on Board 3 and Robert McCullough on Board 4. The team were competitive in every round and played to the best of their ability. They placed eighth this year, but with Ryan and Robert staying on and a number of very able players in the School to compete for places in the Premier Team the prospects for 2015 are very promising. The Premier Team was able to win through the regional High Schools team competition to qualify for the State finals. This was a really pleasing achievement in a very strong Chess region. Ishvar Nedunchezhian, Tyler Norvock and Komei Jo were at times called on to fill in with the Premier Team in the GPS and regional competitions. As usual, TSS performed well in the Senior Team (Years 11 and 12), the Junior Team (Years 8, 9 and 10) and the Open teams. We were regularly able to field teams down to Open F, meaning 36 boys representing the School in Chess on the night. This demonstrates great depth of chess players in the school. This year saw all teams put in excellent performances. The best result came from the Open Fs who won their division. Other results were: Seniors 8th, Juniors 4th, Open As 5th, Open Bs =4th, Open Cs 3rd, Open Ds Second and Open Es Second. Well done to all teams for their efforts and achievements through the year.

CHESS PREMIER TEAM

MR D.M. ELLIS, R.A. MCCULLOUGH, I. NEDUNCHEZHIAN, A.R. FURNEY, J. A. MARTIN, C. SHIM, MR R.G. CLEGG