The Finals of the ECF National Girls Schools Chess Championships took place this weekend (1st/2nd April) at St Catherine’s School in Bramley. Two teams from Howell’s School qualified for the U19 section and faced off against teams from Bartholomew School (Oxford), The Fernwood School (Nottingham), North London Collegiate, and St Pauls Girls’ School (London).
The tournament consisted of a 7 round all-play-all and commenced with round 1 at 2pm on Saturday. With most matches lasting the full 1.5 hours, a gruelling schedule meant that the girls ended round 4 at 9.00pm on Saturday and began round 5 at 9am on Sunday - each girl playing around 10.5 hours of chess over the course of the weekend.
The Howell’s A team (Alyssa, Shayanna, Venetia) were leading for most of the tournament until round 5 (early Sunday morning) when they came unstuck against North London Collegiate. However, they came back strongly and won their last two rounds 3-0 to overtake their rivals and win the title by 1/2 point.
The Howell’s B team (Susie, Neya, Emily) played well throughout the tournament and finished with a 3-0 win in the final round to place 4th on tie-break.
All credit to the girls for keeping their nerve under pressure, staying positive and being supportive to each other throughout this tournament. We’re all very proud of you!