Knysna's bronze knights

KNYSNA NEWS - The first U11 Knysna Primary School team to partake in the Eden Chess Top Schools Playoffs surprised all involved when they managed to finish third in their division at the tournament on Saturday 20 July.

This tournament takes place each year, pitting the best chess schools and players in the Eden district against each other, and was this year held in Knysna for the very first time.

The tournament was played at Knysna Primary School on 20 July, with 48 teams taking part in five different age groups (U9, U11, U13, U15, and U18), with girls' divisions in the age groups up to U13.

Knysna Primary entered two teams – in the U11 and U13 Open categories – while Knysna High School entered one team – in the U18 Open category.

The U13 team of Knysna Primary managed to finish seventh in their category, while Knysna High's team finished eighth, but it was arguably the Knysna Primary U11 team that defied all the odds and proved to all in attendance that rookies should not be underestimated.

The U11 side, which was the first side Knysna Primary had entered into the Top Schools competition, was one of seven teams in its category. The KPS team was strong throughout the entire tournament and managed to earn itself a noteworthy third place in its category, falling behind Laerskool George-Suid and Laerskool Outeniqua, who will be representing Eden at the Western Cape Top Schools Playoffs.

Josh Strydom took part in the tournament for KPS.