Teamwork key for Rafflesians at National Inter-School Chess Championships

SINGAPORE – Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) Secondary 4 student Bernadette Kong capped off her final year with a perfect four out of four wins on Sept 4, when she helped the team claim the secondary girls’ title at the National Inter-School Team Chess Championships.

It was the teenager’s fourth gold medal in the secondary and Under-14 team events since her first outing in Secondary 1.

A total of 1,367 players from 104 schools competed at Rulang Primary School for honours in the 65th edition of the tournament. It is organised by the Singapore Chess Federation and is not part of the annual National School Games.

RGS won the secondary girls’ title with 12 points, ahead of Nanyang Girls’ High School (10) and Crescent Girls’ School (eight). The other team members are Aleenta Quek, Tan Xuan Ying and Wendy Leong.

Bernadette said: “It’s very nice to close the chapter, especially for me, since I’m in Secondary 4 and this is my last year playing chess for my school. 

“We all worked hard towards the title, and this year, the other teams were quite strong, so we were also worried coming into the tournament. So now we’re just relieved and happy about it.”

The 16-year-old, who is part of the national women’s squad and became a woman candidate master when she was eight, has participated in numerous competitions. But team events hold a special place in her heart.

She added: “I’ve always enjoyed the team setting, because it makes everyone more bonded and closer. Everyone’s just more encouraging and coming together, so that gives not just me but everyone else more confidence.”

Raffles Institution (RI) emerged victorious in the Under-20 open team event, while Hwa Chong Institution bagged the secondary open title. The U-14 open was won by Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), while Nanyang Girls’ High School took home the U-14 girls’ trophy. 

RI captain Adharsh Venkatakrishnan, whose team were unbeaten during the tournament, said: “Chess might seem like a very individual-based kind of game, but in these team tournaments, team morale is something that’s very important. 

“So let’s say that a teammate starts losing a few games, it’s very important that the entire team backs that person up, so that he maintains his confidence to perform well in subsequent rounds.”

Adharsh, 18, revealed that the key factor to their success – the team included Benedict Koh, Ian Ho and Zheng Yuanheng – was their composure throughout the tournament.

He added: “Our preparations were quite thorough… we’ve known one another for quite a while now, so we do play a lot of practice games with one another. 

“And it’s also experience, because all of us have been playing for at least five to six years, so we’ve used the experiences from previous tournaments to perform so well.”