It is nothing new for us girls to protect the king, but yesterday we were actively seeking the head of our opposing team's king. Not only did yesterday's chess games open the floor for the interschools games, but it also set the mood with a nail-biting conclusion.
Girls' High and Paarl Gimnasium took to the floor with one team of six players each. We felt confident with Mila Ferreira, our ace (or is that queen) up our sleeves. She was backed up with a competent team Janelle Steenkamp, Lara Rabe (strategist and captain), Kirsten Hall, Amina Mookadam and Annemay Schade. The games progressed favourably with Girls' High gaining three wins opposed to Gimnasium's two wins. The end result was resting on the last game featuring Janelle Steenkamp which seemed to be heading to a time-based conclusion. Janelle Steenkamp was maintaining her position beautifully, she maneuvered herself into a position where she was ahead in points. It was down to the clock to decide the outcome of this game. Would time run out and Janelle win on points or would time favour her opponent to make one last move. Unfortunately for Girls' High time was not on our side and we were placed in a checkmate position just before the clock ran out. Congratulations to Gimnasium and hard luck, Janelle, but thank you, thank you for such an enjoyable game!
Wow! it was fun. Once again the general feeling at this 2022 Interschools is gratitude. The players were all so excited to be the first to play in an Interschools game in three years. Fittingly the end result was a draw with three games each. We can certainly say that the real victor in yesterday's games was COMPETITION...and time of course...
Comments