Great Scot May 2020 Great Scot 159_MAY 2020_ONLINE_V3 | Page 31

LEFT TO RIGHT:
RUICHENG WANG,
SAMUEL ZONG,
AARON DO, ISAAC
ZHAO, LUIS CHAN,
CHRISTOPHER LIM.
A GREAT WEEKEND OF CHESS
IN THE NATIONAL FINAL
Scotch performed excellently in the
Chess National Final, coming within half a
point of taking out the title. There were many
fine individual performances.
Our journey to the national final began at
the state final, where Scotch fielded a team of
34 players. Following a win over Melbourne
High School, a team of six chess players, an
awesome coach and an enthusiastic teacher
flew to Canberra to take part in the Australian
Schools Team Chess Championships (30
November and 1 December).
The team was very diverse; there was a
player from each of the six year levels! The
team comprised Chess Captain Isaac Zhao
(Year 12), Luis Chan (Year 10), Aaron Do (Year
9), Ruicheng Wang (Year 8), Christopher Lim
(Year 7) and me, Samuel Zong (Year 11).
Our team was expertly coached by
World Chess Federation (FIDE) master Mr
Geoff Saw in the lead-up to the event. Geoff
taught us a plethora of tactics, openings and
endgames which prepared us well for the
big weekend.
The day of the flight was also the last day
of school exams. There was chess during
boarding, chess in the lounge room, chess
on the plane, chess at the hotel; there was
even chess very late at night after Geoff
and Ms Linossier had said good night to
us, although I probably should not have
mentioned that!
We fought hard over the weekend
against many other excellent chess teams
from around Australia. Luis, Chris and Isaac
came first on their respective boards, and
we racked up an impressive score of 15/20.
However, we came second to Queensland’s
Anglican Church Grammar School by an
elusive half point. Nevertheless, it was a
great weekend of chess.
We look forward to the journey to the
nationals again this year – it’s our 2020 vision!
SAMUEL ZONG – YEAR 12: CHESS
CO-CAPTAIN 2020
VALUABLE MOOTING
EXPERIENCE
Participating in the Monash High School Mooting Competition this year was
a particularly immersive experience. Through this program I gained a more
finessed understanding of the law and best practices for legal advocacy. Despite
my team not making it to the final rounds, every mooter acquired new skills and
savoured the opportunity to listen to our fellow mooters from across Victoria
engage in legal advocacy. This experience not only improved our public speaking
skills, but also provided a firm foundation for a career in legal advocacy.
GORDON NGAN – YEAR 11
BACK ROW: ALEX STEFANOVIC, GORDON NGAN, RYAN AHL, BEN GARSON, JACK KUNARATNAM,
WILL HALDANE. FRONT ROW: MAX RODA, HUDSON SCHWARZ, DAVID NAWARATNE, PERRY LEE
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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