Last but not least: The last tournament of the CMAC season in the school year is traditionally the chess tournament at the CDSC in Saraphi. With almost 120 players from 9 international schools registering this year, the tournament built on last year’s success. The school grounds began to fill up from 8.30 am on Saturday morning. At 9 a.m., the official welcome by our principal Mr. Brandtner took place in the auditorium. Chess is more than just a competitive game, but above all a strategic game that requires cognitive skills in a matter of seconds, according to the welcoming speeches. A great addition to the CMAC tournament calendar. We looked into eager faces that could hardly wait to finally move the first chess piece. As a result, the auditorium quickly emptied and the action moved to the sports hall. There were 60 boards ready for 7 rounds, 20 minutes per game, with 10 minutes already set on the clocks for each player. As soon as the countdown began, a reverent mood spread. Full concentration. Full focus. From the smallest and youngest (around 4 years old) to the biggest and oldest (18), every move was well practiced.

Between the individual rounds, there was plenty of time to enjoy the wide range of food and drink provided by parents, pupils and teachers or simply to play on the grass pitch and enjoy the sun. The latter showed its best side and made the sports hall really sweat. The closer the final seventh round came, the warmer it got. The tension grew as the results in the background made it clear that it would be a neck-and-neck race. CMIS took the overall win for all schools this year. The overall winner, which we won last year with Jeremias, also went to CMIS.

The CDSC ended up in 3rd place, which is a remarkable achievement. Elias from Year 11 came fifth overall with a great performance. His brother Jeremias took 11th place. Three pupils from Years 5 and 6 also made it into the top 50. It should be mentioned that the U11, U15 and U20 age groups competed against each other.

The fact that the primary school pupils also took part was largely thanks to our chess club, which has been well attended in recent years.

We can look back on an eventful and enjoyable day and look forward to next school year, when we will once again host the CMAC chess tournament.

Many thanks to everyone for their tremendous support. Without the collective effort it would simply not be possible to hold such a tournament.

Patrick Kim-Türk