Daniel C, Room 22 went in the Champions Trophy in Hamilton (effectively the Nationals)on Sunday 25 October.
He competed in the Junior section (primary school division) where there were 84 competitors, all invited through various regional qualification tournaments. It was the first time he had ever qualified and obviously there were a number of extremely talented players from all over New Zealand attending. Going into the tournament he was ranked 21st out of the 84 competitors and so he was looking to try and outperform that ranking if possible over the 9 games. Daniel started the tournament extremely strongly, being one of only 4 players to win all of his opening 4 games; the games getting progressively harder as players play others on similar points as they go. Whilst he did drop a couple of games in rounds 5 and 6, he displayed incredible composure and resilience to bounce back after those 2 tough losses to go unbeaten in the final 3 matches, ending with a record of 6 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, securing 7th place!
Some of his games were extremely difficult. He lost in a tight match against the overall winner, and was able to achieve 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss against the players ranked 1st, 2nd and 4th leading into the tournament. In round 3, Daniel also managed a win in just 9 moves and under 2 minutes against a previously unbeaten opponent.
It really exceeded all expectations and his parents and the school are incredibly proud of Daniel's wonderful achievement, ending with 6.5 points out of a possible 9, only 1 point behind the eventual winner.
He did receive a Distinction certificate (the top category, given to those gaining 6.5 points or more), so again.
Attached is a picture of Daniel during his 2nd round match.
