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Harrow International School prolongs title at the Harrow 2nd Open Scholastic

The Harrow 1st Open Scholastic was a big success with around 420 participants and Ding Liren as a special guest. For the Harrow 2nd Open Scholastic we went back to the basics, no special guests and no side activities - except for a Mother's Day banner where the players could take pictures (sometimes not entirely to their liking, you know who you are, dear teenagers!) with their mother with roses we handed out. Except for that, the day was just a celebration of chess!



The formula turned out to be a big succes, participation was capped at 300 players and reached full capacity a month in advance. On the day itself, we had a smooth event with no major issues.


Last year, Harrow International School was able to keep the Harrow Trophy at home and this year they were the clear cut favourites to repeat that performance with 70 signups out of 300! Let's go category by category. For clarity: the school standings are calculated by adding the four best scores of a school's players in each category.


U7


We start with the very youngest. Many U7 players were getting their tournament experience, 7 of those born as recent as in 2020! Only two school sent four players in this category: Harrow International School and St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese Primary School. After 6 rounds, they were tied at 11.5 points each, but it was St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese Primary School who was able to break free in the last round with a win in a direct encounter between two of their players.


Top 5:


  1. St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese Primary School (14.5)

  2. Harrow International School (13.5)

  3. Hong Kong International School (11.5)

  4. ISF Academy (10)

  5. American School Hong Kong (5.5)



U9


In the last round, no less than three school were still fighting for first place. Harrow International School went all in and scored 4 wins, but they had to be lucky with the other results. International Christian School was in pole position with a half point lead, but their players only managed only 1 win and 2 draws. Their loss came against tournament winner Shayne Meng. This opened the door for St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese Primary School to score 3 points and clinch first place!


  1. St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese Primary School (20)

  2. International Christian School (19.5)

  3. Harrow International School (18.5)

  4. ESF Shatin Junior School (18)

  5. ESF Beacon Hill School (15)



U11


Somehow, things were even closer in the U11! Things got decided in the last round on the first board. ESF Beacon Hill School and St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese Primary School top players Ernest Liu and Jake Wang had stayed perfect so far and faced off to play for the individual title, but also for the school prize!


In a high pressure game, both sides got their chances before the time scramble started. Eventually, Jake Wong lost on time against Ernest's 2 seconds to spare in a position so complex even grandmasters might get a headache.


That put ESF Beacon Hill School on top of the table and gave ISF Academy and ESF Clearwater Bay School the chance to sneak in and claim the remaining top three spots.


There was a mixup at the prize ceremony where International Christian School didn't receive their fifth place trophy. They got it a week later with apologies from the Caissa Team.


  1. ESF Beacon Hill School (19)

  2. ISF Academy (18.5)

  3. ESF Clearwater Bay School (18)

  4. St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese Primary School (17.5)

  5. International Christian School (17)



U13


Here things were much clearer from the start. ESF Shatin was dominating throughout the event. Even a lot of internal pairups, which could potentially hinder top places for multiple players, couldn't stop them. Only star player Jotham Fu might not be entirely happy by missing out on first place individually, but his 5.5 points and fourth place certainly contributed to the succes of ESF Shatin that day.


  1. ESF Shatin (18.5)

  2. ESF Island School (16.5)

  3. ESF King George V School (16)

  4. Harrow International School (12.5)

  5. International Christian School (12)



U18


In the smallest category Harrow International School was the only with 4 players, but they didn't get it for free! ESF Shatin put up a hard fight with 3 players and came in second place trailing by only 1 point. Brandon Fang soloed to 7/7 and took third place for ISF Academy.


Only top 3


  1. Harrow International School (12.5)

  2. ESF Shatin (11.5)

  3. ISF Academy (7)



Overall standings


For the overall standings, it was never really a contest. Harrow International School got rewarded for consistency and a high number of players. With getting top places in each category, it is only logical they top the overall standings - Congratulations to the players of Harrow!



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