At the centre, the students were coached by GM Dejan Antic, IM Peter Froehlich and the very experienced Kerry Corker. The two top Nanyang students, both FIDE rated, Daniel Chan and Jordan Yap were both coached by GM Antic. These two students were quite a bit stronger than most of the others. All students received five days of fairly intensive coaching in two two-hour sessions, from 10am to 3pm each day. They then joined in with the our Gold Coast juniors for after-school chess, and made it clear that they preferred lightning chess to the usual rapid. The Nanyang students and our locals got on very well with one another each day, and it was interesting to see that encouragement awards were being nicely shared between the groups.

On the final day we had the big match between the visiting team and a local Gold Coast team. Nanyang suggested that a strong Gold Coast team should be selected to test their juniors fully. We used championship length time controls for the stronger players, and shorter times for the less experienced players. This all worked very well, with strongly contested games throughout. The final score was a win to the Gold Coast by 40-24. We finished off with an Aussie BBQ which was enjoyed by all.

We were all very impressed by the excellent behaviour and great sportsmanship shown by the Nanyang group throughout their stay and do hope they will visit us again along with other students from Nanyang, and perhaps schools from other parts of South East Asia will come to Mudgeeraba.

Thank you Nanyang - we enjoyed your stay! See the photos below to remind yourselves of your time at the Chess Centre.

Results from the Saturday tournament: