Arguably, it is one of the most effective teaching tools available to children.

Not only does chess raise intelligence quotient (IQ) scores, it strengthens problem solving skills, teaces how to make difficult and abstract decisions independently and enhances reading, memory, language, and mathematical abilitie.

The Primary Schools one-day chess tournament was again hosted by St Mary’s last Friday.

A record 40 teams battled it out all dy with some very tightly contested matches.

Players came from as far as Emmaville, Ross Hill, Black Mountain, and Inverell.

The day was very pleasant with supervising adults being very impressed with the spirit of sportsmanship displayed.

A special metion needs to be made of St Mary’s student Cruz Fernandez who filled in for an Armidale City team who were short of players on the day.

The local teams proved the most competitive with St Mary’s ‘A’ taking out first place, Sandon ‘A’ second, St Mary’s ‘C’ third and Armidale City fourth.

Adjudication and organisation of the day was provided by Chess NSW .

A big thank you to Armidle’s own chess maestro Dr Mary Wilkie for officiating when needed.

Congratulations to Harry Pollard, Tim Hanrahan and Kyle Donan from St Mary’s who are now off to Glebe in Sydney for the primary schools’ one day country finals to be held on November 27.