After 7 Rounds of exciting Chess, St Peters has come out on top in both the First IV and overall Aggregate Chess Championships. Competition in AIC Chess is always tight, as shown by the fact that premierships were won by 4 different schools in 2024.

The overall Aggregate Championship Shield was won by St Peters- the school’s 6th Aggregate Championship since AIC Chess Competition commenced in 2004. The school was able to finish in the top 2 in each of the 5 Aggregate Divisions including winning three of those divisions – First IV, Senior B and Junior A.

St Peters Boys Sports Coordinator, Daniel Fraser outlined the key to success for the St Peters team.

“To be crowned AIC Aggregate Champions for Chess in 2024 is a credit to the strength in depth we have in our chess ranks. With 62 boys trialing each week for one of the 28 spots, competition has been fierce and has been a collective effort across the year levels. It was a pleasure to watch the boys go undefeated across the last 3 rounds in all age groups to secure the aggregate!” Mr Fraser outlined.

St Laurence’s retained second place in the aggregate with Marist College Ashgrove in third.

St Peters First IV Chess Team 2024

The First IV premiership came down to the final round, with St Peters holding the advantage over St Laurence’s by 2 points. St Peters and St Laurence’s played out a thrilling 8-all draw in Round 2 that raised the possibility of a shared premiership at the end of the season. A shared premiership was on track until Marist College Ashgrove defeated St Laurence’s in Round 6.  This result allowed St Peters to take an outright lead in the division which they were able to hold onto through the last round.

Mr Fraser highlighted both the St Laurence’s round and the fighting spirit of the young St Peters team in a narrow win against Marist as highlights of the season.

“Our First IV was comprised of students from year 7 – 12 and was fantastic to see the grit and determination by our young players who rose to the occasion after a tense 8-8 stalemate against St Laurence’s College for the Focus Round. A season highlight for me was seeing the boys close our the 3 of the 4 boards with less then 3 minutes to go on the clock, managing to turn seemingly unwinnable matches against a resurgent Marist side” Mr Fraser said.

St Laurence’s were able to hold onto second place in the First IV premiership and Marist College Ashgrove finished.

In the Senior A Division Marist College Ashgrove secured the premiership with an impressive undefeated season which included three nail biting 9-7 victories. St Peters claimed the Senior B title undefeated, holding onto the premiership after a narrow victory against the 2nd placed Marist College Ashgrove team in Round 4.

Villanova teams were prominent in both the Intermediate A and B divisions. Going into the final round of competition, Villanova were in the hunt to win both premierships. The final round fixtures between St Peters and Villanova would decide the Intermediate A premiership. St Peters were able to secure the win 9-7 with the fixture going down to the final game. This secured St Peters the premiership and Villanova 2nd place in a very tightly fought division. Villanova were able to still secure the overall Intermediate B division title after an impressive season by the team.

The future of chess at St Laurence’s looks very bright with the South Brisbane school being able to claim the double in the primary divisions, claiming undefeated seasons in both the Junior A and B divisions. AIC primary division chess is a great introduction to competition Chess, with games played in a supportive environment.

This year, a number of schools expanded their Chess offering to students by including “C Teams” each week into fixtures. This allowed for a greater number of boys to participate each week and the hope is these divisions may expand in the future.

Congratulations to all Premiership winning teams and to all boys who participated during the season. Thank you to all staff including all of the coaches who helped develop and foster the sport of Chess in the Association throughout the season!

AIC Chess Division Winners 2024 

AIC Aggregate Chess Results 2024