C.P.S Chess Club 2024/205
Our Chess Club in Colaiste Pobail Setanta started in 2017 by a few students, Mr Grant, and Mr Ludden, who would take out a few boards at breaktime and play some casual games. Since then, it has grown from strength to strength year after year. A few friendly games per month have been replaced by weekly online breaktime tournaments, filling classrooms and raising the status of the game within the school.
We have held full class tournaments in-house, and even had our very first All First Year Competition in 2024. Out of the 200+ students, and 7 classes who took part, Mr Ban Breathnach's Rang Morrigan ran out the winners on a brilliant day for chess in the school.
Further afield, our teams have competed in a multitude of competitions in the country, like Booterstown, Maynooth, Castleknock, DDLETB HQ in Tallaght for the local competitions, and even as far as Nenagh in Tipperary for the All Irelands.
Throughout the competitions above we have seen some amazing individual and team performances, from seasoned players to tournament debutants alike.
Our most successful year came in the 2023/24 school year where our teams claimed Bronze in the All Ireland Chess Z Tournament in Tipperary, as well as Gold in the inaugural DDLETB Grand Finals in Tallaght. These accomplishments really stamped our school's name on the Chess map of the country.
A huge congratulations and thank you goes to Tudor Negru-Rusen, Jakub Chlod, David Lew, Cian Egorho, Sean Tabud, Vincent Bui Ha Duc An, Enzo Bogni, Elias Bleahu, Benas Karosas, and Adam Faherty amongst others, who contributed massively to these achievements. An extra accolade must be paid to Tudor Negru-Rusen who was consistently placed at the top of the individual category in these tournaments. These players will be missed when they graduate in 2025, and will be remembered fondly for all they have done for Chess in the school.
And fear not, for our Chess Club is in safe hands going forward. Our Junior Team of Aaron Price, Eric Barrett, Aaron Buckley, Evan Tse, Darius Daminaitus, Younes Chennit, Karox Kadir, Alexander Prodanchuk, Jaspreet Singh, Alex Cameron, Oliver Singh, Adam Wasat, Nathan Comisky, Ruben Varghese, Michal Stozek, and Cian Doyle, to name but a few, have excelled in both the weekly chess club and the national tournaments they have played in. One example of this was Aaron Price's performance in the Maynooth Open tournament in 2025, where he was placed joint second overall, in a field that included many students well above his age grade. The future is bright indeed.
If you feel like you want to take up a new hobby, or maybe have watched "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix and want to see what all the fuss is about, or maybe you have seen TikTok clips of GothamChess, Hikaru Nakamura, or the Botez sisters, our chess club is the place for you. Everyone is welcome, from beginners to seasoned players. We can't wait to see you there.
Yours in Chess,
Mr. Ludden
