Ficheall Chess Tournament 2023
By Áine Dullea
On the 2nd of March 2023, 5th and 6th class took a trip to Scoil Eoin Phoil II Naofa for a friendly chess tournament, organised by Ficheall.ie. This was Kilcleagh National School’s first time ever to compete in a chess tournament.
The trip to Tullamore on the bus took half an hour. We picked Ilona up on the way in Moate. When we got there, we were warmly greeted by Cathal, a teacher there and a few students. We were shown into the hall and left our bags at the organised bag drop. Then the other schools started to arrive. Their names were St. Annes, Tyrellspass and Scoil Chroi Naofa, Rochfortbridge.
At 9:30am, the adjudicator announced the rules, and the first game began. Once somebody won, they put up their hand and one of the teachers would take it down on their clipboards. The next set of fixtures went up and the second game of chess began. After the adjudicator rang the bell, everybody had a bite to eat for twenty minutes. After the next two games we had a half hour lunch break and we were let outside. It started to rain, so we were ushered back inside.
After another two games, the certificates for participation were issued one for each of the teacher representatives of the schools in black frames. After that, each pair was given an empty box to put the chess pieces in. We folded up the boards and took the boxes and boards up to the adjudicator. Next, he gave a speech and we were taken outside for photos. We gathered up our bags and took the bus home, stopping twice. Once for the kind Mrs. Bradley to get us each a bag of crisps and a bar in Applegreen and once to drop Ilona off at the Gap House.
The next day, we got our scores and Mrs. Bradley congratulated us on our performance. Overall, we think it was a great day out and a great opportunity to socialise.