The Malta School Games Interschools 2026 was held in similar format of last year. Firstly, a 6-round qualifier tournament was held on the 17th April where all schools could participate in a swiss-system tournament. The top 6 teams then qualified for the finals on 6th May where a round-robin tournament was held.
The qualifier tournament was held at De La Salle College who kindly hosted the event. 26 schools participated with a total 147 players. Each school could take part with 6 players (including 2 reserves). Each match consisted of a team of 4 players playing with alternate colours.
Last year’s Interschools winners and favourites De La Salle won all 6 matches to confirm their dominance. Second seed St. Michael School took second place winning 5 matches. The tournament was interesting until the very end with many schools trying to get in the top 6 to qualify for the Finals. At the end, St. Ignatius College Tal-Handaq ended 3rd, St. Elias College 4th, St. Theresa College Middle School 5th and Newark School 6th.
Special mention goes to Gabriel Gauci of De La Salle who had the best performance on board 1 with 4.5/5pts. On 2nd board, Wayne Vella of St. Michael school was best on board 2 with 5.5/6pts. On 3rd board, Benjamin Calleja Falzon (De La Salle) had a perfect 5 out of 5 score. Jack Cutajar Forte, also from De La Salle also performed with a perfect 5 out of 5 on board 4.
Full details can be found here: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1369538.aspx
The MSG Finals were held at the IPES Hall at the University of Malta. The 6 finals played each other in a round-robin format with 4 players per school playing alternate colours. Each round was entertaining. De La Salle stated their clear intentions with a 4-0 win against Newark in round one. St. Michael also stated their intent with a 4-0 win against St. Theresa College Middle School while St. Elias College beat St. Ignatius College Tal-Handaq 3-1.
The second round saw the main clash of the tournament with De La Salle playing against St. Michael School. It was as close as it could get with De La Salle managing a minimal 2.5-1.5 win with Gabriel Gauci and Benjamin Calleja Falzon winning their games for De La Salle while Francesco Catania won his game for St. Michael School. Matthew Callus against Thomas Caruana ended in a draw. St. Ignatius College beat St. Theresa College Middle School 3-1 while St. Eliase beat Newark 4-0.
Round 3 saw De La Salle suffer a scare but still managed to beat St. Ignatius College 2.5-1.5. St. Michael recovered from their 2nd round loss by beating Newark 4-0 while St. Elias and St. Theresa College drew 2-2.
De La Salle beat St. Elias 4-0 in round 4 while St. Theresa College beat Newark 3-1. In a surprise result, St. Michael drew against St. Ignatius College 2-2.
Before round 5 started, De La Salle had already won the tournament but still played convincingly to beat St. Theresa College 4-0. St. Ignatius and Newark drew 2-2 while in the fight for silver and bronze, St. Michael beat St. Elias 3-1.
The best board players were:
Board 1: Gabriel Gauci (De La Salle) 4.5/5pts
Board 2: David Aquilina (St. Elias) and Matthias Borda (St. Ignatius) 4/5pts
Board 3: Benjamin Calleja Falzon (De La Salle) 5/5pts
Board 4: Francesco Catania (St. Michael) 5/5pts
The Final Classification
De La Salle College 10pts MSG Games Interschools Champions
St. Michael School 7pts Runner-up Silver
St. Elias College 5pts 3rd Bronze
St. Ignatius College Tal-Handaq 4pts
St. Theresa College Middle School 3pts
Newark School 1pt
Tournament details: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1403341.aspx
Both tournaments were organised by the Malta Chess Federation with the support MSG
Photo caption:
Students representing 26 schools took part in the Malta School Games Interschools Qualifier Tournament held at De La Salle College, with a total of 147 players participating across the event.
Players shake hands before the start of a round – a long-standing tradition in chess reflecting respect and sportsmanship between opponents.
De La Salle College, winners of the Malta School Games Interschools Qualifier Tournament, pictured with Headmaster Mr Norbert Zahra. Also pictured are Ms Fiona Mallia, De La Salle Senior School Chess Club Coordinator (right), and Malta Chess Federation President Duncan Vella (left). Team members: Matthew Callus, Luke Micallef Trigona, Jack Cutajar Forte, Gabriel Gauci, Steve Dimech, and Benjamin Calleja Falzon.
The six qualifying schools compete in the Malta School Games Interschools Finals held at the IPES Hall, University of Malta. 
Cover photo: The podium winners of the Malta School Games Interschools Finals 2026: De La Salle College (1st place), St. Michael School (2nd place), and St. Elias College (3rd place)
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