FIRST INTERSCHOOLS CHESS TOURNAMENT FOR GIRLS MALTA 2025

The 1st edition of the interschools chess tournament for girls was held on the 28th of March, kindly hosted by Saint Ignatius Middle School in Ħandaq. The tournament proved to be a great success with 8 highly fought rounds of chess. The winners were Sacred Heart Senior School who at the end were tied with the Sacred Heart Junior School team for first place, these two teams were only separated with tie breaks, which the Seniors were victorious. Rabat Middle School also achieved a podium place achieving 3rd overall.

The winning Sacred Heart Senior school team was composed of Mia Zarb Jenkins, Nina Debono and Keira Cilia Seychell, winning 7 rounds achieving 20 points in total. Sacred Heart Junior School team consisted of recently crowned Malta under 10 champion Elena Borg Mercieca, who was the only player in the tournament to win all her 8 games, Kate Sheppard and Ester Debono. Their team also won 7 rounds however they achieved 18 points. Marianna Fenech, Lennely Magri Teticu and Erika Faenza of Rabat Middle School clinched third place with their 3 round victories and 8½ points.

The Malta Chess Federation is extremely grateful to the head of school Dr. Maria Montebello and her dedicated senior management team for the excellent organization and great hospitality shown to the players, accompanying teachers and chess coaches. Special thanks to the teachers who support chess learning in their respective schools and to all the girls taking part.

We look forward to the second edition with more girls’ teams next year!