There Is nothing quite like sitting on a balcony at 6:30 am listening to the sound of waves pounding on the beach, accompanied by snoring from 30 kids in the bedrooms behind!
Welcome to Primary Individual 2011. Hosted, as it has been for several years now, at Dolphin House, in the grounds of Culzeum Castle.
This year we have the most unpredictable competition that I can remember. We cannot tell who is going to win it, such is the level of competition. 4 rounds in (at the time of writing) and the top 10 are separated by 1/2 a point!
Day 1 was really good. The day started at 6am. Most were up, excited at what the day was going to bring. 7am and everyone descended on to the beach until breakfast. Fears of the weather spoiling things quickly banished when we were told what we would be doing. 2 rounds of chess followed by food followed by activities.
The activity today was Gorge walking. We all changed into wetsuits (even yours truly who looked more like the Michelin man!), hopped into the minibus and went for a walk upstream in the Gorge. We climbed waterfalls rocks, swam across pools. It was fantastic, even those who were scared at the start, had a really good time and to be honest, surprised themselves.
In my group, two people stood out. Adam Wadler was brilliant. He showed real leadership potential, stopping to help others and make sure they were fine. The second one was Decal Shafi. Declan was really scared when he got into the water, but with a bit of encouragement, really took on his fears head first and overcame them. By the end of the walk, he was racing with the rest of the team through the water. These two really optimise the current crop of youngsters we have coming through and if they realise the potential they all have, then the future of Chess in Scotland is secure for another generation.
After the gorge walk, it was back to base for a quick change and down for dinner. Hot soup and either veg lasagne or steak pie. There then followed the mandatory tug of war. I joined in for the second round after my team was beaten with Matthew joining the first. To my horror half way through the pull several fell over and I was left as the sole person pulling against 15 + Matt. I am pleased to report that I was able to dig in until everyone got back on the rope and we pulled to victory! When it was announced that there was another 2 rounds of chess after dinner, there were groans, everyone was too tired. Nevertheless, battle ensued.
The day ended with hot chocolate and Walace and Grommit "A matter of Loaf and death". The hardy ones played a quick doubles tourney and it was off to bed. 10:30pm and not a sound could be heard!
Day 2
Donald and I were up at 6:30, not a sound, well apart from the snoring. Kids were worn out last night. I started the day with a game of chess v the masses. Phil and Me took on everyone who was around on the big board. It was an interesting game with us deciding to ignore the obvious mate in 1 and play something more adventurous. A pity we missed a knight fork later on which meant we had to force a draw…
Breakfast came and went and it was straight onto activities. A treasure hunt to warm up and then we were split into two groups depending on height. The smaller ones went caving first while the taller ones did archery. I was in the caving group with Stuart. The kids had a wonderful time exploring the caves. All too soon it was time to return and swap over.
With the rain starting to get a bit heavy, we decided to curtail the archery at one round each and retire to the tepee for a game of Giant Jenga.
Lunch then ensued followed by the final 2 rounds of chess. With it being so close, every game counted and we went into the final round knowing that the champion would be either Murad, Colin or Fergus. 2nd to 4th could be any one of 10 people such was the closeness of the field.
Murad was drawn against Colin whilst Fergus took on Alexander Bond. Game after game finished but still the top 2 boards continued. After several of boards 3 - 8 finished, it became obvious to both Donald and I that there was going to be a tiebreak for some of the trophies, depending on the results, it could also have been a tie for the championship.
Colin's game finished first. He won, followed some moments later by Fergus beating Alexander. This meant we had a tie break for 1st between Colin and Fergus and a 4 way tie for 3rd between Jamie, Leora, Murad and Declan. Personally I thought this was a nightmare. We had all this talent who had slogged their guts for 2 days and it was going to a tie break to decide who got what. This was probably the lowest point of the weekend for me.
After the tiebreaks, Colin was pronounced the winner and Fergus 2nd. Both had 5/6 which is an excellent performance. 3rd was Murad, 4th Declan. I really felt for Fergus, Jamie and Leora, especially for Fergus. That is a horrible horrible way to lose out. They can all be especially proud of what they achieved this weekend.
Overall, despite this, it was one of the best Primary Individuals most people can remember. The standard of chess was excellent, the behaviour was exemplary and most importantly, we all had fun.
Well done to the winners. Commiserations to the ones that just missed out, thanks to Stuart, Donald, Phil, Jacqui, Matthew, Alice, Ali and all the staff at Dolphin House for making it a really good weekend.
The challenge for everyone next year? Beat that!
