Macleans College achieves second place at National Chess Finals
Posted on October 08, 2025
Over the recent school holidays the Macleans College Chess team travelled to Christchurch to compete in the New Zealand National Interschool Chess Finals - a tournament bringing together the strongest school teams from across the country.
The Macleans College team earned their place at the finals after claiming gold at the East Auckland Interschool Chess Regionals earlier this year.
Represented by Charlie Huang (Batten House), Kelvin Wang (Hillary), Alex Pan (Hillary), Zoey Huang (Batten) and Lucas Xiao (Rutherford), the team performed exceptionally well, winning 11 out of 14 rounds and losing only once. They tied for first place overall and were awarded second on tiebreak - Macleans College’s best national result since winning the title in 2019.
A special mention goes to Alex Pan, who received a Best Board award after finishing with an impressive score of 6/7. This achievement is particularly noteworthy given the high calibre of competition at the national finals.
Sincere thanks are extended to Mr Chang for his organisation, and to Mr Yang and Dr Heckels for accompanying the team and supporting them throughout the event. Their guidance made it possible for students to compete at such a high level against the top players in New Zealand.
