Secondary school pupils across the borough are being invited to make their opening move and sign up to a free chess tournament.

Students can sign up for free from today, Friday 15 September, to take part in the first ever Ealing Secondary School Chess Tournament, to be held at Ellen Wilkinson school for girls in Ealing on 3 December. Sign up to enter by Friday 17 November.

There will an equal number of female and male chess players taking part. In the event of over-subscription to the tournament, priority will be given to students from state schools.

Hong Zhou, deputy head of mathematics and gifted and talented co-ordinator at the school, said: “Earlier this year we held the first flagship She Plays To Win tournament at the school and it was a huge success.

“More than 100 girls from primary school age to university graduates took part and it was wonderful to see the enjoyment to be had. We are very keen to encourage more young people to get involved in playing chess and look forward to hosting this next tournament.”

Whether you are a rook-ie player or consider yourself to be the next King or Queen of the game, all playing levels are welcome to sign up.

Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for a fairer start, said: “It’s great to see schools encouraging their pupils and other children to get involved in playing chess. It’s a game that requires visualisation, planning, and strategy which are all excellent skills to learn. Although I haven’t played chess in a while, this has certainly piqued my interest again, so I hope to come along to see if I can pick up some tips.”

A guest appearance

At the tournament in December, 6 times French national champion Sophie Milliet will be making a special visit to the school and will be playing opponents by invitation.