This year's B.C. Interschool Team Championship was held in two stages. On February 1, 2003, an elementary school event was held at West Point Grey Academy, which generously donated its senior school facilities for the event. Twenty-two teams and about one hundred players attended.
No appreciation of gratitude to West Point Grey Academy can do it justice. As every chess organizer knows, any successful event begins with a good idea and a quality facility. The latter is arguably more important.
In additional to an accessible, well lit and convenient playing hall in the senior school cafeteria, West Point Grey Academy provided analysis rooms, coffee and even lunch for the players, coaches and parents at no cost. Fiona MacFarlane, who teaches at the senior school, greatly assisted the organizers and was at the school both the evening before the event and throughout the tournament.
West Point Grey Academy has already offered to host the event in 2004.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 1 | OLPH A | W 5 [4.0] | W 6 [3.0] | W 8 [3.0] | W 2 [3.0] | W 7 [3.0] | 16.0 |
| 2 | Miller Park | W17 [4.0] | D 4 [2.0] | W14 [4.0] | L 1 [1.0] | D 8 [2.0] | 13.0 |
| 3 | Queen Mary A | W10 [3.0] | W11 [3.0] | D 4 [2.0] | D 7 [2.0] | W 9 [3.0] | 13.0 |
| 4 | Vancouver Christian | W22 [4.0] | D 2 [2.0] | D 3 [2.0] | D 8 [2.0] | W11 [3.0] | 13.0 |
| 5 | Chartwell | L 1 [0.0] | W19 [4.0] | D11 [2.0] | W13 [3.0] | W14 [4.0] | 13.0 |
| 6 | Westcot | W16 [4.0] | L 1 [1.0] | W12 [2.5] | L 9 [1.0] | W17 [4.0] | 12.5 |
| 7 | York House A | W 9 [4.0] | L 8 [1.0] | W21 [4.0] | D 3 [2.0] | L 1 [1.0] | 12.0 |
| 8 | St. George's A | W19 [4.0] | W 7 [3.0] | L 1 [1.0] | D 4 [2.0] | D 2 [2.0] | 12.0 |
| 9 | L'École Bilingue | L 7 [0.0] | W22 [4.0] | W17 [3.0] | W 6 [3.0] | L 3 [1.0] | 11.0 |
| 10 | West Bay | L 3 [1.0] | D15 [2.0] | W18 [3.5] | L11 [1.0] | W16 [3.5] | 11.0 |
| 11 | Richard McBride | W15 [3.5] | L 3 [1.0] | D 5 [2.0] | W10 [3.0] | L 4 [1.0] | 10.5 |
| 12 | OLPH B | D20 [2.0] | W13 [3.0] | L 6 [1.5] | L14 [1.0] | W15 [2.5] | 10.0 |
| 13 | York House B | L14 [1.5] | L12 [1.0] | W15 [2.5] | L 5 [1.0] | W21 [4.0] | 10.0 |
| 14 | St. John's B | W13 [2.5] | W18 [4.0] | L 2 [0.0] | W12 [3.0] | L 5 [0.0] | 9.5 |
| 15 | Maywood | L11 [0.5] | D10 [2.0] | L13 [1.5] | W20 [3.5] | L12 [1.5] | 9.0 |
| 16 | St. John's A | L 6 [0.0] | L17 [1.0] | W20 [2.5] | W22 [4.0] | L10 [0.5] | 8.0 |
| 17 | St. George's B | L 2 [0.0] | W16 [3.0] | L 9 [1.0] | W21 [3.5] | L 6 [0.0] | 7.5 |
| 18 | Franklin Community | W21 [3.0] | L14 [0.0] | L10 [0.5] | W19 [2.5] | L22 [1.5] | 7.5 |
| 19 | Queen Mary B | L 8 [0.0] | L 5 [0.0] | D22 [2.0] | L18 [1.5] | W20 [3.0] | 6.5 |
| 20 | Gleneagles | D12 [2.0] | L21 [1.0] | L16 [1.5] | L15 [0.5] | L19 [1.0] | 6.0 |
| 21 | WPGA A | L18 [1.0] | W20 [3.0] | L 7 [0.0] | L17 [0.5] | L13 [0.0] | 4.5 |
| 22 | WPGA B | L 4 [0.0] | L 9 [0.0] | D19 [2.0] | L16 [0.0] | W18 [2.5] | 4.5 |
As for the tournament itself, six teams qualified for the finals. Last year's winner, Our Lady of Perpetual Help A (the "A" signifies two teams from the same school), convincingly held onto their status as favourites, coming first with 16 points of a possible 20. Four teams tied for second with 13 points: Miller Park, Queen Mary A, Vancouver Christian and Chartwell. Next was Westcot, with 12.5, then St. George's A and York House A, both with 12.0.
Unfortunately, it turned out that Miller Park included an ineligible player, so they were disqualified. As St. George's A beat York House A in their individual match, the finalists were:
Our Lady of Perpetual Help A
Queen Mary A
Vancouver Christian
Chartwell
Westcot
St. George's A
On February 22, 2003, St. George's School hosted the finals of the Elementary School Team Championship and the Secondary School Team Championship. The setting was McLean Hall, a tournament hall reminiscent of the elegant events held in the golden era of European chess.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 1 | Our Lady of Perpetual Help | W6 [4.0] | W4 [4.0] | W2 [3.0] | W3 [4.0] | W5 [3.0] | 18 |
| 2 | Queen Mary | W3 [3.5] | W6 [3.0] | L1 [1.0] | W5 [3.0] | W4 [3.0] | 13.5 |
| 3 | Westcot | L2 [0.5] | W5 [3.5] | W4 [3.0] | L1 [0.0] | D6 [2.0] | 9 |
| 4 | St. George's | D5 [2.0] | L1 [0.0] | L3 [1.0] | W6 [3.0] | L2 [1.0] | 7 |
| 5 | Vancouver Christian | D4 [2.0] | L3 [0.5] | D6 [2.0] | L2 [1.0] | L1 [1.0] | 6.5 |
| 6 | Chartwell | L1 [0.0] | L2 [1.0] | D5 [2.0] | L4 [1.0] | D3 [2.0] | 6 |
As expected, Our Lady of Perpetual Help dominated the Elementary School Finals, scoring the same number of points as last year: 18 out of a possible 20. In doing so, Our Lady beat out second place Queen Mary by 4.5 points. More surprisingly, Queen Mary took second with the same margin over third place Westcot.
Our Lady's command of the event was reflected in the fact that they took all four individual board prizes, based on results in the Preliminaries and Finals:
Board 1: Peter Sum 85.7%; Duncan Dauvergne 85%
Board 2: Bryan Young 80%; Christopher Hui 77.7%
Board 3: Alisa Young 100%; Jason Dowlatabadi 90%
Board 4: Angelo Graffos 71.4%; Arthur Chang 70%
Both Peter and Alisa (who won every single game) graduate this year, and there is speculation Our Lady's three-year run of first place finishes may be in jeopardy next year. Elizabeth Towers, the driving force behind the dynasty, discounted this and assured this writer that she had "a few surprises" planned for next year.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||
| 1 | Winston Churchill | W3 [3.0] | W5 [2.5] | --- | W4 [3.0] | W7 [4.0] | W2 [2.5] | W6 [4.0] | 19 |
| 2 | University Hill | W4 [2.5] | W3 [4.0] | W7 [4.0] | --- | W6 [4.0] | L1 [1.5] | L5 [1.0] | 17 |
| 3 | Lord Byng A | L1 [1.0] | L2 [0.0] | L5 [1.0] | W7 [4.0] | --- | W6 [3.0] | W3 [4.0] | 13 |
| 4 | Johnston Heights | L2 [1.5] | --- | W6 [4.0] | L1 [1.0] | W5 [3.5] | W7 [3.0] | L4 [0.0] | 13 |
| 5 | Seaquam A | W7 [3.0] | L1 [1.5] | W3 [3.0] | D6 [2.0] | L4 [0.5] | --- | W2 [3.0] | 13 |
| 6 | Seaquam B | --- | W7 [2.5] | L4 [0.0] | D5 [2.0] | L2 [0.0] | L3 [1.0] | L1 [0.0] | 5.5 |
| 7 | Lord Byng B | L5 [1.0] | L6 [1.5] | L2 [0.0] | L3 [0.0] | L1 [0.0] | L4 [1.0] | --- | 3.5 |
A disappointing seven schools participated in the Secondary School Championship, which at least allowed a round-robin to be held instead of the planned Swiss. In contrast to the Elementary School Championship, however, this event was exciting right to the end. Last year's winner, Winston Churchill, repeated when second place University Hill was defeated 3:1 by Seaquam A in the final round. This heroic effort put Seaquam A into a three-way tie with Johnston and Lord Byng A. Based on the results of their matches, Lord Byng A took third.
The individual board prizes in the Secondary School Championship were awarded as follows:
Board 1: Lawrence Bau 5; Samuel Wong 4.5
Board 2: Glen Nogayev 6; Kian Mintz-Woo 5
Board 3: Kevin Au 4.5; Ryan Mickelson 4
Board 4: Jonathan Bau 5; Gordon Welch 4
Finally, a special thanks to Katherine Davies and Stephen Wright, who helped organize and direct both events.