Macleans College Student Battles Chess Masters in Baku
Posted on September 23, 2016
Jasmine Zhang 9BWH has just returned from Baku, Azerbaijan where she was competing in the 2016 Chess Olympiad.
This bi-annual event involves over 180 countries. New Zealand was represented by both male and female teams with Jasmine playing on board two (of four) for the women’s team.
During the competition which was held over two weeks the women played against teams of varying strength from countries as diverse as Columbia, Fiji, Botswana and Monaco.
Jasmine achieved the highest improvement in her chess rating set by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) from 1721 to 1851.
She played eleven games of which she won five and drew three. The team achieved a final ranking of 79 against an initial ranking of 101. This has been the biggest progress for a New Zealand female team in Olympiad history.
