displayed on the screen at the front. Do not imagine a row of silent pupils intent on their screens: our chess clubs were vibrant, noisy and competitive, especially during House Chess. Yells of delight and anguish with much banter and chatter have punctuated each House Chess event.When we had periods at home through the year, this social connection over Zoom during the club sessions felt as valuable as our chess, and our weekly clubs continued. There was (and is) much competitive chess played. Brentwood School played online in the National Junior League (4NCL). This ran fortnightly from August 2020 to March 2021 and is once again underway.We have three teams with the A Team in Division 1. Throughout 2021, there have been fortnightly National InterSchool Senior Battles and (in alternative weeks) fortnightly 4NCL Battles. These events allow anyone to sign up to our team and represent the School at chess. It is all about participation. Brentwood Prep School takes part in National Inter-School Junior Battles. Many of our pupils from Prep and Senior Schools alike represent Essex in monthly Inter-County Battles. There are also separate girls’ competitions at County, Senior School and Junior School level that we take part in. Once again, these events are all about participation (although we still try our best to win!) East House were the 2020/2021 House Chess Champions. We held six separate House tournaments on Lichess with about 100 players and close to 1,000 games of chess. The format allowed pupils to play 55
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