The team was made up of team Captain Alani Langi, Jerville Rala, Luca Brighenti and Dylan Litchfield with Jake Roberts and Seth Bartrop in reserves.

While they played admirably and made it to the finals without much issue, Hennessy Catholic College took out the finals with three victories in four games.

Team co-ordinator Fiona Painting noted that the MRHS team was younger than the teams they competed against, but added that it might give them the edge next year.

"We played Karingal the other day and beat them. They were all year 12 kids ... we've got two year 11's, one year 9 and a year 8."

The team were runners-up last year as well, with the same group competing. Luca Brighenti is hoping to see the same team enter next year for a long-awaited victory.

"We're still going to have the whole team again hopefully ... The rest of the team did really well, they all stood up and did their best. Next year's our year, for sure."

Mr Brighenti has been playing chess since kindergarten after his grandfather taught him. He added that his long-term goal is still to beat his grandfather in a game.

When asked for advice for anyone new to chess and interested in picking it up, he emphasised the three 'P's.

"It's the long haul. You get there eventually, it's about practice, patience and perseverance," he said.

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Miss Painting said it was great to have the chess team at MRHS, and she was pleased to see such a number of students interested in picking it up.

"It's quite a competitive little process, we advertise tryouts every year. We had 38 kids tryout this year, took about a week to pick them ... It's good for this school, cause it's such a sporty school so it's great to have a team doing well in something that's not a contact sport," she said.

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