OFS Chess "Checkmate to Racism" 2021

A record-breaking 363 students from seven countries came together under the motto "Checkmate to Racism" to play a 1-hour online chess tournament. OFS fielded 116 students from K2, ES, MS and HS and reached a fantastic third place. We competed against strong teams such as FC Bayern Munich from Germany, Suffolk from England and Wasa from Sweden. The top spots went to "School Chess Professionals" from Switzerland and Dornbirn from Austria.

While all chess games were hard-fought, the event was held in a friendly spirit as all teams joined forces to make a stand against racism. We ran a Zoom session in parallel open for all students and parents with almost 200 connections at peak times. As a leading international school in Singapore, OFS was excited to participate in this unique opportunity to use its expertise on the chess board to highlight and support a strong position against racism and to make new friends across the globe.

Marco Bode, former German international footballer and a strong chess player himself joined via Zoom, answered many questions and told some anecdotes. He emphasised the importance of chess as an educational tool to help students thrive in life.