Hvaleyrarskóli wins gold in chess for junior and senior teams

Chess is on the rise in primary schools

The Hvaleyrarskóli chess team won the gold medal at the junior secondary school chess tournament, held at Setbergsskóli on 14th May. The Nú – School of Forward-Looking Education chess team won the silver award and the Víðistaðaskóli chess team won the bronze award at the 8th-10th grade primary school chess tournament in Hafnarfjörður, 2025.,

Hvaleyrarskóli will therefore keep the Hraunborg trophy at their school until the next primary school chess tournament for this age group, which Hraunborg and the primary schools' youth clubs will presumably organise together in the next academic year.

Same seats as last year

Years 6-8 competed a week earlier. Hvaleyrarskóli's A chess team won the gold medal, Víðistaðaskóli's chess team the silver medal, and Hvaleyrarskóli's B chess team the bronze medal in the intermediate division of the Hafnarfjörður primary school chess tournament. The results there were also the same as last year in the school chess tournament for this age group in Hafnarfjörður. The Kiwanis Club Hraunborgar's victory cup will therefore remain at Hvaleyrarskóli for at least until the next town-wide chess tournament for 5th-7th grade pupils.

„The fact that the Hvaleyrarskóli chess teams were victorious in both of the year's primary school chess tournaments is testament to the good, ambitious and focused chess instruction and practice that takes place there, which is commendable and a great example to follow. Viðistaðaskóli and Nú – School, Forward-Looking Education also offer good chess instruction, as their results attest. It is to be hoped that other primary schools in Hafnarfjörður will soon follow their example and discover the great contribution that chess instruction and the practice of the game according to set rules and standards can make to good and effective school work. says the testimony of the Kiwanis Club of Hraunborg, which organises the tournament.

„The main aim of the primary school chess tournaments, which the Kiwanis Club Hraunborg promotes, is, of course, to promote the art of chess and school activities in Hafnarfjörður, and at the same time the students“ zest for life, development and ability to make a positive contribution for the benefit and enjoyment of the future. That objective is in keeping with the motto of the Kiwanis movement: 'Children First and Foremost'," it says.

Kiwanis thanks for the cooperation

Grandmaster Helgi Ólafsson ran and adjudicated the latter tournament, while his pupil and chess instructor, Daði Ómarsson, ran the former. Both tournaments were well run and were a success, as the rules and standards that apply to club team competitions and official chess tournaments were followed.

The Hraunborg Kiwanis Club would also like to thank the community centres of the primary schools in Hafnarfjörður for their excellent cooperation. We also thank the school principals and team managers for selecting the chess teams and preparing them for the tournaments. „But above all, we thank the chess players themselves for their participation and their spirited competition. We also thank Kristinn Guðlaugsson, Headteacher of Hvaleyrarskóli, for opening the chess tournament there with a few well-chosen words of encouragement and then playing the first move, and to Valdimar Víðisson, the Mayor of Hafnarfjörður, for doing the same at the chess tournament in Setbergsskóli. And to the management and leisure leaders of these schools, we are especially grateful for hosting the chess tournaments and taking such good care of them.“