10 Schools, 40+ Players at 1st Kansai Scholastic Chess Tournament meet at Abroad International School Osaka

On 30 November 2025, Scholastic Chess in Kansai was placed on the map of scholastic activities. Endorsed by the Japan Chess Federation the 1st Kansai Scholastic Chess Tournament attracted dozens of players from the wider Kansai area, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and even Nagoya... to meet up in Abroad International School Osaka.

The event was played over 7 rounds, for each game each player had 15 minutes to cook up strategic plans and show tactical prowess in the execution. And we saw exactly that!

The tournament had individual prizes, medals and trophies, as well as school prizes, trophies determined by adding up the best 2 (high school) and 3 best scoring players of each school in each other age category.

Impression of the Games

Lower Primary

Noah (Marist Brothers International School), Jisuke (Abroad International School) and Ryotaro (Kobe Bilingual School) ended on 6th, 5th and 4th place respectively, all with 4 points. They received medals for their performance handed out by School Principal Mr. Ali Kara.

Peptalk from Parents before Start on the Top Board Lower Elementary

Kotaro (Kobe Bilingual School) with 4.5 points and Ze Kai (Abroad International School) with 5.5 points got 3rd and 2nd Place trophies, but the undisputed winner in this age category with 7 wins out of 7 games was Kazuya (Marist Brothers International School).

All results are here: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 【LE】 第一回大阪学校対抗チェス大会 The First Osaka Scholastic Chess Tournament

Individual Prize Winners in Lower Elementary Flanked by Principal Mr. Ali Kara

Counting the best 3 scores in this age category, Kobe Bilingual School ended 3rd, Marist Brothers 2nd and the Champions School in this category was Abroad International School!

School Prize Winners (left to right): Kobe Bilingual (3rd), Marist Brothers (2nd) and Abroad (Champion)

Upper Primary

Oliver (One World International School) and Shintaro (Enishi International School) with 4 points received 6th and 5th Place medals and Mivaan (Marist Brothers International School) with 5 points collected the 4th Place medal.

Top Boards Upper Elementary Ready for Next Round!

Kai (Kobe Bilingual School), also with 5 points but a better tie-break received the 3rd Prize trophy. The 2nd Prize went to Yoyo (One World International School) and the 1st Prize to Supragna (Enishi International School) with 6.5 points.

All results can be found here: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 【UE】 第一回大阪学校対抗チェス大会 The First Osaka Scholastic Chess Tournament

Individual Prize Winners Upper Elementary

In the Upper Elementary category the 3rd place was shared between One World International School and Kobe Bilingual School, both with 11.5 points with. The difference in tie-break was minimal but Kobe Bilingual School (with 81 tie-break points vs. 80.5 for One World International School) finally collected the 3rd Prize School trophy.

The 2nd Prize went to Enishi and the Champion School with 13 points was Marist Brothers.

School Prize Winners Upper Elementary

Junior High

The Junior High and High played in the same group, but for their own prizes. Miracles (Abroad International School) got 4th Prize Medal and Harin (Osaka YMCA International School got 3rd Prize Medal. Satoshi (Daiichi Chugakkou Takatsuki) with 3 points got the 2nd Prize Trophy but impressively strong in this mixed group, Antonio (Enishi International School) was crowned Champion with 6 points!

Caissa Osaka Chess Club Coach CM Kan Nakahara Watches the Mixed Junior High and High School Boards

All results can be found here: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 【JHH】 第一回大阪学校対抗チェス大会 The First Osaka Scholastic Chess Tournament

Individual Prize Winners Junior High

The School Prizes were taken home by the same Top 2: Satoshi 2nd Prize for Daiichi and Antonio won Best School in this category for Enishi.

School Prize Winners Junior High

High School

A strong delegation from Kyoto had come over in this category. But one-man player for Waseda Osaka, Masato, did manage to get 3rd Prize medal with 5 points. Also with 5 points, but better tie-break, Yuto (Kyoto International University Academy) received the 2nd Prize Medal. On Top, with 6 points, Noah (Kyoto International University Academy) got the Champion Trophy to bring home.

Individual Prize Winners High School

For school prizes in this age category there were 2 trophies. Masato by himself with his 5 points could bring the 2nd Prize Trophy back to Osaka Waseda and the Kyoto International University Academy, with and overwhelming15 points, won the Champion School Trophy.

Team KIUA and "team" Waseda with School Prizes.

We would like to thank AIS school Principal and Vice Principal, Mr. Kara and Ms. Nagano, for their support in preparatory stages, during and after the event. Also, a special thanks to Mr. Riaan (OWIS) and Br. Allen (Marist Brothers) for sharing with us their efforts to recruit among their student base; and a thank you to Kobe Bilingual School, Enishi International School and Kyoto International University Academy for bringing in your large delegation - and of course thanks all other schools as well as parents and players who joined.

A final salute to the Japan Chess Federation supportive of this initiative from the very start.