A Muswell Hill primary school chess team booked a semi-final spot at Pontins on Sunday (January 26) after a strong first-round showing in a national competition.

The Under-11 A team from Coldfall Primary School finished in 2nd place out of 18 schools in the first-round of the National Primary Schools Chess Championship (NPSCC), held at Haberdashers Boys School, Borehamwood.

The impressive display from the tight-knit team, including Max Bird, Stanley Badacsonyi, Elizabeth Kuryan, Maya Corrall, Alex Hector and George Bustin, sees the Coldfall outfit move into the semi-finals, which will be hosted by Pontins in May.

Team member Stanley, 10, said: "I am so pleased with how the team performed. We all tried our best and then we triumphed. I love my silver medal."

The NSPCC is a three-stage competition which begins with regional qualifiers at the start of the year and culminates with national finals in July.