Pupils from The Rackham Primary School finished 34th in a national chess championship. More than one thousand schools and chess clubs entered this year s UK Chess Challenge competition. The competition included teams from secondary and primary schools

Pupils from The Rackham Primary School finished 34th in a national chess championship.

More than one thousand schools and chess clubs entered this year's UK Chess Challenge competition.

The competition included teams from secondary and primary schools and the Witchford-based school was in the top five state primary schools at the end of the classifications. The Rackham was ranked the top school in Cambridgeshire and the only one in the top 100.

Twelve children from the rural primary school won through to the national (giga) finals in Manchester with two of them winning outright regional titles, Spencer Saberton in the under-8s and Sierra Humbert in the under-9s with Daniel Simons first in the under-11s age group.

The school has more than 50 children who play chess after school or during their lunch break. Headteacher and chess coach Sid Wales was understandably ecstatic with the news, "It is an amazing achievement for our school, situated in a relatively quiet part of the country as far as competitive chess is concerned," he said.