Trinity Catholic College student Henry Le caused the ultimate upset at the Otago Under 20 Chess Championship when he defeated the defending champion Alexander Sun, 18, at the Otago Chess Club on Saturday.
Tournament director Quentin Johnson said Mr Sun, who was on summer break from the University of Oxford, was the tournament’s top seed club player and it was not easy for Henry to get the win over him.
In the rapid tournament style, each player had 25 minutes to checkmate their opponent.
Alternatively, the first person to run out of time before a checkmate is made loses.
"It’s quite brutal, but it’s the rules," Mr Johnson said.
Both players were risking losing on the time stipulation as the game neared its conclusion.
The room came to a standstill, and everyone focused in on the game between Mr Sun and Henry.
Henry only had two seconds left on his clock when Mr Sun ran out of time and lost the game.
"[Henry] knew he had survived a narrow squeak," Mr Johnson said.
"He’s a quite humble and impassive person so he didn’t cheer or whoop or anything."
Impressively, Henry won five out of six of his games and drew the other one.
Mr Johnson said while Henry was not a club regular, he had put in a few hours working on his game playing online chess.
Mr Sun had a higher New Zealand Chess Federation rating and had an illustrious background with an under-20 championship already under his belt — which he won when he was just 12 years old.
Another standout performance came from Columba College student Hilarie Guan, 13, who won five out her six games and won the best girl prize.
Logan Park High School student Eshaan Atre, 14, and St Kevin’s College student Caleb McDonald, 13, shared the under 16 prize, winning four games and drawing one each.
Otago Under 20 Championship 2025 results (top ten)
| Name | School / University | Age | Points | |
| 1. | Henry Le | Trinity Catholic College | 15 | 5.5 |
| 2. | Alexander Sun | University of Oxford | 18 | 5.0 |
| 3. | Hilarie Guan | Columba College | 13 | 5.0 |
| 4. | Eshaan Atre | Logan Park High School | 14 | 4.5 |
| 5. | Caleb MacDonald | St Kevin's College | 13 | 4.5 |
| 6. | Paul Gudoy | Waitaki Boys' High School | 15 | 4.0 |
| 7. | Tyne Grant | Logan Park High School | 17 | 4.0 |
| 8. | Hugh Walker | John McGlashan College | 12 | 4.0 |
| 9. | Naoki Kozakai | University of Otago | 17 | 4.0 |
| 10. | Rundell Pelayo | Waitaki Boys' High School | 15 | 4.0 |
