For the first time, three Pasifika students will compete in the Australasian National Chess finals after winning gold at the New Zealand Power Team tournament.
The siblings, Grayson, Hunter and Tyleah, have gone from strength-to-strength after only a year of learning to pay chess. Photo: Supplied
Three siblings of Samoan, Niuean and Cook Island descent are breaking new ground by winning a place at the tournament, which will be held in Melbourne next month.
Tyleah, Hunter and Grayson Po'e-Tofaeono, who are 11, 10 and 8, have gone from strength-to-strength after only a year of learning to pay chess.
As part of the team at Hillsborough Primary, the trio have qualified for the National Interschool Chess Championships in Australia through winning the Auckland Regionals, Power Champions Tournament, and then nationals in Christchurch last month.
While they are the first competitors of Pacific descent to win at the national level, it is also the first time the tournament has seen more than one Pasifika player place individually.
Siblings become NZ’s first Pasifika chess champions
Paul Macdonald from New Zealand Chess Power said the Po'e-Tofaeono family were breaking barriers and stereotypes when it came to playing chess.
"About 70 percent of our attendance is from Chinese background, and then these three kids turned up - Po'e-Tofaeono - and I was like 'hmm that's not the normal type of name I would see on my list' and then they just won every division and they continued to win and continued to win and I was like 'wow - this is amazing'.
"It's wonderful to see Pasifika children doing really well in chess, which isn't traditionally something that a lot of kids from the Pasifika play [at the highest level]."
NZ Chess Power's Paul McDonald with the Po'e-Tofaeono siblings. Photo: Supplied
Long-time chess coach Wayne McDougall, who volunteers at a number of schools, said it was a remarkable achievement.
He hoped their success would encourage more Pacific students to play the game.
"There aren't very many Pasifika, nor very many Māori, who play chess and that is a shame, but these three are just naturally talented and it's good to see them representing [their culture and heritage] and I hope they'll be a model for others to follow in their path."
But for big sister Tyleah, this is only the beginning, with dreams to become a family of chess world champions.
"We're really proud of what we've accomplished so far. Me and my brothers know that we've trained really hard to go to nationals. We've studied the game with my dad and we've tried our best in tough competitions. I know we can get better than we are now and that we can be grand masters."
The journey towards becoming the next world champs is already underway for the Po'e-Tofaeono family with their school chess club of 70 students getting together every Tuesday afternoon.
A Givealittle page has been set up to help with costs for the three siblings to compete in the Australian Tournament. Funds will cover registration fees, flights, accommodation and travel. Any extra funding will go towards future tournaments.
Photo: Supplied.