Bethlehem College was the best performed of the local schools at the NZ Interschool Chess Finals in Mt Maunganui at the weekend.

They finished tied for sixth out of 20 teams in the Secondary Championship, won by Macleans College, from Auckland.

Two hundred and fifty children from around the country played in three separate tournaments at Mt Maunganui College – Secondary, Intermediate and Primary.

All the teams qualified for the finals by winning earlier regional competitions.

The Intermediate title was won by Berkley Middle School, from Hamilton.

Tauranga Intermediate came in twelfth out of 16, while Mt Maunganui Intermediate was thirteenth.

The Primary Champion was Pinehurst, from Auckland.

Bay of Plenty teams found the competition tough. Rotorua's Lynmore Primary finished 22nd out 24, while Mt Maunganui Primary was the tail-ender.

However Sam Hallinan put in a notable individual performance for Mount Primary, scoring 5/7 – the third best result on board three.