Chess is held during lunchtime and after school on a Wednesday.
In Term 1 there is a lunchtime tournament where students play against each other with resulting rankings at the end of term. In Term 2, it is a chess ladder competition with students challenging each other to a game within the rules and conditions of the chess ladder. Chess after school is subject to numbers.
Competitions throughout the year include:
- The Tauranga Boys' High Exchange, where students are selected to represent the school that year in either Tauranga or Hamilton.
- The Waikato Inter-School Chess Competition, held on a Sunday in August. The winning team from the Waikato region progresses to the National Inter-School Competition.
- The annual school Inter-House Chess Competition. This is always a competitive event as most house competitions are. Each house enters a team that must include at least one female student from each house.
