Chess, Sixth at Nationals
The Phillips Exeter Chess Club placed sixth overall at the 2016 National High School Chess Championship, which lasted from March 31 to April 4. The championship team, comprised of the four players with the highest chess ratings in the club, won the honor in the “open” section of the tournament—one in which players of any rating are allowed to compete, thus making it the most difficult to win. The U1600 team, comprised of five club members with chess ratings under 1600, placed 11th in its respective division of the tournament. Both teams placed better this year than previously and hope to see their success continue at their next tournament.
Hosted in Atlanta, GA., hundreds of school teams brought together high school chess players from across the country. These players were packed into a large gymnasium where they spent about three days playing chess matches against peers of similar skill rating. For each match, each side was given two hours to make his or her moves; seven games were played in total by each competitor. After every day, the four individuals’ scores from each team were summed together to obtain a team score, which was then submitted to the judging committee.
“Placing sixth overall is a huge accomplishment, and I am really proud and honored to be in a club with such outstanding players.”
Exeter’s championship chess team consisted of senior Mandy Lu, uppers Hunter Rockley and Evan Xiang and lower Michael Chen. This team competed against the top high school chess players and teams in the country; this year’s sixth place overall win puts them ahead of last year’s seventh place. The results were surprising and exciting to many members.
Upper Evan Xiang said that losing members who had graduated the year before had worried her before the competition. “I was a little hesitant about going because one of our top players graduated last year,” Xiang explained and said that no new player had emerged to replace her—except maybe, perhaps, Rockley. “Seeing the fierce competition we faced last year, I was really worried that we couldn’t live up to last year’s results.”
The championship team, coming into the tournament, knew that its members were skilled enough to compete, but was unsure how these members would perform when tested. Chess Club co-head Lu said that despite the strain of playing difficult chess matches “without moving for four hours each game, for seven games,” the team exceeded expectations. Fellow co-head and senior Frank Fan also lauded the skill of the competitors. He commented on Exeter’s resilience and strong performance. “Placing sixth overall is a huge accomplishment, and I am really proud and honored to be in a club with such outstanding players,” he said.
Member of the U1600 team and prep Elias Issa recognized some of the outstanding skill that was showcased by members of the Exeter championship team, and in particular, captain of the championship team, Lu. He explained, “Mandy, who is rated around 2000, was able to, in a tough and disadvantaged position, set up a trap for her opponent’s queen and ultimately score a comeback victory against a master, a player with a rating of above 2200.”
Exeter’s U1600 team, comprised of seniors Joe Bartkovich and Fan, upper George Turer and preps Michael Donnelly and Issa, placed 11th in its skill division, several places better than its tie for 25th last year. This performance stood out to all of the club heads, who noted that two new underclassmen added had been this year to the team’s competitive ranks.
Lu commented on the U1600 team members’ abilities to remain concentrated, even after competing for a tiring amount of time. “Turer started out rough—with a string of five consecutive losses in two days,” she said. “He bounced back though, in the last day, and scored two wins and contributed to the placing of the U1600 team.” Even though three of the four co-heads are graduating this spring, the chess team has full confidence that the club will continue to succeed in coming years. As a result of its performance at the National tournament earlier this year, which attracted some attention from prospective students, the club also hopes to see more chess players attend the Academy in the future to bolster the strength of the school’s team even more.
Despite having finished team-based tournaments for the year, the club hopes to continue its momentum through an upcoming individual tournament. Many Exonians often place similarly well and win prizes in this competition. However, besides competitive chess, Fan hopes that the club will also remain a place where students are able to “come and have fun without the competitive burden and pressure of certain other clubs on campus like Debate and Model United Nations,” he said.