The Varsity chess team had its best result of the season, finishing second at the Palatine Pirate Team Tournament last Saturday.
The field featured 10 of the top 12 high school finishers from the 2022 Illinois High School Association State Chess Finals: Stevenson High School, the current state champion; Barrington; Whitney Young; Walter Payton; Naperville Central; Fremd; Niles North; Glenbrook South and Hinsdale Central.
Evanston defeated Payton, Whitney Young and Sterling before falling to Stevenson in the championship match.
Evanston’s players were Elijah Platnick, Chris von Hoff, Adam Elgat, Henry Zaslow, Nathan Melnikov, Boaz Lieberman, Rohil Bose and Meris Goldfarb. Although none were undefeated, each notched one or two wins against Whitney Young and Payton to help the team reach the championship match.
The Evanston coaches said they are pleased with their play, which bodes well for the remainder of the season.
Evanston also finished second in the junior varsity tournament, losing a close match against Stevenson but defeating Niles North, Palatine and Sterling.
All five Evanston junior varsity players – Luca Zerega, Somil Bose, Sam Kemeny, Ethan Brush and Alastair Keely-Walker – won prizes for their individual performances.
Evanston also scored three prizes in the Individual Open section: second place for Lucia Scrimenti, third for Evan Gonzales and fifth for Ryan Cowan.
Full tournament results can be found here at the Illinois Chess Coaches Association website. The Wildkits have two league matches remaining this month, against Northridge Prep and Highland Park high schools, before competitions resume in January.