Last Saturday, the Chanute High School chess team hosted the Kansas Grade Championships, where players are separated into their grade level to compete for the state title in that grade.
CHS brought home three first place medals, two second place medals, a third place medal and a fifth place medal.
The tournament lasted five rounds per division, but with longer games due to a five second delay after every move.
“When I play with a delay on, I’m much more comfortable going into endgames because they’re basically solved, just not for humans at the board, so I still need time to really sit down and think,” said Eric Erbe, co-captain of the team and winner of the 11th grade division.
There was also no team protection, which allowed some team members to compete against one another, including a draw match between co-captains Eric Erbe and Jacob Hurtado. “When I really think of difficult chess players, a lot of them are on the team,” Erbe said. “Knowing that there’s a chance that I’ll end up playing them really made me want to play a lot better, because I still want to win, as much as I like my teammates.”
Other top finishers included Ethan Burnett (third) and Alex Kennedy (fifth) in the 12th-grade division, Jacob Hurtado (second) in the 11th-grade division, Nathan Studebaker (first) in the 10th-grade division and Benjamin Blakesley (first) and Logan McMillan (second) in the ninth-grade division.
“It’s a good feeling to know that I did great as one of the youngest people here,” Blakesley said, who had also received fifth place overall. “It raised my hopes for state.”
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Players indicated they learned to push through adversity. Studebaker was among the players who took a lesson from the tournament.
“I learned to never underestimate your opponent and to always look at every single possibility for moves during the game.”
Others showed up with determination: “My biggest challenge this tournament was being sick and barely being able to stand up,” stated Blakesley. “I learned that you can push through, no matter how bad you’re feeling, that you can still do great.”
Kyle Gregg, the coach of the team and current president of the Kansas Scholastic Chess Association, remarked in a Facebook post, “These results highlight the strength, focus and determination of our team members, and this is truly a historic accomplishment for CHS Chess … the Kansas State Grade Level Championships are a test of strategy, preparation and resilience, and every CHS player proved they belong among the best in the state.”
The team has six more tournaments before the state tournament at Emporia State University on March 15.
