CHS chess team heads for Dallas

CHS chess team heads for Dallas

Special to the Chanute Tribune April 15, 2004

The six Chanute High School students leaving for Dallas today hope they've packed the element of surprise along with the clothes and toothbrushes they're taking to the national chess tournament.

The CHS chess team will compete Friday through Sunday at the national competition sponsored by the United States Chess Federation. The Comets finished second in the 4A division at Kansas' state tournament, behind Columbus, to qualify for the national tournament.

For several team members it will be their first USCF tournament since the 2001 national tournament in Kansas City, so the ratings that define the members' individual abilities are outdated.

"There could be some wolves in sheep's clothing," coach Bob Larson said of his team members' abilities. "We have a shot to surprise some people."

Competing for Chanute High School are seniors Shane Newell, Brittany Schroeder and Chanelle Bradford, juniors Sarah Kubler and Nick Adams and sophomore John Yowan.

This year's season was a tough one for CHS, because the players in the division schools were so evenly matched, Larson said.

All year, the winning teams relied on tiebreaks to make the difference at any given tournament.

"It's getting to be a dog fight," Larson said.

Even at state, CHS was dead even with Columbus going into the final round.

"Kansas Chess is becoming very tough," Larson said. "It's changed a lot in my 24 years at CHS."

"The competition has gotten so tough," Larson explained, that if he could have taken this year's team to the 1986 tournament, they would have scored four out of five wins across the board, rather than the three wins they recorded this year.

"A lot are starting so young - you can have a middle schooler who's already played seven years," Larson cited about the experience of today's players.

With the help of Chanute Community Learning Centers, Larson tried to give his team a more competitive edge.

"CCLC provided both class and tournament time experience" on top of the team practices held after school, Larson said.

"The sessions have been very beneficial to us as we covered many themes and the tournaments are conducted exactly like those at competitions, especially the touch move rule. Without the Monday night sessions we would not have been as strong as we are now," Larson said.

In Dallas, the CHS team could be up against 400 schools in their bracket alone, Larson said. Everyone will play seven games with a maximum time limit of six hours. Winners will be announced Sunday night.

Map of trip from Chanute Kansas to Dallas Texas

I Lettered In Chess last Year at C.H.S. after winning 5 out of 7 rounds at the National Championships in Dallas, Texas.

Chanute High School Chess Team News

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