The season for Chess Team has ended as GMCs took place on Dec. 4. at SHS. The tournament lasted from 8:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Each competitor played eight matches, each game 25 minutes long with a five second delay between each person’s time.

Last year Mason High School took home the rank of GMC champion, with SHS second. Despite its hope to beat its rival, SHS came behind Mason, at second again.

“They played hard and did the best they could. I can’t ask for anything more,” said Mrs. Beth Quinones, Chess Team sponsor.

Four out of the top five (Varsity) boards came in team one for GMC, which is the top ten players from all GMCs. The fifth player from Varsity came in team two.

Varsity is composed of (in order of boards one through five) freshman Arvind Prasad, senior Victor Lim, captain, junior Max Guo, junior Nandita Kulkarni, and junior Nick Smith.

“[Team one] ideally…those are the ten players that best represent the GMC and would be the best players, not only chess knowledge wise, but also leaders [and] growth of a student,” Quinones said.

For the future, the Chess Team hopes to continue having a strong program and to beat Mason next year. Additionally, as the team is student led, there will be a decision of who will be student captain next year.

Before next season, there will be the summer chess camp for students from kindergarten to eighth grade. It lasts four days with roughly forty participants. SHS’s chess team members are counselors with additional adults (who are chess coaches) to teach the older students.

“To have a team that is cohesive, that push each other to be better, and that they enjoy being a team,” Quinones said about goals for next year.