Illinois Scholastic Chess

Chess team sets school record
March 3, 2008
FROM SUBMITTED REPORTS

PLAINFIELD — The Plainfield South High School chess team made school and district history at the Illinois High School Association state chess team championships.

The team won five matches and lost two and finished 18th out of 118 teams in the two-day tournament to post its best showing ever at state. This was the fifth year that South has qualified for state. Last year, the team earned its best record to that point, going 4-3 to finish 28th statewide.

“To go 5-2 at the state tournament is very difficult, and a first for us,” chess club adviser Joe Vladika said.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first competitive chess team in the history of the school district, and the first one to compete at the state level,” he said.

Plainfield North and Central both have chess teams, but neither has yet gone to state, Vladika said.

Plainfield South High School senior Tom Armstrong also placed fifth in the state among the “Fifth Board” players and sophomore Matt Doherty placed 10th in the state among “Seventh Board” players. Armstrong and Doherty both received medals and had their photos taken with Yuri Shulman, a grand master and top-rated chess player in Illinois.

Chess players are assigned for competition based on their level of skill. “First Board” players are considered the best on their team, and so on. The state tournament matched eight “Boards,” or players of eight levels of skill.

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