Little known chess team aims for sixth straight state championship
By David Eng and Anna Shen March 25, 2010
Question: What is the school’s most dominant team or program?
Among the many possible answers: the girls’ tennis team, which won CCS this year and took second in Northern California; the boys’ swimming team, which set a national relay record last spring, or the marching band, which ranks near the top of the state in its division. These are all good guesses. But another, lesser known group has set the standard for excellence on campus: the chess team, winner of five straight state championships.
Meeting once a week during Thursday lunches in teacher and adviser P.J. Yim’s room, the chess team certainly does not get as much attention as it deserves.
“We’ve learned that chess doesn’t get a lot of attention,” said sophomore chess member Evan Ye. “Of course, more attention is nice but not critical in terms of success.”
Most students aren’t aware of the chess team’s remarkable streak.
“I honestly didn’t know much about the chess team,” said junior Walter Hsiang, “but I believe that the chess team deserves a lot more recognition, since it is so dominate and the game of chess requires a lot more cognitive skills than most people think.”
However, winning is not everything. Not only is the chess team a dominant powerhouse in the state, but also it is a team of “close-knit” camaraderie among seniors Charles Sun, Rolland Wu; junior Amol Aggarwal; sophomores Brian Wai, Ye, Sankash Shankar; and freshman Kevin Garbe.
“Because we spend so much time with each other during tournaments, we know each other pretty well,” said team captain Sun. “I think these experiences really bring the team together because they are memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”
Here is the full article.
1 word: Dynasty!
Many of these players in 9th and 10th grade were the one who had a major upset in middle school. They won their division against a heavily favored team rated on average 200 points above them!