Chess Dominates at State Mini-Teams

No coach...no problem.

That was the mindset behind Overlake's chess players who just won the 2018 Washington State Mini-Teams Championship at Lakeside School last weekend.

As the marquis event for the Washington High School Chess Association, Overlake's team swept through the five round competition. Senior Nate G. says that he and his two board teammates, Marc H. ('21) and Oscar P. ('22), were well prepared for the tournament. "We were really up for the challenge," says Nate. "Knowing our competition from years of individual chess tournaments, we knew it was going to be harder than past years, but it feels really good knowing that we won playing as a school."

With no coach leading the team, it's up to Nate and his teammates to register, determine board order, bring sets, boards, and chess clocks for competition, and, most importantly, discuss strategy.

He credits former Coach Bill "Army" Armstrong's stoic and calm demeanor as traits he's learned to use in competition. "It's real important to not get too upset during a game or get too excited when you're winning," says Nate. "I've been in games where I've thought, 'I'm going to win this game' only to end up losing a couple moves later."

With another first place addition to Overlake's trophy case, Overlake's Chess Club advisor Micah Orr sees a lot of promise in players who want to play chess competitively and invites anyone interested to join his club no matter the playing level.

Congratulations Owls Chess players!