The chess team took home two medals at their state tournament on Feb. 13 and 14.. The medals won were one silver and one bronze, by seniors Gavin DeCicco (silver) and Adrian Ciubuca (bronze).
The team’s competitive season started in October and will end when the team goes to nationals from March 27. The team had two goals this season: beating Niles North and doing well in state. The team achieved both of their goals. They played North’s team four times, winning two and losing two tournaments against them and ultimately beat them in the state.
Besides doing well competitively, the team also has overarching and long-term goals.
“We always want to help our players improve and get better,” sponsor and coach Nathan Noparstak said. “Chess is a very individualized sport, so we’re always looking for our members to get better and learn. Chess is also super fun. Our goals are like, have fun and get better as a chess team.”
The team does this by encouraging the upperclassmen to mentor other players; the team also studies game techniques like certain openings and beginning moves. They study open patterns and practice with puzzles that focus on skills that are central to chess.
Ciubiuca has played chess since eighth grade but has never played competitively until this year. He has attributed the chess team for the improvement of his skill by teaching him not only new techniques but also by helping him learn how to be more patient in himself and the process.
“Well, I think a big part was the patience, chess does take a while to learn, but after you do, it becomes a more fun, and you get to learn a a lot more about openings and how to play people and it’s a good atmosphere,” Ciubiuca said. “Especially if you are patient with it and take the time to learn the skills thoroughly and trust in the process.”
DeCicco joined the chess team in his freshman year, having never played chess competitively. He is now the highest-ranked player on the team, first board and a top 40 player in IHSA (Illinois High School Association) based on national ratings. This year at state, he won six out of seven rounds during the tournament.
“Through my years on the team, I have learned countless ideas on and off the board, but one that has stuck with me since my freshman year was how you can still win in a losing position,” DeCicco said. “This helped me understand that anything can change. Since then, I have applied this idea to real-life scenarios. This has helped to say the least.”
DeCicco reflected on how the chess team helped him find the fun in chess again after he started to get too caught up in its competitive nature.
“Sometimes chess feels like a chore to study, which sucks because it’s really time-consuming, and it can be frustrating when you don’t play how you wished,” DeCicco said. “My teammates showed me differently, though: they didn’t always care about losing. They just thought being there was a fun experience. Until this year, I never subscribed to that belief. It was always “win win win,” but this year was different. Not only did I enjoy playing the game with a competitive tint, but I also found myself improving more than I ever have before.”
Though the competitive season is nearly over, Noparstak still encourages people to join the chess club, which is focused on playing for fun instead of competitively. The club meets in the lit center after-school on Mondays and Wednesdays.
“I see a lot of people playing chess, on their phones, on their computers,” Noparstak said. ” I know that there are people that play chess and are good at it that are not a part of the chess club or chess team. I would encourage anyone that enjoys chess to stop by in the lit center on Monday and Wednesday after school. It’s open to anyone and everyone. We would love to have more people involved in chess.”
