MS/JHS State Team Championships
On March 7th 2009, five Overlake students participated in State Team Championships that were held at Islander Middle School. The school was represented by Ian McPherson, Jack Sather, Will Spencer, Drew Chouinard, and Trevor Marcus. The Overlake team surpassed all expectations and finished in 2nd place for State!
For those that may not be familiar with team chess, a team tournament is a unique format that has five players lining up side by side in matches against the opposing team. The team can earn between zero and five points for each of the five rounds in the tournament. Finishing order is determined by the cumulative team scores after all rounds. For an activity/sport that is typically "mono y mono", this format really brings out the team spirit, since the only score that matters is the team score. Schools typically register their five best players, so the competition is always very strong!
The Overlake team came out the gates strong, making an early statement in the first round by winning 5 out of 5 games. The excitement was somewhat short-lived since this earned them a second round match with the two-time defending State Champion Odle A team. This team has 2 players in the top 20 in the country for their grade! Still, the Overlake team outperformed expectations when Will Spencer scored an upset victory over an opponent that was rated nearly 500 points above him. Check out the Game Corner Page to view this game.
The Overlake team took it all in stride and topped every team they faced for the remainder of the day. They were neck and neck with two other teams going into the final round, but one these teams had to take their 
turn with Odle A. The final round couldn't have been any more dramatic. Overlake was tied with Odle B and the two teams were paired against each other. The team that could win 3 out of 5 was going to take home the 2nd place trophy. Based on current ratings, Overlake was only favored to win 1 out of the 5 games. We needed two upset victories and our players were determined to not let Odle finish 1-2. Everything went according to plan, after two games we had two victories. Trevor Marcus scored an upset over a player rated 100 points above him and this was the pivotal moment for the round. We needed one more victory in the three games that remained. Our next two games were hard fought losses. Suddenly, all was even again. In the final game, with others looking on, Jack Sather went up full rook in his game, and went on to victory. That was it! The team had sealed a 2nd place finish!
There were many notable moments at this tournament with Drew leading off the first victory in the 5-0 first round, Will's 500 point upset and 100 rating points gained overall, Ian and Jack each had victories over two 1400+ players, and Trevor's final round turning-point upset victory.
Well done Overlake chess players!
(Some videos of the awards ceremony and team play)
