Clinching the win in the fourth round, the Shippensburg University chess club took first place in the third annual Central New York Open in Syracuse, New York.
Ten students and faculty adviser, David Kennedy, competed in the five rounds of competition. It was the largest group the club has ever taken to a tournament. All players were able to compete, but the top three scores counted toward the team’s total.
“The more exciting things we do the more we keep growing,” Kennedy said. “I am optimistic that we will keep growing.”
Treasurer Jacob Painter was one of the top three scores for the team along with Anthony Ciarlante and Tristan Phillips.
“I had to work for every point I got,” Painter said. “I ended up beating the guy who tied for first with me in an earlier round.”
Other members competing included Chris Owens, Daniel Brown, Sean Reardon, David George, Lula Eichenlaub, Tyler Forrester and graduate student Austin Henninger.
Each member was placed in a section based on the personal rating they received from playing in previous tournaments. The team won with 11 points out of a possible 15, and Syracuse University placed second with 5.5.
“[By the fourth round] it was more than enough to out distance Syracuse University who came in second,” Kennedy said.
According to Kennedy, the team has about two team competitions per year, but members also compete individually. The team appears to be on a roll because it recently won the state championships in March, Kennedy said.
“To have our team win was really great because we had so many new people to experience the win,” Painter said. “For a lot of these people it was their first tournament so it was great to have personal wins but to see the team win was really good.”
To prepare for the competition, the members meet every Friday to play chess. Members also have started a chess study where they look over a game and analyze different moves that could be done. Painter prepared like many others did through online chess and chess puzzles.
Some players also went to Hungary in January 2016 for an international tournament that Kennedy believes helped them prepare.
“I trace it back to Hungary,” Kennedy said. “We arranged to have international chess lessons and continue them through Skype.”
Looking forward, the club is now preparing for an international tournament in Sitges, Spain, in December. The team will be competing a whole week alongside other players from around the world.
“I am glad we had a nice warm-up for Spain,” Painter said. “I am just glad that the school has been willing to help us make these trips. It gives these students something to experience that they haven’t before.”
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