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After last Friday’s dismissal for Thanksgiving break, most ETHS students were looking forward to a relaxing week off or a holiday trip, but the ETHS chess team was getting ready to compete in the Niles North Turkey Classic on Saturday.
The team’s preparations paid off with another award-winning performance. After winning their first two matches against Jones College Prep and Palatine, the Wildkits took on Stevenson, the defending Illinois High School Association State Champion, in a match that essentially decided the tournament winner.
After ETHS fell behind early, Adam Elgat and Alastair Keely-Walker closed the gap by winning on Boards 1 and 3, while Will Zalmezak and Josh Beatty drew their games on Boards 6 and 8. However, Stevenson won the other four games in the 8-board match to secure a win by a 40-28 margin.
The Wildkits could easily have suffered a letdown after this loss, especially since their final-round opponent was Stevenson’s B team. Playing another school’s second best team is not exciting, but the Stevenson chess program has many capable players, and Stevenson B had won its prior three matches against Niles West, Northside College Prep and Glenbrook South.
Fortunately, the Wildkits showed that their coach needn’t have worried about the outcome. ETHS jumped ahead early with quick wins by Daniel Dligach, Manu Zerega and Josh Beatty. Their pressure in the remaining five games also paid off with wins, giving the team a 68-0 shutout victory and clinching second place in the tournament.
Elgat and Keely-Walker were keys to their team’s success; each won all four of their tournament games. Zalmezak also contributed strongly by winning three games, with one draw, on Board 6. The other Wildkit players, Asa Lieberman, Shane Asbra, Dligach, Zerega, Ryan Cowan, Beatty, Zach Gudwien Stoll and Rogelio Portales, each finished with a winning or even record.
ETHS also has a varsity B team that could have played on Saturday if they had not competed on Friday night in a conference in-season tournament. ETHS varsity B nearly won this event while playing the top varsity teams of other conference schools. After defeating Waukegan, Niles North and Glenbrook North, the Wildkits gave Glenbrook South a battle in the championship match before falling short by a 43-25 margin. Top-scoring players for ETHS in this event included Cowan, Beatty, Maxwell Tornheim, Lucas Lazaro and Aiden Wang.
ETHS chess enjoys award-winning start to fall break is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.
