The Sterling High School chess team’s season has come to an end, and they have lots to be proud of. 

  The chess team, led by coaches Joel Penne and Micheal Gottomoller, finished their season with an outstanding record of 26 wins and eight losses. This season could arguably be one of the best in Sterling High School’s history. This year was definitely the best that the team has ever done in the state tournament. 

  The team ended their season as being the second rank in the 2a division and placed 20th overall at the state chess tournament. The team also won the NICL tournament for the sixth consecutive season.

  There were also three Sterling Chess members that received medals at the State Chess tournament, with senior Dayton Fisher being the first ever to have a 7-0 performance at state. Senior Christian Graza went 6-1, and junior Jacob Brown won five and a half out of his seven matches. Brown and Garza also received medals. 

  Brown said, “The state tournament was all I wanted it to be.” Brown mentioned that they were able to play on electronic boards which was really cool. 

  The electronic boards allowed people to watch the games online rather than having to be in person. Brown recommends to future chess players to “study every day. Chess is a very hard game and only those who practice a lot are good.” 

  Another S.H.S. junior Jose Figueroa was a substitute at the state chess tournament, and he said that the tournament “lived up to my expectations.” Figueroa helped his teammates by cheering them on and making sure that they had the supplies they needed in order to be successful. Figueroa’s advice is to “focus on your game.” He said that there are seven other teammates relying on you to do well also, so you need to focus and just play to the best of your ability. 

  All of the S.H.S. chess players have lots to be proud of for this season and should be recognized for all that they have accomplished.