Chess
February 10, 2007
Whitney Young is State Runner Up; Lane Tech Finishes 27th in state.
Round 1 Lane Tech 54 Marmiom Military Academy 14
Round 2 LincolnWay Central 68 Lane Tech 0
Round 3 Lane Tech 52 St. Charles North 16
Round 4 Lane Tech 57.5   Belleville East 10.5

Round 5 Lane Tech 61 Aurora West 7

Round 6 Stevenson 40.5 Lane Tech 27.5

Round 7 Glenbrook South 38 Lane Tech 30

• Strong Public League state performance as Whitney Young finishes in 2nd, Payton 6th,  Lincoln Park 23rd, and Lane 27th
   

(Peoria Civic Center- Peoria)  Whitney Young of the Chicago Public League swept through the IHSA state meet undefeated until the final round when it lost a close match to state champion Maine South 36.5 to 31.5. Whitney Young convincingly earned the the chance to win state after defeating Highland Park, Carmel, Luther South ,New Trier, Evanston, and defending state champion Niles North. All of those teams with the exception of Luther South are part of the North Suburban Chess League, the toughest conference in the state which produced 5 of the top 7 team state finishers last year and 6 teams in the top 10 team state finishers this year. It was a battle for Young in every match as they beat Highland Park 68-0, Carmel 48-20, Luther South 68-0, New Trier  37.5-30.5, Evanston 48-0, and defending state champion Niles North 43-25 before finally falling to Maine South 36.5 to 31.5 in the final round of the state tournament.

    Whitney Young finished second in the state this year after finishing 11th in the state in 2004-05 and 3rd in the state in 2005-06. Young was led by 1st board Kayin Barclay (Jr), 2nd board Jose Rodriguez (Sr.), 3rd board Joshua Stapleton (Sr.), 4th board Mike Mei (Jr), 5th board Allen Jiang (Jr), 6th board jimmy Mei (So), 7th board Drew Johnson (So), and their 8th board was split between Tony Jiang (Jr) and Tony Mucia (Sr).

    Fellow Public League teams Payton, Lincoln Park, and Lane Tech also performed well in the state meet as they finished 6th, 23rd, and 27th  respectively in the 121 team field. Lane's top finisher was nationally ranked freshman Paaras Modi who finished 10th in the state in board 2 with a very impressive 6-1 record during the tournament.

With their 27th place finish, Lane has now had 4 top 30 finishes in the state the last 4 years. In 2004 they finished 13th, in 2005 they finished 8th, in 2006 they finished 12th, and this year they finished 27th. Their four top 30 finishes in the state in the last 4 years is unprecedented for any Lane Tech team. No other sport or activity can come even lose to the level that the chess team has performed the last 4 years. The future looks bright for Lane's chess team for they have a very young team. 6 of their top 8 boards will return next year including top 2 boards Kevin Velazquez (Jr), and Paaras Modi (Freshman).

Lane Tech 2007 state players

Nationally ranked freshman Paaras Modi (Left) of Lane Tech finished in 10th place in the state for board 2 in his first year of high school chess. Field School photo.

Chicago Public League School

Trophies won by schools in state-wide competition

State Champion        2nd Place                 3rd Place
1976 Lane                  1980 Carver                1975 Chicago Vocational
1977 Lane                  1988 Lane                  1987 Lane
1984 Lane                  2007 Whitney Young   1990 Lane
1988 Kenwood                                             2006 Whitney Young
              

IHSA State Chess Final Team Results