The fall season ends the last week of October. From December - February, we meet once a week to keep our skills sharp. Practices are optional, but all are encouraged to attend. Once mid-February arrives, we start practicing several times a week in preparation for the Lake Conference Tournament and the State Tournament which occur in March.

Here are the key dates for 2009:

Concession Stand Help: Friday, January 30th, 5:45 - 9:30 p.m. (proceeds go to chess)

MHSCL Tournament : Saturday, March 7th - Location TBD (top 5 boards only)

Lake Conference: Saturday, March 14, at Eden Prairie High School

State Tournament: Saturday & Sunday, March 28-29, at Robbinsdale/Cooper High

MEETING:
During the fall season, we meet after school in room A205 on Mondays, Tuesday, and Thursdays from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. Depending on the day, we review previous games, discuss strategy, and/or conduct challenge matches for board placement.

CONTACT:
To learn more about the Chess Team, please contact Mr. Dettmer in office A208. His office phone number is 952-431-8970, his voice mail is 651-683-6969 (8648), and his email is Robert.Dettmer@district196.org.

LAST YEAR'S TEAM:

The collective record of our top 7 boards last year was 55– 5– 5. This is an amazing team achievement, especially since teams were determined to beat us because of our success the year before. This was the second year in a row that we finished the conference at 10 wins and 0 losses! Junior Rohit Yallamraju (4th board) completed the season with 9 wins, no losses, and one draw while senior Frank Pesta (3rd board) finished his last season with 8 wins, no losses, and 2 draws.  Great job, guys!  At the conference individual tournament on 10/27/07, Aaron Liebersbach took 5th place in gold, Caleb Hudspeth took 2nd place in silver, Eric Taintor took 3rd place in silver, and freshmen Nishan Pal took 5th place in silver.  

THIS YEAR'S TEAM:

The 2008 fall season was one I will not soon forget. When the dust settled, we ended our season with a 9 - 1 record, and for the 3rd year in a row, took 1st place in the conference. Our 3-year conference winning streak was snapped by a tough St. Thomas team in early October, but since we beat them earlier in the year and accumlated more board points, we won the tiebreaker even though they had the same overall record at the end of the season. At times, we were dominant, but in other matches we needed some good fortune to survive. Some of the matches this year were decided by touch moves, major blunders in the end game, clock mismanagement, and miraculously, an opponent accepting a draw when our player had less than one minute on his clock! I would call this team the "Cardiac Kids" with the dramatic fashion in which they won several matches. Had we not had a senior-dominated team with match experience, we would not have won the conference.

The class of 2009 will always be special: Curt Ware, Rohit Yallamraju, Zach Elinson, Myles Burgeson, and Eric Taintor. The fours years before they arrived, our confernce record was 9 wins and 27 losses. However, since they arrived in the fall of 2005, our conference record has ballooned to 36 wins and 2 losses! Both of those losses were by a slim 3-2 margin. These young men, by their hard work and dedication, have changed the culture of chess at Eastview High School. They have created a winning tradition (7th and 4th place at state the past two years), made chess a more visible team at Eastview, and have paved the way for more to join in the years to come. Thank you to each of the seniors and to the parents for your support. I look forward to rebuilding and reloading the team next year.

Members & Final Records for Fall 2008 season:

* = indicates varsity letter winner this year