In early March, six of Liberty’s top chess players attended the Washington State High School Team Chess Championship for the first time. Sophomores Shravan Srinivas and Daniel Polonsky; juniors William Sweeney, Davin Huynh, and substitute Tommy Heng; and senior Kian Gulley traveled to Interlake High School to compete against the top players from other high schools across Washington State. 

The team’s mood ranged from excitement to anxiousness when walking into their first big tournament. 

“Since it was our first time competing in state, I was pretty nervous going into the tournament,” Huynh said. “At the same time, I also had a strong sense of excitement because I was excited about the team’s potential and what we could do.”

“I was very anxious at first since I was unsure what kind of players I’d be playing against,” Srinivas said. “I felt more confident after I won a few games.”

Liberty was one of thirty-five schools in the tournament competing for the first place trophy. Although some schools proved to be an easy victory for the competitors, teams such as Lakeside’s A team and Interlake’s A team proved to be challenging opponents. 

“Interlake and Lakeside’s teams were really challenging and I think it’s because these schools place an importance on chess as if it were a sport like baseball or soccer,” Sweeney said. “I mean both of these schools had multiple teams and even coaches that really helped out with their performance.”

Despite the challenges that came from some of the better teams at the competition, Liberty’s competitors were still proud of their overall performance, especially considering their favorable results against other teams at the tournament.

“I’m proud that we were all able to compete as well as we did,” Sweeney said. “We were super nervous going into the first round, but we absolutely smoked our opponents. We got four wins and one draw which was really good.”

Liberty’s notable first-time performance at the tournament did not come without countless games and hours of practice spent at Chess Club and outside of school.

“As a team, we went over high level puzzles and played against each other,” Huynh said. “By playing a bunch of practice games, we got a grasp of how we were going to play the tournament and the high level puzzles allowed us to enhance our thinking capabilities as a team.”

All players had incredible feats at the tournament; in particular, Liberty’s top two players Huynh and Sweeney took down two chess players rated higher than them. After reflection, some members hope to hone in their strategies for their next tournament.

“I played quite aggressively on that attack and that’s how I was able to win most of my games,” Huynh said. “At the same time, I should have stayed a little bit more conservative against the higher ranked opponents since I often found myself getting low on time which caused me to lose some games due to time pressure. Next year, I just want to keep my cool when I make my moves.”

“I hope to play my openings differently, play cautiously, and not go for dangerous sacrifices,” Srinivas said.

The group’s persistence throughout the tournament helped them overcome the favored opponents and face challenging schools such as Lakeside and Interlake. Overall, the competitor’s first run at State brought them well-deserved wins and valuable experience for the future.

“It was the first time playing as a team together on such a big stage, so I’m glad that we went out there and we performed to the best of our abilities,” Huynh said. “I hope next year we are able to place a lot higher than we did this year and play games without giving away too many blunders and mistakes.”