Organizer Ed Addis reports from the Portland Area League team events that the Portland Area League completed play for their initial 9-round robin portion of their tournament. Tournament host Lincoln High School won all of their nine matches, and 34 points out of the 45 games played in the ten team top division. Not to be outdone, Lincoln’s second team also won all nine of their matches and did even better by winning 36 points from their 45 games.
Ed further reports:
Lincoln’s top team is composed of (in current board order) Freshman Clemen Deng, Sophomore Phillip Weiss, Junior Andy Trattner, Senior Jordan Edelson, and Senior Luke Meyer.
Finishing second on tie-breaks was Wilson High School with 7 match wins and match losses to Lincoln and Jesuit by the closest of margins (2 to 3). Tied with Wilson was third place LaSalle Prep who also won 7 matches only losing to Lincoln and Wilson, again by the closest of margins. Fourth place with 6 match victories went to Jesuit High School. These top four teams will now face off against each other a three-week quad; any one one of these teams could sweep their remaining schedule.
Lake Oswego High School, with 5 match victories, came in fifth place. Clackamas HIgh School was sixth by tie breakers over 7th place Sylvan Middle School. Coming in 8th was Cleveland with 2 match wins. These four teams will be in the second quad with Lake Oswego looking like a solid favorite.
Access Academy also had 2 match victories in the top division but ended up in 9th place due to the tie-breaker. Grant High School finished in last place, but only competed in half the matches as they came in to replace the Westview team that withdrew from competition. These two top teams will be placed into a quad with Lincoln’s and Clackamas’ #2 teams. Clackamas’ #2 team won 7 matches and drew their match with LaSalle Prep #2 to finish in second place in the second division. It’s very hard to predict who will be favored in this quad.
Access Academy’s #2 team finished in third place in the second division with 6 match wins and a draw against Jesuit. Jesuit #2 was fourth with 5 match victories and 2 drawn matches; LaSalle Prep #2 was fifth with 5 1/2 match victories; coming in 6th was Lake Oswego #2 with 4 1/2 match victories. Once again it is very hard to predict which of these teams will shine in their quad.
The last quad will be filled by LaSalle Prep #3, Wilson #2, LaSalle Prep #4, and Access Academy #3. LaSalle’s third team and Wilson second team are the definite favorites for this quad.
The League will not only be awarding trophies to teams but will also recognize the play of individuals. The following individuals have had very good success during the first 9 rounds:
Freshman Dylan Huard of Lincoln High School with a perfect 9 wins.
8th Grade Nathan Jewell of Robert Gray Middle School (playing for Wilson HS) with 8 points in 9 matches
8th Grade Duncan Gates of Access Academy with 8 points in 9 matches
Clemen Deng of Lincoln High School with 7.5 points in 9 matches
Senior Derrick Best of Clackamas High School with 7.5 points in 9 matches
7th Grade Samuel Nguyen of Portland Lutheran School (playing for Jesuit HS) with 7.5 points in 9 matches
Freshman Alex Zhang of Lincoln High School with 7 wins in 7 games played
Junior Tucker Price of LaSalle Prep with 7 wins in 7 games played.
Senior Theo Jayle of Lincoln High School with 6 out of 6 games played.
Phillip Weiss of Lincoln High School with 6 1/2 out of 7 games played.
The Portland Area League plays its matches at the Lincoln HIgh School Cafeteria with games starting sharply at 4 PM on Wednesdays. We run an extra game section for those players who do not have a match opponent and any scholastic chess player (grade 6 to 12) is welcome to come and play — but you must sign up by 4PM. We have three more matches scheduled in February — Come join the fun!
