by Ed Addis
On December 8th the Portland Area League members met for the 5th round. In the Upper Division first place Clackamas #1 got back on track and took care of Sherwood #1 by a score of 4 games to one. Second place Lincoln #1 ran into the emerging Horizon Christian team and went down by a score of 3 to 2. Fourth place LaSalle #1 was also taken down by Lake Oswego #1 only scoring a win on the last board. Fifth place Westview was fully manned this week but went down to Cleveland by a score of 3 1/2 to 1 1/2.
Upper Division Standings after 5 Rounds:
| Place | School | Match Pts. | Board Pts |
| 1 | Clackamas #1 | 4 | 18 |
| 2 | Horizon Christian | 3 | 13 |
| 3 | Lake Oswego #1 | 2.5 | 12.5 |
| 4 | Lincoln #1 | 2.5 | 12.5 |
| 5 | Cleveland | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | LaSalle #1 | 2 | 10.5 |
| 7 | Westview | 2 | 10 |
| 8 | Sherwood #1 | 1 | 7.5 |
In the Lower Division Jesuit continued to stay prefect with a 3 1/2 to 1 1/2 triumph over Wilson. Second place Lincoln #2 was completely blind sided by Clackamas #2 losing on every board. Fourth place Access Academy could only win the top board against Sherwood #2. Seventh place LaSalle #2 was beaten by Lake Oswego #2 by a score of 3 1/2 to 1 1/2
Lower Division Standings after 5 Rounds:
| Place | School | Match Pts. | Board Pts. |
| 1 | Jesuit | 5 | 19.5 |
| 2 | Clackamas #2 | 3 | 16 |
| 3 | Lincoln #2 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 | Sherwood #2 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | Access Academy | 2 | 9 |
| 6 | Lake Oswego | 2 | 8.5 |
| 7 | Wilson | 2 | 7.5 |
| 8 | LaSalle | 1 | 7.5 |
Lake Oswego and Sherwood postponed their first round match so those schools have played one less match in both division.
The League also will recognize individual player accomplishments at the end of their season. Currently the following students are in the lead:
Board #1 —- Bryce Eng of Jesuit with a prefect 5 wins in 5 matches.
Board #2 —- Gaving Megson of Clackamas with 4 points out of 5 games played.
Board #3 —-Tushar Sah of Jesuit who is also prefect with 5 points.
Board #4 —- a tie between Christopher DiMarco who has 4 1/2 points and Guihao Chen with 4 point out of 5 games (see below)
Board #5 — Bryan Lucero of Clackamas with 4 points out of 5 games.
The following students are also doing quite well:
Alexandra Botez of Clackamas with 3 wins in 3 games on board #1.
Jordan Edelson of Lincoln with 4 1/2 points out of 5 competing on three different boards.
Kevin Rhine of Clackams with a prefect 5 out 5 on three different boards.
Charles Earp of Lake Oswego with 4 wins in 4 games on board #4
Ian Band of Lincoln with 3 wins in 3 games on three different boards.
Zach Director of Wilson scoring 3 out 3 on two different boards.
The league weighs each of the five boards differently using the square root of 0.8. For example a win on Board #1 is worth one point, while a win on Board #2 is worth 0.8 point, and a win on Board #3 is only worth 0.64 points. By league rules teams field their best available player on board #1, second best on board #2, and so. If a player is absent then everyone moves up and a replacement player fills in at the bottom board. For schools with two teams if the board #1 player is absent then everyone moves up a board and the individual playing board #1 in the Lower Division will play the 5th board on the Upper Division team.
The League plays their matches every Wednesday (that Portland Schools are open) in the cafeteria of Lincoln High School. The matches begin at 4 PM and are over shortly after 6 PM.
