by Ed Addis.
Round 3 of the Portland Area League was played on January 18th. The A Division league-leading LaSalle Falcons were matched against the Wildcats of Westview High. Westview’s first board Eddie Wang prevailed over Dmitri Murphy but that wasn’t enough as LaSalle’s remaining boards manned by Charlie Summers, Alex Peterson, Tucker Price, and Alex Schoen won their boards for a convincing 4 to 1 victory. The youngsters from Sylvan Middle School headed by Clemen and Leo Deng won on the top two boards but the bottom three boards held by Hai Dao, Kevin Phuong, and Alex Whitehead saved the day for Clackamas giving them a 3 to 2 win. The Lakers of Lake Oswego eked out a narrow 3 to 2 victory over the Jesuit Crusaders when top board Joel Porter survived in a time scramble. Access Academy brought all their players to meet Wilson High School and broke even on the first four boards, but took the match by a score of 3 to 2 because Wilson had to forfeit the fifth board.

The B Division leader Cleveland Warriors had a much tougher match than expected against Clackamas #2 losing on board two, behind on board one for most of the game, but when the dust settled the Warriors took the match by a solid 4 to 1 margin. The Bowman completely dominated the Lake Oswego #2 taking every board and winning by a score of 5 to 0. The Lincoln Cardinals bested Access Academy #2 also by a score of 4 to 1. Wilsonville could only muster three players for their match against LaSalle #2, but that was enough as they took the match by a score of 3 to 2.

In the C Division Sylvan #2 ran over the high school students on LaSalle #3 by a score of 5 to 0. Cleveland #2 only brought two players to their match against Access Academy #3, but that was enough as their opponents were a no show resulting in a 2 to 0 match win. Sherwood #2 got a 2 to 1 win over Jesuit #2 with both teams forfeiting the bottom two boards and Jesuit the third board also.

Round 4 of the Round Robins was played on January 25th was marred by many forfeits due possibly in part to the classroom finals at some of the High Schools . LaSalle College Prep along with Clackamas, Westview, and Wilson decided to delay the playing of their matches due to the finals weeks at their schools. The middle school kids of Sylvan took 2 and 1/2 points on the top three boards, but the older players of Lake Oswego held on to the bottom boards to get a drawn match. Jesuit routed the Access Academy boys by a score of 4 to 1 losing only on the 4th board to Kian Patel.

In the B Division Cleveland surrender three draws to Lincoln but with wins on board 2 by Ben Halverson and board 4 by Adrain Hinkle took the match by a score of 3 1/2 to 1 1/2. Sherwood lost the top two boards against Wilsonville but won the match by a score of 3 to 2 when Wilsonville forfeited on board #5. Lake Oswego #2 won on board 1, but lost to Access Academy #2 by a score of 4 to 1 when they forfeited the bottom four boards.

In the C Division Jesuit #2 won the the top two boards against Wilson #2, but forfeited the bottom two losing the match by a score of 3 to 2. Sherwood #2 won 2 out of 3 on the top boards to win the match by a score of 2 to 1 over Access Academy #3 as both teams forfeited on boards 4 and 5. Sylvan #2 beat Cleveland #2 by a score of 4 to 1 with Cleveland forfeiting the bottom 3 boards.

Round 5 of the Round Robins was played on February 1st. Division A leader LaSalle Falcons faced off against the always tough Lakers of Lake Oswego. The Lakers prevailed with Pranav Sharan, Daniel Seitz, and Patrick Butenhoff winning on the middle boards for a 3 to 2 victory. The Cavaliers of Clackamas prevailed over the Trojans of Wilson by a score of 4 to 1. Sylvan took down Jesuit by a score of 3 to 2. Access Academy played Westview even on the first four boards but won the match by a score of 3 to 2 since Westview forfeited their last board.

Division B leader Cleveland only gave up a draw on board 3 to rout the youngsters of Access Academy #2. Sherwood blew away Clackamas #2 by a score of 3 to 0 as both team only arrived with three players each. Lincoln won the first four boards to down LaSalle #2 by a score of 4 to 1. Wilsonville called minutes before their match with Lake Oswego #2 that they were not going to make it giving the Lakers a 5 to 0 win.

In Divison C co-leaders Sherwood #2 and Sylvan #2 met with short handed Sherwood winning by a score of 3 to 2, losing the first board and forfeiting the fifth board. Wilson #2 gave up only a draw to win their match against the two player short Access Acadmey #3. Cleveland #2 was a no show giving LaSalle #3 an easy 5 to 0 match win.

On February 3rd Clackamas took their two teams to the LaSalle College Preparatory to play their matches originally scheduled for January 25th. Dennis Peterson, the Falcons chess coach had 22 chess boards and clocks set up and ready to go in the Library with another 3 sets outside in the hall for after game analysis. The Cavaliers brought 13 players including their top five players. Alexandra Botez (Oregons’s highest rated Scholastic player) was on board #1 for Clackamas but could only manage to draw against the very tough Dmitri Murphy. Clackamas’ third board Gavin Megson also could only find a draw against LaSalle’s Alex Peterson. Hai Dao, Kevin Rhine, and Kevin Phuong won their games for Clackamas giving them a 4 to 1 match win. LaSalle #2 won on board #1 and drew on board #2, but Clackamas #2 prevailed on the bottom three boards for a 3 1/2 to 1 1/2 match victory.

With only 2 matches left Team Standings are:

Division A