by Ed Addis

The Portland Area League held their fourth match of the year on November 30th. The League is using the Swiss System pairing system, so only three teams remained with perfect 3 and 0 records. Clackamas prevailed over Cleveland by a score of 3 1/2 to 1 1/2. On first board Gavin Megson was able to win an even endgame when Elena Allen moved her King to the wrong square on move 41. To her defense both players were getting short on time as this was the last game to finish. On second board Kevin Rhine managed to get a draw after he got into trouble early and was most fortunate that Ben Halverson missed a crushing 18th move.

Jesuit surprised much higher rated Lake Oswego by a score of 4 to 1 losing only on board 4.

Sylvan middle school had a great week with their top team winning the first three boards to down Lincoln High School by a score of 3 to 2. Their second team did even better winning the top 4 boards against Scio High School.

Sherwood High School also had a good week by beating up Access Academy with their top team sweeping Access’ #2 team by a score of 5 to 0 and their second team winning 3 to 1 against Access’ third team (both teams forfeited 5th board).

Westview and LaSalle were tied 2 to 2 with the third board still hanging in the balance. It ended up as a time scramble with both sides having their chances slip away until an error on the part of Alex Peterson allowed Adarsh Bhatt to steal the win and give Westview the match. Wilson had to play one board short but still prevailed over LaSalle #2 by a score of 4 to 1.

Wilsonville insured a bad week for Cleveland High School by beating their second team by a score of 4 to 1. Lake Oswego #2 sweep Jesuit #2 by a score of 4 to 0 (with both teams forfeiting board 5). Access Academy’s middle schoolers’ embarrassed Clackamas’ second team by only yielding a single draw. LaSalle team won by forfeit when Wilson’s #2 team did not make an appearance.

After four rounds the following individuals still have perfect scores:

Bryce Eng and Tushar Sah of Jesuit
Clemen Deng of Sylvan
Dillon Murray and Nathan Jewell of Wilson
Charlie Summers of LaSalle
Kian Patel of Access Academy
Lamson Vu of Westview

Team Standings after four rounds:

Team Match Points Games Won
Clackamas 4 16.5
Westview 3 15
Wilson 3 15
Sylvan 3 14
Cleveland 3 13.5
Jesuit 3 13
Lake Oswego 3 12.5
Sherwood 2.5 11.5
Sherwood #2 2.5 11.5
LaSalle 2 14
Access Academy 2 11.5
Lake Oswego #2 2 11
Lincoln 2 10.5
Access Academy #2 2 10
LaSalle #2 2 9
Sylvan #2 2 9
Wilsonville 2 8
Access Academy #3 1.5 9
LaSalle #3 1 7
Cleveland #2 1 6
Clackamas #2 1 5.5
Jesuit #2 1 3
Scio 0.5 5.5
Wilson #2 0 1

It’s not too late for individuals to join the League. If you’re in grade 6 to 12 and would like to join the League, contact Ed Addis at chessalot@aol.com.