Cheldelin chess team third at state tourney
March 17, 2010 4:36 PM
The Cheldelin Chess Cougars took third place among all middle schools at last weekend's Chess for Success State Tournament at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The team qualified for the March 12-13 tourney by winning the middle school Chess For Success Linn/Benton/Marion Counties' Regional Tournament in February.
Team members are eighth graders Ian Dickson, Joe Kim, Thomas Kneeland and Eric Qian; seventh graders Carson Denison, Michael Hunter, Steve Neiman and Craig Still; and sixth graders James Santich and Yang Yan. The Chess Cougars are coached by parent volunteer Lisa Still with help from Tom Denison and Ellissa Parnon.
A number of other Corvallis students also qualified to play as individuals in the state tournament by winning or coming in second at the regional tournament. Calvin Parnon, a former freshman at Crescent Valley High School who is now homeschooled, and Cheldelin sixth grader Yang Yan both finished second at the state tournament. Leo Sun, a second grader at Hoover Elementary School finished in third place.
Other students who competed at the state tournament were: fourth graders John Ornes and Foster Kirsch of Mountain View and Maxwell Sun from Hoover; and seventh grader Carson Denison of Cheldelin.
