Hawken Chess Team Places Third in Ohio Championships

On Saturday, December 1, a freshmen chess team comprised of Stephen Hopkins, Roman Kowalysko, Joe Soltzberg and Dayne Sundman, competed in the Ohio Grade Level Championships at Solon Middle School, finishing third in the state this year with individual honors going to Stephen Hopkins, who placed seventh in the state, and Roman Kowalysko, who finished tenth. The Championships, which are held annually, draw hundreds of student chess players throughout the state of Ohio. The chess players have the opportunity to compete both individually and for their school through a series of five chess matches that are determined by student United State Chess Federation rankings and match wins and losses. The championship is an all day affair, beginning at 9:00 am and lasting the entire day. Thousands of chess matches are played with students from kindergarten to 12th grade. Core members of the Hawken team, while not sanctioned or sponsored by the school, have competed in the championship for several years and traveled as far as Columbus, Ohio, in previous championships. For more information on the championship, you can go to www.progresswithchess.org.