The fourth-seeded Uni chess squad began its quest for an IHSA state title today. All the Illineks have to do is beat teams from schools six times — even 10 times — Uni's size.

By Annie Fehrenbacher
Gargoyle co-editor-in-chief
Posted Friday, Feb. 10, 2006, The OG, news

The Uni High chess team began IHSA state tournament play at 10 a.m. today at the Peoria Civic Center. The fourth-seeded Illineks hope to improve upon their 13th-place finish from last year. Uni squared off against 27th-seeded Buffalo Grove in the first of seven rounds.

“This is one of the strongest teams ever at Uni and one of the best in the state,” says coach Chris Merli. “It is fairly amazing that a school with the small enrollment of Uni will go to an unrestricted state championship with a top 10 or even top five seed.”

Unlike in IHSA athletics, where schools compete within classes based on enrollment, in the state chess championships 126 schools of all sizes will play together in one large pool. The top three teams hail from schools with more than six times the body count at Uni, and the defending champion, Evanston Township (seeded 10th this year), has an enrollment topping 3,000 students.

Nonetheless, expectations are high for the Illineks, who have gone unbeaten so far this season. According to Merli, the team has improved in every position and will be a viable contender for the title. While growth in the team has been steady over the last several years, this year's squad stands out from the rest.

“The team has won the East Central Illinois Chess League for the last four years,” says Merli. “But this year was the first that I believe other teams in the conference simply assumed we would win it.”

Uni's success as a team this season has been inextricably linked to the achievements of its young leaders, freshman Gordon Ruan and sophomores Alex Zhai and Geoffrey Beck, who finished first, fourth, and fifth in the league, respectively. The performances of these three boys will likely determine whether or not Uni brings home a new piece of hardware at the end of the two-day tournament.

For updated state tournament results, check out ihsa.org.