Posted Monday, Feb. 27, 2006, The OG, news

Freshman Gordon Ruan placed second and sophomore Alex Zhai finished seventh at the Illinois Chess Coaches Association Individual High School Championship held Saturday in New Lenox.

Ruan and Zhai both participated in the championship division of the event, a group consisting only of the top chess players in the state.

“The players were a lot stronger than in most tournaments,” Zhai said. “But it was an opportunity to get a sense of our competition for next year.”

They were invited to compete in the ICCA event by virtue of their outstanding performances at the IHSA state chess tournament on Feb. 10 and 11. Ruan won all seven of his games at the IHSA tourney to finish second among Board 1 players, while Zhai won six and drew one to finish third among Board 2 players.

The only player with a better record at Saturday's event than Ruan was Jason Duncan, a senior at Naperville Central. (Duncan finished 14th on Board 1 at the IHSA tournament.)

— Annie Liang