MAHOMET — In its first meet since Nov. 15, the Uni chess team returned strong by sweeping Mahomet-Seymour and Heyworth in one-round matches at Mahomet.

During their three-week break, team members played against each other to determine board placements. The varsity team now currently consists of junior Gordon Ruan (1), senior Alex Zhai (2), senior Geoffrey Beck (3), junior Alan Liang (4), junior Greg Atherton (5), and junior Brian Wang/sophomore Daniel Cheng (6). Wang joins the varsity team, alternating on sixth board with Cheng.

In Round 1, Uni quickly crushed Mahomet-Seymour 58-0. Wang’s first varsity game was a success, as he defeated his opponent with relative ease. Ruan experimented with the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, and Zhai continued to play effectively with his new opening, the French Defense.

Round 2 was no different, with Uni decisively defeating Heyworth 58-0 with little trouble. Cheng took over for Wang on Board 6 and easily won. However, Heyworth was able to put up some resistance on Board 4, but Liang’s opponent eventually collapsed.

In the individual junior varsity matches, Wang and Cheng played one round and won their games. Freshman Youyang Gu is ranked first in the JV matches.

Uni is 6-0 in the East Central Illinois Chess League and will play its next match Thursday against Danville.