PEORIA Ill. (WMBD) — IHSA’s chess state championships were held at the Peoria Civic Center Friday and Saturday.
A total of 129 teams qualified for the state tournament, with contestants playing rounds 1-4 on Friday. On Saturday, they finished up their final day of competition with rounds 5-7.
Each team received two hours of playtime, in which they used critical thinking skills to try to remain several moves ahead of their opponent.
IHSA’s Dan Lee said the second day of competition is crucial for a team’s success.
“The competition picks up a little bit and [there’s] a lot of critical thinking and strategizing. Obviously, there’s a team aspect to this as well, as we crown a team champion. Definitely a team effort with boards one through eight, so every board and every point definitely matters today for these teams,” said Lee.
Chess teams can have 12 players, but only eight can play at a time.
