West High School Wins Fifth Straight High School State Chess Championship

Extending an impressive streak, West High School captured four of the top six spots to take first place in the 2010 Utah State High School Chess Championship division for the fifth straight year (5A division). West posted the tournament's top team score (29.5 points, from its top five players), the highest score in recent tournament history.

Tony Chen was crowned the individual State Champion, going undefeated with a score of 6.5 points out of a possible 7.0. Chen will be Utah's
representative to the prestigious national Denker tournament of High School State Champions. Tied for second were Adam Mielke, Davis Unruh, and Stephen Herrera, all with 6.0 points.

West also swept the top three spots in the knock-out Speed Chess Championship (five-minute games), with Chen in 1st place, Andrew Burnside
in 2nd place (making an impressive debut as a 9th-grader), and Adam Mielke in 3rd place.

Outstanding performances were also generated by multiple other West players. Grade-level awards for West players included the following:

9th grade. 3rd place (tie): Andrew Burnside, Alexander Anderl, August Boyle, and Christopher Taylor, 4.0 points; medal winner: Derek Hu, 3.5 points.
10th grade. 4th place (tie) and medal winner: Andrew Law, 5.0 points.
11th grade. Medal winner: Nate Levine, 3.5 points.
12th grade. 3rd place: Newman Knowlton, 4.0 points. Medal winner: Evan Clark, 3.5 points.

Approximately 117 students from 21 schools throughout the state participated in the seven-round, two-day tournament held February 26-27 at West Jordan High School.

The team gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Shannon Wilson, West ELP/IB coordinator and Sarah Herron, West faculty chess club advisor; and the coaching expertise of West's Enrique Arce-Larreta.