Reminder: NEWCA 2

The second NEWCA tournament of the 2013-2014 season will be held Saturday, January 4th at Waupaca High School. Neenah students should meet at Neenah High School, doorway 6 at least 10 minutes prior to the 7:30 departure. We will be playing four varsity rounds, so the return time is expected to be slightly later than normal.

Tournament Results (NEWCA 1)

On Saturday December 7, the Neenah chess team competed in the first tournament of the Northeastern Wisconsin Chess Association 2013-14 season.  Neenah's varsity Red team went undefeated in three matches, scoring a result of 13-1-1 in 15 individual games.  The defending state champions have won four straight regular season titles.  Saturday's results gave the Red team a slight edge in tiebreaker points over undefeated Marion.  The two rivals will meet head-to-head in Waupaca on January 4.

Neenah's varsity White team, playing the toughest part of their schedule, finished 1-2 for the day but remains in a tie for third place.  Neenah's junior varsity team captured 13 out of 16 possible points, putting them in a second place tie with Marion and Big Falls, who are all 1.5 points behind league leader Waupaca.

Results

2013 Wisconsin State Scholastic Chess Championships (March 16-17)

The Neenah High School chess team is the 2013 Division I state co-champion!  The 2013 Wisconsin State Scholastic Chess Championship was held on March 16th-17th at the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh.  Varsity teams play 5 on 5 matches where players are ranked in order of playing strength with the strongest on board 1.  In a section where some teams feature an expert or even a master on their first board or two, Neenah played the underdog throughout most of the tournament.  After an upset victory over Brookfield Academy in the second round, Neenah narrowly suffered their first defeat at the hands of Madison West.  Sunday saw Neenah upset James Madison Memorial High School in the fourth round, while Madison West lost to undefeated Whitefish Bay High School.  The fifth and final round saw Neenah paired against Whitefish Bay.  Neenah was an underdog for the fourth straight round, but handed Whitefish Bay their first defeat of the tournament, causing a three-team tie between Whitefish Bay, Madison West and Neenah.

Neenah's varsity team is comprised of Ryan Thomas, board 1; Thomas Hameister, board 2; William Cunningham, board 3; Ryan Breuer, board 4; and Sarah Murphy, board 5.  William Cunningham and Ryan Breuer also won their individual boards outright with scores of 4.0 and 4.5 respectively.  Neenah's Junior Varsity team also won the state JV championship for the third year in a row.  The top scorers for Neenah were Dharma Blurton (5.0), Sam Stern (4.0), Nick Breuer (4.0), Zach Schmall (4.0), Ty Ueda (4.0), and Eric Payne (4.0).

Neenah also brought several middle school and elementary students to participate in the K8 and K5 sections.

Tournament Results (NEWCA 5)

A delayed bus ride was just about the only thing that went wrong for the Neenah Chess team when they traveled to Nekoosa to conclude their 2012-13 regular season.  After their bus failed 5 minutes into the homeward journey, the team had to wait nearly two hours for a replacement bus before resuming their trip.   Even that unexpected delay could not lower their spirits after a day that saw the varsity Red team leap into first place, and then hold that lead in the manner of true champions.

After an uncharacteristic stumble in their last tournament left the Red team in second place, they needed a victory over first place Marion to have a chance at winning their fourth straight Northeastern Wisconsin Chess Association title.  The Red team responded by defeating Marion 4 boards to 1 in the opening round, a reversal of their result from earlier in the season.  The win gave Neenah such a small lead in tiebreaker points that each player carried the weight of the season on his shoulders for the final two rounds.  The team responded by winning 9.5 of the 10 remaining games,assuring that they would (eventually) return home as champions.

Tournament Results (NEWCA 2)

On Saturday, January 5th, the Neenah chess team traveled to Green Bay to compete in rounds 5-7 of the Northeast Wisconsin Chess Association season.   Neenah's varsity red team lost for the first time since the 2010 season to its biggest rival, Marion, but the day was still a successful one.  Neenah's white team, playing the role of spoiler, handed Marion its second defeat of the day to ensure that the red team would finish in sole possession of first place despite the stumble.  Both varsity teams finished the day with two wins, while Neenah's Junior Varsity had another strong day and remains in a tie for second place, 1.5 points behind first-place Marion.

View Results