TMP chess team earns third in competitive tournament

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 11.39.37 AM — High school team, from left: Justyce Briney, Alex Lenser, Ethan Rohr, Jason Kepka, Patrick Kepka, Ian Lenser and Russell Krug.

TMP-Marian

Thomas More Prep-Marian chess players came home with a trophy from Saturday’s Valley Center tournament, but a third-place version instead of the first place they were able to claim in November at Wichita North.

The Erie team, absent from last month’s competition, put up 16 points to finish first. Valley Center, trailing TMP’s chessplayers by a point going into the final round, made up the difference and more to post 14.5 points.

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 11.41.24 AM — Junior high team, from left, Nicholas Zimmerman and Paul Brull.

The final talley showed TMP with an even 14 points.

Junior Patrick Kepka led the way for the Monarchs, winning five of his six games and earning the second place individual trophy in a field of 47 competitors. Senior Russell Krug contributed 3.5 points (17th), junior Justyce Briney managed 3.0 points (24th), and freshman Alex Lenser (32nd) contributed 2.5 points to the team score. Freshmen Ian Lenser, Ethan Rohr, and Jason Kepka each scored 2.0 points. The four highest individual scores are used to calculate the team score.

Eighth graders Nicholas Zimmerman and Paul Brull were the only junior high competitors to make the trip, but they made up in quality what they lacked in quantity. Each achieved 4.0 points of a possible six; individually they placed 7 and 8 in a field of 48.

The next competition for the Monarch chess players will be in the new year, with a pair of January tournaments: Wichita North and Onaga on the 17th and 31st respectively.