Chess Club approaches its new season with a changed mindset. Last year, the team secured fifth place out of 32 teams in the Minnesota High School Chess League, finishing with four wins, two losses, and one tie.
They have kicked off the new season with one preseason win and a first-round win against the co-op team of New Century School and Mayo High School. This year, the team is not only playing to compete; they’re planning to win it all.
Senior Theo Su is the leader of Chess Club and is in charge of setting up the team’s matches. “I think we have a good chance of winning this year because last year, we got really close, but since I was new to being the club leader, I didn’t know how things worked,” Su said.
The chess club has four players with alternates; however, the alternates do not contribute to the team’s overall match score. In team chess, boards one, two and three correlate to the players on the team, usually with the best player on board one, the second best on board two, and so on. The current seed for the chess team is junior Ryan Shiroma on board one, senior Theo Su on board two, senior Amir Dahm on board three and depending on rounds, senior Jacob Colton or sophomore Luke Phillips occupy the board four spot. In a match, either team must reach 2.5 points to win; 1 point is for every individual match win and 0.5 points for every draw.
The team’s strategy involves relying on their most vital players. Su plays the second board with a chess rating of 1,700, while the average second-seed player in other schools is around 1,500. “As a 1,700, I am our second seed, which is a good 200 rating points higher than any other second seed… which is a little unfair, but you do what you do to win,” Su said.

Shiroma is ranked 59th in the state and had a record of 3-2 last season. Shiroma and Su’s strong ability usually leaves the final two boards to determine the match’s outcome by winning both games or a win and tie.
“I’m feeling really good. I think last year our team made some strides in the right direction, but we have the opportunity to do something really special this year,” Shiroma said.
The team has developed a new mindset with the possibility of a win as Shiroma has begun to focus mainly on chess.
Since the team’s meetings are sparse within the semester schedule, the players find other ways to stay on top of their abilities. Su and Shiroma both play in tournaments outside of school.
Everyone on the team partakes in online chess, whether against their friends or with random players. Chess.com, an online chess platform, is where they refine their skills.
“I think [online chess] can be very helpful to practice new openings or ideas online, but playing online for fun doesn’t always help you improve,” Shiroma said.
The team’s next match is at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 in the math center.