The chess team competed against Thomas More Prep-Marian (TMP) and Columbus Unified High School. The individual placings are as follows:

High School Division: sophomore Noah Bruggeman – 17th place, sophomore Quinton McGuire – 19th place

Middle School Division: Kamden McBride – 4th place

Elementary School Division: Rylea Wong – 11th place

There were 54 participants total in the K-12 section of the tournament, and Hays High had 9 participants.

“I feel like I did decent at the tournament, but not as good as I could have done,” McGuire said.

Because of COVID, the chess team has had to go online for all their tournaments this year, including state.

McGuire said there are pros and cons to competing online.

“One of the pros are that I can still compete in the tournaments if I get quarantined,” McGuire said. “One of the cons are that I don’t get to meet any of the people that I play against in person.”

McGuire said he believes a team strength is playing in-person competitions.

“I know that there are several people on the team that play a lot better, for whatever reason, when they are in person than when they are playing online,” McGuire said.

The chess team will compete again on Saturday, Jan. 30.

21mmcbride@usd489.com