After winning their state tournament, the Niles North chess team placed fifth overall at nationals with its best player, Eric Rosen, senior, placing second in the nation.

Each player is required to play seven games, and Rosen’s games were each four hours long. He placed second with a score of six games out of seven since he won five games and drew (tied) two games close behind the winner Ben Gershenov, a senior from Solomon Schechter Westchester. Gershenov had a score of 6.5/7 with only one draw.

Rosen, Rafeh Qazi, senior, David Paykin, junior, and Adil Dzelilovic, senior, were the top four for Niles North.

Qazi won second place in the 1800-1900 section and has the highest increasing rate of improvement in the nation. “I started improving at the end of my sophomore year to out play my dad, but then it was because of the chess atmosphere and because Mr. K has been an exceptional coach and father-figure.  He motivated me so much that I started doing more chess puzzles,” Qazi said.

“The team has been very strong for the last five years. It’s good because of the team members dedication and the interpersonal coaching by Eric,” Harry Kyriazes, head coach, said. “The intensity level of chess games are just amazing and how the kids can keep up with it for so many hours is just so… fascinating.”

Even after losing some of the best players in the nation like Rosen and Qazi, the team is planning to continue on succeeding next year with Ethan Brown, sophomore, Emmett Barr, Junior, and Paykin coaching.