The Niles North chess team is advancing to the Nationals after they tied for tenth in the State tournament in Peoria this past weekend with a final ranking of 23rd.

A few team members have expressed their excitement about their accomplishment.

One sophomore member went in depth about his own personal experiences with Nationals.

“We qualified for nationals and state at sectionals and when we went to state, we qualified for nationals again so we double qualified,” sophomore Lorenzo Anagnost said. “The people who helped us qualify for nationals [were] Diana, Adam, Victor, Jude, Solomon, Will, me and our board 8 switched a couple times. And advancing to Nationals is cool but it’s not that hard, but it’s my first year so I don’t know.”

Another sophomore member has also expressed his excitement about the big news.

“I am very happy about making nationals and [I’m] very excited,”  sophomore Victor Misyutin said.

Finally, one senior team member shared his reactions to Nationals as well.

“I’m excited and it’s an awesome experience…but I’m not actually going cause it’s the same day as robotics Nationals,” senior Jason Melnick said.

Nationals will be taking place April 3-5 at Peoria, Illinois. To learn more about the chess team, they are practicing in room 2355 on Thursdays and Fridays after school.