The Niles North chess team scored a big win at the State Chess Tournament on the weekend of February 11, with a total of six games won and a tie for second place out of 128 other teams in Illinois.

Recently, they played in a weekend-long state tournament down in Peoria after they previously won two other sectional games that qualified them for it.

Chess player senior Victor Misyutin expressed how passionate he was about winning the tournament as well as just playing with his teammates in general.

“The whole chess team stayed in Peoria and it was probably one of the best times I’ve had in my life,” Misyutin said. “I will definitely remember that forever. The last few years the chess team is something I care about very passionately and this year I have gotten very close to everyone on the team and they have become my family.”

Senior teammate Lorenzo Anagnost who played on the first board also expressed his favorite moment of the match as well as his goals for the future.

“My favorite moment was winning 6 out of 7 matches at State,” Anagnost said. “My goals are to get better and encourage the same for my teammates. I’m most proud of becoming a reliable board 1 that leads the team.”

Team sponsor Harry Kyriazes also expressed his excitement for the upcoming future of the chess team as a whole.

“I think the team is on a current uprising and is getting better and better,” Kyriazes said. “We’re graduating three seniors that are very good and have done outstanding. Not only have they done outstanding work themselves but they’ve also trained the lower freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. So the team looks like it’s in a very strong position for next year.”

Chess club meets on Thursdays and Fridays at 3:30 pm in room 2035. Congratulations to the team for their big win!