Brother Rice Chess Competes at State for the First Time in 4 Years

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Written by Brother Rice Chess Coach Sean Kirchman - posted by Jacob Editor in Chief Brother Rice Chess Coach Sean Kirchman - posted by Jacob Editor in Chief

Published: 18 March 2025 18 March 2025

     The Brother Rice Chess Team competed in the Illinois High School Association’s Chess
State Finals Tournament at the Peoria Civic Center over the course of Friday and Saturday,
February 14th-15th. This marked the first time at State for every Crusader player and the first
time that the team competed at State in four years, with their last recorded performance of 2
wins and 5 losses in 2020. The rookie team had gained valuable experience over the course of
the past four months and overperformed at the Chicago Chess Conference Post-Season
Tournament, finishing 5th out of 8 competing teams with their record of one win, one loss, and
one draw. The team was clearly gaining momentum, and their hard work over the season led to
1 win and 3 losses with tie-breaking points at their Sectionals Tournament that earned them a
State spot. The starting total of 191 Illinois chess teams at the beginning of the season was
narrowed down to 155 before Sectionals, and only 128 teams emerged victorious enough to
compete among the best of the best in Peoria–one of which was the Brother Rice Crusaders.

     After a nearly three-hour bus ride down to the hotel in Peoria on Thursday (featuring
players teaching each other card tricks, singing, and playing games), the Crusaders arrived at
the massive Peoria Civic Center and sat at their boards amid hundreds of students to play on
Friday morning. Round 1 paired Brother Rice (seeded 114) against Belleville East (seeded 50),
with junior Crusader Board 1 Sean Sloyan scoring a big win using the Jobava London System
against his unsuspecting opponent. Freshman Arthur Collins picked up a win on Board 7 as
well, giving the team 18 points against a team seeded twice as high as them. The Crusaders
headed into Round 2 looking for victory, and they earned it against Oak Lawn Community High
School (seeded 81) with 41 points to Oak Lawn’s 27. The momentum ended against
Bolingbrook (63) with a score of 20 to 48. The final round of day one pitted Brother Rice against
St. Rita, something of a chess rivalry after the two teams played each other three times before
State. Rita’s head coach acknowledged, “This is gonna be a coin flip,” and a close match
finished in favor of the Mustangs who scored 42 points to Rice’s 26.

    With a record of 1 win and 3 losses, the Crusaders went into Round 5 ready to fight. A
battle against Hinckley-Big Rock (93) ensued, but Rice came up just shy of a win with 31 points.
Determined to end the streak, the Crusaders took the fight to Belleville West (89) and won with
41 points. The 7th and final match saw likely fatigued Crusaders lose to Harvey’s Thornton
Township High School (92), with senior Gavin Ryan the sole winner on Board 6. Sean Sloyan
‘26, Enrique Miranda ‘26, and Gavin Ryan ‘25 each earned 4 wins and 3 losses at State, a
strong performance. Jayden Jeka ‘28, Gehrig Lucas ‘27, Emmett Vaughan ‘28, Arthur Collins
‘28, and Robert Kruse ‘28 each contributed as well, and the young players should grow next
year. Coming home, the team enjoyed meals and milkshakes at Steak ‘n Shake, a Crusader
Chess tradition.

    Finishing 105th with 2 wins and 5 losses, 9 ranks higher than they were seeded, the
team returned to its pre-pandemic strength with a truly revitalizing and fun year that included
totally new players, a new coach, and new training. When asked about his State experience,
junior Enrique Miranda said that “My time at state was amazing. It was incredible getting to
know new people and new play styles, and I got to learn from my opponents, teammates, and
coach. I enjoyed the chess matches and bus rides with my teammates the most. I feel like I
could have played better because I made some simple mistakes in the three matches I lost. To

get better I plan to join an after school program that will help me improve my play, and I plan on
studying openings, attacking skills, and defensive skills.” Enrique’s mother, Silvia Miranda,
attended the State Tournament with her family and explained that, for her, “It was unbelievable
and such an exciting experience. It’s the first time my son played at a State level! It means so
much to me to see him so interested in the game… I want to thank Coach Sean for driving
these kids’ interest to a whole, new, different level.” She added that she felt the opportunity to
compete at State was important for her son because he gained confidence. “Confidence that,
yes he can do it. That he has more to offer than what he actually thinks–and I think that was
exactly his takeaway!”

Photo by Sean Kirchman

State 12 Caption: Sitting next to Board 2 Enrique Miranda, Board 1 Sean Sloyan develops his
knight, marking the start of the Jobava London System opening for white that led to his flawless
win.

State 37 Caption: Coach Sean Kirchman silently observes his players’ games.

Photo by Silvia Miranda

State Team with Coach Caption: From left to right, Gavin Ryan '25, Arthur Collins '28, Emmett
Vaughan '28, Gehrig Lucas '27, Jayden Jeka '28, Sean Sloyan '26, Enrique Miranda '26, Robert
Kruse '28, & Coach Sean Kirchman '18

Illinois High School Association (IHSA) - Chess State Championship 2025

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Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief Jacob Plotnick - Editor in Chief

Published: 20 February 2025 20 February 2025

Illinois High School Association (IHSA)

Chess State Championship 2025

Peoria, Illinois February 14-15, 2025

Firstly, I’d like to thank the organizers and the directors, along with all the players, for making this edition of the IHSA State Championship the best it could’ve been.

The tournament consisted of the 128 best high school teams across the state, who all competed in their respective sectional events two weeks prior. Now, onto the results:

128 teams played in the tournament – after the first three rounds only 16 teams remained undefeated.

Round 4; Final 16 undefeated

Table 8: Dunlap defeated Lemont (H.S.) 44 vs 24

Table 7: Evanston (Twp) defeated Northbrook (Glenbrook North) 55 vs 13

Table 6: Naperville (Neuqua) defeated Glenview (Glenbrook South) 48.5 vs 19.5

Table 5: Lincolnshire (Stevenson) defeated Naperville (North) 46.5 vs 21.5

Table 4: Hoffman Estates (Conant) defeated Chicago (Lane) 43.5 vs 24.5

Table 3: Palatine (Fremd) defeated Aurora (Illinois Math and Science Academy) 47 vs 21

Table 2: Chicago (Whitney Young) defeated Hinsdale (Central) 42 vs 26

Table 1: Chicago (Payton) defeated Aurora (Waubonsie Valley) 45 vs 23

Round 5; Final 8 undefeated

Table 4: Naperville (Neuqua) defeated Hoffman Estates (Conant) 42 vs 26

Table 3: Lincolnshire (Stevenson) defeated Chicago (Payton) 48 vs 20

Table 2: Palatine (Fremd) defeated Dunlap 46.5 vs 21.5

Table 1: Chicago (Whitney Young) defeated Evanston (Twp.) 37 vs 31

Round 6; Final 4 undefeated

Table 2: Palatine (Fremd) defeated Naperville (Neuqua Valley) 51.5 vs 16.5

Table 1: Chicago (Whitney Young) defeated Lincolnshire (Stevenson)  38 vs 30

Round 7, Final round; Final 2 undefeated

Table 1. Chicago (Whitney Young) defeated Palatine (Fremd) 49.5 vs 18.5

Chicago (Whitney Young) came in first, the only undefeated team with 7 points to become the IHSA State Champion for 2024-2025.

There was a seven way tie for second place, here are the list of the seven with positions determined by tie-Break, all of these teams were awarded plaques for their efforts to achieve 6 points out of 7 – except for second and third place who received trophies for their respective placing.

Here is the winning team:

Courtesy of IHSA

Additionally, Glenn Panner from Chess Weekend supplied individual award medals to all players with at least 5.5 points out of 7. Bronze was awarded with 5.5, Silver with 6, and gold with 6.5 or 7 points. Around 100 players received medals out of 1200.

The following participants were awarded medals:

Linked here is a complete cross-table for the event, courtesy of IHSA

January 2025 Top Youth

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Written by WJS Director WJS Director

Published: 15 January 2025 15 January 2025

January 2025 Top 100 Youth

Welcome & congratulations to Nora Maxfield (515) and Frankie Kirkman (452), who made the national Top 100 Girls.

Three Illinois Players selected to the 2025 All American Team

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Written by Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter Jacob Plotnick - Editor / Staff Reporter

Published: 20 December 2024 20 December 2024

Three Illinois Players selected to the 2025 All American Team

US Chess has announced the 2025 All American Chess Team.  Each member of the team received team jackets and plaques for their achievements.  Since 1987 being selected to the team has been one of the highest honors attainable for players aged 18 and under. The age groups with minimum ratings are as follows: Age 18 minimum rating of 2500, Age 17 minimum rating of 2475, Age 16 minimum rating of 2450, Age 15 minimum rating of 2425, Age 14 minimum rating of 2400, Age 13 minimum rating of 2350, Age 12 minimum rating of 2300, Age 11 minimum rating of 2225, Age 10 minimum rating of 2159, Age 9 minimum rating of 2050 and Age 8 and under minimum rating of 1950.

Illinois had 3 out the 58 players entering this year’s class of the 2025 All American Team.

We had one player in the Age 15 group and two in the Age 8 and under group.

Dimitar Mardov is in the Age 15 group.

Picture courtesy of his parents

Aiden LI was in the under 8 group

Picture courtesy of his parents.

Matthew Yu is in the under 8 group

Picture courtesy of his parents.

The Illinois Chess Association want to congratulate the three Illinois players selected to the 2025 class. The complete US Chess article can be found here.