Cary chess team 3rd in nation

On Nov. 17, in the shadow of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, 476 U.S. kindergarten through 12th-grade chess players, from as far away as Hawaii, competed at the National Youth Action Chess Tournament in the Millenium Hotel.

Twenty-three members of the Cary Kings chess team, coached by Peter Spizzirri and Tim Just, competed in the two-day tournament.

After nine rounds of chess, the Cary Kings had garnered 10 trophies and four plaques.

As a team, the Cary Kings placed third in the nation in the K-12 section. They earned ninth place in the K-6 section, 10th place in the K-9 section and 13th place in the K-3 section.

In individual trophies, Andy Schoppe, a home-schooled Cary fourth-grader, won first place in the K-6 Under 800 section.

Bill Hayes, a sophomore at Crystal Lake Central High School, took home 17th place in the K-12 Open section.

Cary-Grove High School junior John Wollney and sophomore Alex Noll took home 23rd and 25th places, respectively, in the K-12 Open section.

Taking home third place in the K-12 Under 1200 section was Cary-Grove High School sophomore Joe Selvik.

Philip Kreisman, a seventh-grader at Cary Junior High, was awarded third place in the K-9 Under 1000 section.

The Cary Kings' next major tournament will be the 2008 U.S. Junior Chess Congress Tournament in March in Anderson, Ind.