Lincolnshire-Prairie View Dist. 103 students take national chess title

Some students in kindergarten thorough fifth grade have brought home a national championship for Lincolnshire-Prairie View Elementary District 103.

Five of District 103's students from Half Day School were at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta over Mother's Day weekend, where they topped 41 chess teams to win the Bert Lerner National Elementary Championship. The tourney was sponsored by the United States Chess Federation.

Chess success isn't new for Lincolnshire-Prairie View students. Last year, the kindergarten-through-third-grade squad nailed a national title.

"It's very exhilarating to see your efforts get such results," said Half Day chess team coach David Monatelli.

Half Day's 22.5 points topped Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash., which had 21.5. Monatelli said Half Day had three fourth-grade students and a third-grader who competed against Stevenson's team of all fifth-graders.

Monatelli, who doesn't work at District 103, said Half Day and Stevenson were tied until the final found. Alex Bian, a fourth-grader, won a head-to-head match that brought the title to Half Day.

Others on the Half Day championship team were fourth-graders Conrad Oberhaus, James Wei and Haoyang Yu. The lone third-grader was Jack Xiao.

Monatelli said his team often plays and wins in adult chess tournaments.