The chess club placed twenty-ninth at the National High School Chess Championship in Minneapolis April 15.

The team did well, despite competing with just three people out of an allowed four and only being able to accumulate a fraction of the points other teams could.

“This is more of an accomplishment than it seems, because we were playing a man down,” club president John Mehler said.

Freshman Jonathan Chen placed eighth among the nation’s freshmen and thirtieth overall.

This national recognition came just a month after the team placed second at the Maryland State Scholastic Championship. Trophies from both competitions were presented to principal Alan Goodwin and are on display in the main office.

Many of the club’s veteran members will graduate this year, but Chen is looking forward to leading the club. He is hopeful he can recruit new members and slowly introduce new skills, he said.

“We’ll work over the summer and go to local tournaments because we are not as experienced. We want to build up strength and eventually we’ll go to nationals again,” he said.