Changes will come to Chess Club this year as their previous coach Mr. Sheridan has left to pursue a new business opportunity. Filling in for Mr. Sheridan is Mr. Jeremy Paschke, physics teacher and head coach of Science Olympiad. When asked to sponsor the club, despite only having casual experience with chess, he accepted.

“I think academics are just as important as sports,” Paschke explained. “I hate to see a club go sponsorless.”

With the change of sponsorship also brings a change in student officers. The previous team captain, Reed Morley, graduated last year, leaving the position open. Instead of going with the traditional captain position, Paschke established five new student officer positions: three captains and two representatives. His purpose was to help spread experience through the club and to ensure competent leadership next year.

Along with the experienced players come the new and inexperienced.

Ashley Moberg, freshman, said that she’s only ever played chess with her father. She wants to get better and eventually enter the competitive scene like the older, more experienced players.

Also working towards improvement is Daniel Rafal. Usually playing 6th board, he hopes to advance and keep the 4th board position.

The pressure is on since chess club lost their star player, Glen Lehrer. Lehrer had previously taken second place at the State level competition and was the “best of the best” at York.

Working up to this “best of the best” position is sophomore Manu Mehta. Currently one of the best players on the team, he showed great promise during last year’s season, often taking high ranking board positions.

Despite the team’s setbacks at the beginning of the year, Chess Team has shown an amazing ability to get organized and to be ready to play with the first competition taking place on October 18th. Despite their best efforts, the Hinsdale Team beat York 8-0. After this defeat, York’s team has not given up and is preparing for another competition on October 25th.

The team is ready to prove themselves and is excited for the season to come!