Sherman chess team scores at state tournament

Sherman County students pulled off a big chess victory in Portland last weekend.

Youth chess players Gage Simpson, Cohen Burgett, Caiden Walker, Erin Burbank and Daria Duong traveled to Oregon Episcopal School on the west side of Portland to participate in the 60th annual Oregon High School Chess Team Association State Tournament.

This was a U.S. Chess Federation-rated tournament, with five rounds of team competition over two days, Sherman teacher and club leader Kevin Stuart said in a press release.

Gage Simpson is in 9th grade, Cohen Burgett and Caiden Walker are in 10th grade, and Erin Burbank and Daria Duong are in 11th grade. The chess club is especially grateful for the support of Sherman County School and the Sherman County Education Foundation, Stuart said.

Sherman County was the only 1A school that attended, and as such enjoyed opportunities they would not normally have had, such as playing against 3A, 4A and 5A teams, he said. Sherman won two of the five rounds.

"This was a huge achievement, since nearly every opponent that Sherman faced was rated sig-nificantly higher than the corresponding Sherman player," Stuart said.

In Round 1, Sherman lost to Marist (4A) 1-4. Stuart said the bright spot in the first round was Caiden Walker's stunning win against a 1200-rated player, a full 645 points higher than Caiden - in other words, a player 120+ times more likely to win.

In the second round, Sherman lost to Willamette (6A) 0-5. In Round 3, Sherman pulled off an upset against South Umpqua (3A) 3.5-1.5.

While Gage, Cohen, Caiden and Daria all were thrilled to earn points in Round 3 against high-er-rated players, Caiden pulled off his second stunning defeat of a 1200-rated player, Stuart said.

In Round 4, Sherman lost to Coquille (3A) 1-4, and then in the fifth round, Sherman beat Churchill (5A) 4-1. Cohen, Caiden, Erin and Daria all earned a point, which served as a cre-scendo for the team's morale, he said.

The Sherman County team earned the 3rd Place trophy in the 3A-2A-1A bracket, marking the first time Sherman has ever placed in state for chess.

"After beating Churchill, there was definitely a euphoric feeling among the Sherman County players, and they started to be congratulated by other schools for winning two rounds while only being a 1A school," Stuart said. "The results from this tournament far exceeded the expectations of nearly everyone at the tournament, and it was a sight to see."