Chess team takes title in Rochester

Chess+team+takes+title+in+Rochester

Cotter’s chess team is popular, co-educational, and, now, triumphant.

The Rochester Area Chess League held their end of the year tournament Saturday, March 14, at Rochester Century High School.

For the second straight year Cotter was invited to play in a 4-round tournament outside the main championship.  The seven players on the Cotter chess Club, won the tournament defeating the four Rochester schools: Century, Mayo, John Marshall, and Lourdes high schools in their division.

The Cotter team, coached by Mr. Don Frisby, was comprised of Young Uk Shin, Cade Espy, Sam Kweon, and the only girls in the entire tournament:  Eileen Shin, Yoori Jo, Wendy Bae, and Laura Koo.

The team trophy is given to the school whose combined scores of their top 4 finishers is the highest. Winona Cotter and Century HS were tied at the end of the event, but the Solkoff tie-breaking system gave the championship to Cotter.  In this system, the records of the tied players’ opponents are evaluated and the person who played the most difficult (or successful) opponents is declared the winner.

Young Uk Shin was the highest individual Cotter finisher winning 3 out of 4 points and earning the 5th place trophy.

Young Uk, a junior had this to say: “This was my second chess tournament and I defeated my opponents with my special strategies. Chess can brings your potentiality out.”

  “It was my first chess game doing with other people who are not in our chess club. I had so much fun, ”  added sophomore Laura Koo.