PEORIA — The Uni High chess team went into this weekend's state tournament hoping for a top 10 finish.

Instead coach Chris Merli and his players came away with a whole lot more.

Uni won the state championship today, going undefeated in the two-day, seven-round Illinois High School Association tournament.

The Illineks left no doubt that they were the best team in the 120-school competition, getting outstanding play on all eight boards — especially the lower boards in crunch time — and meeting every challenge thrown their way.

"Going into the tournament, I wasn't sure about how we were going to do considering that we had lost our Board 2 [Alex Zhai] and Board 3 [Geoffrey Beck] to graduation," said senior Gordon Ruan, who was undefeated on Board 1 during the regular season. "All our chances of winning relied on how well our lower boards performed."

First day: Climbing to second place

Senior Gordon Ruan concentrates during a match on Board 1 at the IHSA state meet. He has been Uni's No.1 chess player all four years of his high school career. Photo by John Garvey (click to enlarge)

The Illineks entered this weekend's competition at the Peoria Civic Center seeded No. 9. They rolled to a 3-0 start on Friday, defeating their opponents by an average margin of 55 points (the maximum possible margin is 68, which Uni achieved once).

The day ended with the team making its first big statement of the meet: a 36-32 upset of perennial power Skokie Niles North, this year's No. 2 seed.

"For us, that was a huge accomplishment since we had lost against them in a previous tournament," Ruan said. "Also, the two highest-rated players in the tournament were their Boards 1 and 2, and the team couldn't rely on me for a win (I drew the game)."

This would be Uni's closest match of the tournament, and it set a pattern that would continue into the next day: The team's lower boards would make up for any losses by the upper boards. Senior Alan Liang (Board 3) was the only player among the top four boards to beat a Niles North opponent.

In fact, the final record of Uni's fifth through eighth boards (senior Brian Wang on 5, junior Daniel Cheng on 6, junior Danny Ge on 7, senior Richard Wang/sophomore Michael Meyer on 8) was 25-2-1 compared to 14-7-7 for the first four boards (Ruan on 1, senior Greg Atherton on 2, Liang on 3, freshman Kathy Qiu on 4).

"Speaking for the lower boards, we're glad we were able to support the higher boards and relieve some pressure from them to get a victory," said Ge. "I think that was something previous Uni teams lacked."

Ruan described the victory over Niles North as "our big break." As he put it, "Our team became more confident and stronger from our win."

The Illineks finished the day 4-0 and in second place — which only meant their opponents would get tougher when the tournament resumed.

Second day: Reaching the top

Gordon Ruan (bottom left) and his teammates face off against defending champion Lincolnshire Stevenson. Uni upset the No. 1 seed in the sixth round of the state meet. Photo by John Garvey (click to enlarge)

Indeed, Uni's first opponent today was last year's state runner-up, Chicago Whitney Young. The Dolphins, seeded fourth, occupied first place by the end of Friday.

Several days before the meet, Chris Merli had said his players would have to be "mentally tough" to succeed at state; they would have to shake off disappointing performances. The need for this became clear as the Whitney Young match unfolded.

In what could have resulted in trouble for Uni, the team's first and second boards (Ruan and Atherton) both lost. But the rest of squad went 5-1, and the Illineks defeated the Dolphins 39-29.

"I was very disappointed in losing my morning game to Whitney Young's Board 1, as it was my first loss of the season and I could have played much better," Ruan said. "I have to thank the lower boards once again for securing the victory and covering up my loss."

The team's victory set up a showdown in the sixth round with defending champion Lincolnshire Stevenson. Whoever won that battle would be in a commanding position to lock up the title. Using wins by Ruan (Board 1), Atherton (2), Brian Wang (5), Cheng (6), and Richard Wang (8), as well as draws by Qiu (4) and Ge (7), Uni trounced the No. 1 seed 50.5-17.5.

"Our commanding victory over Stevenson was simply amazing," said Ge. "I think a lot of the teams we played were overconfident in going up against a tiny school from central Illinois. That really worked in our favor, especially against Stevenson."

With Stevenson gone, the Illineks were the only undefeated team left in the tourney. They remained that way by taking care of No. 5 seed Naperville Neuqua Valley 42-26 in the final round, clinching the school's first IHSA state chess title since the governing body did away with enrollment divisions in 1995.

"The final round was the most crucial of the tournament," according to Ruan. "All we had to do was draw in order to win the state title. A loss would have been catastrophic, as we would probably not have been able to win on tiebreaks. Fortunately, we started off well, and with me getting a draw with my opponent, we secured enough points to ensure us as the 2009 state champions."

Honors

The victory earned Uni its seventh IHSA title in chess, the most of any school; the other six came before 1995, when Uni competed in the Class A (small school) division.

"In the week before state, Mr. Merli talked about how we had to stay tough and fight our way back from games that we were losing," Ge said. "A lot of us did just that, especially Daniel, who was in some less than favorable positions. I had two disappointing losses against Niles North and Whitney Young, but luckily Richard, Daniel, and Brian were able to hang in there and overcome the points I was costing the team. … I can't say I did everything I wanted to do, but I'm glad I was able to help my team secure the championship."

Three Uni players won IHSA medals for scoring six or more points without suffering a loss: Brian Wang (7-0 on fifth board, third place), Cheng (7-0 on sixth board, second place), and Richard Wang (6-0 on eighth board, fifth place).

Ruan received a special award at the meet: He was named a 2009 Illinois Chess Association Warren Junior Chess Scholar, one of just 35 students in the state (first through 12th grades) to be chosen for that honor. According to ICA program director Andrea Rosen, Ruan earned that recognition "because he is among the top-ranked chess players for his age in the country."

He will participate in an invitational tournament in March to choose the Illinois representative to the U.S. National High School Tournament of Champions.

For Ruan and his fellow seniors, winning the state title is especially gratifying after the somewhat disappointing team performances that followed Uni's fourth-place finish at the 2006 state meet, when they were freshmen. The team placed eighth in 2007 and 11th last year.

"Overall, I'm very proud of our team's performance this year and how hard our team has worked to achieve this goal," Ruan said. "Everyone spent lots of time passionately and seriously studying chess. I'm glad that we finally took home the state title."

Recap of Uni's Seven Matches at State

Friday

• 1st round: Uni def. Frankfort Lincoln-Way East 63.5-4.5
• 2nd round: Uni def. Chicago St. Ignatius College Prep 52.5-15.5
• 3rd round: Uni def. Poplar Grove North Boone 68-0
• 4th round: Uni def. Skokie Niles North 36-32

Saturday

• 5th round: Uni def. Chicago Whitney Young 39-29
• 6th round: Uni def. Lincolnshire Stevenson 50.5-17.5
• 7th round: Uni def. Naperville Neuqua Valley 42-26

Recap of Uni's Individual Performances at state

w=win, x=loss, d=draw, dnp=did not play

• Board 1: senior Gordon Ruan, w-w-w-d-x-w-d (4-1-2, 17th place)
• Board 2: senior Greg Atherton, w-x-w-x-x-w-d (3-3-1, 56th)
• Board 3: senior Alan Liang, w-w-w-w-w-x-x (5-2-0, 16th)
• Board 4: freshman Kathy Qiu, d-d-w-x-w-d-d (2-1-4, 37th)
• Board 5: senior Brian Wang, w-w-w-w-w-w-w (7-0-0, 3rd)
• Board 6: junior Daniel Cheng, w-w-w-w-w-w-w (7-0-0, 2nd)
• Board 7: junior Danny Ge, w-w-w-x-x-d-w (4-2-1, 25th)
• Board 8: senior Richard Wang, w-w-dnp-w-w-w-w (6-0-0, 5th)
• Board 8: sophomore Michael Meyer, w (1-0-0 in 3rd round, 152nd)

FINAL TOP 10 TEAMS AT 2009 IHSA STATE CHESS MEET

• 1. UNI HIGH, 7-0 (Uni defeated the 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th-, and 8th-place teams)
• 2. Chicago Whitney Young, 6-1 (155.4 tiebreaker points)
• 3. Skokie Niles North, 6-1 (153.3)
• 4. Lincolnshire Stevenson, 6-1 (143.6)
• 5. Barrington, 6-1 (128.0)
• 6. Normal University, 6-1 (122.5)
• 7. Cary-Grove, 5-2 (134.9)
• 8. Naperville Neuqua Valley, 5-2 (123.6)
• 9. Glen Ellyn Glenbard West, 5-2 (119.4)
• 10. Illinois Math and Science Academy, 5-2 (118.1)