Led by subfreshman Shawn Lu's perfect record against eighth-grade competition and junior John Vaughen's winning performance against 11th-graders, six Uni players took home trophies Saturday from the Illinois State Scholastic All Grade Championships, an official U.S. Chess Federation event. Uni won team titles in the eighth-grade and combined high school levels.

Uni continued its chess season Thursday without missing a step. Two victories over Notre Dame de La Salette improved the team's record to 4-0 overall in the East Central Illinois Chess League. The defending IHSA state champions are relying on freshmen George Ruan and Max Sigalov and sophomore Kathy Qiu to power them on the top three boards.

Uni kicked off the 2009-10 season with 58-0 victories over interleague rival Normal U-High and Mahomet-Seymour on Thursday. With only two returning varsity members from last year's state championship team, newcomers George Ruan, Max Sigalov, Danny Ge, and Michael Meyer stepped up to complete the shutout.

The Uni squad of Greg Atherton, Danny Ge, Richard Wang, and John Vaughen won the K-12 Unrated national title Sunday at the United States Chess Federation's SuperNationals IV Scholastic Chess Championships. The tournament took place Friday to Sunday in Nashville. Individually, Atherton placed first, Ge second, Wang fifth.

Having won the IHSA state title in February, nine players from the Uni chess team will head off to the three-day SuperNationals tournament in Nashville that will begin Friday. Team captain Gordon Ruan gives us a preview of the nation's biggest scholastic chess event of the year.

On March 21 and 22, senior Gordon Ruan played in the Illinois Chess Association's Denker Qualifier, from which one player would be selected to represent Illinois in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions the first week of August in Indianapolis. Check inside to see how Ruan fared.

Going into the 2009 IHSA state chess tournament seeded ninth, senior Gordon Ruan and his teammates were expecting to do well but not necessarily challenge for the championship. Instead, they captured the state title by defeating the Chicago powerhouse teams. Ruan recounts those intense couple of days in February when everything seemed to go right for the team.

Uni went undefeated in the seven-round IHSA state tournament, which began Friday and ended today. Coached by Chris Merli, Uni left no doubt that it was the best team in the 120-school competition, getting outstanding play on all eight boards and meeting every challenge thrown its way. The victory gives Uni its seventh state chess title, more than any other Illinois school.

Senior Gordon Ruan, one of the top chess players in the state, will lead Uni into this weekend's IHSA state tournament. Ruan, also a Gargoyle editor, provides a first-person preview of the action as the Illineks try for a top 10 finish. Last year they placed 11th overall and first among small schools.

The East Central Illinois Chess League season ended Thursday as Uni won the league title with a perfect record of 16-0. The Illineks defeated Bloomington and defending champion Normal University High to win its fifth title in six years. In addition, senior Gordon Ruan won the league's individual section with a 16-0 record on first board.

After getting a week off due to bad weather, the Uni chess team returned strong Thursday and remained at the top of the East Central Illinois Chess League by defeating Georgetown Notre Dame de LaSalette in two rounds. The Illineks will conclude league play next week against Bloomington and rival Normal University High School in one-round matches.

The Uni chess team began the new year with impressive victories, defeating Charleston and winning the annual Illini Classic Tournament for the fourth time in a row. The team is now intent on preparing for the IHSA state tournament, which is just a month away.

On Saturday, the Uni chess team played against some of the biggest and best schools in Illinois, placing eighth in the 20-team West Chicago Invitational Chess Tournament. The leader of the team, senior Gordon Ruan, won all of his games to finish in second place individually.

Uni continues to dominate the East Central Illinois Chess League after sweeping Mattoon on Thursday at Mahomet-Seymour High School. The undefeated Illineks lead the league. On Saturday, Uni will play in the elite West Chicago Invitational Chess Tournament, where the team finished second out of 16 schools last year.