Chess Team is King of Local Chess

The 52nd season of the Mobile-Baldwin County Chess League wrapped up at Bayside on Thursday, January 19, with the Admirals winning the varsity league championship for the second consecutive year (and 15 out of the last 19). The league is open to all local schools, so Bayside regularly plays much larger schools. In the finale, Bayside was matched against previously undefeated UMS-Wright, a team that also competes at the national level. The Admirals thrashed the Bulldogs by a perfect score of 4-0 behind the play of Rhett Montgomery '24, Wilson Engeriser '23, Michael Klimjack '24, and Jacob Stallworth '25. Montgomery won his game with one second remaining on his clock. That left the teams tied for first with 6-1 records, so they played a tiebreaker match with the clock set at 10 minutes for each player. That resulted in a 2-2 draw, so Bayside took the first place trophy based on total board wins for the year by a score of 23-22.5. With his win, Montgomery won the Paul Morphy Award, given each year to the league's best player. It was the second time in three seasons he has won the award. Also contributing to the varsity team this year were Libbi Melendez '23 and Nicole Nager '23.

 

The JV team also took first place in their division with a 3-1 victory over the Alabama School of Math & Science. The Admirals finished undefeated at 6-0-1 and took the crown for the second straight season.  Scoring for Bayside were Libbi Melendez, Jared Dull '25, and Nicole Nager. Other contributors to the team this year were Jacob Stallworth, Colt Hancock '26, and Boyce Magli '26.

 

The middle school team held Christ the King to a 2-2 tie and finished the season with a .500 record of 2-2-3.  The team gained valuable experience and the three returners for next year are Huan Chen '28, John Stephen Klimjack '28, and Burke Ramagosa '28. Hayes Lopasser '29 also contributed this season.

 

The elementary squad fielded two teams for the final round. The A team fell to Christ the King by a score of 3-1, with Laura Jackson '30 scoring for the Admirals. The B team lost to Christ the King D by the same score, with Hart Wilson '31 scoring for Bayside. Except for Hayes Lopasser, all the players were new to the chess team this year. Lopasser and Jackson won ribbons for their overall score in the league this year. Other members of the team are Eli Solomon '31, Andrew Prewett '32, Eli Denton '32, Louise Eleazer '32, and Nizar Morrar '31.