By Ajay Solanky

Bellevue Reporter

Over 1,000 participants from around the country descended on Minneapolis, Minn. earlier this month for the US Chess Federation National High School Championship. When it was over, nine students from Interlake High School came home with a top-10 finish and the feeling of pride.

The students spent three days of their spring break playing seven matches of chess, some of which lasted in excess of four hours. Kunal Roy was one of the Saints who made the trip and said the experience was exhausting, but well worth the effort.

“I slept an entire day after I got back,” Kunal said. “But more importantly it was really fun.”

Behind Interlake’s victory was many years of hard work and dedication. Before even qualifying for the nationals by placing as finalists in state, the students had to train for months.

Most of the students started playing chess at a very young age. The chess club meets throughout the year to practice, and most club members practice on their own, as well.

“Most people think chess is just a game. It’s not really, it’s a lot like a science actually,” said Kunal. “There is a lot of memorization and practice that goes into learning chess; you can study it like any school subject. That being said, it is a lot more fun than school,” he added.

The Interlake High School chess team members are Kunal Roy, Abinav Viswanathan, Michael Wang, David Golub, Andrew Dawson, Andrew Porisch, Cameron Joy, Collin Joy and Amos Chan.