West High proves prowess at chess

When West High School won the Utah State Chess Championship in the 4A division at the state tournament, Jason Mielke wasn't surprised.

The West High junior, who won the title of tournament co-champion along with Tyler McIntosh of East High School, said a lot of the state's best high school chess players go to West High School, which showed in their tournament performance.

"I feel because we have a lot of really talented players who go to West High School, we always place high, and we did well this tournament," Mielke said.

West High School came away with four out of five of the top individual places and earned 29.5 points from its top five players to win the Utah State High School Chess Championship in the 4A division at the state tournament held March 24-25 at Granite High School.

Ninety-three students from 23 schools throughout the state participated in the seven-round, two-day event. Students were awarded one point for winning a game, half a point for a tie and no points if they lost, meaning the top score would be 7.

Individual honors for West High School students included Mielke's tie for the tournament co-champion title with 6.5 points; a tie for third place with 6 points between Devon Brown, Jamie Olsen-Mills and Thomas Goller; and Thomas Goller capturing the Speed Chess Champion title.

"I was very pleased (about West's performance)," said Greg Clark, a parent chess coordinator. "I've known several of (these students) for many years, and it's nice to see them mature and do well."

Skyline High School took first place in the 5A division with a combined score of 22.5 points from its top five players, and Ben Lomond took first place in the 1A/2A/3A division with 18.5 points from its top four players.

Mielke said West anticipated the tournament would yield good results.

"What we were expecting is actually what ended up happening," he said. "Chess isn't strong in Utah. . . . We're fortunate to have so many talented players."

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com