This article was produced prior to this past weekend’s sectional tournament. Clarion will follow-up with the state tournament results after the tournament.

The RB Chess team is destroying the competition so far during their season. They have qualified for state this past weekend. On January 20, RB won the Metro Suburban Conference Team Championship at Fenton High School. All three of their matches, against Aurora Central Catholic, Glenbard South, and Fenton, were won decidedly by a demanding margin.

Six of the eight Bulldogs participating won their boards. Seniors Jackson Hajer and Luke Graham, juniors Andres Resto and Megan Sroka, sophomore Rokas Lukosevicius and freshman Peter Giannetos all won their boards. Juniors Joey Vitek and Alexander Mercado finished second on their boards. All eight of them won Conference Honors.

Head coach Dave Monti was thrilled with his players’ performance.

“I was very proud of what they accomplished at the tournament,” said Monti. “Hopefully we can get a good finish at the state tournament.”

Chess club works hard not only during the season but the offseason as well.

“Chess club meets about twice a week during the offseason and three times a week during the regular season,” said Junior Joey Vitek.

During their open tournament, five Bulldogs competed. Senior Juan Quiroz won all four of his matches, along with a blitz tiebreaker to be the 2018 MSC Open Champion. Senior Dominique Rodriguez finished 9th winning three of his four matches, sophomores Nathan Sanchez and Teddy Roussin both won two of their four, with Roussin also achieving a draw, and freshman James Jerz won three of his four matches, finishing 7th and earning a medal.

Overall, the Bulldogs are 10-8 this season going into the IHSA Sectional Tournament. Out of 22 teams they are ranked 7th going in.

Vitek has some high hopes for the rest of the season.

“Our team right now is pretty good, and I think we are good enough to win state or get close to it,” said Vitek. “The season is almost over but we are already better than we were last year.”