Pioneer gets 2nd, two 3rds at states

The Pioneer chess team competed in four sections in the New York State Championships last weekend in Saratoga Springs. The Panthers fought hard and almost won a state title, taking 2nd place in the Middle School Reserve section, missing 1st by only 1/2 point! Zach Madden, Todd Thompson, Brad Schrock, Hunter Witt, and Mike Pinzel made up the team, and all played well, with Zach Madden finishing 6th individually.

The Jr High team came back from a slow start to get 3rd place in a tough division. The winner of this section, Intermediate School 318 from Brooklyn, is the defending national champion! Chris Darling, Ryan Palmisano, Nate Palmisano, Austin Kossow, Austin Will, Carl Raymore, and Max Peters are the team members.

In the High School reserve section Wes Darling led the team with 4 wins as they also took 3rd. Lucas Grisanti had 3 pts and Austin Harris had 2.

Ryan Madden had 3 wins and finished tied for 17th in the Open High school section, which had many masters and some of the best players in the country playing.

Also Congrats to James Lyon of Hamburg who won the Middle School Reserve individual championship with 5.5/6. Great tournament James!

Bishop Timon-St. Jude had a great tournamant also. They finished 2nd in the High School Reserve section. Matt Reznick won 1st place with a 6-0 record. Congratulations Coach Bowers and all the boys!

The cross table for the tournament is here: http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201203042772