The chess team from Fork Union Military Academy was able to take second place in their division at the Maggie L. Walker Winter Scholastic Chess Tournament held this past weekend at the Governor's School in Richmond, Virginia, despite being short-handed.
The Fork Union team was disadvantaged by being one player short on the team when another cadet was unexpectedly absent. In the Virginia Scholastic Chess Association tournament, the top four players' points count toward the team total. Despite having only three players on the Fork Union team, the team earned enough total points to capture second place in their division, finishing behind the host team from the Governor's School, with five players, who secured first place. Going into the fourth round, the Fork Union team was facing a possible last place finish and needed wins from all three players, Cadets Alexander Birch, Luming Zhao, and Ikdoo Kim, to prevent that. All three players were victorious in their final games and the Fork Union team secured a hard-earned second place finish.
Chess team coach, COL Chris Nothnagle, said, "The Chess team has exceeded my expectations this weekend by ending up with a clean sweep of opponents during the last round at the Governors school in Richmond. I'm very proud of their efforts."