Following a season in which they finished third place in the Bay Area, the Falcon chess team is looking forward to how it can keep its strong program in good shape. With seniors Evan Ye, Brian Wai and Sankash Shankar departing, maintaining their success will be difficult.

As the tough Bay Area Chess League neared its end, the chess team finished with a 5-3 record.

Starting the week of Sept. 19, the chess team will begin its annual participation in the fall Santa Clara Valley Chess League, designed specifically for high schools throughout the Bay Area. This year the team members will use the league as an opportunity to encourage incoming freshmen and sophomores to contribute more to the team.

As champions for the sixth consecutive year, the chess team had become accustomed to victory at last year’s CalChess Scholastic State championship. This year, however, they came in second to Mission San Jose despite strong individual standings among the four team members.

Junior Brian Wai looked Monta Vista student Harsha Nukula in the eye. It was the last round; the score was tied and the pressure was on. However, with a few swift moves, Wai beat Nukula, giving Saratoga the necessary lead to defeat Monta Vista win the county championship.

Senior Charles Sun racked his brain, digging deep for a move that would outwit his opponent. Then it came to him, a far-fetched series of coordinates that could win the game. There it was, after grueling hours analyzing an eight-by-eight chess board, Sun finally had a checkmate. Then came the thrill of victory at the National Open tournament in 2006 in Las Vegas.

Individual trophies were also won, with junior Charles Sun taking 4th place, freshman Brian Wai placing 7th, freshman Evan Ye in 10th, senior Jeff Young, last year's co-champion, came in13th and Sankash Shankar finished in 17th.

Although Ye, Wai, and Shankar were newcomers to the championship, they contributed three of the top five individual scores for the team.

With the end of this year’s chess league, the Saratoga High team continued its dominance in both the league and tournaments, with a notable performance by freshman Brian Wai in the latest tournament.

In the league, the team lengthened a string of wins by crushing Lynbrook 6.5-0.5, Cupertino 7-0, Harker 6-0, Palo Alto 5-1, Fremont 7-0 and Monta Vista 4.5-2.5. This is the fifth consecutive year that Saratoga has won the league, which consists of 10 of the best chess teams in the Bay Area.