The Chess Team has been big news this year at Parker. They are the only Parker team to have gone undefeated their whole season. Team member and ninth grader Abe Erlinger had many emotions about winning. “I feel good because I did poorly at my first [tournament] for the team,” he said. There was also an increase in the number of team members this year. The team had talent, but many of the members had never played competitively. 

Head Coach Matt McCaw said, “Parker has had a chess club off and on for many years, but play was always casual. Last year was the first year that the school fielded a competitive team.” Senior Shalen Chawla said, “My sophomore year, a senior started a chess club and I started attending with Jasper, which started our collective drive to bring chess into Parker.”

The Chess team has been around for quite a while, but they started playing in competitions two years ago. These past two years have been filled with triumph.“Our last big win was definitely the State Championship. Placing first in our statewide division was something I never would have thought about two years ago, yet we have been an absolute powerhouse this past season given how much our players improved,” Chawla said. 

Parker players have grown as a team, winning against teams they never thought they could beat, and being the powerhouse, instead of playing them. “The most recent big win was against St. Ignatius to win the Chicago Chess Conference postseason tournament,” junior Ari Deutsch said. 

“I think it’s very impressive for such a small school to be doing so well,”  ninth grader Nikita Mallik said. “To be honest, I am kind of proud the chess team is doing well, like it gives me a bit of school spirit,” she said.  

 The team feels like they have accomplished a lot. “The Chess team winning always makes us feel stronger together as a team, and I feel especially grateful toward Shalen and Jasper for running this team, and also to Darius, who has been a great friend to me throughout the season; our team would not be as strong without them,” ninth grader Isaiah Jakobe said.