On Saturday, January 18, students woke up as early as six-thirty in the morning to participate in the chess tournament  held at Chatham High School. Chess players from Dan River, Chatham, and Tunstall competed in five rounds of chess against each other.

After five rounds of playing with ten minute breaks, the overall winners of the tournament were decided. First place went to senior Josh Fowlkes with a perfect score of five. When asked how he achieved first place, Josh said, “No real strategy, just played my best.”

In second place, junior Chase Gauldin finished with a score of 4.5. In third place, senior Sean Davidson placed with a score of 4.5. In fourth place, sophomore Kyle Sutton  got a score of four. In fifth place came freshman Noah Taylor with a score of four.

Tunstall took home the chess tournament trophy. Chess coach David Thaxton was ecstatic about the win and when describing how he felt, he said, “Excited, real’ excited for the kids because they worked hard for it.”

This chess tournament was the first of its kind. There are plans for another one next year and hopefully Tunstall will go back for two consecutive wins.