McAllen ISD Chess Teams Finish Top Among Nation

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McAllen ISD Chess Teams Finish Top Among Nation

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Achieve ECHS team members, standing, Joaquin Zuniga, Jacob Garcia, Patricia Williams and Daniel Saenz (chess sponsor); kneeling, Marcos Pena and Cameron Williams.
Achieve ECHS team members, standing, Joaquin Zuniga, Jacob Garcia, Patricia Williams and Daniel Saenz (chess sponsor); kneeling, Marcos Pena and Cameron Williams.
Lamar team members Gilbert Davila (chess sponsor), Fabian Saucedo, Gabriel Garza, Jeffrey De Groot and Jorge Cavazos.
Lamar team members Gilbert Davila (chess sponsor), Fabian Saucedo, Gabriel Garza, Jeffrey De Groot and Jorge Cavazos.

Going up against the best of the best, two teams from McAllen ISD earned spots in the top seven for the entire country.

Teams from Lamar Academy and Achieve Early College High School took third and seventh, respectively, in the National High School Championship April 8-10 in Memphis, Tenn.

They were also the top two teams in Texas.

Individually, Cameron Williams (Achieve ECHS) and Jeffrey De Groot (Lamar) finished tied for 28th with 4.5 points each. Lamar’s Gabriel Garza, who competed in his first chess tournament just six months ago, earned 3.5 points.

The Lamar Academy team, coached by Gilbert Davila, includes Fabian Saucedo, Jorge Cavazos, De Groot and Garza. The Achieve ECHS team, coached by Daniel Saenz, includes Williams, Patricia Williams, Joaquin Zuniga, Jacob Garcia and Marcos Pena.

Overall, McAllen ISD has nine teams which qualified for the national stage. Teams from Morris Middle School, Fossum Middle School, Garza Elementary, Rayburn Elementary (two teams) and Sanchez Elementary (two teams) will compete April 27 to May 1 in Grapevine, Texas.  

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