WHSCA Northwest League 1998 - 99

February 8: Ferndale, Northwest League Champions!

Ferndale- The inaugural season of the WHSCA Northwest High School Chess League reached its conclusion on February 8, with Ferndale surviving a late run from Lynden to become Northwest League Champions.

Sehome placed third, with Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley and Meridian placing 4th, 5th and 6th, respectively.

The above six teams have thus qualified and will now represent the Northwest League in the Washington State High School Chess Team Championships, to be held February 26 and 27 at Lincoln High School in Tacoma.

Going undefeated for the season were Kyle Wahlgren and Juan Perez of Ferndale, and Bert Rutgers and Karl Keller of Lynden.

In the Junior Varsity section Meridian took first place honors.

WHSCA Northwest Chess League Final Standings:

Ferndale 25.5
Lynden 23.0
Sehome 16.0
Mount Vernon 14.0
Sedro-Woolley 13.5
Meridian 13.0
Lynden Christian 12.0
Blaine 9.5
Mount Baker 8.5
La Conner 5.0

Full final crosstable and ratings report here

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Northwest Chess League, ROUND FIVE, Feb. 8, 1999.

Ferndale 3.0 - Sedro-Woolley 2.0
Lynden 5.0 - Lynden Christian 0.0
Sehome 4.0 - Mount Vernon 1.0
Meridian 4.0 - Blaine 1.0
Mount Baker 5.0 - La Conner 0.0

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Northwest Chess League, ROUND SIX, Feb. 8, 1999.

Ferndale 4.0 - Lynden Christian 1.0
Lyynden 5.0 - Sedro-Woolley 0.0
Mount Vernon 4.0 - Meridian 1.0
Sehome 3.0 - Blaine 2.0

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January 25: Ferndale Grabs the Lead!

After four rounds of play in the new Northwest League of the Washington High School Chess Association, Ferndale is emerging as the team to beat, with only 1.5 losses in 20 games.

Lynden holds clear second with 13.0 points, with Sedro-Woolley (11.5) barely edging out Lynden Christian (11.0) for third.

The game of the evening was the struggle between Ferndale's first board Derek Schwede and Lynden's top player Bert Rutgers. In a hard-fought, close game, with the advantage passing back and forth throughout the battle, each player found themselves with fewer than two minutes left on their clocks. In time pressure Rutgers produced a Skewer maneuver which won a rook, and was then able to deliver checkmate with fewer than 45 seconds left on his clock. At the completion of the game the spectators awarded both competitors with a standing ovation.

In the Junior Varsity section Meridian holds a clear lead. Aaron Wright and Dwight Haak, both of Meridian, lead the section with three wins each.

The final Northwest League meet will be held February 8 at Ferndale High School. After the dust settles, the top six teams in the Northwest League will be eligible to compete in the WHSCA State Championships.

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Northwest Chess League, Round Three, Jan. 25, 1999.

Ferndale 3.5 - Lynden 1.5
B1: Schwede 0, Rutgers 1; B2: Wahlgren 0.5, Keller 0.5; B3: Perez 1, Cuellar 0; B4: Paisley 1, Anderson 0; B5: Rust 1, Brendon 0.

Sehome 3.0 - Meridian 2.0
B1: Munro 1, Myers 0; B2: Shin 1, Mcloskey 0; B3: Stephens 1, Mabbott 0; B4: Palm 0, Hannah 1; B5: Gilfillen 0, Julian 1.

Sedro-Woolley 3.5 - Mount Vernon 1.5
B1: Weaver 0, Wilkerson 1; B2: Gaertner 0.5, Hemmat 0.5; B3: Kunzler 1, (forfeit); B4: Sargent 1 (forfeit); B5: Booker 1 (forfeit).

Lynden Christian 3.0 - La Conner 2.0
B1: Kok 1, Shipman 0; B2: J.Ritsema 1, Cook 0; B3: A.Ritsema 1, Skiffington 0; B4: Vander Woude 0, Price 1; B5: Matter 0, Buher 1.

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Northwest Chess League, Round Four, Jan. 25, 1999.

Lynden 4.0 - Sehome 1.0
B1: Rutgers 1, Munro 0; B2: Keller 1, Shin 0; B3: Cuellar 0, Stephens 1; B4: Anderson 1, Palm 0; B5: Brendon 1, Gilfillen 0.

Lynden Christian 3.0 - Meridian 2.0
B1: Kok 1, Myers 0; B2: J.Ritsema 0, McCloskey 1; B3: A.Ritsema 0, Mabbott 1; B4: Vander Woude 1, Hannah 0; B5: Matter 1, Julian 0.

Ferndale 5.0 - Mount Vernon 0.0
B1: Schwede 1, Wilkerson 0; B2: Wahlgren 1, Hemmat 0; B3: Perez 1 (forfeit); B4: Paisley 1 (forfeit); B5: Rust 1 (forfeit).

Sedro-Woolley 3.0 - La Conner 2.0
B1: Weaver 1, Skiffington 0; B2: Gaertner 0, Cook 1; B3: Sargent 1, Buher 0; B4: Kunzler 0, Price 1; B5: Booker 1, Shipman 0.

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WHSCA Northwest League, Standings after Round Four:

Ferndale 18.5
Lynden 13.0
Sedro-Woolley 11.5
Lynden Christian 11.0
Sehome 9.0
Mount Vernon 9.0
Meridian 8.0
La Conner 5.0
Blaine 2.5
Mount Baker 2.5

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January 11, 1999: Northwest League Commences!

Ferndale - A total of 70 players from eight northwest high schools met on January 11 for the first matches of the new Northwest League of the Washington High School Chess Association.

After two rounds of Varsity competition Ferndale leads the league with 10 wins. Mount Vernon is in second with 7.5 wins, and tied for third with five wins each are Lynden Christian, Sehome and Sedro-Woolley.

Not losing a game for both matches, the Ferndale team consists of Derek Schwede, Kyle Wahlgren, Juan Perez, Asher Paisley and Peter Rust.

Going undefeated for two rounds are Mount Vernon's Jake Wilkerson, Nathaniel Brown and Brian Hemmat, as well as Sedro-Woolley's top board, Ben Weaver.

Also going undefeated for Lynden Christian were Andrew Ritsema and James Kok.

In the Junior Varsity division the Meridian team leads, with Nathaniel Harrison (Meridian), Aaron Wright (Meridian), Justin Blotsky (Blaine), and Zac Holyoke (Mount Vernon) yet undefeated.

The next Northwest League meet will be held January 25 at Ferndale High School. Stay tuned to this page and we'll have games from the league before too long.

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Northwest Chess League, Round One, Jan. 11, 1999

Lynden Christian 3.0 - Sedro-Woolley 2.0
B1: J.Ritsema 0, Weaver 1; B2: Korthuis 0, Gaertner 1; B3: A.Ritsema 1, Kunzler 0; B4: Kok 1, Booker 0; B5: Matter 1, Manes 0.

Ferndale 5.0 - Meridian 0.0
B1: Schwede 1, Till 0; B2: Wahlgren 1, Myers 0; B3: Perez 1, Julian 0; B4: Paisley 1, McCloskey 0; B5: Rust 1, Covert 0.

Mount Vernon 4.5 - Blaine 0.5
B1: Wilkerson 1, A.Chang 0; B2: Brown 1, B.Chang 0; B3: Pringle 1, Smith 0; B4: M.Hemmat 0.5, Vinall 0.5; B5: B.Hemmat 1, Massey 0.

Sehome 5.0 - La Conner 0.0
B1: Gilfillen 1, Cook 0; B2: Stephens 1, Price 0; B3: Van Hoff 1, Huddleston 0; B5: Chin 1, Buher 0.

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Northwest Chess League, Round Two, Jan. 11, 1999

Ferndale 5.0 - Sehome 0.0
B1: Schwede 1, Gilfillen 0; B2: Wahlgren 1, Stephens 0; B3: Perez 1, Palm 0; B4: Paisley 1, Van Hoff 0; B5: Rust 1, Shin 0.

Mount Vernon 3.0 - Lynden Christian 2.0
B1: Wilkerson 1, J.Ritsema 0; B2: Brown 1, Korthuis 0; B3: Pringle 0, A.Ritsema 1; B4: M.Hemmat 0, Kok 1; B5: B.Hemmat 1, Matter 0.

Sedro-Woolley 3.0 - Blaine 2.0
B1: Weaver 1, B.Chang 0; B2: Gaertner 0, A.Chang 1; B3: Kunzler 1, Smith 0; B4: Booker 1, Vinall 0; B5: Manes 0, Massey 1.

Meridian 4.0 - La Conner 1.0
B1: Till 1, Cook 0; B2: Myers 1, Price 0; B3: Julian 0, Shipman 1; B4: McCloskey 1, Huddleston 0; B5: Covert 1, Buher 0.

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WHSCA Northwest League, Standings after Round Two:

Ferndale 10.0
Mount Vernon 7.5
Lynden Christian 5.0
Sehome 5.0
Sedro-Woolley 5.0
Meridian 4.0
Blaine 2.5
La Conner 1.0

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Northwest League Rules - Summary
A useful one-page synopsis of the rules.

Northwest League Rules - Official
The full version of the rules, a bit verbose to cover all contingencies.

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Some facts about high school chess in Washington

For several decades now the Washington High School Chess Association (WHSCA) has organized most major scholastic chess events for the state, including the Washington State High School Team Chess Championships. They have also provided structure and oversight to the many interscholastic chess leagues in Washington.

This year the Northwest League becomes the newest WHSCA league, providing league chess competition for high schools in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Six rounds of action will begin on January 11, with meets following on January 25 and February 8. Each meet begins at 6:45pm at Ferndale High School, and features two rounds of competition each.

Last year there were six WHSCA leagues in the state. The Northwest League will be the seventh. These leagues averaged ten teams per league, ranging from the large Seattle Metro League (16 high school teams) to the new So. Central Wa. League (3 high schools). Last year 36 teams qualified and participated at the State Championships, including league-less teams like Lynden, who scored exactly 50% with a 12.5 - 12.5 final score. A team must place in the upper half of its league in order to qualify for State.

This year's Washington State High School Team Championships is February 26-27.