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St. Luke’s Chess Club Wins Again
St. Luke’s Chess Club Advisor Alvin Hamilton shared the following about this week’s match in Fairfield County Scholastic Chess League.
This week, St. Luke's avenged an earlier defeat in the Fairfield County Scholastic Chess League by taking down Danbury High School (DHS) with a shutout score of 12-0. Building on last week's victory over previously undefeated Brunswick School, the St. Luke's squad was relentless in seeking wins across the board. In several cases, the DHS players established advantages, only to be overcome by the tenacious defense and ambitious counterattacks by St. Luke’s veterans and novice players.
Below are individual highlights from the match.
Vincent DiTeodoro ‘21, playing black, faced almost certain defeat when down a piece and two pawns. His opponent unwisely allowed Vincent to establish a "passed pawn" on the d-file, and that proved decisive, yielding a queen and ultimately a victory for the St. Luke's senior.
Playing white, sophomore Ethan Xia ‘23 found himself down a rook but delivered checkmate to his opponent's beleaguered king.
Jack Aronian ‘27 found the sparkling Bd2 for black. That move was the only line to victory according to chess-playing computer programs.
Jack's sister Laurel Aronian ‘25, playing white, won her game by pinning a piece that her opponent mistakenly moved, exposing a rook to capture.
Jonathan Hobson's ‘21 opponent chose the powerful London System as white in one of their games. Playing Nf3+, Jonathan forced his opponent to recapture and create notoriously weak tripled pawns, a positional flaw his foe could not surmount.
Featuring the highly speculative opening called The King's Gambit, Arjan Kochar's ‘26 game finished up last as it seesawed back and forth. Spectators were gasping as time ran down. With both his queen and knight under attack, Arjan had only one move to save them, and he found it: Nd5! Holding on as time ticked down, Arjan carefully maneuvered a passed pawn into a queen, sacrificing his rook to secure the final win in the match.
Senior co-captains Pierce Leclerc and Zach Amendola won their games by default.
Next week, St. Luke's takes on Joel Barlow in the final match of the year.
Next week, St. Luke's takes on Joel Barlow in the final match of the year.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
