Chess Dons

We 👀you Durst! Nick is a phenomenal young man and was another one of our Team Captains. He had so much passion for this group, and turning things around in the right direction over his four years. #STATE2020 Cannot wait to see the great things you accomplish at Butler!

Huge 👏🏼to a David Valdez! One of our Chess Team captains, as well as President of the Sci Fi Club and Manager for ND Hoops. David was an awesome Don. Silent leader who showed through his actions, respect, and attitude how to do things the right way. Thank you David!

We want to acknowledge our 5 Seniors on the squad as today is officially the last day of school. You paved the way for the best chess season in school history and our first ever trip to the IHSA Stare Finals in Peoria. Thank You! #Legacy #ClassOf2020

Great photos of the 2020 Regional Champs, courtesy of Sports Depiction! Next Tuesday: #1 ND will play #5 Deerfield at Grayslake North. Watch for more details! #PreparetheBullpen #GreenBlooded #Brotherhood @SDepiction @NDCP_Hoops @ndpepclub @nddonscheer

There he is! Our chess club president and manager of the hoops squad. Getting honored tomorrow on SR Night. Congrats David! #ElMaestro #Checkmate

Great couple days and awesome experience for our guys to be a part of the IHSA State Chess Finals. They represented ND well!

Dons up 11-3 early with two boards done. Lazicki draw and Valdez big W.

Round 6 - ND vs Thornton

Best way to prepare for round 6... taco lunch.

Dons come up a little short in today’s first round, falling by a final of 40-28. Nice wins from Friedrich and Yen. Durst also grabs a scrappy draw.

Dons hold onto the 23-22 lead. 3 boards remain in play - Board 3 (Nick Durst), Board 6 (Michael Christie) & Board 7 (Mike Lazicki).

Dons lose boards 4 & 5 to start, go down 17-0. But then comes the answer! Boards 1 (Hank Friedrich) & 2 (Tristen Yen) win within minutes of each other to give us the lead 23-17! 4 boards done, 4 left in play. We have another exciting match on our hands here. #HankIsBack #TYEN

As we start day two, we have moved up 8 spots from our starting position. Hope to keep riding that momentum. First round of today will be vs Shephard HS.

Great finish to a long day of competition. Boys were tired but fought through, many guys stepping up to play higher boards than usual. Two studs of the day were - JR Joe “The Wizard” Waltzy & FR David “Da Coach” Christie both picking up two individual wins on the day to lead us.

Captain Valdez carries over the winning scorecard to the judges table.

Tristen “The Closer” Yen puts the final stamp on the Dons grabbing their first ever W at the state finals. Final score - ND 44.5, Eisenhower 23.5

The team shows their support for the deciding match played by Tristen. #brotherhood

This board is worth 12 points so still anyone’s game.

Dons take the 7 and 8 boards!! 32.5-23.5 lead for ND! It all comes down to the final board, the 1 board, SR Tristen Yen.

This will be the most exciting match of the day for the Dons. We trail 23.5 - 21.5. Three boards remain in play. Buckle your seatbelts for a wild finish!