The Madison Midknight Riders grades 4-6 chess team swept their opponents in the final round to clinch second place at the Indiana State Chess Team Championship in Terre Haute.
The tournament was March 29 at Honey Creek Middle School. Team members are Louis Bolduc (first board), James Wynn (second board), Corbin Sloan (third board) and Ian Sloan (fourth board). The team is coached by Madison teacher Jay Bolduc.
A chess team consists of four players. The four players sit together on one side of a table while an opposing team sits opposite them. The top players from each school face each other on board one. The rest of the members of the team are paired by strength on boards two, three and four. Teams play five rounds during the course of a tournament. A team earns a win if it scores more than two points in a round. One point is scored for an individual win, and a half point is scored for an individual draw. At the end of a round, the points for each team are tallied and the team with the most points earns the win. The Madison team finished with four team wins coupled with 16 team points. The 16 team points matched that of eventual state champion Sycamore, a private school for gifted and talented children from the Carmel and Indianapolis area.
