Knighthawks soar, take lead in Northern New Mexico Schools Chess League

The Taos Knighthawks took over the No. 1 spot in the Northern Schools Chess League (NSCL) at the second meet held at West Las Vegas Dec. 3.

The Taos “A” team racked up an impressive 16-0 record against the top teams from Northern New Mexico to end on top of the of the 50 participating teams. The Knighthawks finished the preliminary rounds a full team point ahead of perennial rivals Los Alamos and ATC of Santa Fe.

Leading the way was five-time grade level state champion, Orion Rojas-Grainger, who cruised to four straight victories on board one. Playing on boards two and three were eighth-grade twin brothers, Kian and Nitis Morgan, who quickly took care of business in defeating their opponents. Middle school team captain, Robbie Gersten, moved up to help the high school team and easily won all of his matches as well.

A total of 23 Taos players showed up for the meet, many from newer teams from Taos Day School and Vista Grande High School. Moving up to the top board for the junior high team was eighth grader Andrew Romero, who played some good chess but unfortunately missed a couple of key victories. Joining him on the team were Donovan Maestas, Euzeb Arguello and River Trujillo.

The Taos elementary team went 2-2, which was good enough to qualify for the team championship section to be held in January. Turning in a stellar performance was fourth-grader Sean Ritchie, who carefully won all four of his games. He was helped out by Anansi teammates Perry Kushner, Milo Maher and Jake Duncan.

The club also entered a group of “B” teams that gained valuable experience. The teams were led by Mangas Crowfeather, Shaylee Mirabal and sixth-grader Ryan Martinez, who managed an impressive 3-1 record. Teammate Brandon Mirabal, who is only in the third grade, also picked up a couple nice victories against older opponents.

Next up for the club will be the league finals to be held in Santa Fe Jan. 16. Coach Dennis Hedges also announced that he was extremely excited to report that former state champion Lazaro Cardenas has returned to Taos for a stay, and will be helping coach the Knighthawks. “Laz is one of the top players to ever play for the Knighthawks in the last 28 years,” said Hedges. “He will be a great addition to the club.”