The championship squad. L-R: Paul, Aravind, Josh, Kent
On October 10th, 2015, four members of the Drexel Chess Club traveled to Shippensburg University for the PA State Team Championships. Not only did we win the collegiate title, but we won first place overall in the tournament. While small, the tournament was highly competitive, and after pulling out a hard-fought draw against Shippensburg Community, we emerged as the champions. We hope to return next year to defend our title!
Team Members: Aravind Ponukumati, Kent Huang, Josh Cohen, Paul Milano
Round 1
| Drexel | Shippensburg University | ||
| Aravind Ponukumati | 1 | 0 | Jacob Painter |
| Kent Huang | 0.5 | 0.5 | Anthony Ciarlante |
| Joshua Cohen | 1 | 0 | Chris Owens |
| Paul Milano | 1 | 0 | Lula Eichenlaub |
| 3.5 | 0.5 | ||
| All of the games in this match were hard-fought. The eventual scoreline did not do the match justice. | |||
Round 2
| Drexel | Lancaster Community | ||
| Aravind Ponukumati | 0.5 | 0.5 | Joseph Mucerino |
| Kent Huang | 0.5 | 0.5 | Jeremiah Cassidy |
| Joshua Cohen | 1 | 0 | Neal Martin |
| Paul Milano | 1 | 0 | Sam Cassidy |
| 3 | 1 | ||
| Top two boards finished first with draws, by which point the lower two boards had clear winning positions. | |||
Round 3
| Drexel | Shippensburg Community | ||
| Aravind Ponukumati | 0.5 | 0.5 | Austin Henninger |
| Kent Huang | 0 | 1 | Robert Graham |
| Joshua Cohen | 1 | 0 | Tyler Forrester |
| Paul Milano | 0.5 | 0.5 | Chris Kjeldgaard |
| 2 | 2 | ||
| Went into the match needing a draw to win the tournament. Josh finished first with a win, but a draw by Paul meant that the team needed 0.5 from the top two boards. Kent was in a tough situation versus a higher-rated opponent, so it was up to Aravind. Even though he was down a knight to a couple extra pawns, he managed to use the threat ofpromotion to capture a draw, and thus the crown for Drexel! | |||