It has been another exciting season of the Metro Area Chess League, the competition we run for high schools throughout the greater Washington area. A total of 22 schools from D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia registered to play this year. Games take place online, on the lichess.org platform.
We grouped the schools into two separate divisions this year, Atlantic and Eastern, with the top two schools in each division qualifying for postseason play. After eight rounds of tight matches, Richard Montgomery High School (Rockville, MD) took first place in the Eastern ahead of Oakton High School (Vienna, VA). In the Atlantic, Gonzaga College High School (northwest Washington, DC) won a close race ahead of Chantilly High School (Chantilly, VA). All four schools earned berths in the playoffs this coming Saturday, April 11.
Eastern Division Standings
| School | Match Points | Board Points (Tiebreaker) |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Montgomery | 6 | 24 |
| Oakton | 5.5 | 20 |
| Arlington Career Center | 4.5 | 17.5 |
| Banneker | 4 | 15.5 |
| South Lakes | 3 | 13.5 |
| Langley | 2 | 7.5 |
| BASIS DC | 1 | 4 |
| McNamara | 0 | 1 |
Atlantic Division Standings
| School | Match Points | Board Points (Tiebreaker) |
|---|---|---|
| Gonzaga College HS | 6.5 | 23.5 |
| Chantilly | 6 | 20.5 |
| Jackson-Reed | 5.5 | 22 |
| West Springfield | 4.5 | 15 |
| Poolesville | 3.5 | 16.5 |
| DeMatha | 3.5 | 16 |
| Don Bosco Cristo Rey | 2.5 | 11 |
| McKinley Tech | 1.5 | 6.5 |
| Georgetown Prep | 0 | 1 |
| Richard Wright | 0 | 1 |
As a testament to the close, competitive nature of the League year after year, none of the four schools who made this year’s playoffs were there the previous year. However, all four playoff teams regularly consisted of students with experience playing in prior MACL seasons, and those returning students put their competitive experience to good use. With such difficult competition each year, just making the playoffs is an enormous achievement, so congratulations to all our final four on superb seasons.
We are grateful to all the faculty sponsors and student captains who helped facilitate their teams’ participation and coordinate matches with the opposing schools. The next season of the League begins next autumn, but we hope to see some of the students before then in other chess tournaments such as the Area-Wide Scholastic at the end of the month.