Ephrata School Among Washington State High School Chess Champions

Washington State's top young chess players competed in the 60th Annual Washington State High School Chess Team Championships this weekend.

Ephrata's New Life Christian School earned the 1B championship. Team members were;  Collin Fox, Elijah St. Mary, Isaiah Van Dyke, Benjamin St. Mary and Ezekiel Klopov

Randy Kaech, the director of the Washington State High School Chess Association, says 52 teams competed February 27-28 for the Ollie Cup at Mariner High School in Everett. It was a record number of teams competing, and including the State All-Comers tournament, a total of 320 chess players participated.

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High school chess teams earned a berth by qualifying to compete at state. Washington has four Washington high school leagues—Metro, Kingco, Wesco, and Northwest.

Teams are made up of five players. The state tournament format is six rounds with games lasting up to two hours each.

Lakeside High School of Seattle claimed the Ollie Cup as grand champions. Second place was earned by Interlake (Bellevue) and Skyline (Sammamish) placed third.

Here are the state champions in each classification.

4A: 1st Skyline (Sammamish), 2nd Newport (Bellevue), 3rd Jackson (Mill Creek)
3A: 1st Lakeside (Seattle), 2nd Interlake (Bellevue), 3rd Seattle Prep
2A: 1st Tesla STEM (Redmond), 2nd Sehome (Bellingham), 3rd Cleveland STEM (Seattle)
1A: 1st Lynden Christian, 2nd Meridian (Bellingham), 3rd Seton Catholic (Vancouver)
2B: 1st Orcas Island, 2nd Tri-Cities Prep (Pasco), 3rd Granger
1B: 1st New Life Christian (Ephrata), 2nd Pope John Paul II (Lacey), 3rd Calvary Christian (Kennewick)

Visit the State 2026 Photo Album to view the final standings, photos, and videos of the tournament, as well as results of the leagues and regionals leading up to Chess State.