The Independence High School chess team finished first with a cumulative score of 617 among 10 schools in the Glendale District Rounds 4-6 Tournament on Saturday.

Among the 20 schools that participated in the tournament the Patriots ranked third behind Brophy with 856 cumulative points and Trevor Browne with 635. 

A high school chess tournament typically starts off with the top five varsity players playing three individual matches that accumulate points based off of their outcome from each match. 

The Patriots' No. 1 chess player, Stephen Hoven, a home-schooled senior who started playing chess only two years ago, entered his second tournament this season undefeated.

Hoven, who ranks in the 92nd percentile overall of the United States Chess Federation and No. 131 in Arizona, was allowed to join the Patriots' chess club last year because his residence was within the district.

"Stephen (Hoven) is a very flexible player," said head coach Bill Bolton. "I know his greatest challenge he finds at these tournaments versus the USCF club tournaments is many of the players don't play as predictably as they do at those (USCF tournaments)."  

Hoven took an early 1-0 win in his first match against an opponent from Sunnyslope after cornering his opponent's king.

The 16-year-old went on to win his second and third match of the day against Cortez and Apollo players, raising his winning streak to six.

"This season the biggest challenge I'm going to have is when we play against Brophy at some point," Hoven said. "I get to play Dave (Mohan) because he's a really good player, he plays USCF as well."  

Mohan's overall USCF ranking is currently in the 98th percentile and he ranks 22nd in Arizona. 

Independence will play in the Rounds 7-11 Tournament at Alhambra High School on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 9 a.m.