Pope John student wins national chess title

Zach Nowel, a student at Pope John XXIII Regional High School, won the national championship in his division with a sparkling 7-0 record.

He was very focused and remained calm with each additional victory, said coach Tom Murray.

His opponents were from Georgia, Michigan (three times), Texas, Delaware and New York.

“Consistently throughout many of my games, the key to my winning success was restricting the movements of my opponents pieces while making progress myself,” he said.

“My confidence was bolstered by my teammates ... Marco, Sid, Cody and Cameron wishing me good luck and wishing each other good luck before every game, especially in the later rounds.”

In another division, Marco Concha had three wins, Sid Johannsen had four wins, Cody Williams had three wins and Cameron Westrick had four wins.