The Rio Rico High Hawk chess team hosted the season opener for Region 4 at Rio Rico High School two weekends ago.

From left, top: Ricardo Felix, Gabriel Sosa, Uriel Clark, Emil Patino and Ivan Duran. From left, bottom: Marco Gutierrez, Alex Barajas, Hannan Block, Bruce Meyer and Genaro Meras.

In the first round, junior Gabriel Sosa won readily to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead against Salpointe. Salpointe, though, fought back to put the pressure on with two straight wins until Hannan Block and Bruce Meyer lifted the Hawks to victory in a narrow 3-2 win. Rio Rico defeated Desert View 5-0 and went on to score another win against Vail High School in convincing fashion, 4-1. The Hawks ended the day 3-0 in conference play.

"Our lower boards saved the day," said Rene Ramirez, Hawks head coach. "Hannan, Bruce, and Gabriel didn't lose a game all day even though Hannan dropped a queen at the beginning of the third round. She's an excellent tactician and made up for it by back-ranking her opponent toward the end of the game."

All three of the lower board players brought home medals for Rio Rico.

Rio Rico resumes play Sept 11-12 when the team travels to Barry Goldwater High School for its next tournament.

" I feel our team has matured and has a lot of potential," said Emil Patino, Rio Rico's second board. "We just need to practice harder if we want to make it to state this year."