The UW Chess Team recently tied for eighth place in the 2007 winter tournament of the College Chess Club, a national league.

The UW team competed four times between mid-February until the end of March in the College Chess Club's online tournaments.

Each competing team consists of four players. The UW has two teams, as well as two alternate players. Each individual player plays a single game with an opponent from another university.

Points are then added up; a win equals one point, a draw equals one half of a point and a loss equals zero points. The league relies on an honor-code system to ensure fair play.

In this year's online tournament, 31 teams competed. The UW tied for eighth place with Emory and, Henry College sand the University of Utah. Bellevue Community College placed seventh, with only a half point more than the UW.

"What these rankings show is that our team has the potential to do well in the Pan-American games if we competed," said junior Brandon Farrell, team captain and co-president of the UW Chess Team.

The Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Tournament is held annually to determine a national chess team. The UW team has not yet been able to attend due to lack of funding for travel expenses.

"The team has come a long way since it started, and our next goal is to attend the tournament next year," Farrell said.

The club formed five years ago with just a few members who occasionally met on campus to play chess. Due to a lack of equipment, members brought their own chess sets.

Now, the team owns 20 chess sets as well as clocks. Membership has increased dramatically since the competing College Chess Club was created four years ago.

Freshman Danton Lee said he greatly enjoyed his first year on the team.

"I'll definitely be coming back next year," he said. "I like the environment and the camaraderie."

During the next year, the team plans on recruiting and fundraising in order to go to the Pan American Tournament. The club meets every Monday and Friday from 7-9 p.m. in the Mechanical Engineering Building.

For some members, it's the game's variety that makes it so fascinating.

"The most intriguing thing about chess is that there are more possible games than there are atoms in the universe," Farrell said. "There are practically infinite possibilities."

Reach contributing writer Anastasia Wasem at news@thedaily.washington.edu.