Keeping her opponents in check

Sasha Konovalenko is a 16-year-old junior at H.H. Dow High School. She is a strong math student and is a state qualifier on the swim team. But there is something else that she does much better. She plays chess -- better than any woman in Michigan and almost better than anyone else in the state. At the recent Michigan Open in Cadillac, she finished fourth in the state open division, and for the third straight year she finished higher than any other woman. Her current rating of 2106 makes her a women's master in the World Chess Federation, a title she has held since she was 14 years old. She has goals to become the state champion and become an international chess master.