Check that! The champion chess team at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School has had its most successful season in three years, finishing the Southeastern Interscholastic Chess League regular season in first place.

The first-place finish gave the team the top seed in the league championship finals against Fairhaven High School. The championship format positions the five best players from both teams in five-on-five matches; the first team to win two matches takes home the championship trophy.

The five Vineyard chess players, in order of seeding beginning at board one, were: Lee Faraca, an eighth-grader from the West Tisbury School who has played on the high school team since he entered third grade; senior and team cocaptain Grant Meacham; junior David Seidman; senior and cocaptain Shane Donovan; and senior Vinny DeGregorio.

Defending league champion Fairhaven defeated the Vineyard two matches to one, but the Vineyard players were pleased with their accomplishments.

“Just going from last place three years ago to first place this year was a fantastic achievement for us,” Grant said. “And the success we did have, finishing the regular season in first place, happened not just because of the players on the traveling team, but also because of all the club players who came after school every week to practice. We pushed each other to get better—and we did.”

Grant led the team as its only player with an undefeated record for the year — including playoffs. This record means that he will be honored by the league next month with a trophy as the team’s Most Valuable Player.

The Vineyard chess team, coached by English department chair Dan Sharkovitz, has won the league championship 12 times since 1994.