Former Illinois chess phenom Conrad Oberhaus is this year's runner up in the National Geography Bee. The Lincolnshire eighth-grader was awarded a $15,000 college scholarship after he beat out all but one of the top ten finalists. All told, almost four million entered this year's competition.

Conrad last competed in USCF-rated chess in the spring of 2011, earning impressive plus scores at the Junior High (OH) and Elementary (TX) finals. As a sixth grader, he won the all-ages Class B section of the 2010 Midwest Class in Wheeling, winning all five rounds.

As a fifth grader, Conrad was part of a six-way tie for second place in his 186-competitor section at the 2010 Illinois K-8 Championships in St. Charles. He was undefeated going into the seventh round, losing to the champion, Bryce McClanahan.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Conrad has spent the last year "studying maps, reading geography books, browsing Google Earth and memorizing dozens of lists." Conrad had been Illinois' representative in the bee last year as well, narrowly missing out on the finals.

No doubt the wide array of chess openings named after geographic sites helped in his studies. And perhaps Conrad can be excused for placing chess on the back burner for the last couple years.