On Saturday, January 20th, the Saint Louis Chess Club held its first scholastic tournament of 2018. Following the excitement of the new year, many students joined in to play in their first ever chess tournament, resulting in a total of 193 players that gathered at Adams Elementary in Tower Grove to battle for chess supremacy.
The K-6 U400 section had a record-breaking 69 players. After intense competition with the large group, 4 players tied for 1st with undefeated records. Because of tiebreaks, 1st went to Atharva Shinde, 2nd to Brody Roy, 3rd to Marquis Johnson, and 4th to Gabriel Boyd. The top unrated player in the section was Geoffrey Gheorghian with three points. The K-6 Open section had a lot of fierce competitors, like all open sections often do. Nathan Johnson was awarded 1st place, the only player in the section with a perfect record. Tarun Haribasker and Aaradhya Panda received 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The top female player went to Saanvi Ramgounda with three points.
The K-12 U100 section had many new competitors, as well as returning veterans. With 45 players competing, Samuel Lu won 1st place with the only perfect 4-0 score, while Leo Zhang took 2nd and Zachary Schade 3rd. The top unrated player in the section went to Nathanial Church with two points. The K-12 Open section was composed of the top rated players of the tournament. After a fierce struggle, Joshua Fundler came out on top with 1st place, and was the only player in the section with an undefeated record. Xander Van Horn and Amogh Mahambare took 2nd and 3rd place respectively due to tiebreaks. The top female player award of the section went to Isabel Yearian with three points.
The team competition of the tournament was particularly fascinating as many new teams entered into the trophy race. In the K-6 U400 section, GF Chess Club took 1st place easily with 12.5 points. The new Kennard team was awarded 2nd place with 9 points, and 3rd place was awarded to Ladue Middle with 8 points. In the K-6 Open section, 1st place was given to Babler Elementary, the reigning champs of the section. The GF Chess Club was given 2nd place and 3rd went to Kennard.
In the K-12 U1000 section, Argo took 1st place, maintaining their supremacy over the section. Gateway Middle took 2nd place, trailing after Argo by only a half point; Sperrang Middle took 3rd. In the K-12 Open section, GF Chess Club continued to stand head and shoulders above every other team with 11.5 points. The 2nd and 3rd places went to Spoede Elementary and Ritenour High with 6.5 points each.
The Saint Louis Chess Club would like to thank all the players, parents, coaches, and community partners that make our monthly tournaments a success. Please join us for our February tournament, Chess Carnival, on Sunday, February 25th at Cook Hall on SLU Campus.
Scholastic Grand Prix K-6 Open Results
Scholastic Grand Prix K-6 U400 Results
Scholastic Grand Prix K-12 Open Results
Scholastic Grand Prix K-12 U1000 Results
