Over 600 Compete in Arizona State Chess Championship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2007

Enrique Huerta
maxoftat@yahoo.com
(520) 440-3176

Tucson, AZ - As the weather warmed up and most of the state were enjoying a weekend of sunshine, 631 scholastic chess players stayed indoors to compete in the 2007 State Scholastic Chess Championships. A total of 2100 chess games were played as players ranging from pre-kindergarten to high school senior competed for the official state title. The chess tournament is an annual event that rotates throughout the state from year to year. This year the Southern Arizona Chess Association hosted the event at the Double Tree Inn, in Tucson.

The tournament, which started on March 17, is a 7-round (6 rounds in high school) event that takes two days to complete. Players are separated into sections based on grade: K-1, K-3, K-5, K-6, K-9, and High School. In order to compete in the event players had to qualify at a regional qualifier tournament. The regional tournaments, held between late January and early March, had schools from as far north as Kayenta and as far south as Nogales participate in hopes of qualifying players for the State Championship. For some, just making it to the State Championships is an accomplishment, for others it’s the next step in their quest for the state title.

K-1 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Qi, Richard CoppCn K 7.0
2 Shevelev, Daniel Manzan K 6.0
3 Li, Ethan Corbet 1 6.0
4 Clemmensen, Carter PCDS 6.0
5 Johnston, Lucas A StJoe 1 6.0
6 Bergera, Luc PCDS 5.5
7 Rooney, Harrison PCDS 5.0
8 Hall, Benjamin StJoe K 5.0
9 Brennan, Shaun T Harel K 5.0
10 Smith, Zac A LdyBug K 5.0

K-1 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Phoenix Country Day School, Phoenix 21.0
2 Montessori Schoolhouse, Tucson 16.5
3 Killip Elementary, Flagstaff 15.5
4 Neely Elementary, Gilbert 15.5
5 Greenfields Country Day School, Tucson 15.0

K-3 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Lakshmiprasad, Manas PasHil 3 7.0
2 Wang, David SSciAc 3 6.0
3 Temyanko, Lora CanyVw 2 6.0
4 Pershad, Yash RanSol 6.0
5 Nag, Amrita SunrDr 3 6.0
6 Chen, Michael KeyStn 3 6.0
7 Castro Jr, Francis Horiz 2 5.5
8 Zhao, Andrew Spectr 2 5.5
9 Aradhyula, Sumhith CanyVw 3 5.5
10 Coll, Nathan MadiPk 2 5.5

K-3 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Canyon View Elementary, Tucson 20.5
2 Keystone Montessori, Chandler 20.0
3 Sam Hughes Elementary, Tucson 18.5
4 Manzanita Elementary, Tucson 17.0
5 Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson 17.0

K-5 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Lee, Brennen MadPrk 6.5
2 Chakraborty, Dipro DestSp 5 6.0
3 Hu, Bryan SunrDr 4 6.0
4 Isoe, Kohta Line 4 6.0
5 Gregory, Austin S BenFrk 5 6.0
6 Pecherski, Daniel AbrLin 4 5.5
7 Anand, Anish EduPrz 5.5
8 Zhao, David Spectr 4 5.0
9 Harris, Seth A MadPrk 5 5.0
10 Zipperian, James CastHi 4 5.0

K-5 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Basis, Tucson 19.0
2 Manzanita Elementary, Tucson 18.0
3 Castlehill Country Day School, Tucson 16.5
4 Lineweaver Elementary, Tucson 16.5
5 Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson 16.5

K-6 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Ding, Richard KyrDPb 6 6.5
2 Adelberg, David ZunElm 4 6.0
3 Streety, Beau TownMS 6 6.0
4 Thornton, Joshua M Burk 5 6.0
5 Qi, Eric CoppCn 6 5.5
6 Marstein, Daniel G Burk 5 5.5
7 Meador, Marshal A Pionee 6 5.5
8 Lillard, Grant PCDS 5.0
9 Arnold, Justin Way Harel 6 5.0
10 Thayillam, Bryan K CoppRd 6 5.0

K-6 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Phoenix Country Day School, Phoenix 17.0
2* Harelson Elementary, Tucson, 17.0
3* Khalsa Montessori, Tucson 17.0
4 Montessori Schoolhouse, Tucson 16.5
5 Killip Elementary, Flagstaff 16.0

K-9 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Zhang, Kevin Z Espero 8 7.0
2 Lin, Andy Espero 6.0
3 Mead, Ryan C RanSol 7 6.0
4 Cotter, Samuel StGreg 7 5.5
5 Eng, Randel J Explor 7 5.5
6 Thompson, Nick N TaylJH 8 5.5
7 Reed, Michael S Espero 7 5.5
8 Zhu, Joshua ChanPr 7 5.5
9 Maneth, Jacob MesqJH 8 5.5
10 Pennock, Steven G OranGr 6 5.5

K-9 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Esperero Canyon Middle School, Tucson 23.5
2 Mesquite Junior High, Gilbert 18.5
3 Orange Grove Middle High, Tucson 18.5
4 Taylor Junior High School, Mesa 18.0
5 St. Gregory's, Tucson 18.0

HS Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* De Sa, Christopher CFHS 12 6.0
2 Brownell, Landon CFHS 11 5.0
3 Savine, Pavel A CFHS 12 5.0
4 Burleigh, Kaylan J GilbHS 5.0
5 Aradhyula, Vaishna CFHS 11 4.5
6 Schucker, Daniel D GilbHS 11 4.5
7 Higgins, Sean K CFHS 12 4.5
8 Marmont, Benjamin HlandH 11 4.5
9 Wallace, Jenelle L CFHS 10 4.0
10 Thakur, Ashu D UnivHS 9 4.0

HS Team
Plc Name Score
1* Catalina Foothills High School, Tucson 20.5
2 Gilbert High School, Gilbert 17.0
3 Barry Goldwater High School, Phoenix 14.0
4 Blue Ridge High School, Lakeside 11.5
5 Alchesay High School, Ft. Apache 8.0

* State Champion

Additionally, as the high school champion, Christopher De Sa will represent Arizona in the Denker Tournament of Champions to be held in conjunction with the US Open this August in New Jersery. Jenelle Wallace, the highest finishing female player, will represent Arizona in the Susan Polgar Invitational Tournament, also held at the US Open.

Complete results can be found at www.sazchess.org.

Enrique Huerta
Vice President
Southern Arizona Chess Association