The Black Knights Joust kicked off the scholastic chess
season for the Spokane area. Thirty students in grade 1-8 participated
from thirteen schools. The large number of upsets revealed that some young
players worked hard on their skills during the off-season.
The two largest teams were Pioneer and host Saint George's. SGS edged
Pioneer 9.5 to 9.0 for the team trophy. The tournament had two sections:
open and under 900. Braxton Casey won top honors in the open section with
4.5. Three players finished on top of the U/900 with 4.0, Troy Sheikh
(winning on tie-breaks), Malia Brown, and Simon McMynne.
Trophies
were awarded for first place in each grade 1-7. Amelie Hilton (2.0) was
first in grade one. Mythreya Dharani (4.0) was second overall in the open
section and won the trophy for top second grader. Rohan Dhillon (2.5) had
the best tie-breaks of the four third graders finishing with the same
score. The other third graders with 2.5 were Olivia Hilton, Connor Simonds,
and Robert Lasko. Each received an award. The fourth grade trophy went to
Simon McMynne. Malia Brown was the fifth grade winner. Garrett Casey (3.0)
won the sixth grade trophy. Exchange student Andres Diaz (3.5) took home
the trophy for top seventh grader.
Others taking home prizes were Orrin Keener, Per Sande, Maxwell Johnson,
Logan Faulkner, and Annie Alvarez. Eleven players qualified for the 2016
Washington State Elementary Chess Championship and earned a keychain in
addition to their other prize. by James Stripes |