MCS Fall Scholars tourney attracts intra-city chess stars

MADISON – Madison Elementary School was well prepared to accommodate entrants in the 2018 Madison City Schools Fall Scholars Tournament.

As students arrived on campus, a banner greeted the competitors at the school’s entrance. In the cafeteria, a large-screen monitor aired SEC football games, while most competitors played chess in the gym throughout the day.

“Jennifer Waldron, Madison Elementary Chess Team Sponsor, worked tirelessly planning and setting up the tournament that saw students shine from the many chess teams across the city,” Ranae Bartlett said. Bartlett is Executive Director of Madison City Chess League.

The Championship section featured the day’s fiercest challenge with games lasting potentially more than two hours and paired students regardless of age. “Students are stronger having competed in this section,” Bartlett said.

The youngest competitor, pre-kindergarten student Annabelle Hsu, often had to stand at her board to reach and then move the pieces.

Constance Wang was first-place winner. Claiming second through sixth places were Ethan Xu, Victor Lundy, Steven Pan, Shreya Sunil, and Rishi Sethuraj. “Our top two elementary finishers are now invited to train with middle school chess teams: Xavier Bruni and Aadi Saxena,” Bartlett said.

Players competed in different categories. Each list starts with first place:

* Under 1000 Winners — Daniel Seewald, Marek Fries, Wyatt Devine, Owen Lang, Jason Park and Shruti Kadam. Neha Chopade ranked as Top Female. In this section, one of the youngest players competed against one of the oldest students.

* Under 500 Winners — Andrew Yang, Anna Ai, Alex Myers, Sahishnu Saha, Rayyan Killedar and Tyce Crosswy. Christine Wang was Top Female.

* Non-Rated Grades 3-6 — Jesse Gu, Luke Martin, Eddie Xiao, Kaleb Robinson, Caden Jordan, Jimmie Wiggins, Sreehari Peringoth, Jacob New, Cooper Martin and Javian Swain. Top Female was Reagan Bauer.

* Non-Rated Grade K-2 — Jethro Jones, Annabelle Hsu, Samarjeet Bista, Luke Day, Rhyan Quansah, Prahaas Avula, Olivia Smith, Carter Bae, Jacob Kuang and Isabella Williams.

Bartlett commended high school students for volunteering. In the Junior TD program, Nadia Hammond from James Clemens High School helped with Swiss Sys pairing. From Bob Jones High School, Michael Guthrie and Josh Lin served as tournament directors.

Volunteer coaches were Sohan Mynampally, Thomas Nguyen, Hugh Mitchell, Maanasi Limaye, Will Bao and Edward Calinsky.