Stevenson chess team did it again, for the fourth time, bringing home team and individual trophies from annual national chess championship.
This year, the Super Nationals IV Chess Championship was held in Nashville, Tenn., from April 3-5. Stevenson won the National Team title again in the K-5 Championship section, 1st place team again in K-5 U900 section, 6th place team in K-6 U1000 section, and 8th place team in K-3 U800 section.
Last year, the Stevenson team clinched National Team title in K-3 Championship and 1st place team in K-5 U900 sections. In 2007, Stevenson won 1st place team in K-3 U800 section. In 2005, Stevenson won the National Team title in the K-5 Championship section.
The annual event, organized by the United States Chess Federation, brings together the best scholastic chess players from around the country to compete. Over 5,280 K-12 students from 45 states participated in 20 sections in this year’s SuperNationals IV.
Stevenson Elementary fielded a total of four teams and 19 of its best chess players.
The K-5 Championship team won the National Champion Team title in the 317-player section with 19 points and $3,000 Team Scholarship Award. The team score is computed based on the top four individual scores.
Jiayi Hu won individual 25th place and Amith Vanmane won individual 30th place. Mayhul Arora won his 1st place for ratings 1000 to 1199. The other team winners are Daniel Hua and Grace Sun.
The K-5 U900 team topped the 503-player section in convincing fashion with a record score of 26 points out of total possible 28 points. Both Nathan Chou and Nikolai Warner are co-champions with perfect score 7, Faris Gulamali won 3rd place undefeated with score of 6.5, Alex Shang won his 30th place. The other team winner is Benjamin Cheung.
The K-6 U1000 team won 6th place team with a score of 17 points in the 253-player section. Eric Chen won individual 7th place trophy undefeated. The other team winners are Brian Gu, Kevin Qiu and Daniel Hou.
The K-3 U800 team won 8th place team with a score of 19 points in the 441-player section. Jason Yang won individual 26th place trophy and Nathan Shao won his 40th place trophy. The other team winners are Eric Zhu and Tudor Muntianu.
In the Bughouse tournament, Amith Vanmane won championship out of 81 teams. Grace Sun teamed with Leanne Hwa, a former Stevenson player, and won the 8th place.
Stevenson national team players met their space match opponent Astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff at Nashville. New York Times reported the visit.
Nationals Team Members:
K-5 Championship Team Winners
Jiayi Hu, 5th Grade; Amith Vamane, 4th Grade; Daniel Hua, 4th Grade; Mayhul Arora, 4th Grade; Grace Sun, 5th Grade
K-5 U900 Team 1st Place Winners
Nathan Chou, 4th Grade; Nikolai Warner, 4th Grade; Faris Gulamali, 4th Grade; Alex Shang, 5th Grade; Benjamin Cheung, 4th Grade
K-6 U1000 Team 6th Place Winners are all 5th graders
Eric Chen, Brian Gu, Kevin Qiu, Daniel Hou
K-3 U800 Team 8th Place Winners are all 3rd graders
Jason Yang, Nathan Shao, Eric Zhu, Tudor Muntainu
K-6 Unrated
Matthew Solomon, 4th Grade
Stevenson Chess Club is coached by Elliott Neff, David Hendricks, John Graves and Gregg Dillingham. This year’s team to Nationals was led by coaches Neff, Hendricks and Graves.
Neff, a self-taught chess master, has been the head coach for the past six years. He is the founder of Chess4Life Center and Clarus Academy in Bellevue.
Hendricks has been a coach at Stevenson for 7 years. He is currently the scholastic director of the Washington Chess Federation.
Dillingham has been a coach at Stevenson for 4 years.
Graves has been a first year coach at Stevenson.
The Stevenson Chess Club is in its 7th full year as an after-school club activity. The club has 86 members from K through 5th grades. The club is run by parent volunteers.
More information is available from Uma Vanmane, 425. 653.3433.
