Maryland State Scholastic Chess Championships Set Another Attendence Record this Year

More than 500 chess players from kindergarten to 12th grade attended the Maryland State Scholastic Chess Championship at Dumbarton Middle School on March 20 & 21. This total was about 50% above the previous record number of players playing in a chess tournament in Maryland history. A total of 16 High Schools, 33 Middle Schools, and 70 Elementary Schools sent players to the tournament.

In the High School Championship section the individual state champion was James Pinkerton(2027) from Montgomery Blair High School and for the second year in a row the championship team was Montgomery Blair High. James will be the Maryland representative to the Denker Tournament of High School Champions being held in Indianapolis this summer. James was 4-0 and only needed a draw in the last round against his teammate Gil Guo to clinch first place. There was a three-way tie for second between Ian Schoch (Churchill High), Gil Guo (Montgomery Blair), and Daniel Leach (Churchill).

In the Middle School Championship section the individual winner was Kevin Wang(2134) from Cabin John Middle School. Kevin was tested in a couple of games but in the end went 5-0. Second with a score of 4.5-0.5 was Jonathan Chen also from Cabin John Middle School. There was a three-way tie for third between Charles Yang (Cabin John), Saketh Papaiahgari (Dumbarton), and Kushal Byatnal (Cockeysville). Cabin John was able to take first with only a three player team since their players took the top three positions. The second place team was a three way tie between Takoma Park, Cockeysville, and Dumbarton.

The Elementary Championship section was extremly competetive with a total 71 players. The individual co-champions were Jeffery Chang (Cold Spring) and Jerry Wu (Farmland) who both went 5-0. The team championship was won by Fox Chapel Elementary for the second year in row. In sole third place was Kevin Lin (Hollyfield Station).

In the high school JV section the individual winners was Andrew Phelps from Gilman. Andrew won all of his games. The top team was Northwest High School. The top team was Gilman with a score of 17 and Northwest came in second with a score of 13.5.

In the middle school JV section the three players tied for first with scores of 5-0. Matthew Weinstein (Pyle Middle), Donovan Dupree (Pimlico Elementary Middle), Maurice Chandler (MATHS). Tieing for first place team were Pimlico Elementary and Dumbarton Middle.

The Elementary JV section was again the largest section with 133 players! The individual winners who all went 5-0 were: Jake Dunn (Stonegate), Kyrylo Tsygura (Stone Mill) and Vinai Rachakonda, Vinai (Glenarden Woods). The team winner was Stonegate Elementary.

In the K-3 JV section the winners were Kyle Gimmy (Chesapeake City) and Monica Neycheva (Roland Park Country). The team winner was Stone Mill.

Here is a gallery of pictures from Maryland States

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