Young chess players from far and wide came together to compete at the 2nd Greater Chicago K-12 Championships in the stunning River Ballroom of the Westin North Shore Hotel in Wheeling on February 5-6th. 180 players from 88 schools across Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana competed in 11 sections based on grade level and skill level.

In the K-12 Varsity section on Feb. 6th, the very young and very talented Awonder Liang beat all the high school players and took 1st place with a perfect 5-0 score. Four players tied with a 4-1 score, taking 2nd through 5th place: Arjun Nandy, Jayce Feiger, Robert Moskwa, and Marvin Fourte. Arun Nair won the top under 1600 prize with 3.5 points. Mount Prospect High School won the 1st place team prize with 12 points, and Northside Prep High School in Chicago took 2nd place with 10.5 points. (Note to high school coaches: The players who competed at Greater Chicago performed especially well at the state championship the next week!)

In the K-12 Junior Varsity section, Alan Jenkins dominated the competition and took 1st place with a perfect 5-0 score. Nick Babul took 2nd place with 3.5 points. In a big tie with 3 points, Jair Herrera, Amaris Edeh and Jourdain Gant took 3rd through 5th place on tiebreaks, followed by Kevin Delmast and Thomas Grudzinski. De La Salle High School in Chicago won the 1st place team prize with 14 points, and Argo High School in Summit, IL took 2nd place with 11 points.

In the K-9 Varsity section on Feb. 5th, four players tied at the top with 4 points. Jeff Bikus took 1st place on tiebreaks, followed by Awonder Liang in 2nd, Ryan Toepfer 3rd, and Sarfaraz Mohammed 4th. Joey Bikus took 5th place on tiebreaks with 3.5 points, followed by Roshan Shankar and Vilas Gaddameedi. Pranay Vadapally won the top under 1400 prize with 3 points. Eisenhower Middle School in New Berlin, Wisconsin won the 1st place team prize with 10.5 points, and Fremont School in Mundelein, Illinois took 2nd place with 7.5 points.

In the K-9 Junior Varsity section, three players tied with 4 points. Nate Tracy-Amoroso took 1st place on tiebreaks, Sam Bergman took 2nd, and Leonard Liu 3rd. Rishi Narayanan took 4th place with 3.5 points, and Jonathan Lee was 5th on tiebreaks with 3 points, followed by Brody Frapolly. Matt Szarkowicz won the top under 1000 prize with 2.5 points. Nichols Middle School in Evanston, IL won the 1st place team prize with 8 points.

In the K-9 Novice section, Glen Lehrer took clear 1st place with 4.5 points. Georgia Wolf took 2nd place and John Bouvier 3rd place with 4 points each. Joshua Chan and Matthew Mak took 4th and 5th place on tiebreaks with 3 points, followed by Thomas Corbett, Dhruva Mohnalkar, Isaiah Elhamti and Nicholas Binyon. Sean Harris, Jr. won 1st place unrated with 2 points, and Eddie Czosek won 2nd place unrated with 1.5 points. Wildwood School in Chicago won the 1st place team prize with 5 points, and Lincoln Elementary School in St. Charles, IL was the 2nd place team with 4.5 points.

In the K-6 Varsity section on Feb. 6th, Adream Liang dominated the section and won 1st place with a perfect 5-0 score. Eric Gan and Ricky Roman took 2nd and 3rd place with 3.5 points each. Sean Yu Li won 4th place with 3 points, and Ritesh Sivakumar took 5th place on tiebreaks with 2 points, followed by Isabel Mata and Joshua Peng. Isabel Mata also won the top under 1200 prize. Laura Sprague School in Lincolnshire, IL won the 1st place team prize with 4.5 points.

In the K-6 Junior Varsity section, Finn Buck won 1st place on tiebreaks with 4 points, and Victoria Mata took 2nd place. Able Liang and Abdel Raoul took 3rd and 4th place with 3.5 points each. Shvetali Thatte took 5th place on tiebreaks with 3 points, followed by Simon Lequar, who also won the top under 800 prize. Aspen Elementary School in Vernon Hills, IL won the 1st place team prize with 5 points, and Dewey Elementary School took 2nd place team with 3 points.

In the K-6 Novice section, Sam Mitchell won clear 1st place with a perfect 5-0 score. In a tie with 4 points, Christopher Buck took 2nd place on tiebreaks, Colin Goldberg 3rd, and Jason Byrne 4th. Teoma Zhigulin took 5th place with 3.5 points. Ayan Bhowmick won the 1st place unrated prize on tiebreaks with 3 points, and Jason Obrycki took 2nd place unrated. Solomon Schechter School in Northbrook, IL won the 1st place team prize with 13.5 points, and Spencer Loomis Elementary School in Hawthorn Woods, IL was the 2nd place team with 5.5 points.

In the K-3 Varsity section on Feb. 5th, Naisha Bepar won 1st place on tiebreaks with 4 points, and Able Liang took 2nd place. Vincent Swindell, Michael Geohas and Shreya Mangalam took 3rd through 5th place with 3 points each, followed by Nikolai Rhodes. Owen Power won the top under 900 prize with 2.5 points.

In the K-3 Junior Varsity section, Sahith Puthireddy won clear 1st place with 4.5 points. Maxim Arzumanov took 2nd place with 3.5 points. Ronan Soni, Jonah Winter, and Aidan Weinberg took 3rd through 5th place with 3 points each. Stefan Presman won the top under 500 prize with 2.5 points. Bernard Zell School in Chicago won the 1st place team prize with 4.5 points, and Wildwood School in Chicago was the 2nd place team with 4 points.

Finally, the youngest and newest chess players competed in the K-3 Novice section.  Abhinav Padala won clear 1st place with a perfect 5-0 score. Peter Ranchero won 2nd place with 4 points. Charlie Buck took 3rd place with 3.5 points. Abhinav Shankar took 4th place on tiebreaks with 3 points, and Bobby Bode took 5th place, followed by Ashley Geohas and Jacob Emmelot. Ashley Geohas also won the top kindergartner prize, and Jacob Emmelot also won the 1st place unrated prize. Michael Morris won the 2nd place unrated prize with 2.5 points. Lincoln Elementary School in St. Charles, IL won the 1st place team prize on tiebreaks with 7 points, and Swanson Elementary School in Brookfield, Wisconsin won the 2nd place team prize.

Congratulations to all the prize winners, and thank you to all the kids and parents and coaches who came to this exciting event! We hope everyone had a great time, and we look forward to seeing you all next year. Bring your friends too for even more fun!