Brunswick School and Greenwich Academy took home many of the top honors at the 2018 Greenwich City Scholastic Chess Championship held on Jan. 21. Many of the sections were super tight, as evidenced by GA’s Serena Evans and Brunswick’s Miles Gillott who both scored 3.5 our of a possible 4 points; Serena won on tie-breaks to become 4th grade champion! Other winners included GA’s Annie Ulmer, 1st grade Champion, and Colin Dean, from Brunswick, who is the 2nd grade city-wide champ. In K-3 team competition, Brunswick edged out GA to bring home the trophy.
The 100 player event saw top prize for kindergarten go to James Lockhart, and third grade awarded to Andrew Zhong, both from Riverside School, while the fifth grade Greenwich City Champion for 2018 is Jackson Girardi. Team prizes for grades four and up went to Stanwich followed by Brunswick School.
The city championship event is produced each year by the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, a non-profit working to advance chess in education since 1990. This year’s competition featured longer time controls for grades 4 and up making the event even more challenging than in prior years.
“With so many great young players being developed here in Greenwich, it was time to better test their mettle,” said NSCF Executive Director Sunil Weeramantry, a chess educator for 40 years and stepfather and first coach for one of the world’s elite chess grandmasters, Hikaru Nakamura. “Chess helps improve concentration and focus over extended times, and these players showed they have what it takes to succeed at chess or any other subject they choose to pursue with such passion.”
Each year, the NSCF produces a Grand Prix series of chess tournaments in addition to the Westchester County and Greenwich City scholastic championships. The next event in Greenwich will take place on February 25 at Greenwich Country Day School, but local players are welcome to participate at all area events. For a complete schedule, visit NSCFchess.org
