Sixth-grader Joshua Lin, at left, from Madison Elementary School and fifth-grader Om Badhe from Mill Creek Elementary School were top prize winners in the first annual Madison City Schools Fall Scholars Chess Tournament. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Continuing its groundbreaking efforts in the last two years, the Madison City Chess League premiered the first annual Madison City Schools Fall Scholars Chess Tournament on Sept. 20.

Held at Rainbow Elementary School, the tournament “was unique in that it had a non-rated section for inexperienced tournament players without a United States Chess Federation (USCF) membership or rating,” league director Ranae Bartlett said.

With this approach, students could gain some experience before playing their first rated tournament on Nov. 22 at the Queen’s Quest at Columbia Elementary School, Bartlett said.

In addition, the fall scholars tourney held future opportunities for students. The top two elementary students in the championship section (for students with ratings of 800 or above) will be invited to train with the middle school competition chess teams. Don Maddox and Bradley Denton coach these teams.

The two elementary students who won the top prizes were Om Badhe, fifth-grader at Mill Creek Elementary School, and Joshua Lin, sixth-grader at Madison Elementary School.  In the attached photo, Joshua is on the left and Om is on the right.

“We had 70 kids attend the tournament. We were thrilled with the turnout for this new format,” Bartlett said. Forty students entered the rated sections, and 30 students played in the non-rated section.

Winning in the championship division were Om Badhe, first; Joshua Lin, second; Angela Kinsey, third; Vishay Ram, fourth; Hayden Billmann, fifth; and Boone Ramsey, sixth.

In the Under 800 division, first-place winner was Jonah Tuttle, followed by Ben Kosan, second; Maanasi Limaye, third; Pranaav Satheesh, fourth; Alex Edwards, fifth; Shreya Sunil, sixth; and Leah Lessmann, seventh.

Geon Park took first place for the Non-Rated Grades K-6 group. Mason Holtkamp earned second place and Ethan Xu third. The Non-Rated grades K-12 winners were A.J. Sheldrick in first and Andrew Schultz, second.

The Queens Quest tournament will feature individual and team categories for grades K-3, K-6, K-9 and K-12. For registration forms, visit madisoncitychessleague.weebly.com.