Parents and 172 chess contestants packed Mill Creek Elementary School’s cafeteria between rounds at the Queen’s Quest Chess Tournament. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Madison’s major chess event recently set a new record when 172 students entered the Queen’s Quest Chess Tournament.

On Nov. 21, Mill Creek Elementary School hosted the tournament. Students entered from each elementary and middle school in Madison, along with youth from Decatur, Huntsville, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa and Nashville.

“It was a fantastic weekend and Mill Creek Principal Carmen Buchanan and all the volunteers outdid themselves to put on the best Queen’s Quest ever,” Ranae Bartlett said. Bartlett is Executive Director of Madison City Chess League.

Because the elementary section is always largest, officials divided participants this year into Under 500 and 500+ sections to improve manageability and meaningfulness. The K-3 section was largest with 64.

“It was exciting to see that the largest section was K-3, affirming that chess is not only growing in popularity but also capable of being played at a very young age,” Bartlett said.

“Also exciting was the noticeable increase in the number of girls competing this year at the tournament,” Bartlett said. The league has concentrated on recruiting more girls to play competitive chess with its Girls Chess Night on Tuesday evenings.

Madison school teams dominated the tournament. Rainbow was first-place winner for primary (K-3) and elementary sections for 4-6 Under 500 and K-6 500+. Liberty ranked in first place for middle schools. Bob Jones was second among high schools.

First-place winners were Geon Park, primary (K-3); Christopher Foote, 4-6 Under 500; and Om Badhe, K-6 500.

Queen’s Quest was the second qualifier for the first annual City Chess Championship in March 2016. At Queen’s Quest, qualifiers were the top two finishers who had not previously qualified at the Fall Scholars Tournament.

Students who qualified are Luke Chynoweth and Oviya Gowder, primary; Om Badhe and Jenson Wilhelm, elementary; Lawrence Zhang and Chris Baker, middle school; and Douglas Zhang, high school.

The next qualifier for the City Chess Championship will be Jan. 8-9, 2016 at the Winter Knights Tournament at Columbia Elementary School.

For more information, email to mccl.director@gmail.com or visit madisonchess.com.