Madison chess teams prevail in fierce competition at Queen’s Quest

These Madison boys are lined up and ready for competition at the 2014 Queen’s Quest Scholastic Chess Tournament. (PHOTO/SCOTT WILHELM)

MADISON – Called the most competitive meet yet, the 2014 Queen’s Quest Scholastic Chess Tournament saw Madison chess teams dominate across the board.

Columbia Elementary School hosted a record attendance of 157 students from all Madison elementary and middle schools, along with students from Decatur, Huntsville, Trussville and Tuscaloosa.

“The elementary (K-6) section was the largest with 84 students,” parent sponsor Ranae Bartlett said.

Madison teams topped the Primary section (K-3): Columbia, first place with 14.5 points; Rainbow, second, 14; and Heritage, third, 12.5. Also from Madison, the top four teams in the Elementary section (K-4) were Rainbow, first, 16.5; Columbia, second, 15.5; Mill Creek, third, 12.5; and Horizon, fourth, 11.

In the Junior High section, Discovery ranked in first place and Liberty took third. Bob Jones earned second place in the High School (Open) section.

Madison students dictated the individual awards. For high school, Elora Holland received second place. For junior high, awards winners were Michael Guthrie, Discovery, second; Lawrence Zhang, Liberty, fourth; Douglas Zhang, Discovery, fifth; and tied for sixth, Chris Baker, Liberty and William Spanier and Erin Kueck, Discovery.

In elementary, Constance Wang from Rainbow was first-place winner. Other winners were Joshua Lin, third, Madison; Om Badhe, fifth, Mill Creek; Jenson Wilhelm, sixth, Rainbow; Jacob Holland, seventh, Horizon; Boone Ramsey, ninth, Rainbow; Timothy Zhu, tenth, Columbia; 11th-place tie for Hayden Billmann, Rainbow and Carson Boland and Shreya Sunil, Columbia; and 12th-place tie for Sherwood Dong, Columbia and Will Bao and Edward Calinsky, Rainbow.

Primary awards went to Geon Park, second, Rainbow; Pranaav Satheesh, third, Columbia; Aaron Woods, fourth, Columbia; Zachary Calinsky, fifth, Rainbow; Henry Holland, seventh, Horizon; Alex Lee, eighth, Mill Creek; Chris Zheng, ninth, Heritage; Abhishek Emani, tenth, Columbia; 11th-place tie for Chase Smith, Columbia, Patrick Yoon, Heritage, Corinne Wilhelm, Rainbow, Isaac Pollard, Columbia, Vallabh Busetty, Heritage, Rishi Sethuraj, Mill Creek, Oviya Gowder, Heritage and Saahil Shaik, Heritage.

Bartlett acknowledged event organizer Devonee Woods and “all of the volunteer coaches who help all of our kids in Madison.”