MADISON – For the first time, the All Girls State Chess Championship attracted 46 players to Madison for the meet hosted by Bob Jones High School Chess Club this spring.

Forty-six Alabama girls competed in K-3, K-6 and K-12 sections. The K-12 Champion, Sarvagna Velidandla from Pizitz Middle School, will represent Alabama at the National Girls Tournament of Champions.

“When we asked some girls what it was like playing in a tournament with no boys, they replied, ‘It is awesome!’ Tournament directors commented on how polite and well-behaved all the girls were,” Ranae Bartlett said. Bartlett is Executive Director of Madison City Chess League.

“These girls are the model for good sportsmanship. They are fierce competitors over the board, but best of friends when the round is over,” Bartlett said. “This tournament was long overdue. We hope the Alabama Chess Federation will continue to sanction this event.”

In the K-12 section, individual award winners were Sarvagna Veidandla, Pizitz, first; Constance Wang, Discovery Middle School, second; Shreya Sunil, Liberty Middle School, third; Snekha Rajasekaran, Pizitz, fourth; and Grace Billmann, Bob Jones, fifth. A tie resulted for Nikhita Chintareddy, Pizitz; Madison Gore, Bob Jones; and Yuti Das, Liberty.

In K-12 team standings, Pizitz won first; Bob Jones, second; and Discovery, third. Liberty’s team had the same score as Discovery, but on tie breaks Discovery narrowly edged out Liberty.

In K-6, individual winners, starting in first place, were Nirvana Rajbhandari, Horizon Elementary School; Madhushalini Balaji, Heritage Elementary School; Natalie Guo, Vestavia Hills Elementary School; Oviya Gowder, Heritage; Rachael Ehrman, Rainbow Elementary School; and in a tie Shruti Kadam, Madison Elementary School, Anaya Naphade, Mill Creek Elementary School, Sahithi Mynampally, Mill Creek, and Caroline Wang, Rainbow.

“Not only did Nirvana win this section, but she became the newest member of the MCCL 1000 Club,” Bartlett said.

In K-6, Heritage won first place, followed by Rainbow and Mill Creek. West Madison Elementary School also competed.

In K-3, individual winners, starting in first place, were Laya Gowder, Heritage; Vedika Shenoy, JB Montessori School in Birmingham; Emma Kuang, Rainbow; Samsara Rajbhandari, Horizon; Christina Yang, Madison elementary; and in a tie Sarah Rydbom from Rainbow and Advitiya Kana, Deer Valley School.

In K-3, Rainbow won first place with 8 team points. Mill Creek and Madison elementary tied with 5.5 team points; on tie breaks, Mill Creek won second place.

For more information, visit madisonchess.com.