Madison City Chess League players prevail in 2025 State Chess Championship
MADISON – The 72nd Alabama State Chess Championship on Aug. 2931 attracted 95 players who battled it out across several competitive sections — Open, U1600 Reserve, U1200 Amateur and the Open category.
“This turnout and highly competitive level show just how strong and vibrant the chess community is here in Alabama,” Todd Guthrie said. Guthrie serves as Executive Director of Madison City Chess League or MCCL.
The 2025 Alabama State Chess Championship was held in Chelsea with MCCL members participating.
In the Amateur U1200 Section (Under 1200), several scholastic chess players competed from Madison. Three players reached a tie for first place: Blaine Lands (5.0 points. Lands was awarded first place on a tie-break) and Aidan Saldanha and Eshan Deverepalli, both earning 5.0 points.
Both Karthik Panchavati and Keerthana Panchavati finished with 4 points and tied for sixth place in the section. Abigail Barbre and Samuel Liao finished with three points and tied for 13th place. Pratham Kothari and Warner Smith finished with 2 points.
In the Reserve Section (Under 1600), Zixuan Li claimed first place with 5.0 points. The following players reached a tie for second place with 4.5 points: Jonathan Sanchez (awarded second place after a tiebreak); Jacob New, Brian Johnson and Jacob New.
In the Open Section, Xavier Bruni, a student at Bob Jones High School, earned 5 out of 6 points for a solo finish in second place. Bruni’s one loss was to Alabama State Champion Stephen Adams who finished with 5.5 points. Bruni claimed the runner-up position with a win over National Master Matthew Puckett in the final round. in post-tournament, Bruni’s rating is now 2100.
Also in the Open Section, Shawn Choi and Jeffrey Byrd both reached 4.0 points for U1900 Class Prizes.
In other chess-related activities, Madison City Chess League will have a tent in the Teen Zone at Madison Street Festival on Oct. 4. The league is looking for high school and possibly middle school students who are willing to spend time playing chess with people who stop by, along with teaching younger visitors how to play chess. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can email Guthrie at mccl.director@gmail.com.
For full results from the tournament, visit uschess. org/msa/XtblMain.php.
To contact MCCL, email mccl.director@gmail.com, or visit madisonchess. com.
