Madison chess players shine at national championship

Several members of Madison City Chess League received individual awards at the National Elementary Chess Championship. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – At the National Elementary Chess Championship, 42 members of the Madison City Chess League (MCCL) competed with 2,200 contestants from across the country.

Gaylord Opryland Hotel hosted the championship on May 6-8.

During the championship, each student played seven rounds. Each game can last four hours. Several “games lasted past our kids’ normal bedtimes,” MCCL Executive Director Ranae Bartlett said. “For the championship’s last two rounds on Mother’s Day, many mothers were present supporting their kids throughout the day.”

Maanasi Limaye, sixth-grader at Rainbow Elementary School, won a first-place trophy after scoring a perfect 7 points in the K-6 Under 1000 section. Also in that section, Aubteen Pour-Biazar from West Madison Elementary School placed ninth and Shreya Sunil from Columbia elementary school tied for 25th place.

In K-5 U900, Pranav Somu of Mill Creek Elementary School earned fifth place. Other place ranks to Madhdushalini Balaji, Heritage Elementary School, at 34th place, along with a tie for 45th between Rishi Sethuraj of Mill Creek and Yuti Das of Columbia.

For K-3 U800, place awards for Madison included Oviya Gowder, Heritage; Pulak Agarwalla, Decatur Magnet School; and Xavier Bruni of Rainbow.

In K6, Mohak Agarwalla from Cedar Ridge Middle School in Decatur won the Class Prize.

Other competitors were Om Badhe, Alex Povorozniuc and Ethan Xu, Mill Creek; Neha and Puja Chopade, Michael Thomas Nguyen, Pranaav Satheesh, Neil Sethi and Hesham Shikhtholh;

Competing for Rainbow were Luke Chynoweth, Audrey and Catrina Holschen, Nicholas Koukos, Caroline and Constance Wang, Corinne and Jenson Wilhelm, Rachael Ehrman, Ryan Shurtz, Karsten Wallace, Edward and Zachary Calinsky, Will Cox, Ben Kosan, Victor Lundy, Geon Park and and Boone Ramsey.

Vallabh Busetty, Heritage and Swetha Jakka, West Madison also competed.

For teams, Rainbow’s Zachary Calinsky, Will Cox, Ben Kosan, and Maansi Limaye won second place. Columbia Neha and Puja Chopade, Thomas Nguyen, Shreya Sunil and Hesham Shikhtholh ranked seventh.

In the K6 Championship section, Rainbow’s team of Edward Calinsky, Victory Lundy, Geon Park, Boone Ramsey, Jenson Wilhelm and Constance Wang placed eighth.

Coaches were Bill Nash, Noel Newquist, Will Stevenson, Josh McClellan, Paul Mulqueen, Ed Mullin and Bartlett.