Bradley Denton Places 1st in Georgia State Championship
May 6, 2012 - Atlanta, GA - Bradley Denton brought some rating points back to Alabama tieing for first place at the Georgia State Championship in a field that included 5 life masters and 1 Senior Life Master. Brad's win makes him the second highest rated player in the state (behind IM Emory Tate) with a post-tournament rating of 2308.
ACF Selects Denker and Barber Tournament Representatives
Denker Nominee: Kelly Chen
Kelly Chen, a sophomore at Vestivia Hills High School has been nominated by the Alabama Chess Federation to represent the state at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions. The nomination is based largely on performance at the Alabama Scholastic Championship where Ms. Chen was co-champion and winner of a blitz playoff. She will play against champions from other states in Vancouver, Washington from August 4-7.
Barber Nominee: Steve Chen
Steve Mengxi Chen, a 7th-grader from Spanish Fort who attends Bayside Academy, has been nominated by the ACF to represent Alabama at the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions. The Barber takes place simulatenously with the Denker and the US Open tournament in Vancouver, WA from August 4-7.
Featured Events
A partial listing of chess tournaments around the state in the coming month:
- May 19, 2012 - Birmingham - Summer Scholastic Flyer
- May 26, 2012 - Vestavia Hills - Birmingham Open: Sections: Open, Reserve(<1600), Premier (Scholastic). Flyer
- May 31 - June 3, 2012 - Hoover - ChessKidsNation First Annual Summer Chess Camp: featuring FIDE TRAINER Mr. Visweswaran Kameswaran. Flyer
- June 16, 2012 - Vestavia Hills - Alabama Quick Chess Championship: This is an ACF-sectioned championship; 5-round Swiss Sys pairings; Time Control: G/25 with 3 second time delay. Sections: Open, Reserve(<1500), Scholastic-Rated and Scholastic-Unrated. Due to the time control, this tournament only impacts your USCF Quick rating, not your regular rating. Flyer
2012 Scholastic Champions
Individual Championship
April 28, 2012 - Bessemer, AL - The Alabama State Scholastic Championship listing includes some new names for 2012:
| Section | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | |
| Open | Kelly Chen (blitz playoff winner), Stephen Adams | Jeffrey Byrd | Jeffrey Byrd, Ryan Brown |
| Jr. High (8&9) | LeeAngelo Groves(tiebreak winner), Jonathan Rasberry, Joshua Anders, J. Wesley Brown | Joshua Anders, Tyler J Anthony | Dennis Dergunov |
| Middle School (6-7) | Steve Mengxi Chen | Xhuowei Xu | Sydney Morris |
| Elementary (4-5) | Logan Mercer | Logan Mercer | Vikhram Balagee |
| Primary (K-3) | Arden Markin | Samson Sands | Cheng Zhou |
142 students competed in the tournament held at Watermark Place in Bessemer on Saturday, April 28. This number is nearly double the attendance in 2010 and 2011.
In the open section Kelly Chen and Stephen Adams were tied at the end of the fourth round with 3.5 points. With a nomination to the Denker Tournament of High School Champions on the line, a two-game Blitz playoff was held. Kelly emerged the winner.
Complete Individual Competition Results
Team Championship
137 players competed in the Team competition on Friday, April 27. Each of the 4 sections had 7-10 teams competing. The results were as follows:
| Section | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| School Team - 1st | School Team - 2nd | Club Team Champion | |
| Open (k-12) | Bayside High (tiebreak winner), Indian Springs School | - | ChessKidsNation |
| Jr. High (6-9) | W.J. Christian Jr. High | Bayside Jr. High | CaesarChess |
| Elementary (4-6) | Vestavia Central (tiebreak winner), Randolph School | - | ChessKidsNation |
| Primary (K-3) | Vestavia East Elementary | Deer Valley Elementary | Magic City Chess U |
Complete Team Competition Results
19 AL Scholastic Players in the National Elementary Championship
Follow a bevy of younger scholastic chess players from Alabama who played at the National Elementary [K-8] Championship in Nashville, Tenn. May 11 -13. Follow the tournament results by clicking on the link.