The Junior High Nationals was held in sunny Florida from April 25-27. The city of Kissimmee, right next to Orlando and Disney World, was the host. Michigan had one of the best turn-outs outside of New York and the host state, Florida.

In the K-9 Championship section, Michigan Junior Co-Champion, Aaron Kahn scored five points to place 20th.

Monroe brought teams to compete in two different sections. In the K-9 Championship, their team took 12th place. They were led by Gerald Paulovich’s four and a half points, which earned Gerald the trophy for 2nd U1400. In the K-8 U1250 section, their team claimed 21st place. Katrina Snyder and Brad Castellese both scored four points to earn the 14th and 15th U1050 prizes, respectfully.

Also in the K-8 U1250 section, Jamonte Brown from Detroit Barbour scored five points to place 27th. Julian Washington from Detroit Paul Robeson took the 5th place U1050 prize.

Detroit Hutchins had teams finish in the top 10 in both the K-8 U1000 and K-8 U750 sections. The K-8 U1000 team placed 6th, with three players each scoring five points. Adrian Berry placed 22nd, Gerald Dixon placed 27th, and Leon Vaughn placed 29th. The K-8 U750 team from Hutchins took clear second place. All four of their top scorers earned place prizes. Anthony Hunter led the team with six points and a 4th place finish. David Smith scored five and a half to earn 17th place. Jeremy Hepburn (25th) and Eric Stokely (46th) each scored five points. Danielle Hendricks also earned the 3rd U550 prize.

Also earning prizes in the K-8 U1000 section was Jonathan Evans (10th) from Detroit Paul Robeson with five and half points and Muhammed Mamu (2nd U600) from Detroit Bates.

Detroit Burton placed a respectable 17th place and was led by Sagor Bhuiyan with five points and placing 29th. Detroit Longfellow was 19th place and led by Max Washington’s 26th place finish with five points.

The Elementary Nationals was in Nashville, TN from May 9-11 at the Opryland Convention Center. There were nearly 2400 overall participants in seven sections.

Michigan’s K-6 team champions, Lansing Montessori, competed as a team at the nationals in the K-6 section and scored 5th place. Neal Anderson (17th) and Chris Autera-Polzin (25th) both scored five points. Teammates Ben White and Zachary Dvorak added valuable points in a tough section. More to come on these guys in a future issue of Michigan Chess.

Louiza Livschitz also competed in the K-6 section and scored five and a half for a 12th place finish. Jennifer Livschitz was in the K-3 section where four points earned her the 3rd U800 prize. In the K-1 section, Atulya Shetty scored six points and place 6th.

The K-6 U1000 section is where Michigan added another National Champion. Jonathan Evans scored a perfect 7-0 to take first place to go along with a solid performance in the Junior High tournament. His rating has jumped more than 300 points in the process. This also helped his team, Detroit Paul Robeson, to a 6th place finish in the team standings. Wendell Scott added five points to place 23rd. Ishmael Thomas score four and a half and earned the 1st U800 prize.

Detroit Bates also did well as a team in the K-6 U1000 by placing 4th. Six points and a 6th place finish from James Canty III led the way. Dalton Barksdale and Muhammad Mamur both scored five points in tying for 25th place.

Also earning prizes in the K-8 U1000 section were Anders Johnson from Okemos Chippewa tying for 25th place with five points and Brandon Person from Detroit Dewey Center scoring four points to place 3rd U600.

There were two teams in the K-5 U900 section earning trophies. Otsego St. Margaret’s placed 14th led by John Westhoff (tied 25th) with five and a half points. Detroit Dewey Center placed 23rd as a team. Vu Hoang from Okemos Wardcliff also tied for 25th place with five and a half points.

Lansing Montessori also had a team competing in the K-3 U800 section. Led by Noah White’s 11th place finish with six points, the team took 18th place.

Congratulations to all prize winners at the Nationals. To those of you whom did not take home a prize, remember that the competition and experience are the most important part of playing in these tournaments. My fondest memories playing chess are the trips that I took to the Nationals with my team when I was in high school. I am living proof that chess can be a life-long pursuit.