Category: Scholastic
ROCHESTER CHESS TODAY, TUESDAY, APRIL 1 (NO FOOLING!).
Casual chess and kids chess will be featured today, April 1. Doors open at 6 PM.
If you have not done so already, register in advance for the April Slow Swiss (one USCF-rated game per week) which begins on Tuesday, April 8.
A free scholastic chess tournament will be held on Saturday, April 12. Advance registration is required to reserve you spot. See the details below.
APRIL USCF-RATED SLOW SWISS: Three rounds of Game/60+30s increment in a Swiss or quad format beginning on Tuesday, April 8. One game per week. Membership in USCF is required (https://new.uschess.org/join-us-chess). Games start at 6:30 PM. Half-point byes are available for schedule conflicts. Reserve your spot by registering online: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfNjnk_zNQlFSHjC7YrYA2B0PpXtmVYpI69-EwKowOR2Dtgrw/viewform?usp=pp_url
FREE APRIL SCHOLASTIC SWISS: Four rounds of Game/30, d5s in a Swiss Style format will be played on Saturday, April 12. All participants will play 4 games. No elimination. Participating in the K-12 sections requires a USCF membership (https://new.uschess.org/join-us-chess). Contact Dennis Mays for information about a limited number of vouchers for free USCF memberships. The K-2 section will be unrated. Chess sets and clocks will be provided. Half-point byes are available for schedule conflicts. Reserve your spot by registering online: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyCLDiiB8ztTU-QOFi7jjJ1g1Gd_9TDrN48aBEiPL9Ks9sIw/viewform?usp=pp_url
Trophies/medals will be awarded to the top finishers in each section K-2 (unrated), GRADES K-5, GRADES K-8, and GRADES K-12.
Parent/coach volunteers are needed. Sign up to assist in the comments section. Contact Dennis Mays (dennismays101@gmail.com) if you have questions.
Century High School Ties for First Place in the 2025 Minnesota State Scholastic Chess Championship.
The tournament, held at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul on March 8-9, saw 326 students in grades K-12 compete in seven rounds of chess. Teams from all over the state headed to Saint Paul to test their mettle in the tournament. Century High School, Eastview High School and Eden Prairie High School all finished with 19.5 points; the first three-way tie in the K-12 section in more than 60 years.
In the K-12 division, Century High School freshman Johan Myburgh placed first in the under 1300 USCF rating while his teammate, freshman Joshua Wang, took second place.
In the K-8 division, Schaeffer Academy’s Isaac Gommels placed 15th. John Adams’ Luke Sellon tied for eighth place.
The Rochester Math & Science Academy placed seventh with 13 points and was led by Hamza Suleiman who ranked third in the under 700 USCF rating division. Lourdes High School senior Jack Dougan also placed 4th in the group.
Mayo High School senior Isaac Ahn took fourth place which qualifies him for the MSCA High School Champions Playoff which begins in April.
In the K-5 division, Rochester Ben Franklin Elementary placed fifth.
ROCHESTER AREA SCHOLASTIC CHESS LEAGUE FINAL RESULTS
RASCL 25th Anniversary is Silver For Century HS
By Chuck Handlon, Rochester Area Scholastic Chess League. February 22, 2025.
The Rochester Area Scholastic Chess League finished its 25th (silver) anniversary. Silver is one of Century’s school colors and the Century chess team defended the RASCL City Cup defeating Mayo HS 4 ½ to ½ in the championship round. Century, the second seed, defeated the Homeschool team 5 – 0 and Mayo, regular season champions and first seed, had defeated Byron 3 – 2 in the semifinals. The Homeschool team then defeated Byron 5 – 0.
The RASCL City Cup is a coveted trophy awarded to the high school which wins the varsity playoff between the top four regular season teams. The winner gains bragging rights and holds the trophy for the year. The City Cup Trophy, however, has spent most of its time in the Century Chess trophy case since Century has won it 14 out of 25 times.
The top five varsity RASCL players based on board points gained during the season were awarded trophies. Isaac Ahn, senior, Mayo was first while Isaac Sellon, Mayo sophomore and Calder Nguyen, Century freshman tied for second. Johann Myburgh, Century freshman was third. Dylan Park, Lourdes freshman and Cole Lappi, Century sophomore tied for fourth. Luke Sellon 8th grader from John Adams and Evan Lujan, Byron junior tied for fifth.
The RASCL All League team named by the RASCL coaches consists of Century sophomore Cole Lappi, Lourdes ninth grader Dylan Park, Byron junior Evan Lujan, Ibrahim Abdalla Rochester Math & Science Academy, senior Isaac Ahn of Mayo, and Jaydon Zempel Homeschool team. Byron HS coach Jacob Findley was named the RASCL Coach of the Year.
There was a concurrent RASCL Swiss Open Tournament at Century for junior varsity players and varsity players on teams which did not qualify for the varsity city cup. Ansh Singh, Kellogg Middle School, was the first-place winner with 3.5 out of 4 points, Wilson Wang, John Adams Middle School, took second, Dylan Park, Lourdes was third, Hamza Suleiman, Rochester Math and Science Academy fourth and Charlie Meyer, homeschool, fifth. Lourdes HS won the team trophy.
Although the RASCL City Cup Tournament is the culmination of scholastic chess in Rochester, the Minnesota State Chess Association (MSCA) K – 12 State Championship Tournament will conclude the overall 2025 scholastic chess season. Many of the Rochester players will participate in the MSCA State Championship which will be held the weekend March 8th and 9th at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. A RASCL press release will be made later to announce those results.
For more information contact RASCL Secretary Chuck Handlon chuckwheelerhandlon@gmail.com
ROCHESTER AREA SCHOLASTIC CHESS LEAGUE
2024 – 2025 REGULAR SEASON FINAL STANDINGS, FEB 12, 2025
| VARSITY | Match Record W-L-T | League Points | Game Points |
| 1. Mayo | 6 – 0 | 6.0 | 23.5 |
| 2. Century | 5 – 1 | 5.0 | 23.5 |
| 3. Homeschool | 4 – 2 | 4.0 | 18.5 |
| 4. Byron | 2 – 3 – 1 | 2.5 | 13.5 |
| 5. Lourdes | 2 – 4 | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| 6. STEM Academy | 1 – 5 | 1.0 | 6.5 |
| 7. John Marshall | 0 – 5 – 1 | 0.5 | 7.0 |
| Player | Match Record W-L-T | Board Points | School | Grade |
| 1. Isaac Ahn | 5 – 0 | 50 | M | 12 |
| Isaac Sellon | 5 – 0 | 45 | M | 10 |
| 2. Calder Nguyen | 4 – 1 – 1 | 45 | C | 9 |
| Johan Myburgh | 6 – 0 | 43 | C | 9 |
| Dylan Park | 4 – 0 | 40 | L | 9 |
| 4. Cole Lappi | 4 – 1 – 1 | 40 | C | 10 |
| Luke Sellon | 4 – 0 – 1 | 34 | M | 8 |
| 5. Evan Lujan | 5 – 1 | 34 | B | 11 |
| Jadon Zempel | 4 – 2 | 33 | H | 10 |
| Josh Wang | 2 – 0 – 1 | 28 | C | 9 |
| 8. James Hill | 4 – 0 | 26 | H | |
| 9. Max Rivera | 3 – 3 | 24 | M | 12 |
| 10. Ryder Selnes | 2 – 2 – 1 | 22 | JM | 8 |
| 10. Uriah Vangness | 2 – 0 – 1 | 22 | H | |
| 11. Asa Cape | 3 – 0 | 21 | H | |
| 12. Zeke Vangness | 2 – 1 | 20 | H | |
| 13. Sammy Shao | 3 – 0 | 19 | M | 12 |
| 13. Ibrahim Ahmed | 2 – 3 | 19 | SA | 11 |
| 14. Chase Stenzel | 2 – 2 | 17 | B | 9 |
| 15. Connor Nation | 2 – 3 | 16 | L | 12 |
| 16. Wilson Wang | 1 – 1 – 1 | 14.5 | JM | 7 |
| 17. Ibrahim Abdalla | 2 – 1 | 14 | SA | 12 |
| 18. Ansh Singh | 2 – 0 | 13 | C | 8 |
| 18. Cameron Vilhaver | 1 – 1 – 1 | 13 | JM | |
| 19. Breckin Ryan | 1 – 2 – 1 | 12 | L | 12 |
| 19. Jack Noseworthy | 2 – 3 | 12 | M | 8 |
| 19. Andrew Merkel | 2 – 1 | 12 | C | 9 |
| 20. Drew Somheil | 1 – 3 – 1 | 11.5 | L | 12 |
| 20. Cece Meek | 1 – 4 – 1 | 11.5 | B | 10 |
| 21. William Zhao | 1 – 1 | 10 | B | 9 |
| 22. Hamza Suleiman | 0 – 3 – 2 | 9.5 | SA | 9 |
| 23. Ibrahim Ahmed | 1 – 3 | 9 | SA | |
| 23. Gavin Zabel | 1 – 1 | 9 | B | 10 |
| 24. Farhan Mohamed | 1 – 3 | 8 | SA | 11 |
| 24. Noah Sheggeby | 1 – 2 | 8 | JM | |
| 24. James Devlin | 1 – 5 | 8 | H | |
| 25. Chloe Callahan | 1 – 4 | 7 | B | 12 |
| 25. Nuradin Abdalla | 1 – 4 | 7 | SA | 11 |
| 26. Max Orth | 1 – 2 | 6 | L | 12 |
| 26. Charlie Meyer | 1 – 0 | 6 | H | |
| 26. Thomas Robertson | 1 – 0 | 6 | H | |
| 26. Giada Barnes | 1 – 0 | 6 | M | |
| 26. Conner Esser | 1 – 1 | 6 | B | 11 |
| 26. Judah Rigles | 1 – 1 | 6 | C | 8 |
| 26. Gavin Shanks | 1 – 1 | 6 | B | 11 |
| 27. Sanvitha Vallurupalli | 0 – 2 – 1 | 4.5 | JM | 8 |
| 28. Josh Scripture | 0 – 1 | 0 | H | |
| 28. Jack Dougan | 0 – 2 | 0 | L | 12 |
| 28. Yonis Mohamed | 0 – 1 | 0 | SA | 11 |
RASCL 2025 City Cup
Mayo 3 Byron 2 Century 5 Homeschool 0
Championship Consolation
Mayo ½ Century 4 ½ Homeschool 5 Byron 0
RASCL Swiss Open
Ansh Singh 1st Kellogg
Wilson Wang 2nd John Adams
Dylan Park 3rd Lourdes
Hamza Suleiman 4th STEM Academy
Charlie Meyer 5th Homeschool
RASCL Varsity Top Five
Isaac Ahn 1st Mayo
Isaac Sellon 2nd Mayo
Calder Nguyen 2nd Century
Johan Myburgh 3rd Century
Cole Lappi 4th Century
Dylan Park 4th Lourdes
Luke Sellon 5th Mayo
Evan Lujan 5th Byron
RASCL All League
Cole Lappi Century
Evan Lujan Byron
Jadon Zempel Homeschool
Dylan Park Lourdes
Issac Ahn Mayo
Ibrahim Ahmed STEM Academy
John Marshall
RASCL 2024 – 25 Coach of the Year Jacob Findley