Sixty-five K-8 students participated in the 2023 National Chess Day Scholastic Community Education Tournament held on October 14 at the Northrop Community Education Center in Rochester. Students competed in three sections based on their playing experience. The tournament was a collaboration between Community Education, especially CE coordinator Joshua Halverson, and Rochester Chess. Countless volunteers and parents helped make the tournament a success. The tournament has been rated by USCF: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202310141722-30906862

All of the participants are winners. Playing chess develops critical thinking skills which will help them in life. The beginner K-2 section was won by Owen Chen, a kindergartener at Irving Pertzsch, with a perfect 3-0 score.

The Novice section (grades 3-8) was won by Catherine Li (6th grade at Kellogg) and Logan Anderson (4th grade at Franklin). Both tied for first place with perfect scores of 4 – 0.

Rishab Jain (5th grade at Aspen Academy) finished in first place in the K-8 advanced USCF-rated section with a perfect score of 4 – 0.

Chess Improvement: If you want to improve at chess, please consider working with a chess coach. WFM Jovana Milosevic and Life Master Thompson offer lessons online or in-person, respectively. You can find more information under improvement on the website homepage: https://rochesterchess.com/#