Forty-four students participated in the December 2024 scholastic chess tournament held on December 14 at Mayo Clinic. The event was expertly directed by Matt Markland. Thank you Matt! Thanks to the many coaches who volunteered their time to help students improve their play by analyzing games between rounds.

First grader Owen Chen finished in first place with a perfect score of 4-0 in the K-2 section. He was followed closely by first grader Henry Beam, who finished in second place with 3 points. Ben Riester, Mia Zhang, and Eric Guo tied for 3rd place with 2 points. It was fun to watch kindergarteners Mia and Eric focus so intently.

The elementary school section was won by Caleb Laber with a score of 3.5-0.5. Kevin Zhang and Westin Christopherson, who were playing in only their second tournament, tied for 2nd place with 3 points each.

Wilson Wang finished in 1st place in the middle school section with a perfect score of 4-0. He was closely followed by Ansh Singh and Luke Sellon who tied for 2nd place with 3 points.

The high school section was won by Cole Lappi with a score of 4-0. Cole has returned to his winning ways in scholastic chess. Johan Myburgh finished in clear second with a score of 3-1. Joshua Wang and Uriah Vangness tied for 3rd place with 2.5 points each.

The next scholastic tournament will be held on January 11, 2025 in the same venue. The format will be similar to the December tournament. Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf24j1SdXS-0WB6OxRnmV679JKoyL8wQNYIqItYsUI1FjBlIw/viewform?usp=pp_url

to reserve your spot.