Results for the Winter Solstice Scholastic Tournament
December 7, 2013
The 79 players represented twenty-two schools from Washington and Idaho.

 RESULT DETAILS - see results for all players.

  TEAM PLAY - Close race to the end!
Saint George's School again captured the Elementary team trophy with 15 points earned by the school's top four players. Middle and High School mini-teams (three player) Northwest Christian edged out Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy 9 to 8.5 and won the trophy.

Team scores are calculated using the top four players from each school.

  K - 3 Division  Individual Awards
Grand Champion: Evelyn Arquette (5.0)
Grade 3 Winner: Gabrielle Lee (4.5)
Grade 2 Winner: Aditya Bandyopadhyay (4.0)
Grade 1 Winner:  Kelly Cunningham (3.0)
Kindergarten Winner: Per Sande (2.0)

  K - 6 Division  Individual Awards
Grand Champion: Suhang Liu (5.0)
Grade 6 Winner: Shohom Bandyopadhyay (4.0)
Grade 5 Winner: A.J. Stenbeck (-.-)
Grade 4 Winner: Tariq Ravasia (4.0)

  More State Qualifiers from this Tournament
Check the Northwest Rating Service website to see the current list of state qualifiers.

  K - 12 Division Individual Awards
1st place - Ken McGuire (5.0)
2nd place - Alex Popescu ( 4.5)
3rd place - Jack Harris (3.5)

The Winter Solstice revealed continuing growth in scholastic chess in the Spokane area. Our largest local tournament since spring 2009 had 79 players representing 22 schools. Saint George's School again captured the Elementary team trophy with 15 points earned by the school's top four players. For the first time in the past few years, there were several viable mini-teams (three player) in MS/HS section. Northwest Christian edged out Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy 9 to 8.5 and won the trophy.

In the K-3 section, Evelyn Arquette won all five games against solid competitors to earn the Grand Champion title. Gabrielle Lee (4.5) won first in third grade. Aditya Bandyopadhyay (4.0) was first in second grade, edging out Katherine Gunn (4.0) on tie-breaks. Kelly Cunningham (3.0) was the top first grader. Per Sande (2.0) was first in kindergarten.

In K-6, Suhang Liu (5.0) was Grand Champion, followed by Shohom Bandyopadhyay (4.0) as the top sixth grader. Tariq Ravasia (4.0) was first in fourth grade. A.J. Stenbeck took home the trophy for top fifth grader.

The top players in K-12 earned cash prizes. Ken McGuire was first with 5.0. Alex Popescu (4.5) used his lone king to stalemate Jack Harris (3.5) in a round four battle that drew spectators. Alex placed second, and Jack third.

The event featured a second parent/child competition won by the Bandyopadhyay family. Dad was second among the parents, and the strong performance of his sons earned their family a nice chess set.

Tournament commentary provided for by James Stripes

Employment: Coaches are needed in order for us to offer chess clubs in more schools.
For an appointment to learn about a paid coaching position in our scholastic program phone 509-869-2648.