2016 Queen's Quest - The Results Are In!
The 2016 Queen's Quest was held at Mill Creek Elementary where students from across Alabama and Tennessee came to compete for trophies and medals and the chance to qualify for the 2017 Madison City Chess Championship. The Madison City Chess League would like to thank the tournament sponsor Sullins Eye Care Center, Mill Creek Elementary and its chess team sponsor Tera Saaristo, and all the parents who volunteered to make this the best Queen's Quest ever! Complete results can be found here.
One special feature of this year's Queen's Quest was a chess bag giveaway sponsored by the House of Staunton. New designs were voted on by competitors and those who favored particular bags were entered in a drawing to win the bag they liked most.
Primary (K-3) Section
Once again the largest section of the entire tournament was the Primary (K-3) section. The youngest competitors were fearless as many found themselves competing in their first rated chess tournament. Indeed, half of the competitors were unrated. The Primary section also saw some new stars emerge as three more students qualified for the 2017 City Chess Championship. These three students--Anaya Naphade (MCES), Landon Drummond and Artem Starenki (both RES) are all members of the All Star Chess Club program.
MCCL awarded 1st through 20th place plus tie break medals and a top female medal. Award winners were (L to R): Row 1: Xavier Bruni (1st), Landon Drummond (2nd), Karsten Wallace (3rd), Anaya Naphade (4th), Artem Starenki (5th), Caroline Wang (6th), Nicholas Koukos (7th), Holland Lang (8th), Arnav Maskey (9th), Aaditya Saxena (10th); Row 2: Isabelle Park (11th), Haley Clark (12th), Colin O'Sullivan (13th), Cole Spanier (14th), Hatch Lombardy (15th), Songla Lee (16th), Ethan Van (17th), Cameron Edwards (19th), Andrew Nguyen (18th), Laya Gowder (20th), John Vaughn, Viraat Veeravalli and Mick Tyrrell (tied for 20th). Top Female: Monica Chynoweth.
Primary Team Awards
Congratulations to the team winners in the Primary section:
1. Rainbow Elementary (17.5 points)
2. Mill Creek Elementary (12 points)
3. Heritage Elementary (11.5 points)
4. West Madison Elementary (8.5 points)
5. Columbia Elementary (8.5 points)
Under 500 (4th-6th grade) Section
Last year, the decision was made to divide the Elementary section of Queen's Quest into an Under 500 and a Championship section. This made competition for students in the largest section of competitive chess in Madison as well as the rest of the United States more meaningful and manageable. This has proven to be a wise decision as we saw a similar number of students register to compete in both the Under 500 and Elementary championship sections this year.
MCCL awarded 1st through 10th place plus tie break medals and a top female medal. Award winners were (first row): Christopher Lobo (1st), Jonas Gislason (2nd), Reed Kibbey (3rd), Reese Freeman (4th), Steven Pan (5th), Swetha Jakka (6th), Rachael Ehrman (7th), Billy Fite (8th), Owen Lang (9th), Mable Danh (10th)--(sponsor Nancy Brandon standing in). Tied for 10th place medals (back row): Liam O'Sullivan, Arjun Reddy, Alaina Brenneman, Coach Luis Morenilla, Simon Fellows, Anish Appala, Lexi Jo Tincknell, James Zesinger, and Shruti Kadam (not pictured). Top Female: May Watson (sponsor Bethany Pauli standing in).
Under 500 Team Awards
Congratulations to the team winners in the Under 500 section:
1. Madison Elementary (13 points)
2. Mill Creek Elementary (12 points)
3. Rainbow Elementary (11 points)
4. Heritage Elementary (9 points)
5. West Madison Elementary (8.5 points)
Elementary (K-6) Section
MCCL awarded 1st through 10th place plus tie break medals and a top female medal. Award winners were (front row): Constance Wang (1st), Geon Park (2nd), Shreya Sunil (3rd), Victor Lundy (4th), Zachary Calinsky (5th), Neil Sethi (6th), Timothy Zhu (7th), Puja Chopade (8th), Ethan Xu (9th), Oviya Gowder (10th). Tied for 10th place medals (back row): Sherwood Dong (not pictured), Neha Chopade, Pranav Somu, Christopher Kang, and Pranaav Satheesh. Top Female: Madhushalini Balaji (not pictured).
Two Elementary section students qualified for the 2017 City Chess Championship: Shreya Sunil (CES) and Zachary Calinsky (RES).
Elementary Team Awards
Congratulations to the team winners in the Elementary championship section:
1. Rainbow Elementary (17 points)
2. Columbia Elementary (14.5 points)
3. Heritage Elementary (10.5 points)
4. Mill Creek Elementary (9.5 points)
Junior High (K-9) Section
MCCL awarded 1st through 10th place plus tie break medals and a top female medal. Award winners were: Will Fox (1st), Josh Lin (2nd), Jenson Wilhelm (3rd), Will Bao (4th), Alex Edwards (5th), Hayden Billmann (6th)-not pictured, Aubteen Pour-Biazar (7th)--not pictured, Maanasi Limaye (8th & top female)--not pictured, Will Cox (9th), and Thomas Nguyen (10th)--not pictured. Tied for 10th place medals: Edward Calinsky, Minh Phan, and Joshua Kacmarzyk--not pictured.
Two DMS students qualified for the 2017 City Chess Championship: Jenson Wilhelm and Will Bao.
Junior High Team Awards
Congratulations to the team winners in the Junior High section:
1. Discovery Middle School (15.5 points)
2. Liberty Middle School (11.5 points)
3. Covenant Christian Academy (3 points)
Open (K-12) Section
MCCL awarded 1st through 5th place plus a top female medal. Award winners were (L to R): William Spanier (1st), Mark Skrabanek (2nd), Douglas Zhang (3rd)--not pictured, Chris Baker (4th)--not pictured, and Owen Phillips (5th)--coach Matt Appleberry standing in. Top Female: Erin Kueck (not pictured). Two Bob Jones HS students qualified for the 2017 City Chess Championship: William Spanier and Mark Skrabanek.
Open Team Award
Congratulations to Bob Jones High School for winning 1st place in the Open section of the Queen's Quest with 12.5 points.