News

Super Nationals VI set record attendance with 5,577 students competing in grades K-12 in Nashville, TN May 12-14, 2017.  Madison City Chess League set its own record with 78 students competing in individual and team categories.  Teams from Madison City Schools were coached by Ed Mullin, Will Stevenson, Paul Mulqueen and Jonathan Rasberry.  Rainbow Chess Team sponsor Nancy Brandon and MCCL Executive Director Ranae Bartlett also helped support and supervise our students.

Saturday MCCL Group Photo

Team Awards

Record attendance produced a record nine team awards at this national chess tournament!  

Teams receiving awards were:

• Rainbow Elementary K3 U1000 team - 2nd place - Karsten Wallace, Artem Starenki, Caroline Wang, Marek Fries, and Landon Drummond.
• Discovery Middle K9 U1250 team - 4th place - Maanasi Limaye, Edward Calinsky, Will Cox, Aubteen Pour-Biazar, and Thomas Nguyen.
• Rainbow Elementary K3 U700 team - 9th place - Arnav Maskey, Monica Chynoweth, Audrey Holschen, and Andrew Nguyen.
• Rainbow Elementary K1 U500 team - 9th place - Holland Lang, Noah Hsu, and Blaise Bruni.
• Discovery Middle K12 U1600 team - 9th place - Josh Lin, Will Bao, Jenson Wilhelm, and Hayden Billmann.
• Horizon Elementary K3 U1000 team - 12th place - Cole Spanier and Nirvana Rajbhandari
• Bob Jones HS K12 U1200 team - 22nd place - Mark Skrabanek, Hugh Michell, Grace Billmann, William Spanier and Erin Kueck.
• Rainbow Elementary K5 U900 team - 25th place - Luke Chynoweth, Catrina Holschen, Owen Lang, and Corinne Wilhelm.
• Rainbow Elementary K12 U1600 team - 26th place - Constance Wang, Victor Lundy, Geon Park, and Xavier Bruni.

Individual Awards

Students receiving individual awards were:

• Mohak Agarwalla - K12 U1900 - 20th place tie
• Pulak Agarwalla - K5 U1200 - 10th place & K3 Blitz 3rd place class prize 1100-1199
• Madhushalini Balaji - K5 U900 - 45th place tie
• Carson Boland - K8 U1000 - 20th place tie
• Vallabh Busetty - K8 U750 - 35th place tie
• Luke Chynoweth - K5 U900 - 18th place tie (6 pts)
• Will Fox - K9 Championship - 3rd place class prize 1400-1599
• Ben Kosan - K8 U1000 - 20th place tie
• Holland Lang - K1 U500 - 11th place
• Maanasi Limaye - K9 U1250 - 3rd place (6 pts)
• Josh Lin - K12 U1600 - 45th place tie
• Sohan Mynampally - K8 U1000 - 20th place tie
• Michael Nguyen - K12 U800 - 24th place
• Aaditya Saxena - K3 U700 - 10th place (6 pts)
• Rishi Sethuraj -K6 U1000 - 26th place
• Artem Starenki - K3 U1000 - 15th place tie
• Shreya Sunil - K12 U1200 - 23rd place
• Karsten Wallace - K3 U1000 - 15th place tie
• Constance Wang - K12 U1600 - 45th place tie

Three students achieved 6 points at Super Nationals:  Maanasi, Aadi, and Luke!

Super Nationals was filled with star power as numerous Grand Masters including Gary Kasparov were on hand to sign autographs, conduct simuls, and meet the kids who were competing.  A Girls Chess Club offered an escape for our girls and opportunity to meet some very accomplished female players.  And MCCL offered a team room to its members so they could have a place to be in between rounds and coaches to analyze games.

Super Nationals only occurs once every four years, and our kids made the most of their experience.   The Madison City Chess League thanks those who have donated to our organization throughout the year and our members who pay dues to help support the organization.  This enables us to provide coaches, team rooms and the supplies our kids need to compete.

Super Nationals V in 2013 - A Walk Down Memory Lane

"If I could l name the one event that led me to start the Madison City Chess League, it was the the first Super Nationals tournament I attended in May 2013," said Ranae Bartlett.  I remember the spectacle of it all with a then-record 5,335 students competing. I accompanied seven kids from Rainbow Elementary and experienced a tournament like none other.  We were so proud to end that event with one team of two students from Rainbow (Jenson Wilhelm and Mercedes Zich) winning 23rd place in the K3 Unrated section.  We hung out all three days in the designated Skittles area of the Ryman Ballroom in the Convention Center.  That was our team's first national trophy. It was overwhelming, but at the same time, it made me realize we needed to step up our game to succeed.

The wheels began to turn, and I was introduced to ChessKid.com, which had a booth at Super Nationals. I knew I needed to get more kids in Madison competing at chess, not just those at Rainbow, to help everyone improve their skills.  I needed to find coaches to work with our kids.  The Madison City Chess League (MCCL) formed in July 2013 with Coach Bill Nash offering a lesson and then allowing kids to play with each other on Monday nights.

Four years ago, I found out what a team room cost at an event like Super Nationals, and did not see how we could ever afford one.  Today, it is entirely a different story.   Forming a non-profit organization like MCCL enables us to receive charitable donations and provide our kids with the resources they need to succeed.  Were it not for the generous support of our donors, we would not be able to compete at national tournaments like Super Nationals.