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FORTY-FIVE STUDENTS COMPETE IN FIRST-EVER KAY HUGHETT SCHOLASTIC CHESS TOURNAMENT

The Grant County Chess Team played host to the first-ever Kay Hughett Scholastic Chess Tournament on Saturday, February 22, 2014, at Crittenden-Mt. Zion Elementary.

The tournament is named in honor of CMZ’s recently retired Family Resource Director, Mrs. Kay Hughett, (aka “The Chess Queen Mum”), who in 2008 introduced just a handful of CMZ elementary students to the game of chess as a means of teaching specific disciplines. With the invaluable assistance of volunteer coach, Mr. Seth Fulk, lots of enthusiastic parent support, and several staff sponsors, Grant County’s program grew to involve more than 60 students at five Grant County Schools: Dry Ridge Elementary, Sherman Elementary, Crittenden-Mt. Zion Elementary, Grant County Middle School, and Grant County High School. They also added another coach, Mr. Jonathan Creech.

Teams compete at various local tournaments each year, and in the Spring of 2013, both GCMS teams (K6 Under 1000 and K8 Under 1000) earned a national ranking, 24th and 23rd place respectively, at the SuperNationals in Nashville, Tennessee -- a national tournament which attracted more than 1000 teams, with more than 5300 players.

This year, however, it was necessary to restructure the program as the popularity and growth required more coaches at more schools than were available. The program continues now, organized largely by supportive parents of players eager to continue in the sport.

At the Kay Hughett Scholastic Chess Tournament held February 22, 2014, there were 45 players, including players from Ohio and Lexington, KY who competed in 4 categories: K2, K5, K8, and K12 with the following results:

 K2 OVERALL
K5 OVERALL
1st - Luke Hillman, CMZ 1st - Gabe Gatsos**
2nd - Jenna VanScoy* 2nd - Malhaar Nair**
3rd - Luke Hyden, SES 3rd - Rob Gilligan**
4th - Hunter Etler, CMZ 4th - Max Carlson**
5th - Ivan VieBrooks, SES 5th - Will Fulk, CMZ


HONORABLE MENTION:

Anna VieBrooks, SES

Julia Hyden, SES


K8 OVERALL K12 OVERALL
1st - Seth Sutton, GCMS 1st - Dylan Strong, GCHS
2nd - Austin Creech, GCMS
3rd - Jason Humphrey*
4th - Dylan Strong, GCHS
5th - Timothy Moore, GCMS

Also, at United States Chess Federation (USCF) tournaments players come into the event with a certain rating (such as Under 600 or Under 800) based upon their previous tournament play. At the end of the tournament, they are able to see how they performed against other participants with similar ratings. Those rankings are as follows:

K5 UNDER 800 TOP 2 TEAMS
1st - Conner Everson, CMZ 1st - Metathorpe
2nd - Hari Sethuraman ** 2nd - Grant County
3rd - Ross Hillman, CMZ


K8 UNDER 800 TOP 2 TEAMS
1st - Alex Smith, GCMS       1st - Grant County
2nd - Blake Robertson, GCMS 2nd - Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
3rd - London Fry, GCMS



Congratulations to all and a special thanks to all who helped organize this event!


In more chess news….
Quad C Chess Tournaments
(KY Regional Tournament) Results
Saturday, February 1, 2014 – Lexington, KY

Grant County Chess Teams from Sherman Elementary, Crittenden-Mt. Zion Elementary, Grant County Middle School and Grant County High School participated in the Quad C Chess Tournament (Kentucky Regional Tournament) in Lexington, KY, on Saturday February 1, 2014, with the following results:

Sherman Elementary K3 Team – Julia Hyden and Luke Hyden – received 5th place and have qualified to participate in the State Chess Tournament on March 15.

Crittenden-Mt. Zion Elementary K3 Team – Hunter Etler, Luke Hillman, and Will Fulk – received 4th place, and have qualified to participate in the State Chess Tournament on March 15.

Grant County Middle School K8 Team – listed below – received 2nd place and have qualified to participate in the State Chess Tournament on March 15.

Seth Sutton Austin Creech
Carter Petrey London Fry
Timothy Moore David Cole
Jaiden Baldwin Kody Etler
Cole Fulk Austin Helmer
Tanner Isaacs Jacob Michels
Tyler Moore Caleb Phillippi
Blake Robertson Alex Smith
Jake Sobecki

Congratulations and best wishes to all of our chess players, their parents and sponsors!