The last scholastic chess tournament in New York City for the 2007-08 school year took place at PS 116 M June 8, 2008. At 95 degrees plus outside, and not much cooler inside, it was a real scorcher. But as hot as it was, 140 kids still came, played great chess, and took home trophies, medals, and bragging rights. (Not a bad turnout considering the hot day, and considering many private schools had dismissed for summer the week before!)

This time the principal of PS 116, MS HSU, was on hand to lend her moral support and offer advice to her nephew who was playing. And, as is often the case for the last tournament of the year, monies were raised for a worthy cause -- this year for DENISE MORIGI, one of the PS 116 chess moms, who is battling cancer. The chess team from PS 116 and parents who brought students to play in this tournament raised $500. Thanks to everyone, and blessings to Denise as she soldiers on.

NYChessKids tournaments continue to grow and grow due to the support of our kids and parents and the school administrations we work with. And, we like nothing more than to see kids from all over the City, from a myriad of public and private schools, coming to our events, making new friends, and honing their chess skills over the board! And, like last tournament, one student from each section won one free week of summer camp, a $385 value via a drawing.

The NO SCORE section had 17 kids from 10 different schools, some playing in their very first tournament. By coincidence all of them tied for first place! Luckily for the NY Chess Kids staff enough 1st place trophies were on hand to insure that everyone took home what they had worked hard for. Notables in this section were LOLA PICOLLO from PS 116 and STEFANO DEROSSI from ST DAVID'S, both of who showed tenacious play and generosity of spirit.

In the NOVICE 1 section 33 kids played from 12 different schools. For team honors LOWER LAB took 3rd place, PS 116 took 2nd place, and PS 334 took home the 1st place plaque for display at their school. Individual honors in this section were difficult to come by, given the toughness of the competition, it took 3.5 points for JOEY LIU from PS 334 to get 4th place, for DANIEL POSNER from PS 334 to get 3rd on tie-breaks, MAX SCHLIESMAN to get 2nd place with a perfect score of 4.0 points, and ALEXANDER NOLAN to get 1st place on tie-breaks also with a perfect score.

NOVICE 2 prizes were awarded in this section as class prizes, since there were only 2 students in this section who actually played in RESERVE. Taking 2nd in NOVICE 2 was SOREN DUHOFFMAN from PS 163 and taking 1st was RICHARD NEDERLANDER from BWL. The team trophy for 1st went to BWL.

The team awards for K-1 went to NEST, which took home 3rd place, HUNTER which took 2nd place, and PS 116 which took home the 1st place plaque. For individual awards HAEMARU CHUNG from TRINITY took 5th, SEAN SIDI from HUNTER took 4th on tiebreaks, AIDAN MCGORRY from PS 116 took 3rd on tie-breaks, JEFF RODRIGUEZ from NEST took 2nd on tiebreaks, and SAMUEL PADWA took clear 1st with the only perfect score in the section.

The PRIMARY section had 21 kids from 10 different schools. HUNTER took home the 3rd place team award for this section, LOWER LAB took home 2nd, and PS 41 took home the 1st place plaque. Top individual trophies went to WILL CHAPIN from DALTON took 5th, OWEN SULLIVAN from LOWER LAB who took 4th on tie-breaks, DANIEL MINTZ from PS 158 who took 3rd on tie-breaks, LEON LAI from PS 130 who took 2nd on tie-breaks, and BRANDON NYDICK from COLLEGIATE who took clear 1st with a perfect score.

RESERVE had 14 kids from 10 different schools. PS 41 took the 4th place team prize, MARYMOUNT took 3rd on tiebreaks, BWL took 2nd and PS 116 took 1st on tiebreaks. JONATHAN EVANS from NEST took home the 3rd place individual trophy, ADRIAN DURKIN from PS 41 took home 2nd, and LISAKO ISHIKAWA from MARYMOUNT took 1st on tiebreaks.

The CLASSIC section had 13 kids from 6 schools pitted against one another, with BREARLEY taking 3rd place team honors, HUNTER taking 2nd, and PS 116 taking 1st. Top single honors went to ALISA KIKUCHI from PS 116 who placed 4th, LORRAINE SHUB from BREARLEY who placed 3rd, VIDYA BOLLAVARAM who placed 2nd, and TYLER KIM from HUNTER who placed 1st.

OPEN had 15 kids from13 different schools. There were 6 schools that scored 3 points, while CARMEL took home top team honors with 3.5. LEO VIGNA from THE FRENCH LYCEE took 4th on tiebreaks, ALBERT SHUB took 3rd on tiebreaks, ZACHARY TANENBAUM took 2nd on tiebreaks, and ANTHONY PANAT took clear 1st.

CHAMPIONSHIP had 14 kids from 10 different schools. BRONX SCIENCE took clear 3rd place team honors, DALTON took clear 2nd team honors, and HORACE MANN took home the 1st place team plaque. Top individual honors went to KEVIN ROSENBERG from DAVIS who took 5th place, ZACHARY RIVKIN from HORACE MANN who took 4th place on tiebreaks, MILES HINSON from COLLEGIATE who took 3rd on tiebreaks, NICHOLAS NG who took 2nd place after a blitz play-off, and RAVEN STURT who took 1st as a result of the play-off.