Forty-three schools were represented in the inaugural Illinois Elementary School Association’s Chess Championships. The tournament was held Feb. 18th and 19th in the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, IL. The tournaments of the IESA are open only to students of member schools. As with most IESA events, there was an 8th grade championship (open to students in the 5th to 8th grades) and a 7th grade championship (open to students in the 5th to 7th grades). A total of 289 students competed in the two divisions. The tournament format was a Board Swiss with each school allowed one student at each of the boards 1 through 4 and up to three at board 5 (only the top scorer counting for team purposes on board 5) in each division.

The top four teams in each division received a trophy as did the top 5 scorers at each of the five boards in both divisions. Daniel Wright (Lincolnshire) dominated the competition while becoming both the 7th and 8th grade team champions and capturing 10 individual medals. Four individual medals were won by students from Bloomington JHS, Washington (Rockford), Washington (Peoria), and Chiddix (Normal). Complete results can be located at http://www.iesa.org/activities/chs/

Prior tournament experience was limited for most of the players and coaches and was the first chess event held by the IESA. The IESA was advised by, and the tournament staff populated with, highly experienced USCF tournament directors resulting in the tournament running smoothly and on schedule. IESA computer expert Craig Johnson’s program enabled the combining of the board scores into a team score and had the pairings and results displayed in a timely fashion on the IESA website accessible to parents and coaches via the free WiFi in the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The tournament staff included Mike Zacate, NTD (Chief TD); Walter Brown, NTD (Floor Chief); Betsy Dynako, NTD (7th Grade Chief); Jeff Smith, STD (8th Grade Chief); and Jim Aman, STD (Pairing Chief).

IESA Associate Executive Director Nicole Schaefbauer, Administrator for Chess, will hold the Chess Advisory Committee Meeting in late March to consider recommendations for changes to the IESA chess program. She and her staff were highly praised by all for the excellent arrangements and logistics in the running of the tournament.