Chicago's Whitney Young High School has claimed yet another national championship, collecting the 12th Grade team championship at the 2018 National K-12 Grade Championships completed December 16 in Orlando, FL. Lead by co-champion Nikhil Kalghatgi's 6.0 and twin brother Akhil's 5.5, WY posted 15.5, two and a half more than each of the three schools who tied for second place.

Secundino Vazquez, Ricky Roman and Robert Bitunjac all posted 4.0's, one of which counted toward the WY team score. On tiebreaks Nikhil earned the second place individual trophy while Akhil garnered third place hardware. Secundino had the highest tiebreak of players rated 1200 to 1399 in the section while Robert took home third place for that ratings cluster.

WY's Deniz Gulecyuz tied for 10th place overall in the 11th grade competition with 5.0/7 points. Schoolmate Tristan Kenny's 3.5 earned a 1200-1399 second place trophy in the 10th grade section. 

Maine West's Layla Rodriguez had the top tiebreak for 1200-1399 competitors in the 9th grade section. Unlike Whitney Young's players, Layla competed without the benefit of a team at the national US Chess event. 

Illinois had no trophy winners in grades eight or seven.

Decatur Classical (Chicago) saw Anujin Namuunbayar win a second place trophy for sixth graders with 800-999 ratings, while Earle STEM's Gavin Harry took third place honors among Under 600's.

Roman Kash -- son of Whitney Young's coach Paul Kash -- earned the second place trophy for 800-999's in the 5th grade division. 

Fourth-Grader Gabriel Gronski earned clear second place in his grade section with 6.5/7. Only a fourth-round draw kept Gabriel from a perfect score.

Illinois saw Colene Hoose (Normal) 3rd grader Vamsi Munaganuri tie for second overall, earning seventh-place hardware on tiebreaks. The Land of Lincoln failed to glean any 1st or 2nd grade awards, but managed a pair of kindergarten trophies: All Saints of Naperville's Ren Lutifyya had the top tiebreak of seven players tied for 5th place with 5.0/7; Scott Escalera of Oak Park finished a half-point back, earning top honors for players rated 800-999 in the section. 

Side Events Earn Illinois Six Trophies

In the National K-12 side events, WY earned fourth place team honors in the K-12 Blitz without the benefit of any overall individual awards. However, Carl Kash -- the other Kash son -- earned the top trophy for 800-999 rateds.

In K-6 Blitz, two Earle STEM of Chicago players earned trophies: Antwain Danner posted 3.0/12, good enough for third place for previously unrateds; Christina Williams earned second place for players rated Under 600 in that side event.

The Kalghatgi's were denied another national Bughouse championship, placing third by a single point with 8.0/10. Teammates Tristan Kenny & Alexander Ursu claimed fifth place hardware, a point back with 7.0. WY's Daniel Zhang & Ricky Roman posted a similar 7.0 but were denied a trophy on lesser tiebreaks.