The 2025 May Scholastic Tournament is Complete! The tournament took place last Sunday, May 18. Hours of play brought joy and excitement to the kids playing in it. It truly takes a lot to participate in such tournaments and it may feel anxious for some to compete, but here are the winners of the tournament across 3 sections to reward these intelligent children.
Under 400 Section
The U400 section was the exciting one as we saw a 3-way tie for the first place as well as a 2-way tie for the 4th. Here are the standings and a group photo of everyone who was lucky enough to receive a trophy. These group of players showed the necessary determination to come out on top. Great Job Everybody!
- T1 – Yassine Abdelrahman – 4 pts
- T1 – Evan Liu – 4 pts
- T1 – Elijah Acampora – 4 pts
- T4 – Mathiyugan Esakkimuthu – 3 pts
- T4 – Yahia Abdelrahman – 3 pts
I was lucky enough to interview Yassine Abdelrahman – the person who earned the first place in tiebreaks. In order to prepare for tournaments like this one, Yassine told me that he plays a lot of games with his dad, showing how practice is absolutely necessary to compete. When asked to give an advice for beginners and others wanting to win chess tournaments like this, Yassine simply responded “Be confident in yourself.” Confidence seems to be the deciding factor for him.
Under 800 Section
Unlike the U400 section, the U800 section saw a clear winner – Eric Wang, getting 4.5 points in his 5 games. It’s a truly impressive achievement, especially in the section where we had the most people participate – 19 to be exact. He isn’t the only person to walk away undefeated, however, as Allan Gomez and Trevor Chan didn’t face a loss once through the 5 games as well. Here are the top 5 players who participated in the May Scholastic U800 section along with an image of these bright minds.
- 1 – Eric Wang – 4.5 pts
- T2 – Allan Gomez – 4 pts
- T2 – Trevor Chan – 4 pts
- 4 – Alex Monro – 3.5 pts
- T5 – Angie Zheng – 3 pts
Under 1100 Section
The U1100 Section always sees some of the most competitive chess at our scholastic tournaments. The tensions are high, but the harder it is to win, the sweeter the victory. It takes a lot of practice and dedication to end up on a podium in this section, so congratulations to everyone who earned their respective trophies this past Sunday! Here are the top 5 participants of the U1100 section. Remember these names!
- 1 – Liam Sheng – 4 pts
- T2 – Albert Holt IV – 3.5 pts
- T2 – Raiyan Shameem – 3.5 pts
- 4 – Jayden Wong – 3 pts
- T5 – Henryk Bletsos – 2 pts
What’s Next?
Practice is necessary to get to earn a trophy like these players in this blog post. ChessPalace provides practice and tournament opportunities for all levels. Make sure to check out the calendar to see what’s next, but here are some of the upcoming events and tournaments you can sign up for:
- Blitz Tournament (May 30)
- Saturday Tournament (May 31)
- Amateur Tournament (June 8)
- Grandmaster Lecture on the Ruy Lopez opening (June 14)
- Scholastic Tournament (June 22)
- Grandmaster Lecture and Simul Exhibition games (June 29)
Also make sure to check out our upcoming Chess Summer Camp for kids aged 6-14. There are still open spots available!
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