June 20, 2017 Sparta Independent Press release - Sparta students are more than pawns at tourney

Sparta students are more than pawns at chess tourney

NASHVILLE, TENN. — With over 5500 players from across the country, the SuperNationals Scholastic Chess Championship remains the largest chess tournament in the world. Sparta and Pope John XXIII brought 32 players to the tournament.

Griffin Brawer of the Helen Morgan School won an individual first, and the Helen Morgan School Chess Team placed second in the K-6 U1000 Section of the National Scholastic Chess Championships held in Nashville, Tennessee.

Griffin went undefeated in leading Sparta ahead of 40 other teams in the event, including 3rd place Franklin County Mississippi, whose team was recently featured on Sixty Minutes. Ayush Iyer had five wins, Ian Bellush had 4 1/2 wins, and Rowan Mendel had four wins. JC Langeraap, Surekha Selvaraj, and Chloe Brawer also contributed to the effort. Barringer Academic Center Of Charlotte, North Carolina placed first.

For the first time, Sparta entered two players in the National High School Championship Section. Although they were total underdogs, Cameron Flores and Daniel Bacon each managed three wins against nationally ranked experts.

Timothy Lee K9 U1250 and Aneesh Iyer K3 U700 received individual recognition for their efforts with 5 wins.

Pope John placed ninth in the K-12 U800 section. Austin Fett and Aiden Hannon each had 4 1/2 wins and were assisted by Nick Karanikas with 4 wins, Griffin Sellinger, Ryan Smith, and David Lubertazzo.

Sparta High had teams in two other sections, Alex Schimpf, and Anthony Esposito each won 4 games in the K12 U1600. Ryan Ryersen had four wins in the K12 U1200 section.