(Crossville, TN) The United States Chess Federation (USCF) held its 2006 National Youth Action (NYA) Chess Championship at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 265 Peachtree St., Atlanta, Georgia Friday, November 17 through Sunday, November 19.

The main event consisted of nine rounds; players play one game per round with a time control of 30 minutes per player. Primary (K-3), Elementary (K-6), Junior High (K-9) and High School (K-12) make up the four sections of the championship. The event also offered team competition in each of the four sections and they too are competing for a national title.   The 404 young chess enthusiasts represented 24 states!

Individual and Team Champions were:
K-12 High School: (Individual) Christopher Williams rated 2175  of Massachusetts with a score of 8.5 points; (Team)Searcy High School of Arkansas with 21 points.
K-9 Junior High School: (Individual) Hartley Chiang rated 1912 of Georgia scored 8.5; (Team) Atlanta Chess Center with 30 points.
K-6 Elementary: (Individual) Kevin Wang of Maryland rated 1816 with a score of 8.5; (Team) Atlanta Chess Center with 26.5.
K-3 Primary: (Individual) Venkat E. Tummala of Georgia rated 1307 finished with 7.5 points; (Team) Zone Chess Club of Miami won with 21.5 points.

2006 NYA Blitz Chess Championship on Friday, November 17 at 6:30pm. Blitz chess is played with a time control of five minutes per player per game.  Ryan Joseph Moon of Georgia won the K-6 Blitz with 10.0 and Nikolas J. Theiss rated 1343 of Maryland won the K-12 Blitz with 12.0 points. The second event, 2006 NYA Bughouse Championship was won by Bughouse Team C. Williams and X. Chang with a 10.5 score. Bughouse is a two-player team chess variant and the time control is five minutes per game! 

USCF’s Scholastic Director Jerry Nash had a chess exhibition, “simul”, with selected Atlanta School chess enthusiasts which was a success!  The simul will be followed by a discussion with Orrin Hudson on his newly released book, “One Move At A Time” and Orrin will also shared some of his chess experiences.  Mr. Hudson was also available in the bookstore on Sunday at 2:30 for an autograph session.
Additional details related to these events can be found at: http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2006/NYA/   click on “Results”.

The United States Chess Federation (USCF), founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is now headquartered in Crossville, Tennessee. USCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with over 80,000 members.
For additional information on the USCF see: http://www.uschess.org.