All-Girls Nationals: Ballantyne Ties with Chen and Wins UTD Scholarship
By Shaun Smith   
April 20, 2010
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Rochelle Ballantyne proudly holds her UTD scholarship
The 2010 edition of the All-Girls Nationals which is presented by the Kasparov Chess Foundation (See a slideshow on the KCF homepage) in association with the USCF and the University of Texas at Dallas offered girls of all ages a chance to become national champions in their given age categories. 
 
The 18 and under section in the Girls Championship was competitive all the way to the last game.  Going into the last round, Anna Matlin from the Cranbury School in New Jersey led the section with 4.5 out of 5 points.  She was followed closely by Brooklyn Tech's Rochelle Ballantyne and Ohio State University's Danni Chen, who each had 4 out of 5 points. Chen was paired with Matlin on board one and Ballantyne was paired with Emma Reuder from Minnesota on board two. 
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Danni Chen
Ballantyne won her last game quickly to move to 5-1.  Danni Chen took advantage of Matlin's low time and took home the full point and the upset win.  In the end, Chen and Ballantyne tied for first place.  Rochelle Ballantyne took the first place trophy and the Academic Distinction Scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas, vauled at ~$68,000 to an out-of-state student. 

18 and Under Winners
1st Place - Rochelle Ballantyne, Brooklyn Technical HS (New York), 5-1
2nd Place - Danni Chen, Ohio University (Ohio), 5-1
3rd Place - Anna Matlin, Cranbury School (New Jersey), 4.5-1.5
4th Place - Alexandra Botez, Clackamas HS (Oregon), 3.5-2.5
5th Place - Yue Xu, Urbana Middle School (Illinois), 3.5 - 2.5 

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Fiona Lam
16 and Under Winners
1st Place - Fiona Lam, Richard Montgomery HS (Maryland), 4.5-1.5
2nd Place - Anna Delamerced, Summit Country Day School (Ohio), 4.5-1.5
3rd Place - Alexandra Weiner, Staples HS (Connecticut), 4.5-1.5
4th Place - Indira Puri, Durham Academy (North Carolina), 4.5-1.5
5th Place - Jasmine Fermin, James Madison HS (New York), 4-2 

14 and Under Winners
1st Place - Jessica Regam (Pennsylvania), 5.5-.5
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Jessica Regam

2nd Place - Lillia Poteat (New York), 4.5-1.5
3rd Place - Ashley Xue (Virginia), 4.5-1.5
4th Place - Joie Wang (Virginia), 4.5-1.5
5th Place - Asha Kapengut (New York), 4.5-1.5 

12 and Under Winners
1st Place - Apurva Virkud, Baker Middle School (Michigan), 5.5-.5
2nd Place - Kate Tokareva, Redmond JHS (Washington), 5-1
3rd Place - Madeline Kim, Roland Park Country School (Maryland), 5-1
4th Place - Shivani Shanmugadas, Millburn MS (New Jersey), 4.5-1.5
5th Place - Cheri Agner, Wendell MS (North Carolina), 4.5-1.5 
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The IS 318 Under 12 All-Girls team


10 and Under Winners
1st Place - Maggie Feng, Dublin Deer Run Elementary (Ohio), 5.5-.5
2nd Place - Sangeeta Dhingra, Louisa May Alcott Elementary (Washington), 5-1
3rd Place - Soumya Kulkarni, Oakley Park Elementary (Michigan), 5-1
4th Place - Samritha Palakollu, Milltown Primary School (New Jersey), 5-1
5th place - Charlie Reeder, PS 334m (New York), 5-1 

8 and Under Winners
1st Place - Joanna Liu, Weibel Elementary School (California), 5.5-.5
2nd Place - Priya Trakru, Hudson Elementary (Texas), 5-1
3rd Place - Alexandra Timofte, Oxford Elementary (Mississippi), 5-1
4th Place - Sophia Zhang, Hunter Elementary (New York), 4.5-1.5
5th Place - Eszter Morvay, Hewitt Elementary (New York), 4.5 - 1.5

See the All-Girls Nationals final results & standings here.