Record Attendance in Columbus!
By Franc Guadalupe   
April 10, 2015
blitz300.gifBy the time the first round started at the National High School Championships in Columbus, Ohio a record 1,506 players had registered.

What a big "problem" to have!  Two days before the start of the event at the beautiful and colorful facilities of the Battelle Hall of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, it became obvious that the original set-up was not going to accommodate all the players.  

The previous record for this event had been achieved during 2013 SuperNationals V in Nashville, where the High School Championship sections accounted for 1,452 players of that record-breaking event.  With a few no-shows, the actual attendance will be less than the number of players registered, but it should still be very close to 1,500.

Led by our top seed, IM Akshat Chandra (USCF 2538), the Championship section is massive, with 473 entries!  In addition to IM Chandra, we have 36 other masters, 12 of them rated over 2300, and 68 experts.   

The event started yesterday, with the always entertaining Bughouse and Blitz Championships.  Just like in the main event, the attendance at the two side events exceeded expectations.   The team of Alan Sun and Jalen Wang was the clear winner, with 11 points in 12 games, among the 61 teams in the Bughouse Championship.  The Blitz Championship had a near record 310 entries, and IM Chandra and Christopher Wu ended in a tie with 11.5 points in 12 games to share the title of National High School Blitz Champions.   This year's attendance at the Blitz Championship was just below the record of 314 achieved at the 2007 National High School Blitz Championship in Kansas City.

For information and results, please visit the USCF results page.