Flash Report: 19th Annual KCF All-Girls National Championship

Update, April 16, 2024: This report has been updated with photos of the individual and team champions from each section. All photos courtesy DeShaun Adams. 

Update, April 17, 2024: This report has been updated with five annotated games from the top sections. Thanks to Josh Flores for transcribing several games from the event.

From April 12 through 14, a record-breaking 512 girls participated in the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) All-Girls National Chess Championship.

The 19th edition of this tournament was organized by Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation (RKCF) and sponsored by KCF, RKCF, and US Chess. The tournament consists of six sections based on age: Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, Under-14, Under-16, and Under-18.

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David Heiser, Founder and President of Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation, with US Chess Executive Director Ranae Bartlett at the opening ceremony (Photo courtesy DeShaun Adams)

The winners of the three youngest sections qualify to represent USA at the World Cadet Championship, and the winners of the three “older” sections qualify to represent USA at the World Youth Championship. Eligibility is determined by birth year, e.g. players had to be born 2006 or later to be eligible for Under-18 and 2016 or later to be eligible for Under-8.

Winners of each section are listed below, and a full report with annotated games and more photographs will be posted later this week. Of note: four of the six sections produced outright winners, and a winner from a different state in each section, at that! But all six team championships were won by New York schools!

Under-18

Individual: Asha Kumar (NC), 5½/6
Team: Columbia Grammar & Prep (NY)

Under-16

Individual: WIM Iris Mou (NY), 5½/6
Team: Stuyvesant High School (NY)

Under-14

Individual: Nandini Prakash (TX), 6/6
Team (in tie-break order): Hunter College High School (NY), Success Academy Midtown West (NY)

Under-12

Individual: Anisha Saha (IL), 5½/6
Team: The Speyer Legacy School (NY)

Under-10

Individual (Pictured in tie-break order): Miranda Meng (WA), Chloe Liu (TX), Scarlett Kong (NY), 5½/6
Team: PS 77 Lower Lab School (NY)

Under-8

Individual (in tie-break order): Abigail Zhou (NY), Gracie Yan (MI), 5½/6
Team: The Speyer Legacy School (NY)

Full results available here.

Below are five annotated games from the tournament. From the U-18 section, enjoy Sophia Rosenholtz's 470-point upset of top-seeded Megan Paragua. Also included are a pair of instructive victories from WIM Iris Mou in the U-16 section and Nandini Prakash in the U-14 section.