(Crossville, TN)  More than 2,100 K-6 students from over 45 states traveled to Nashville, Tennessee for the 2007 Burt Lerner National Elementary Chess Championship held between May 11-13.  This annual, national title championship consisted of seven rounds and was held this year Nashville’s Opryland Hotel and is organized by the United States Chess Federation.

Section winners:
K-6 Championship: Ryan Joseph R. Moon won with 6.5 points.
K-5 Championship: Robert M. Perez won with 6.5 points.
K-3 Championship: Benjamin B. Moon with 6.5 points.
K-1 Championship: Kadhir Andrew Pillai with a perfect score of 7.0.
K-6 Under 1000: Jason Edgerton and Katie Hong tied with perfect 7.0 scores.
K-5 Under 900:  Zachary D. Martin and Raimonds Lauzums tied with perfect 7.0 scores.
K-3 Under 800: Jake Y. Wong won with a perfect 7.0 score.
K-6 Unrated: Alexander P. Sheppert and Elliott Mackenzie Sher tied with 6.5.
K-3 Unrated: James Christopher Wicka, Jr. won with 6.5.

Side events included K-6 Blitz (5 minutes per game) which was won by Sam Ell Silberman with 11.5. The K-3 Blitz was won by Jackson Chen with 11.0. The Bughouse (2 player teams compete on 2 boards) tournament was won by the team of C. and L. Harmon with 9.0.

The “Parents & Friends” was won by Daniel J. Vellotti with 4.0. Daniel J. Vellotti won the “P&F-rated” with 4.0. John May won the “P&F-nonrated” with 3.5. Bradley and Luke Joseph Herbst won the “P&F-combined” with 2.5. 

Arman Kothari rated 186 won the “Biggest Upset” prize of $250.00 awarded by “MyChessPhotos.com” after beating an opponent rated 1046!
 
In addition, GM Susan Polgar took on 24 players (on 24 boards!) at one time in what is known as a simultaneous exhibition.  Josh Waitzkin, of “Searching for Bobby Fischer” fame, signed copies of his new book, “The Art of Learning.” All proceeds from the book signings will go to research at the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

For a detailed list of all player standings please check out: http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/elem/ and 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.