Junior High Down to Wire
By Jennifer Shahade   
April 6, 2008
With one round to go in the Junior High Nationals (Dallas, April 4-6) ,the field is open in the K-9 and K-8 Championship sections. Michael Lee and Darwin Yang won their sixth round games against Stephen Zierk and Jason Jia, respectively. Lee and Yang now lead together with 5.5/6 each, but they have already played each other so the winner will come down to their round 7 results, or tiebreaks.

 Lee's game against Zierk was wild, but once Zierk sacked the exchange with Rxh4, the outcome was not in doubt.

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The K-8 Championship is even more up in the air. Alec Getz defeated the only perfect score this morning, Justin Karp, leaving several players with the opportunity to earn 6.5/7 by tournament's end.

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The team competitions are also tight, with Dalton and Olde Middle School neck and neck in the K-9. The K-8 is even more contentious, with I.S. 318, Canyon Vista Middle School and Hunter all vying for the top spot. Look for a full update tomorrow with more info on all sections. Check live games on Monroi.com and updated standings on uschess.org.