Scholastic Players Dominate 2017 Class E Championship

The 2017 Class E Championship was held at the Olmstead Center on the campus of Drake University on March 25, 2017. This Class E Championship is sponsored by the Iowa State Chess Association and sanctioned by the United States Chess Federation.

This was an unusual year for this annual tournament. The field of 23 players included one adult. Nineteen of the 23 participants were from local scholastic chess clubs. One scholastic player from both Ames and Iowa City participated and one adult player from Council Bluffs competed. The following six Des Moines area schools were represented in this event, the number of players in parentheses. St. Augustine Elementary (7), Christ the King Elementary (3), South Middle School (Waukee) (3), Bergman Elementary (3), Sacred Heart Elementary (2), and St. Joseph Elementary (1).

Players from South Middle School Waukee won three of the top five trophies including first place and second place. Mrithuul Prasath Madan Prasad won first place with a perfect 5-0 score. Second place also went to Abhinav Kayithin on tiebreak with four points. Prabhas Sunkara won fourth place based on tiebreak with 3.5 points.

Trophies are awarded on an overall basis and by section. Five trophies were awarded on an overall basis. Two trophies were awarded in each of the following sections: U1200 (overall), U1000, U800, U600, U400, U200, and Unrated. I want to thank all the parents for supporting chess in Iowa by bringing their students to this tournament.