IESA Headlines

2018 IESA Chess State Tournament to Play in Peoria

Over 600 students representing 59 member schools of the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) will compete in the eighth annual IESA Chess State Tournament at the Peoria Civic Center on February 23-24. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the IESA website at: https://www.iesa.org/activities/chs/entries.asp?Year=2018

There are three divisions---6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade. A school can enter from 1-7 individual in each division. The tournament will be conducted in an Individual/Team Swiss System format. Students with varying degrees of experience will be participating.

The first round on Friday is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Round two will not begin before 12:30 p.m.; the third round will not begin before 2:30 p.m.; and the fourth round will not begin before 4:30 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, round five will begin at 9:00 a.m.; round six not before 11:15 a.m.; and round seven not before 2:00 p.m. Students will compete in all seven rounds at the tournament. Results will be posted on the IESA website as each round is concluded. Go to www.iesa.org.

There will be an awards ceremony after the conclusion of round seven on Saturday, February 24 at approximately 3:45 p.m. Individual and team awards for all three divisions will be distributed.

The complete tournament schedule can be found at https://www.iesa.org/activities/chs/IESA-CHS_Schedule.pdf

Additional tournament information, plus the FanZone can be found at www.iesa.org. Click on the Chess line at the top of the IESA website home page. Should weather become a factor, the IESA website will contain up-to-date information regarding the tournament playing schedule.

Normal Chiddix captured the 6th grade and 8th grade team titles last year while Lincolnshire Daniel Wright took home first place honors in the 7th grade division. The cumulative scores of the individual points from the top five scorers of each team determine the order of finish. The top four teams in each division will take home state trophies.

The individual champions in the 6th grade and 7th grade divisions are all returning and will be looking to repeat as champions this year in the 7th grade and 8th grade divisions. There was a tie for first place individual honors in the 6th grade division last year--Adithya Sathyamurthy and Sreeansh Vakiti, who both attend Normal Chiddix and tied for 1st place honors last year, return this year as 7th graders and will be looking to repeat as champions in the 7th grade division. Fred Yuan from Lincolnshire Daniel Wright took home first place honors in the 6th grade division in 2016, first place honors in the 7th grade division in 2017, and will be looking to complete the trifecta this year as he is entered in the 8th grade division this year.

Admission is free to the event but fans are not allowed in the competition rooms while play is going on.

For more information, please contact IESA Associate Executive Director and Chess Administrator, Nicole Schaefbauer at nicole@iesa.org 309-829-0114.