Well over three-hundred students from across the state vied for individual and team titles. Multiple divisions based on grade levels and chess ratings allow players of differing abilities and experience to play competitively.
Tournament Organizer Mike Hoffpauir explains that players are paired based on their ratings, “Their ratings are based on not only the strength of the opponent they play, but how did that opponent do in the rest of the games they played.”
Hoffpauir says past tournaments have produced notable champions, “As a matter of fact Jennifer Yu, a Virginia-based player who has won this tournament here at the high school level, went on and has been the U.S. National Champion twice.”
At this year’s event, Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria won the team K-12 championship, led by Aarush Vinod, 11th grader who took the individual championship. Vinod and other grade division winners will go on to represent Virginia at the U.S. Chess Federation’s annual invitational for state champions.
Hoffpauir explains that this year's winners won't have to travel far to play in the nationals, “It just so happens that in 2024, that national invitational tournament is going to be held in Norfolk. So Virginia’s players - its their backyard.”
Complete results and information about the Virginia Chess Federation can be found here.
