Bronxville Elementary School Chess Club Ends Successful Season at National Elementary Championship

By Julie Daher, Chess Mother and Organizer, Bronxville Chess Club
May 20, 2015: The Bronxville Chess Club ended the season with a very successful tournament at the National Elementary (K-6) Championship in Nashville, Tennessee, from May 8 to 10, with teams in all three subdivisions winning trophies.
Seventeen Bronxville students from grades two, three, five, and six travelled to the city of music over Mother's Day weekend to compete in this tournament, which was attended by over 2,200 students from across the country. They each played seven matches over three days, with each match followed by further coaching and game analysis.
The K-6 Championship team, consisting of experienced sixth-grade players, won a very impressive tenth-place finish. The K-6 Under 1000 team and the K-3 Championship team consisted of students competing for the first or second time in a national tournament. They, too, brought home solid wins, coming in seventeenth and nineteenth, respectively.
Jon Rigai, a National Scholastic Chess Foundation (NSCF) instructor, accompanied Bronxville to this tournament for the first time, along with Jim Santorelli, a director at NSCF. With their emphasis on slow, thoughtful, and strategic playing, some games went for as long as three and four hours.
Regarding the successful outcome, Mr. Rigai noted, "I could not be happier with the effort they put forth. I tell them if you train hard and take it seriously, good things will eventually happen, and that was the case here. My kids put the work in and they deserve these wins." Mr. Santorelli, who has accompanied Bronxville to several tournaments, noted, "After a one-year hiatus, it is great to be back with the Bronxville chess team. They played extremely well in a very difficult tournament and got great results."
Congratulations to all the students on another great year in chess! Parents interested in having their children join Bronxville's thriving chess community for next year should enroll their children in lunchtime chess in the fall. For more information, email
Pictured here: Elementary school chess players celebrating their victories (L to R): William Bornmann, Tyler Tanaka-Wong, Coach Jon Rigai, Molly Stoltz, and Maya Engenheiro.
Photo courtesy Julie Daher, Chess Mother and Organizer, Bronxville Chess Club











