Photo Credit: Azira Sande.
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Some are More Equal Than Others
The top six players at the Rook Madness tournament demonstrated that any one of them could defeat any of the others. Upsets abounded in the thirteen player K-12 section that was 1/3 elementary age players.
The top two cash prizes were split ($50 each) between co-champions Ken McGuire (4.0) and Alex Herron (4.0). Shawn Lewis defeated Ken, the top rated player, in the first round. Shawn drew Ethan Wu in round three, but was leading the tournament until he fell to Alex in the last round. Alex defeated the number two seed, Jack Harris, in the fourth round. His only loss was to Suhang Liu in round two. Suhang also defeated Jack, but lost to Ken and Shawn. Shawn and Ethan split the remaining cash ($18 each). Jack was the victor in Ethan’s only loss.
Northwest Christian School won the elementary team trophy. Saint George’s was second and Arcadia Elementary finished third.
In K-6, Logan Faulkner defeated all opponents to win the Grand Champion trophy. Naomi Hertz (4.0), who lost only to Logan, was the top fifth grader. The top fourth grader, Ethan Naresh (4.0), lost only to Naomi. John Field (3.0) had the top upset and earned a trophy.
Evelyn Arquette topped the K-3 section with a perfect 5.0 to win Grand Champion for that section. Kara Chiang’s 4.5 made her the top third grader. The first place in second grade trophy went to Ryan Waters (4.0), who was third overall. Two kindergartners scored 2.0. Per Sande had better tie-breaks so won the first place in grade trophy, while Elizabeth Arquette took home a smaller trophy. She will be in kindergarten next year. Toby Kast (2.5) earned a medal for notable upset.
The 62 player event on March 8 at Saint George’s School was Spokane’s second largest of the year and drew nearly 15% new players. Tournament advertising promised a trophy for the team with the most new players. It was taken home by Mead Educational Partnership. Individual awards also went to the top unrated players: Riley Madsen (2.5) won a medal and Nathan Gellatly (3.0) won a trophy. All players scoring 3.0 or better in the elementary sections took home trophies or medals.
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