South School Students Form Top Team in Stamford Chess Tournament

South Elementary School was proudly represented by the South School Chess Club at the recent National Education Chess Association (NECA) tournament held on Sunday, Feb. 1, in Stamford.

As a team represented by seven South School students, South School remarkably won the prestigious first place out of 18 school teams that participated in this tournament!

South School chess team was led by Jenna Ho who placed first out of 35 players in the First Grade section and Nathaniel Moor who won first place in the Elementary Open section. Both finished the tournament with a perfect score winning all four games each.

Luke Van Dussen was instrumental in his undefeated play and second place finish in the Primary Novice section. Joseph Ho finished in sixth place in the Elementary Open section. Henry Chandra made a significant contribution to the final team standing in his first ever chess tournament.

The team also received strong and valiant effort from Thomas Crehan and William Cox. Despite having only seven players present, South School outplayed teams with twice as many players and finished on top of local chess powerhouses like Brunswick and Whitby Schools.

This was South School’s best and historic first place team victory at a NECA tournament. Congratulations to South School and all the chess athletes! For more information about the South School Chess Club, please contact Joseph Ho atjosephho75@yahoo.com.

First Photo (from left): Luke Van Dussen, Thomas Crehan, Jenna Ho, Henry Chandra, William Cox
Second Photo (from left): Joseph Ho, Jenna Ho, Nathaniel Moor

Both photos contributed