OHS Chess wins three Divisional Championship Trophies: Henry Thomas and Ayuna Phillips Undefeated!
The Oak Hall School Chess Club traveled to Jacksonville for the National Chess Day Tournament held by the Jacksonville Scholastic Chess Organization. The event was held at the Museum of Science and History. The tournament had over 100 participants from the Jax surrounding area.
Our very own Henry “The Kid” Thomas (5th grade), the only player not in high school in the K12 Section, earned the First Place Trophy with a perfect 5-0 score! Henry has been playing in the High School division in Jacksonville area tournaments for three years and is now referred to as “The Kid” by the region’s high school players.
The Eagles also had another perfect score from second grader Ayuna Phillips, winning the K2 Primary Division and leading the Eagle team to a 1st-place finish. Harry McLellan (Kindergarten) finished in third place with a 4-1 score, and his twin sister Olivia McLellan captured fourth place with three victories! Hayden Webb (K) won the 5th-place trophy scoring 3 points. Also gaining valuable experience as they prepare for Nationals were Kindergarteners Amaya Rodriques and Luna Flores.
The Elementary K5 Division Championship was also won by the Eagles chess club as Teddy Mawdsley (2nd) scored 4 points to capture the 4th place trophy. Jack Eisenmenger (3rd) placed 7th, Ben McLellan (3rd) placed 9th, and rounding out the top ten was Myka Solberg (3rd). Fortifying the rest of the team were 2nd graders Emma Flores, Leighann Hood, and Nora Thomas and 3rd graders Stella King and Ben Cutting.
The Oak Hall team easily out-distanced runner-up Julia Landon College Preparatory School to win the K8 Middle School Division. All four of the Eagles K8 team placed in the top ten! Asher Austin (3rd) placed 2nd with 4 points. First grader Mihai Holcomb earned the 5th place trophy with 3.5 points. Nicholas Vu (4th) placed 8th, and Curtis Hood (5th) placed 9th overall.
The team is working hard to prepare for the USCF K12 Grade Level National Championship in Orlando, Florida, December 15th-17th. Let’s go EAGLES! 🦅⭐🏆♟