After two years of coming close to taking the top prize, students from Canyon Vista Middle School have managed to take the title of National Champions at the National Junior High Chess Championships in April.
Students were named national champion in the K-9 Blitz category and the K-8 Championship category and were able to take the titles in both the K-9 Blitz and K-8 Championship categories with an impressive score of 33.5 and 22 points, respectively.
K-9 Blitz team members include Rohit Gundam, Aparna Yellamraju, Ganesh Kumarappan, and Ambica Yellamraju. These students, along with Rithik Polavaram, Wesley Yeung, Nitin Akella, Dhruv Pathak, Raghav Aggarwal, and Tanvi Chinthagunta Reddy were also on the K-8 Championship team.
The tournament brought together 1,264 students from across the United States to compete for the top titles in three tournaments. Throughout the competition, teams worked together and individually to earn titles.
Individual national winners at the National Junior High Chess Championship include:
- Rohit Gundam, second place, K-8 Championship,
- Ganesh Kumarappan, fourth place, K-8 Championship,
- Rithik Polavaram, 22nd place, K-8 Championship,
- Ambica Yellamraju, 25th place, K-8 Championship,
- Aparna Yellamraju, 25th place, K-8 Championship,
- Rohit Gundam, seventh place, K-9 Blitz
- Aparna Yellamraju, 19th place, K-9 Blitz
- Rohit Gundam, fourth place, Bughouse Chess, and,
- Ganesh Kumarappan, fifth place, Bughouse Chess
