The LPS Chess Tournament was held on Saturday, December 9, 2023 at Newton Middle School. 215 students participated, and participants ranged in age from kindergarten through eighth grade! This made for 107 simultaneous games in all five rounds of the non-elimination tournament. 

INDIVIDUAL WINNERS

K–1 Division

1st Place: Henry Bertuleit – Hopkins Elementary
2nd Place: Ian Liffrig – Gaskill Elementary
3rd Place: Asher Krebs – Sandburg Elementary
4th Place: Julian Okken – Gaskill Elementary
5th Place: Scarlett Montano – Runyon Elementary
6th Place: Jamie Demarco – Wilder Elementary
7th Place: Henry Patton – Gaskill Elementary
8th Place: Felix Helms – Runyon Elementary

2nd Grade Division

1st Place: Finn Schultz – Lenski Elementary
2nd Place: Ansel Stewart – Runyon Elementary
3rd Place: Violetta Elovinkova – Gaskill Elementary
4th Place: Aiden Davydov – Runyon Elementary
5th Place: Joshua North – Sandburg Elementary
6th Place: Sofia Sidorova – Sandburg Elementary
7th Place: Kenzi Valli – Littleton Academy
8th Place tie: Ivan Sienkne – Sandburg Elementary

3rd Grade Division

1st Place: Adam Dix – Ford Elementary
2nd Place: Jonah Okken – Gaskill Elementary
3rd Place: Eli Veer – Hopkins Elementary
4th Place: Evan Winkle – Littleton Preparatory
5th Place: Victor Nicks – Littleton Preparatory
6th Place: Bode Cassinelli – Littleton Academy
7th Place: Graham Johnson – Littleton Academy
8th Place: Kaitlyn Chiang – Littleton Academy

4th Grade Division

1st Place: Quinn Russell – Littleton Preparatory
2nd Place: Barrett Halsey – Wilder Elementary
3rd Place: Arlo Wilkoff – Hopkins Elementary
4th Place: Simon Derevianko – Ford Elementary
5th Place: Graeme Cook – Ford Elementary
6th Place: Lief Pehrson – Lenski Elementary
7th Place: Kellan Addatica – Hopkins Elementary
8th Place: Riley Pace – Sandburg Elementary

5th Grade Division

1st Place: Sergio Mena Casa – Wilder Elementary
2nd Place: Matias Garcia – Gaskill Elementary
3rd Place: Santiago Strus – Sandburg Elementary
4th Place: Jacob Thomas – Gaskill Elementary
5th Place: TJ McEwen – Runyon Elementary
6th Place: Baelin Watson – Gaskill Elementary
7th Place: Foster DelMastro – Lenski Elementary
8th Place: David Clas – Runyon Elementary

6–8 Division

1st Place: Shankar Parasuram – Littleton Academy
2nd Place: Mateo Strus – Newton Middle School
3rd Place: Adam Cohrs – Newton Middle School
4th Place: Nicholas Joe Black – Powell Middle School
5th Place: Evan Chiang – Littleton Academy
6th Place: Kenny Mena Casa – Goddard Middle School
7th Place: Nathan Manske – Euclid Middle School
8th Place: Corbett Anderson-Stricklin – Goddard Middle School

OUTSTANDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS

K–1 Division

Benjamin Berry – Sandburg Elementary
Honor Hirschfield – Gaskill Elementary

2nd Grade

Samuel Randolph – Gaskill Elementary
Mac Sizemore – Runyon Elementary

3rd Grade

Nellie Gladue – Hopkins Elementary
Sebastian Lingle – Gaskill Elementary

4th Grade

Ruby Montano – Runyon Elementary
Sullivan Whalen – Runyon Elementary

5th Grade

Santiago Strus – Sandburg Elementary
Ember Simoniche – Littleton Academy

6th–8th Grade 

Harper Koppinger – Newton Middle School\
Isaac Bell – Littleton Preparatory

A huge THANK YOU to Newton Middle School for the use of their facility; all the GT and Newton staff who worked to keep things running smoothly; Jeanne Hildreth; Karthika Sakthi, our tournament master; and all the coaches from Kings of Chess! Also a special thanks to our high school volunteer, Elliot Benson, who served as a coach and mentor all day. It was a great event!