US Elementary School (K-6) Champions crowned

The 2022 US National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championships took place from 13-15 May in Columbus Ohio’s Greater Columbus Convention Center.

The event gathered 1053 players and 472 teams from 40 states who fought for the National US Champion title in four sections: K-1, K-3, K-5 and K-6. The special guests of the event were: GM Josh Friedel, GM Elshan Moradiabadi, WGM Katerina Nemcova, FM Gauri Shankar and Danny Rohde. (scroll down for final rankings)

The US National Elementary School K-6 Champions are:

• Eric Liu (6th grade, Wester Middle School, Frisco, TX) & Isaac Wang (6th grade, Solana Ranch Elementary, San Diego, CA) – K-6 Individual Championship
• The Success Academy Midtown West of New York, NY – K-6 Team Championship
• Aiden Liu (4th grade, of Dorris-Eaton School, San Ramon, CA), Carter Ho (5th grade, of the Anderson School, New York, NY) & Yusuf Mansurov (4th grade, of PS 236, Brooklyn, NY) – K-5 Individual Championship
• The Anderson School, New York – K-5 Team Championship
• Elliot Goodrich (3rd grade, the Lower Laboratory School for Gifted Education (PS 77), New York) – K-3 Individual Championship
• The Lower Laboratory School for Gifted Education (PS 77), New York – K-3 Team Championship
• Aakash Jani (1st grade, Oak Hall, Gainesville, Florida), Rocky Wang (1st grade, Bemis Elementary in Troy, Michigan), Umar Mansurov (1st grade, PS 236, Brooklyn, New York) & Matthew Yu (1st grade, Skinner North Classical Scool in Chicago, Illinois. – K-1 Individual Championship
• The Lower Laboratory School for Gifted Education (PS 77), New York – K-1 Team Championship

Notably, the US National Elementary School Championship had siblings winning the Championships in K-1 and K-5 sections, the Mansurov brothers from New York. This has happened before in 2019 with the first brother/sister combo winning the K-6 and K-3 championships, and in 1997 and 2006 two brothers won national championships in the same year. Read more: US Middle School Champions crowned

Many other winners in multiple sections below the championship section were also determined. For a full list of winners see here: http://www.uschess.org/results/2022/elem/.

As US Chess fulfills its mission to “empower people, enrich lives, and enhance communities through chess,” using scholastic nationals to fulfill the goal to expand the educational, social, recreational and rehabilitative applications of chess; increase the visibility of chess on mainstream communications channels; develop the depth and breadth of our partnerships; use chess to increase opportunities for underrepresented segments of society, and to continuously improve internal operations and member services. 

US Chess Executive Director Carol Meyer notes, “Our vision is that chess is recognized as an essential tool that promotes inclusiveness and benefits education, rehabilitation, recreation, and friendly competition. This all comes together at our national scholastic championships.”.