USN’s K-12 Chess Team makes state history
After scoring several trophies at the Middle Tennessee region championship, students from USN’s Lower, Middle, and High Schools reach their elusive goal of being the only school in state history to qualify teams in all four sections for the state championship.
By Todd Andrews, Chess Team Coach
The University School of Nashville Chess Tigers were once again one of the most represented schools in Middle Tennessee in numbers and in strength at the 2020 Region III Team Championship on Saturday, January 25 at St. Paul Christian Academy. More than 300 students on 79 teams from more than 40 schools competed in six sections to determine which teams will represent the Middle Tennessee region at the 2020 Tennessee State Team Championship on Friday, February 8 at Tennessee Tech. High school competitors will vie for first place and full four-year scholarship to Tennessee Tech. The second-place team will earn a half-scholarship to the university.
In the K-3 Primary Section, our team tied for first with 3.5 wins out of 4 and took the title of regional champ in a thrilling, speed chess tie-breaker versus Harding Academy. The little guys were fighting much longer into the day than even our Middle School students. That team consisted of Captain and City Champ Matthew Golann ’29, City Qualifier Preston Chan ’29, Reese Mehr ’30, and James Keiper ’31. Many thanks to Coach Epiphany for being there to actively coach this team throughout the day. For their first-place finishes, each individual on the team took home the coveted plaques that only first place earns. They look to defend our 2019 Tennessee State Champion title next.
In the K-6 Elementary Section, our team tied for the 4th place spot needed to make it to state but missed qualifying on just a few small tie-breaker points. The team captained by Jonah Bendell ’27 went 3-1-1 in the gigantic 27 team section and turned in a stellar performance considering our other team members Will Nichols ’28, Krish Nachnani '28, and Ishaan Nachnani '28 are all fourth graders in the mostly sixth-grader heavy section. Because to St. Bernard Academy is unable to send a team in the K-6 Elementary Section, our USN Chess Tigers advance to the dance. This young squad has a lot of successful days ahead of it in this group. To give some perspective on how large and difficult this group is, the Memphis region only had 20 or so teams total in every K-12 section combined.
All of our defending regional K-6 Champions from 2019 moved up to the K-9 Junior High Division this year and turned in a second-place performance advancing to state. The squad captained byEvan Hauser ’25 with team members City Qualifier Stewart Hall ’25, Collin Chan ’25, and Brendan West ’25 took down Meigs Magnet to advance only losing to the eventual first place MBA. Getting in the dance is all that matters and they hope to bring another state title home in two weeks!
Then, our beloved High School, semi-retirees that get together every year for this one series of events really exceeded expectations by tying for first place. Captain Kunaal Saggi ’21 led his team of Krishin Parikh ’22, Lang Skarda ’21, and the two-headed monster Hall (playing on two teams simultaneously) to a 3-1 record in a four-way tie for first with Campbell Home School, Hume-Fogg Academic and Montgomery Bell Academy. The USN High School team departed early for Homecoming (and MBA was not present either) so both teams missed the playoff and we officially ended up tied for third place.
In the B-Team divisions, our teams both placed highly as well. USN regularly fields multiple teams in this group that would also be super competitive in any of the A-groups if we were allowed to field more than one team. Congratulations to those teams led by Loch McMillan ’28 and Kevin Mehr ’28 and consisting of team members Henry Hirt ’28, Houston Hirt ’28, Asha Guha ’28, Teague McMillan ’27, and Daniel Law ’27.
Look for a positive report from the state championship in two weeks.
