2025 MD State Scholastic Championship Results!

There were 540 players in the MD State Scholastic Chess Championship this April at Hammond High School in Ellicott City, making the event the biggest it had been in over a decade. Players at all stages in their chess journeys competed, from kindergartners in their first tournament to the high school champion, a senior who'd played in more than 400 tournaments!

You can see the US Chess ratings report here, the individual results in tiebreak order here, and the team standings here.

The tournament has grown each year since 2022, and Saturday featured 300+ players in K-5 in the Gym:

While Sunday had the Middle and High School competitions there:

And the Elementary, Middle, and High School Championship sections played longer games in the library on both days:

We'll go section by section with pictures and a game highlight (where possible) for the champ sections, in order of youngest to oldest. Pictures are from the awards ceremony:

K-1 U-400

The "under" sections are open to players from out of state, and Cyrus He took full advantage, going 5-0 and winning the K-1 under section! In the last round, because they were in first and second place, he had to play his little sister Lorraine, who combined with him to help with first place as a team in the section for Tower Hill in Delaware!

Centennial Lane, Manor Woods, Oakdale, and Pointers Run also won team trophies.

K-1 Championship

The undisputed K-1 Champion was Daniel Liu, who won all five of his games! For most of the Champ winners, we'll show a game highlight. In K-1, the players (by and large) weren't taking notation. When Daniel collected his trophy, one of the fifth graders from Essex shouted, "THE TROPHY IS BIGGER THAN HE IS!"

The top team in the section was Manor Woods Elementary from Howard County, with Owen Zhao and Stella Cao, who also took 2nd and 4th place individually. Owen and Stella also combined to win this for Manor Woods last year as kindergartners!

Primary (2-3) Under 600

This was a big section with over 100 players and had a three way tie for first, with George Wei, Aidan Matov, and Paul Dent all going 5-0!

There were 19 teams in the section, and Essex Elementary was the winner with their top four scorers Wiley Duncanson, Waylon Duncanson, Daisey Sagastume, and David Krueger all contributing points!  Oakdale, Hampstead Hill, Avalon, Manor Woods, Worthington, Flower Valley, and Dranesville all also earned trophies.

Primary Championship

Shlok Srivastava scored four wins and a draw, making him the clear state primary champion! Here's most of one of his games, annotated by chess coach Uthra who he works with in the Academy program:

In the final round, he played his schoolmate Gopal Komatlapalli because they were in first and second place in the section. Oakdale Elementary in Frederick were our state primary champions!

Triadelphia Ridge took second place for the second straight year.

Elementary (4-5) Under 800

This was a supersized section with 129 players and 32 teams. There was a three way tie for first, with Nathan Peng, Allisdair Davies, and Aarush Srivasta all winning all five of their games.

A funny story: Aarush's mother told him before he went that if he won the section they could go to SuperNationals in Orlando in May - seems pretty safe with almost 130 players! He won all his games, but took third on tiebreaks. Aarush: I think you have a good argument, but it's ultimately up to the judge if she accepts it! Separately: if you're reading this and are heading to SuperNationals, please feel invited to let us know and hang out in our team room.

The top team was Waverly Elementary, with Devansh Gupta, Aaroon Hua, Navika Gopal, and Amoggh Gurijala leading the way, with the first three also placing in the top 15.

The next seven teams who won trophies were Centennial Lane, Green School of Baltimore, Essex, Piney Ridge, Hampstead Hill Academy, Thomas Johnson, and North Bend.

Elementary Championship

Steven Liu (like his little brother!) won all five of his games to take home the Elementary State Championship!

Here's Steven's most exciting game:

Gorman Crossing was the second place team, followed by Centennial Lane.

Middle School U-1000

This was another huge section with 99 players and 15 teams represented. Alfredo Athie, Andre Aharonian, and Samuel Neilson all went 5-0 and tied for first place.

Middle School Championship

The top of this section was loaded, with four players rated over 2000 participating.  Siddharth Kurup took first place on tiebreaks, just edging out last year's ES champion Andy Yue after they drew in the final round.

High School U-1200

James Clark House was the only player in this 50+ player section to win all their games and took clear first in the section!

High School Championship