SCI Individual Championships

1/26/2008 Scholastic Chess of Indiana Individual State Finals
     “Upsets” was the word for the day as the 19th annual Scholastic Individual State Chess Championships were held at East Side Middle School in Anderson on Saturday, January 26, 2008.  Scholastic state champions were crowned in six divisions, and $4000 in scholarships were awarded. All the top seeds except one suffered upsets in the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) rated tournament.

     In the high school division (12th Grade & Under), sophomore David Witwer of Bluffton won 4.5 out of 5 games to place clear first. Witwer won the Teddy Jacobi $2000 scholarship (Jacobi), and will be Indiana's representative to the Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions, an annual competition which brings together the high school champions from each of the 50 states (Denker). This is Witwer’s third SCI championship - he won the 6th Grade & Under division in 2003 and 2004. He now has $4000 in SCI scholarships.

     In the 9th Grade & Under Championship division, 8th grader Siyang Liu from Bloomington won all 5 of his games to win the $1,000 Billy Colias Scholarship (Colias).  This was Liu’s first SCI championship.

     The 6th Grade & Under Championship division was the only division won by the top seed. 5th grader Sean Vibbert of Evansville won all 5 of his games, but he was put to the test in the final round. Despite a 500 rating-point advantage (USCF), Vibbert narrowly won his final match with fellow Evansville player Jacob Weaver in a game that was almost a draw until the final minutes, with Weaver succumbing in time pressure. Vibbert won the $1,000 Brian Yamin Scholarship (Yamin), his second in a row for a total of $2000 in SCI scholarships. He has now won 4 SCI championships in a row, also winning the 3rd/Under Championship in 2005 and 2006.

     The 3rd Grade & Under division ended in a two-way tie. 3rd grader Sean Smits of Fort Wayne and 1st grader Sam Witwer of Bluffton played to a draw in the final match to each score 5.5 points out of 6. This was the first SCI championship for both players.

     The 9th Grade & Under Junior Varsity division (open to players with a USCF rating under 1000) also ended in a two-way tie. 9th grader Ethan Duncan of Middletown and 7th grader Michael McNerlin of Hammond played to a draw in their final match to each score 4.5 points out of 5. This was their first SCI championship.

     There was a three-way tie in the 6th Grade & Under Junior Varsity division (open to players with a USCF rating under 750.) Scoring 4.5 points out of 5 were 6th grader Sudhin Krishnan of Munster, 5th grader Graham Turner of Brownsburg, and 6th grader Andy Ross of Orleans. This was the first SCI championship for all three players.

     The local site coordinator was Scott Reisinger.  Chief Tournament Director was Steve Steppe.  E-mail for further details.

 

Standings in tiebreak order

 

USCF Rating Report (not in tiebreak order) (If you click the pairing number in front of your name, you can see full details on every game you played - opponents, opponents’ final scores, etc.)

 

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