Open
Walker Griggs	30.75	8-way tie for 5th
Maggie Feng	30.75	8-way tie for 5th
U-2100
Abhi Ramaswamy	958.34	3-way tie for 1st
Marissa Li	958.34	3-way tie for 1st
Anagh Kulkarni	41.00	6-way tie for 5th
Justin Storn	41.00	6-way tie for 5th
U-1900
Adith George	1643.00	1st place
U-1700
Stella Huang	312.00	5-way tie for 2nd
U-1500
Rohan Padhye	944.50	2-way tie for 1st
Mixed Doubles
Marissa Li	410.50	1st place
Stella Huang	205.50	2nd place
Maggie Feng	61.50	2-way tie for 2nd
Anagh Kulkarni	61.50
Total	$5,698.68

Jason had a great tournament and almost won the event. Going into the last round Jason was 1/2 point behind the sole leader. He position was solid, probably a little better, and he saw that the top board was drawn.  Jason could have also gone for, or offered a draw and won a medal at the event. But Jason is an amazing fighter and an inspiration to me. His thoughts were not on getting a medal but rather on becoming a world champion.  He threw caution to the wind but unfortunately he came out on the losing side.

I am so proud of this young man.  While most of us are running for a safe ending, he fights to the end. This was clear to me the very first time that I met him.  I was giving a simul at the Queen City Classic and this very young little kid was playing really well against me.  He was losing but competing very hard. I thought that I would be nice and offer him a draw for his great effort.  He looked at me and said, ‘no thanks’. “What!”, I thought.  I went on to win that game but I knew that he was something special. Right after the event I went to his parents and invited them to join CCL.  They took be up on my offer and here we are today.

For more  information on the event, Click Here.

Below in a picture of IM Goran Vojinovic (1963 – 2016) as a teenager.  Goran was the previous head coach of the CCL Chess School, before his untimely death. He will always be missed by the many people that he had a positive influence on.  RIP.

One of the biggest accomplishments that many chess players hope to achieve is to become a USCF Chess Master. Recently one more CCL member climbed to the top of this huge mountain, which takes an exceptional amount of hard work and commitment. CCL is very proud of:

 Forest Chen

Forest is now the youngest master in Tennessee and the 10th National Master out of the CCL chess school.   Pictured to the right is Forest giving a simul in a Tennessee fund raising event. All of the CCL masters were active members of CCL from the early parts of their chess development through getting the title.  This amazing group also includes: Walker Griggs, John Hughes, Maggie Feng, Chris Shen, Luke Xie, Noah Keating-Adams, Annorjan Naguleswaran,  Aristo Liu, and Vincent Baker.

The support group for the CCL Chess School has been formed.  This group will help to provide direction for CCL as well as possibly organizing some CCL Chess School activities.  The 1st members of this group represent a cross section of CCL, with parents of students of different strength, gender, and location.  If you would like to join this group, please sign-up by going to https://cclchess.com/support-group-signup/ .