2024 Champions Invitational Tournament Highlights

 

Five players earned their spots to go on to compete as the Alabama representatives at the 2024 national invitational tournaments. The representatives have just returned from these competitions, which were held in Norfolk, VA in conjunction with the 124th Annual U.S. Open. We would like to recognize the representatives with these featured highlights from each of their tournaments against fellow champions across the country.

Haring Girls State Champions

Sarah Peter (1524) scored 3/6 points. Her performance again consistently higher rated opponents, including a draw against Irene Fei (2013), boosted her rating by 80 points to 1604 and won the $100 Joanne Haskel Memorial Award for the highest finisher with an under 1600 rating.

Rockefeller Elementary State Champions

Arush Batchu (1264) repeatedly faced opponents much higher rated by up to 700 points higher. Arush achieved a win and two draws, including drawing against a 1473 in the fourth round.

Barber Middle School State Champions

Saikarunya Kesireddy (1887) finished with 2.5/6 points. The opponents faced included the 5^th and 7^th place finishers, and Saikarunya achieved a draw against Roshan Sethuraman who was the 7^th place finisher, rated 2197.

Denker High School State Champions

Xavier Bruni (2081) scored 3.5/6 of his games, playing against a strong lineup of opponents who place 8^th, 9^th, and 12^th in the tournament. In facing off against the 9^th place finisher, Xavier scored a draw against FIDE Master Hersh Singh (2310).

Irwin Senior State Champions

Tom Denton (2061) competed against a list of high ranked players and won a solid 3 out of 6 of the games. Of his 6 rounds, half of them were paired up competing against masters.

Congrats to all the representatives on their fine finishes!

Highlights