Next Move: Alabama’s Champions Take the National Stage

2025 State Scholastic Championship

The 2025 Alabama State Scholastic Chess Championship was held March 29-30 in Foley. Players from across the state showed up to compete for the title of state champion and to go on to be Alabama’s representative for the Rockefeller, Barber, and Denker national tournaments. The Middle School Under 1100 section had the highest number of competitors with 36 of the 101 total players at the tournament.

The Elementary section had a clear state champion first place finisher with Surya Hari’s perfect score from the 5 rounds. Surya is unable to be the representative to the national Rockefeller tournament and passed on the opportunity to the clear second place finisher, Alandra Jackson. Alandra will compete at the Rockefeller this summer.

Elementary State Champion – Surya Hari

Rockefeller Representative – Alandra Jackson

 

The Middle School section was a competitive section with 7 players with ratings ranging from 1105 to 1825 and peppered with upset wins throughout the rounds. Two players Alisher Khasanov (1825) and Benjamin Lindmark (1357) tied for first place, each with 4 wins out of the 5 rounds. A playoff was held between the two players to determine the representative to continue on to the Barber national tournament. Alisher won the playoff and will be competing at the Barber this summer.

Middle School State Champions – Alisher Khasanov and Benjamin Lindmark

Barber Representative – Alisher Khasanov 

 

There were 8 players competing in the High School section and only one finished with a perfect score of 5 wins. Samuel Baskarraj (1946) was the second ranked player going into the tournament and won clear first. He will be going on to compete at the Denker national tournament this summer.

High School State Champion and Denker Representative – Samuel Baskarraj 

 

2025 Alabama All-Girls State

The 2025 Alabama All-Girls State was held February 8 at the Cook Museum of Natural Science in Decatur. The tournament attracted 31 players who competed in three sections of K-12, K-6, and K-3. The top finisher from the K-12 section has the opportunity to go on to compete at the Haring national tournament.

At the end of the four rounds, the highest rated two players finished tied for first place with 3.5 in the K-12 section. With how their pairings unfolded after Sarah drew her first round and Nirvana drew in her third round, the two never played each other during the four rounds. A playoff was held between the two players. Sarah Peter won the playoff and will represent Alabama at the Haring tournament.

Both of the younger grade sections had clear first place finishers with perfect scores. Alice Zoe (1028) won the K-6 section and Udara Sarathchandra (507) won the K-3 section.

All-Girls State Champions – Sarah Peter and Nirvana Rajbhandari

Haring Representative – Sarah Peter

 

2025 Alabama Senior Championship

The 2025 Alabama Senior Championship was held April 19 in Montevallo. This tournament of players age 50 and older encompasses one of the widest rating ranges from 839 to 2503. At the end of the four rounds, Stuart Rachels had won all four games and a clear first place finish and will go on to compete at the Irwin tournament.

Senior Championship and Irwin Representative – Stuart Rachels

Next Stop – Middleton, WI this Summer

The Rockefeller, Barber, Denker, Haring, and Irwin tournaments will all be held July 28-31 in Middleton, Wisconsin. Congratulations to each of the Alabama State Champions and to the representatives!

Full Tournament Results

State Scholastic – https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202503300542.0-13314357

All-Girls State – https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202502087612-30489409

Senior Championship – https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202504193742

Highlights