Constance Wang – 8th Annual WIM Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions representative
Yury Barnakov – 3rd Annual National Tournament of Senior State Champions
Xavier Bruni – 1st Annual John D. Rockefeller III National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions
Parker Liu – 10th Annual Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions
Om Badhe – 36th Annual GM Arnold Denker National Tournament of High School State Champions
Constance defeated a field of 14 of the strongest girls in the state in the 2020 All-Girls State Championship to become our representative. Yury was selected by the ACF board to represent the state as he is not only our strongest senior player, but also one of our highest rated active players in the state. Xavier was selected by the ACF board to be our representative as the strongest elementary player by several hundred rating points. Parker won an online playoff between himself and several of the other strongest middle school players in the state. Om won an online playoff between himself and several of the strongest high school players in the state.
Currently the details about all these tournaments are TBD as the USCF works hard to decide how to proceed. The ACF is also working to decide when and how to resume OTB play. As events resume and are rescheduled we will let you know. There are plans for several upcoming online rated events in June and July that will be announced soon.
Scott has worked his magic again and even without chess happening in the state this quarter, he managed to put together some stellar articles thanks to a few contributors such as Tom Denton and Yury Barnakov. Speaking of Yury, his game and against Matt Puckett in 2019’s State Championship with excellent annotations won him 2020’s second Game of the Quarter award. For winning, he will be entered into the Game of the Year competition to be decided in September.
The featured article this time is a special one. After doing much research, sifting through old US Chess magazines, old Alabama Antics, and consulting many older players, Scott has managed to fill in and name all of the Alabama state chess champions since the very first official state championship in the 1950s. It is a fantastic read for both the historian and the story lover! Thank you Scott for your hard work putting together such great works of art each quarter! Click here to read the 2020 Spring Antics.
Oh…and the chance to win recognition and money for best game of the quarter/year? Send your game(s) (USCF Rated ONLINE Blitz Games also to be accepted) annotated with your thoughts in .pgn format to alabama.chess.editor@gmail.com. Also, send in your best photographs, with explicit permission for use, as well for the chance to win recognition and money for best photograph of the quarter/year. Deadline for submissions August 30, 2020 .
After utilizing our current website for the better part of the current millennia, the Alabama Chess Federation voted last Sunday to approve spending to develop a new, modernized website! Some of the features we hope to incorporate into the new site are, Find a Club features, improved Antics Feature Page, and a Perpetual Membership System (for improved membership updating and accuracy). The website is due to be completed by mid-July.
Jonathan Rasberry
Alabama Chess Federation President
The champions have been crowned for the 2026 All-Girls State Chess Championship and the State Scholastic Chess Championship. Both tournaments were held in north Alabama this year in the cities of Madison and Huntsville. The tournaments drew in a
Continue Reading2025 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
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