During this year’s New York State Chess Championships, spectators likely saw a sea of Success Academy blue and orange: about one in eight competitors at the event was an SA scholar, with 135 participants representing 14 Success Academy schools.
Beyond sheer numbers, our scholars made their presence known through their great sportsmanship and impressive chess play. Chess is a game of strategic thinking, patience, and creativity — and our scholars demonstrated all of those skills in Saratoga Springs last weekend.
Beyond sheer numbers, our scholars made their presence known through their great sportsmanship and impressive chess play.
Here are some of the highlights:
Elementary (K-6) Championship Division
SA Hudson Yards MS: 4th place
SA Midtown West: 5th place
SA Union Square: 7th place
Individual wins: In this highly competitive division, SA Hudson Yards scholar Nura Baalla finished in 9th place winning 4.5 out of 6 games.
Elementary (K-6) Intermediate Division
SA Hudson Yards MS: 1st place
SA Bronx 1 MS: 4th place
SA Bed Stuy MS: 5th place
Individuals wins: SA Hudson Yards Kyle Chen finished in first place winning 5.5 games out of 6 rounds, SA Midtown West scholar Hudson Kreymerman finished third winning 5 of 6 games, and SA Hell’s Kitchen scholar Boris McCoy finished in seventh place winning 4.5 out of 6 games.
K-5 Intermediate Division
SA Hudson Yards MS: 1st place
SA Bed Stuy MS: tied for 2nd place
SA Midtown West and SA Bensonhurst: tied for 5th place
SA Myrtle and SA Harlem 3: Tied for 7th place
SA Union Square: 9th place
Individual wins: Isaiah Brewster of SA Bed Stuy finished in fourth place, winning 5 of 6 rounds and SA Bed Stuy MS scholar Tabia Davis came in second place, winning 5.5 games out of 6 rounds.
K-5 Reserve Division
SA Bed Stuy 1: 9th place
SA Union Square: 12th place
Individuals wins: SA Bed Stuy 1’s Symone Bell won 5 out of 6 of her rounds.
High School Intermediate Division
SA Harlem East: 1st place
SA High School of the Liberal Arts: 4th place
Individual wins: SA High School of the Liberal Arts scholar Samuel Eyre came in third place, winning 5 out of 6 rounds.
High School Reserve Division
SA Harlem East: 1st place
Individuals wins: SA Harlem East scholar Andrew Breton finished second, winning 5.5 out of 6 rounds.
Middle School Championship Division
SA Bed Stuy MS: 5th place
Middle School Intermediate Division
SA Bronx 1 MS: 3rd place
Individual wins: William Perez of SA Bronx 1 MS finished sixth, winning 4.5 games out of 6 and his classmate Dionald Suzao finished 10th with 4 wins out of 6.
Middle School Reserve Division
SA Bronx 1 MS: 6th place
Individual wins: SA Harlem East’s Josseph Alwan finished in fifth place, winning 5 of 6 games.
Primary (K-3) Championship Division
SA Washington Heights: 11th place
Individual wins: SA Hell’s Kitchen scholar Brewington Hardaway finished third, winning 5 out of 6 rounds.
Primary Reserve Division
SA Bensonhurst: 9th place.
Individuals wins: SA Harlem East’s Joseph Alwan finished in fifth place, winning 5.5 out of 6 rounds and SA Bensonhurst’s Joshua Liberman finished in sixth place, winning 5 of 6 games.
Congratulations to all our teams, listed below!
SA Bed Stuy 1: Isaiah Brewster, Symone Bell, Jean Carlos Alomia, Ramsey Espinal, Emily Espinal. Coach: Gregory Rudensky
SA Hell’s Kitchen: Brielle Roberts, Samantha King, Aston Roberts, Brewington Hardaway. Coach: Robert Lazorchak
SA Union Square: Anya Omer, Naveen Paruchuri, Aritro Chakravarty, Josiah Sillau, Minal Omer, Krish Patni, Aarush Naveen, Nathaniel Mullodzhanov, Nathan Booncharoen, Felix Goldey, Runqing Chu, Julian Ikeda-Thew, Helen Best. Coach: Nicholas Norman
SA Washington Heights: Dante Lorenzo, Milana Ward, Jordan Turner, Emilio Martinez, Ociel Rosario, Subi Bencosme-Lee, Gabe Bencosme-Lee. Coach: Liam Murphy
SA Harlem 3: Gabriel Rodriguez, Jason Huang, Sameer Sherif, Julian Rodriguez, London Raysor, Lyric Raysor, Aiden Bailey. Coach: Jerome Jackson
SA Bensonhurst: Di Zhou, Kory Chen, Caden Cao, Daniel Bolkhovitinov, Kaylee Cao, Elizabeth Tsugel, Joshua Liberman, Nathan Bolkhovitinov, Jacob Bolkhovitinov. Coach: Gabriel Puckett
SA High School of the Liberal Arts: Reanna Philips, Ousmane Kebe, Joshua Abbey, Samuel Eyre, Elliott Deutou, Jason Zabre, Phillip Fenteng, Kadidia Sylla. Coach: Jonathan Munnell
SA Bed Stuy Middle School: Jessica Hyatt, Geah Jean Baptiste, Micah Scobie, Makhi Williams, Christopher Ortiz, Godwin Wilson-Livingstone, Ravindra Seupersad, Jonathan Vega, Tabia Davis, Victor Augustus, Kymora Banks, Adonis Crippen, Layla Crippen, Isaiah Brewster. Coach: Tyrell Harriott
SA Hudson Yards Middle School: Nura Baalla, Silas Smith, Ian Young Chen, Seth Fenton, George Best, Jaden Diaz, Kyle Chen, Ann Goldey, Thomas Bray-Vargas, Emily Booncharoen, Daniel Prizant, Vukasin Usina, Pari Patni, Noa Buck, Maya Mukherji, Harry McSween, Rachel Prizant. Coach: Christopher Johnson
SA Hudson Yards Elementary School: Miroslav Usina, Rai Mukjheri, Ari Fenton. Coach: Christopher Johnson
SA Midtown West: Renzo Lau, Noni Hardaway, Ethan Lee, Aidan Kuo, Ava Trujillo, Daniel Henk, Taise Martinez, Hudson Kreymerman, Rachel Bochman. Coach: David Campbell
SA Harlem East: Shadman Khan, Damon Chin, Christian Chin, Edward Morales, Elizabeth Morales, Andrew Breton, Najma Gure, Gabriel Espinal, Tyquan Haskins, Emmanuel Ofori-Serechie, Josseph Alwan, Shawn Dean. Coach: Fritz Gaspard
SA Myrtle Middle School: Annika Parsia, Alexander Little, Gabryela Caban, Sabrina Addo, Evan Eisenberg, Daguy Vaval, Dylan Eisenberg, Delilah Tavarez. Coach: Alexander Beltre
SA Bronx 1 Middle School: Bally Sissoko, Dionald Suazo, Max Crespo, Quinlan Alday, Jorden Julian, William Perez, Darren Palmer, Isis Diaz, Ethan Alexander, Alex Martinez, Angelina Nguyen, Roosevelt Moses, Eleazar Pelaez-Ortega, Nicolas Diaz. Coach: Alejandro Montalvo
