The King’s Pawn Club of Tulsa won two
state titles Saturday in the Oklahoma Scholastic
Chess Championships at Claremore High School.
Local players and teams were not far
behind.
King’s Pawn won in the K-3 Open and K-6 Open
divisions.
Claremore’s Central Upper Elementary was
runner-up in the K-6 Under 750 division. Roosa
Elementary of Claremore was sixth in the same
field.
CUE Chess Club also earned fourth place in the
K-6 Open class.
A total of 178 players from 59 teams competed
in the five divisions. The tournament was hosted
by the Oklahoma Scholastic Chess Organization and
affiliated by the Oklahoma Chess Association and
the United States Chess Federation.
“The tournament went very well,” local
organizer Mike Swatek said. “It was a little
hectic, as is usual, at the registration but after
that, things went well.”
Anderson Elementary School of Tulsa won the K-6
U750 title with 16 points. CUE Club was second
with 14; King’s Pawns third at 12.5.
Roosa, with only three players — four or more
are permitted — in its lineup, scored nine
points.
Luke Dalton, a second-grader from Roosa and the
son of Jim and Kay Dalton, was the top local
finisher. Dalton won four of five matches in the
Swiss System tournament and placed sixth.
CUE Club had a pair of top 10 finishers in
sixth-grader Joshua Webster (eighth), son of Bill
and Jill; and sixth-grader Kalen Burkhardt
(ninth), son of David and Kari.
Both Webster and Burkhardt were 4-1 in
matches.
Dil Patel, Hunter Malone and Devon Reece, all
3-2 in matches, also earned spots in the top 20
for CUE Club.
Matt Dalton, a kindergarten student, won three
times and was 20th for Roosa.
The K-6 U750 division, with 16 teams and 62
players, was the largest of the five at the
tournament.
The Anderson duo of Matthew Silvey and Arden
Zhan, each a perfect 5-0, were first and second,
respectively, in the division.
Dakota White and Shawn Swatek led the CUE K-6
Open team by placing ninth and 12th,
respectively.
Drew Cottrill of Anderson won the individual
title in K-6 Open but King’s Pawns ran away with
the team title with 14 points. Anderson Elementary
was a distant second at 6.5.
King’s Pawns, led by individual winner Hannah
Farrell, won the K-3 Open title with 15.5 points.
Monte Cassino of Tulsa was second at 13.0.
Jenks got an individual title from Ryan Bentele
and won the 7-9 team title. Jenks edged Central
Middle School 12.5-12.0 for the team crown.
Stillwater High School won the 9-12 division
with 14 points, one more than King’s Pawns. Jake
Ferguson and Cris Spencer went 1-2 individually
for Stillwater.