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Yen tops K-5 section at Concord

3rd Grader Ethan Yen was perfect in the K-5 section of the Concord Scholastic Grand Prix held on March 6 at Cannon School in Concord NC. The K-12 section saw a three way tie among Rui Wu, Kireet Panuganti and James Chapman.

Caiello, Aluri tops in Columbia

February 20, 2010

Ben Caiello and Chris Aluri both posted perfect scores to win their respective sections at the 5th edition of the South Carolina Scholastic Grand Prix which was held at Ben Lippen school on February 20.

Rui Wu, James Chapman shine at Concord

January 18, 2010

Rui Wu (right) in action against Kireet Panuganti

Rui Wu of Villa Heights Elementary in Charlotte and James Chapman of St Marks Academy in Huntersville were the big winners at the third installment of the Cabarrus County Grand Prix, held on January 16 at Cannon School in Concord.

Wu was perfect; cutting a 4-0 swath through the field of the K-5 section and defeating Alex Tong to take a 1/2 game lead in the Grand Prix Standings.

Chapman won his first three and then took a requested 1/2 point bye in round 4 to win clear first with 3.5 points. Chapman leads the k-8 Grand Prix.

Updating the team competition, Villa Heights extended their commanding lead. Ballentyne Elementary is second. Newcomer to the competition Northwest Middle School had a great start and now finds themselves in third place.

Thanks to new schools Northwest and CC Griffin for turning out players for the event.

Next up for Cabarrus County is a March 6 date at Cannon School.

Ben Caiello sweeps South Carolina in December

December 13, 2009

Ben Caiello in action against Hannah (Tori) Whatley

Ben Caiello kept up his winning ways by compiling a perfect 4-0 score in the December edition of the South Carolina Scholastic Grand Prix. Dan Caiello came in second with 3-1. Other notable finishes were turned in by Alex Thibodeau and Benjamin Regan, each coming in at 2.5-1.5 Next up for South Carolina is the Pat Hart Memorial in Charleston which will be held on January 23.

Panuganti wins K-8, Maitra and Yen share K-5 at Concord

November 22, 2009

No, it's not Carolina Panthers WR Steve Smith,
it's the stronger (chessplayer) Kireet Panuganti
winner of the November Concord Grand Prix event.

Kireeet Panuganti, a fifth grader at Lake Norman Charter School, won clear first in the November edition of the Concord Scholastic Grand Prix with 3.5 out of a possible 4. Sharing second in this group were Alex Tong and Rui Wu of Villa Heights and Emery Tran of Barringer.

In the K-5 section first honors were shared by Ishaan Maitra of Ballentyne Elementary and homeschooler Ethan Yen.

Ben Caiello, Tommy Leonardi win November SC Grand Prix Event

November 15, 2009

Tommy Leonardi and Parick Wang

K-5 winner Tommy Leonardi in action against
Patrick Wang

Columbia homeschooler Ben Caiello came through with a perfect score which included a win over brother Dan to win the top section of the November edition of the South Carolina Scholastic Grand Prix. In the K-5 section, Tommy Leonardi of Spartanburg came out on top.

About Us

South Carolina Scholastic Grand Prix Schedule Cabarrus Co. Scholastic Grand Prix Schedule Pre-Register for a Chess Adventures Event Pat Hart Memorial ( A South Carolina Scholastic Grand Prix Event) Merriwether Mavericks Scholastic Open

Annotated Game Spassky-Fischer Reykjavik 1972 (5) 15 Tips for Better Chess Annotated Game Short-Timman Tilburg 1991 Annotated Game Kasparov-Topalov Wijk aan Zee 1999 20 Tips for Focused Chess Annotated Game Petrosian-Spassky 1966

Cabarrus County Grand Prix Grand Prix Rules South Carolina Scholastics Grand Prix

Chess Adventures is the result of a lot of thought and preparation by husband/wife team Gary and Jana Newsom. Gary has been involved in chess for more than 30 years. Jana helps coordinate tournaments, such as the popular Reverse Angle tournament series in Charlotte.

Gary and Jana

Gary is ranked in the top 3% of chess players in the United States. He is a Certified Chess Coach. His
other accomplishments in chess can be summarized as follows:

West Tennessee co-champion 1976 (at age 16 in an "adult" competition)
Memphis city champion 1988
Southern Amateur Champion 1991
West Virginia Open Champion 2000
US Amateur South Champion 2001
Founding member of the Queen City Chess Association (Charlotte's most prominent club)
Vice President, North Carolina Chess Association, 2008-2009
Currently President of the North Carolina Chess Association
US Chess Federation Certified Tournament Director with over 50 tournaments of experience

Gary Atlanta

Jana and Gary make their home in Cornelius, North Carolina. They have been residents of the Lake Norman area since 1997. They have three children; Travis, Christopher and Jennifer; a daughter in law Christine (married to Travis) a black Lab named Sweet Pea and a white bunny rabbit named Hip Hop.

The Newsoms hope to see you at a Chess Adventures event soon!
Gary NC Open

Gary NC Open

Gary QCCA