2022 National HS Championship Gets Going with Bughouse and Blitz

The 2022 National High School (K-12) Championship is underway in Memphis, TN today, with the Bughouse tournament having wrapped this afternoon and the Blitz tournament sections filling up as we publish this update.

With the 2020 and 2021 scholastic events having either been cancelled or played online due to restrictions and concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 event has been a welcome return to in-person, over-the-board play for not only the competitors, but the parents and families as well.

As of today, there are 1,088 players from 40 states are registered and ready to compete. Registration is available online for the remainder of the day but will continue on-site in Memphis.

The preliminary events started with the Bughouse tournament, which ended in a tie for first place. Our Director of Strategic Communication Dan Lucas was in the hall for the start of the tournament and captured some of the first moves for Twitter.
 

From a field of 22 teams, the co-winners of the 2022 K-12 Bughouse Championship were the teams of Leonardo Liu & Daniel Levkov and FM Nico Chasin & IM Alexander Costello, each finishing with 9.0 points for the 5 rounds.
 

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Here, we catch a glimpse of Liu and Levkov taking it to their opponents in Round 5. 
 

Following today’s Blitz tournament, the weekend’s events continue tomorrow with a special 30-board simul by guest Grandmaster Benjamin Finegold at 9:30 a.m. CT, and the clocks for Round 1 of the Championship starting at 1 p.m. CT.

Stay tuned to Chess Life Online and follow US Chess on Twitter, as well as #HSChessChamps for updates and more from this exciting scholastic event.

Quick links:

• Event Website and Registration - National High School (K-12) Championship
• Downloadable Program
• Pairings and Results