Fighting Chess in the Fifth Shapes Sunday at National K-8 Championship

Yesterday evening, our competitors at the 2022 National Middle School Championship put on a display of fighting chess that re-shaped the standings coming into "Championship Sunday." Heading into Round 4, there were 17 competitors with perfect scores, going into round 5, there were 7. Now, heading into round 6 this morning, there is only one middle schooler with a perfect 5/5 in the Championship bracket: Minnesota 7th grader Troy Cavanah.

In round 5, Troy was paired against 8th-grader Aritro Chakravarty who was also holding a perfect 4/4. In a King's Indian Defense, Troy was able to keep his opponent from gaining initiative through the middle game, then infiltrated an under-defended kingside for the point.

2022 NMS Troy Cavanah Round 5 Board 3 — Troy Cavanah makes his move on Board 3 at the 2022 National Middle School Championship. Photo: Randy Anderson

Brewington Hardaway, top-seed for the event was able to hold a draw in a losing position against Eric Liu. Having gone down an exchange on move 29, Brewington kept his defenses up, pushing Liu into time trouble, and splitting the point with a repitition. Brewington and Eric are 4½/5 going into Sunday.

2022 NMS Brewington Hardaway Eric Liu — Brewington Hardaway (L) focuses up against Eric Liu in the packed playing hall at the 2022 National Middle School Championship. Photo: Randy Anderson

The 1735-rated Aiden Teitelmen, who has been on a tear of upsets this tournament, met his match against Brian Tay, an 8th-grade scholastic champ from Virginia. Though Aiden kept Brian from gaining a significant advantage throughout, a late game bishop blunder allowed Tay to clear the board and whip his remaining knight around to gobble up Teitelman's pawns. Impressively, Tay did this with less than a minute on his clock. Teitelman is 4/5 and Tay is 4½/5 going into Sunday.

Watch Final Rounds Live on Twitch!

Don’t forget tune into the US Chess Twitch channel for all the K-8’s top boards. Our broadcasts continue today for round 6 at 10 a.m. ET/9 CT with special guest commentators WGM Sabina Foisor and WIM Emily Nguyen, who will provide insights and connect all the critical moves for the top boards. Give us a follow, subscribe, and watch live at www.twitch.tv/USChess.

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