Tension for the Top Spot on Championship Sunday at K-12 National

Today, Sunday, April 10, our competitors at the 2022 National High School (K-12) Champsionship enter the final rounds of the tournament and it’s still anyone’s tournament. Yesterday’s competition heated up as top boards began to lose their perfect scores in the middle rounds of the tournament.

But with the conclusion of round 5 late last night, the battle for the top spot has become even more intense. IM Arthur Guo, the top seed of the tournament, went into the fifth round with a 4/4, but came out with a draw against Vishnu Vanapalli, setting them each at 4½/5. Vanapalli had earned this pairing after recovering from a tough position against Ganesh Kumarappan and winning in a time scramble in round 4.

2022 NHS Vishnu Vanapalli — Vishnu Vanapalli getting through the opening against IM Arthur Guo in round 5 of the 2022 National K-12 Championship. Photo: Caroline King.

IM Anthony He, the Washington State Champion, has continued his stellar performance through round 5, earning the full point against Nicolas Ladan and taking the top spot.

Heading into Sunday, Anthony is the only competitor left with a perfect score. But will he hold on to it?

Guo and He are paired on Board 1 for round 6 today for what could be a defining moment in this tournament. Any outcome on Board 1 could give someone else an in for numero uno. Several players are still jostling for the top spot with 4 ½/5: FM Nico Chasin; IM Alex Costello; FM Gus Huston; Vishnu Vanapall; Harry Le; and Jason Lu. But don’t count out those with 4/5, any draws or losses above them could reshape the field for round 7.

We’ll be streaming the final rounds of this exciting event on our Twitch channel with guest commentators FM Gauri Shankar and WGM Sabina Foisor giving move-by-move analysis of our top boards.

We’ll continue providing updates here at Chess Life Online and on Twitter. Follow the action and share your experiences with #HSChessChamps.