Triple Game Day: Chasing Perfection in Nashville

Drew Justice, perfect in the K-6 Championships, Photo Eric Rosen

Saturday at the National Championships is a marathon: Grandmaster lessons and exhibtions, three Main event games and top seeds facing off. Two perfect 5-0 scores remain in the K-6 Championships: Nathaniel Shuman of New York and Drew Justice of Georgia. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/995464477586919429

Nathaniel Shuman of Dalton School, Photo IM Eric Rosen

Nathaniel Shuman also found sparkling tactics on his way to a 5-0 start.

Nathaniel Shuman- Cael Province

White to Move

Show Solution

1. Nxc4! and if bxc4 2. Qe4 with a double attack of Qh7+ and Qxc6.

Shuman is on the Dalton team, which dominated the Team Blitz competition, and are now tied for first in the Main Event K-6 Team. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/995439991861010432 Samarth Rao Bellayaru of Georgia is the only perfect score in the K-5 Championships. Several top seeds, including NM Nico Chasin and Dimitar Mardov were nicked for a half point but still in the hunt with 4.5/5. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/995389497390051329 Three players stayed perfect in the K-3 Champs: Ronen Wilson of Virginia, Varun Gadi of Georgia and Royal Buchanan of New York. In the K-1 Championships, Rohan Rajaram (California) and Vijay Kannan (Kentucky) remain perfect. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/995092465446252545 Special events on Saturday included Nazi Paikidze's appearance in the Girls' Room, where she played, taught an endgame lesson, and posed for photos. Check out her story on instagram for more of our reigning US Women Champ's impressions of Nashville. https://twitter.com/USChessWomen/status/995560325893251072 Grandmaster Irina Krush also popped by the Girls' Club to solve puzzles with the girls. https://twitter.com/LeilaDAquin/status/995453352904413186 Ben Johnson of the Perpetual Podcast hosted live interviews. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/995368711900094465 Grandmaster Robert Hess took on all comers in blitz. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/995406949708718082 With Championship Sunday coinciding with Mother's Day, US Chess thanks all the Moms and mother figures at the Elementary Chess Champs. https://twitter.com/LeilaDAquin/status/995422161664991232 https://twitter.com/AveryGrant1980/status/995495938222383104 Find the results and standings pages here. Follow IM Eric Rosen’s twitter takeovers @USChess and join in the conversation using the hashtag #ElemChessChamps.