Triple Round Day in the Books at National K-12 Grade Championships

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All photos by Hiedi Bulkley.

It all comes down to Sunday. After three grueling rounds on Saturday, the stakes are high for the final two rounds of the 2025 National K-12 Grade Championships in Spokane, WA.

After a number of upsets on Saturday, most sections have only one or two players at the top of the standings with large groups of players in the chasing pack, so anything can happen.

Follow the action live beginning at 9 a.m. PST on US Chess’s Twitch channel with commentary from WGM Sabina Foisor, and come back at 2 p.m. PST for Round 7. All positions highlighted below are curated by Sabina, as well.

Jed Sloan (NY) and Advay Singi (TX) lead the 12^th Grade section with 4½/5 ahead of five players tied for third with 4/5 scores.

Top-seeded FM William Safranek (NY) is among the players tied for third after drawing two of his games on Saturday, including one to Sloan:

Three players lead the 11^th Grade section with 4½/5 scores: IM Erick Zhao (PA), CM Logan Shafer (TX), and FM Vaseegaran Nandhakumar (TX). Zhao and Nandhakumar drew in Round 5 while Shafer put up several impressive attacks:

Of the six players trailing the leaders by a half-point, WIM Iris Mou (NY) and Abhiram Pothuri (FL) are the highest-rated:

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Stephen Willy (R) against Evan Bates.

In the 10^th Grade section, Sebastian Suarez (CA) enters Sunday as our oldest unblemished participant, boasting a 5/5 score.

Only two players trail Suarez by a half-point: CM Nikash Vemparala (WA) and Austin Tang (OR), the latter of whom upset top-seeded FM Stephen Willy in Round 5:

In the 9^th Grade section, FM Aditeya Das (NY) and Ryan Zhu (NJ) lead with 4½/5 scores. Zhu’s fine victory in a sharp queen-and-opposite-colored-bishop position is highlighted below:

Connor Wang (NY) is the lone 5/5 player in the 8^th Grade section, ahead of three players with 4½/5. Of them, Washington’s Vihaan Jammalamadaka is the highest-rated, thanks in part to his escape below:

Three players lead the 7^th Grade section with 4½/5 scores: FM Ethan Guo (CA), Vidip Kumar Kona (WA), and Maxwell Yang (FL).

Pennsylvania’s Ariv Debmisra leads the 6^th Grade section with a 5/5 score.

Four players trail Debmisra by a half-point, including California’s Liam Liu:

The 5^th Grade section is the first to feature two players with 5/5 scores: Celine Chen (NC) and Olivia Xu (CA).

Of the three players with 4½/5, Aakash Jani (FL)’s draw came from a lucky escape where his opponent missed a cute mate in time trouble:

In the 4^th Grade section, two players again boast 5/5 scores: Aayansh Samanta (PA) and Samanyu Alluri (MA). Two of Samanta’s wins are featured here:

The 3^rd Grade section is our first real logjam of the tournament, with seven players leading on 4½/5. The highest-rated player in the section, Brian Ye (CA), is not among them, however, after losing to co-leader Mahith Balamurali (TX) in Round 4:

Mehmet Yilanli (OH) and Dario Neshvadian (FL) lead the 2^nd Grade section with 5/5 scores, setting up our third showdown of perfect scores.

While we do not have DGT boards for the Kindergarten and 1^st Grade sections, we can report that Lavin Donadi (NJ) and Baoshuo Yao (WA) lead the 1^st Grade section with 5/5 scores and Zayn Shanmuganathan (TX) leads the Kindergarten section alone with 5/5.

Congratulations to Zachary Raves on winning the Friends & Family Tournament’s rated section. Zachary’s son, Henry (AZ), is competing in the 2^nd Grade section. Erik Skoczylas won the non-rated section (and a free membership!). Skoczylas’s son Alexander (NV) is competing in the 9^th Grade section. The full prize breakdown is available here.

Saturday also saw another grandmaster lecture and all-comers blitz showdown, this time courtesy of GM Michael Rohde. If you haven’t had a chance to play a GM yet, Rohde will offer one more all-comers blitz today at 2 p.m. in Exhibit Hall C.

The Girls Club Room featured another lecture and more game analysis courtesy of WGM Zoey Tang. Plus, the ever-popular human chess game!

Today begins with a presentation of this year’s All-America Team before Round 6. Then, parents are encouraged to check out Silver Knights Chess Academy’s lecture at 9:45 a.m. in Room 401B. Titled “From Munchkin to Master,” NM Adam Weissbarth — a coach of two national scholastic champions — will share insights from his chess improvement story and about how to guide your child through the next steps in their chess journey.

Keep an eye out for tonight’s Flash Report on Chess Life Online detailing all section winners, and a full report with game analysis courtesy of WGM Sabina Foisor tomorrow morning.

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