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Nationals. A rite of passage for every young American chessplayer. Rows of trophies that are often taller than the kids who win them line the stage. Dreams of victory gleam in the eyes of every competitor—from the top seed to the greatest underdog. While the main event begins on Friday, two more light-hearted competitions took place on Thursday: the blitz and bughouse tournaments. In the K-6 Blitz section, entering the final round, seven players were tied for first, creating an all-out battle for the top prize. On board 1, Max Lu, once the youngest American master in history until Christopher Yoo broke his record last month, dueled with Gus Huston, ranked 10th in the nation for 10-year-olds, in two incredibly hard-fought games. After an unfortunate blunder in the first game of the double round, Lu found himself in a must-win situation. In the second game, with just 20 seconds left each in a tense minor piece endgame, Lu declined Huston’s draw offer and won the game in the ensuing time scramble by trapping his opponent's overly-ambitious knight. The 1-1 score gave Lu and Huston a tie 3rd place along with Michael Zheng and Drew Justice.  Meanwhile, Logan Wu was the only player able to win both of his games, leapfrogging the field into clear 1st place with 11 points. With a 1.5 last round victory, Danila Poliannikov won 2nd. Akhil Kalghatgi won the K-12 blitz also with 11 points, losing only one game to his closest competitor, Rishi Rajendran, who tied for 2nd with Nikhil Kalghatgi. The bughouse tournament provides a rare opportunity to play this popular team-based chess variant competitively. The winning team was Ricky Roman and Matthew Stevens. For complete standings and more information, visit the National Grade K-12 Championship Page. Follow our Twitter coverage or join the conversation using the Official Hashtag: #K12ChessChamps