Over 160 students participated in the annual state championship tournament at Washington Middle School on April 20th. The dust settled after five rounds, and these players and teams took home the trophies.
High School (K-12) Individual
- 1st – Mark Chen (1927), 4.5 – 2024 Denker Tournament Representative
- 2nd-4th – Kyle Ching (1845), Skylor Chan (1730), Tyler Hijirida (1394), 4 points.
High School Team
- 1st – Punahou (14.5 points)
- 2nd – ‘Iolani School (13.5 points)
- 3rd – Homeschool (12 points)
Middle School (K-8) Individual
- 1st – Kevin Ching (1485) 5 points – 2024 Barber Tournament Representative
- 2nd – Aurelia White (1485 ) – 4.5 points
- 3rd-7th – Ty Chen Dutoit, Koa Satterfield, Tom Antin, Diego Chang, Jared Urbano – 4 points
Middle School (K-8) Team
- 1st – Homeschool (16 points)
- 2nd – Punahou School (15 points)
- 3rd – Princess Ruth Ke’elikolani Middle (11 points)
Elementary School (K-5) Individual
- 1st – Apollo Van Brunt (791) – Kindergarten!! – 4.5 points – Rockefeller Representative
- 2nd – Jasper Watanabe-Hiromasa (806) – 4.5 points
- 3rd-8th: Ryden Yagi, Justin Lin, Rex Gilbert, Ta’i Satterfield, Nova Gallanto – 4 points
Elementary School (K-5) Team
- 1st – Punahou (14.5 points)
- 2nd – Homeschool (13.5 points)
- 3rd – Hawaii Baptist Academy (12 points)
Primary K-2 Individual
- 1st – Laguna Jabola-Ing (4.5 points)
- 2nd-5th – Garen Zhang, Max Naramisu, Lucas Jansson, Axel Gaetano (4 points)
Primary (K-2) Team
- 1st – Punahou (13 points)
- 2nd – Kilauea School (11 points)
- 3rd – Pearl City Elementary (6 points)
2024 Hawaii State Grade Level Champions
12th – Nathan Wong
11th – Mark Chen
10th – Franklin Nguyen and Daniel Lin
9th – Kyle Ching and Skylor Chan
8th – Ty Chen Dutoit and Jared Urbano
7th – Aurelia White
6th – Kevin Ching
5th – Jasper Watanabe-Hiromasa
4th – Rex Gilbert, Ta’i Satterfield, Nova Gallanto
3rd – Alphaeus Tse and Alexander Bow-Smith
2nd – Laguna Jabola-Ing
1st – Lucas Jansson
Kindergarten – Axel Gaetano
The biggest story of the tournament, clearly, is kindergartner Apollo Van Brunt from Kona on the Big Island. Already an experienced tournament player, he chose to play up in the much tougher section for grades 3-5. In the end, he tied for first with 5th-grader Jasper Watanabe-Hiromasa with 4.5 points out of 5. But his Solkoff tiebreaks were slightly better, so he is officially the Hawaii K-5 Champion who will represent our state at the Rockefeller Tournament of Elementary School Champions this summer.
Apollo will get good competition from Kindergarten champion Axel Gaetano in future years. Axel lives on Kauai, near Kilauea School, and recently fell in love with the game. This was his very first tournament. He defeated both of Punahou’s highest-rated players, and also defeated Kilauea School’s highest-rated player.
The day after the state tournament, 17-year-old Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh from India became the youngest person in history to qualify for the world championship. How is this happening, that such young players are finishing with unbelievable results? Some would say it is because they are raised and coached by superhuman chess computers, which can defeat all the best humans. Another interesting theory comes from India. Some people who believe in reincarnation say that acquired life skills transfer with a person’s soul from one life to the next, and chess is among the skills that accumulate.
Whatever the reason, Hawaii has been blessed with a long history of extreme chess talents. They welcome Apollo, Axel and other rising stars to their club. We all look forward to some great games with them in the future.
Damian Nash, HCF President
Chief Tournament Director