4th Annual Charity Chess Tournament

The 4rd Annual Charity Chess Tournament was held on April 27th, 2024, at Rachel Carson Middle School in Herndon, VA. We were able to raise over $2000 to support SPARC, an organization that helps disabled individuals. The tournament also boasted over ~50 players across the Open, U1600, U1000, and Non-rated sections. Once again, the FCPS Superintendent, Dr. Michelle Reid, was able to come despite her busy schedule, to give an inspiring speech at the start. The organizer of SPARC was also able to spread the message about their organization at our event. 

NM Kent Slate ended up winning the Open Section with a score of 3.5/4

In the U1600 section, Alexander Levin ended up winning with a perfect 4/4. Finally, the U1000 section went to Sieon Jeon, a young star from Churchill Road Elementary school, who won all of his games for a 4/4 sweep. 

This event would have not been possible without the generous donations of all the players and parents attending the tournament. We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone for helping to support this cause. Although our original goal was to raise $1000, we were able to crush that goal and raise over $2000. 

Also, we were able to receive sponsorships from several local businesses, such as Ledo's Pizza, which we were able to sell at the bake sale and donate the proceeds.

Finally, here is the list of the full standings. You can also find this here on the USCF website.

Open:

1st - NM KENT SLATE   

2nd - NM JOSHUA A NICHOLS   

3rd - DARSH MURARKA      

U1600:

1st - ALEXANDER LEVINE  

2nd - YA HE  

3rd - TIMOTHY SEAN PAPER   

U1000:

1st - SIEON JEON

2nd - ALEX JEON

3rd - JASON RODRIGUEZ

The 4th Annual Charity Chess Tournament was another successful iteration of Checkmate4Change's mission and we are determined to continue to foster social change through chess.