LEMON SPRINGS, NC - B.T. Bullock Elementary continued their string of dominating performances in the third annual Lee County Schools Elementary Chess Championships. The Bengals were led by their top-seeded player, Maci Houchins who quickly won all six of her matches by checkmate, including a win in the finals over Benjamin Reible from Broadway.
B.T. Bullock players dominated pool play in the opening three rounds, only losing four of their 24 matches in the seeding rounds. Teams also managed just three draws against Bullock players in the opening three rounds.
For the third year in a row, Tramway won their pool in pool play, earning the top seed from their group for the quarterfinals. The Tigersharks lost just two of their first 24 games, while other teams managed six draws against Tigershark players.
The surprise of the day came in the Semifinals as Broadway stunned Tramway 37.5 - 30.5 in a match that came down to the final two boards in play. Maximus Roberts from Broadway closed out his opponent from Tramway at the number seven seed, sealing the upset for the Wildcats.
Earlier in the day during Pool Play, Tramway knocked off Broadway 52.5 - 15.5 with Broadway only getting a single win from Ryder Lett in the round to pair with two draws. The Wildcats flipped the script on Tramway in the semifinals winning four of the eight matches and picking up a draw in another match to secure the victory. The Wildcats were buoyed by Reible’s early checkmate at the number one seed while Lett was joined in the win column by Joaquin Chaves-Rivera and Roberts.
Tramway did bounce back in the Consolation Finals to secure third place with a win over J. Glenn Edwards. Tigershark players won six of the eight matches in the final match to defeat JGE 58-10. Ethan Guarino was the top-seeded Tigershark, going 4-2 in his six matches of the day. J. Glenn Edwards reached the semifinals for the second year in a row led by their top seeded player, Chase Chuquiruna, who went 5-1 in his six matches, falling only to B.T. Bullock’s Houchins during their semifinal matchup.
Bullock’s team was composed of Maci Houchins, James Rouse, Liam Chick, Oliver Ziebart, Korbin Yow, Killian Benson, Calvin Bauer, Natalie Collins, and Colton Beard who substituted in for Liam Chick due to illness before the Semifinals.