Chiddix Junior High of Normal won both the sixth and eighth grade championships at the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) championships concluded February 28.

The two-day event was held at the Bone Center on the campus of ISU in Normal. Results are posted here.

Chiddix took second in the 7th grade competition, losing out to Bloomington Evans, 27.0-25.5.

Jason Daniels and Hanson Hao were undefeated in the 8th grade section, running their respective tables, 7-0. Jason represented the champion Chiddix while Hanson played for Bloomington Junior High which took fourth place.

Rockford Marshall's Vincent Do was also undefeated in the 7th grade section with 7.0/7. Marshall also took fourth, fielding only four players. Top five scores contributed to the team total.

Paul Peterson of East Peoria Central was a half-point back at 6.5/7.

Pranav Venkatesh of Chiddix posted the top score in the 6th grade section, 6.5/7. Teammate Vishal Chandrasekar was a half-point back at 6.0 as was Rockford Marshall's Sreyansh Mamidi.

Along with Jason's 7.0 points, the Chiddix 30.0 point team score in the 8th grade section was bolstered by three of the seven runners up, including Vishnu Anagani, Cassie Parent, and Abhiru Raul, all with 6.0 scores.

Other 8th grade runners up were Alex Beecher of Brimfield, Clayton Davis of Normal Parkside, Derek Dumas of Grant Park and Dan Hammond of Steger Columbia.

Leading Bloomington Evans to the 7th grade team championship were Ishaar Ganesan and Rithvik Musuku, both with 6.0 points. Rithvik was the defending 7th grade co-champion, along with Vincent.

Also posting 6.0's in the section were Mantra Dave of Chiddix, Joshua Madsen of Washington Central and Malcom Smith of Homewood Hart.

With 5.5's were Naaman Rivera of Chiddix, Nathaniel Sobery of Normal Kingery. and Richard Yang of Rockford Marshall. Nathan was the defending 8th grade champion from 2014.

Tying for fourth place in the sixth grade section with 5.5 scores were a pair from Peoria Washington: Donald Egan and Ethan Hudelson, along with Dunlap Valley Middle School's Kushal Mungee.

This was the fifth year for the IESA competition but the first year for the sixth grade section.

Norma Schaefbauer is an IESA Associate Executive Director and the designated Administrator for IESA Chess. She says the event attracted 460 students from 53 schools, making it the largest IESA championship to date: "The Association is very excited about the growth of this activity."