Dropping a game at a national tournament is never fun, but for Aydin Turgut it did not mean the end of the road.

Despite the fifth round loss to the eventual champion, Aydin rallied, won his last two games and, as things fell into place, Aydin claimed second place.

California fourth grader Andrew Hong, already a USCF master, was crowned National Champion. Aydin had the highest tiebreaks among a trio of 6.0/7's, despite having the lowest of the three pre-event ratings.

Aydin's bughouse partner, Jason Daniels had a strong finish of his own, posting 5.5/7, tying for fifth place, earning 13th place hardware on tiebreaks.

Buffalo Grove's Ricky Wang was a half-point back at 5.0, tying for 18th, 19th on tiebreaks.

Joey Buklis and Vishal Chandrasekar posted 4.5's, tying for 41st place out of 228 multi-round competitors.

Alex Yasumoto tallied 4.0, pacing Highcrest (Wilmette) to a 12.5 team total, good for 11th place. Justin Weinzwieg (3.5), Richard Porwancher (3.0) and Ethan Salazar-Sobin (2.0) contributed to the Highcrest team score. Highcrest had the higher tiebreak against PS 166 and finished a half-point better than New York's Success Academy Upper West and Success Academy Harlem West. They finished 1.5 points higher than Success Academy Harlem North and Success Academy Harlem East.

Jason's 5.5 and Vishal's 4.5 were good enough to give Chiddix the 22nd place team trophy. New York College's Laboratory School had an identical team score also with only two players, earning 21st place on a slightly better tiebreak.

In the K-6 Under 1000, previously-perfect Max Malecki lost his final round match against Grant Bomar, a Georgia fourth grader. The defeat dropped Max, a Highcrest sixth grader, into a tie for third place, fourth on tiebreaks.

Ben Broach was a half-point back at 5.5, tying for 12th place, 14th on tiebreaks.

Ojas Vasisht posted 5.0, tying for 19th place, 31st on tiebreaks, winning a 25th place trophy.