Illinois 7-year old Dimitar Mardov has won another national title -- this time prevailing as the K-3 Blitz Champion at the US Chess National Elementary Championships in Nashville, TN. The competition was held at the Opryland Resort on May 5.

This was Dimitar's very first rated blitz event -- and he was a late registrant who needed to coax his way into the competition!

Dimitar was the only competitor with a perfect 10 out of 10 heading into the final match. With two draws against Alexander Rutten of Georgia, Dimitar cemented the championship with 11.0 points.

Lucas Foerster-Yialamas of New York, the highest-rated player in the event, nabbed second place, narrowly edging Rutten on tiebreaks, both with 10.0/12.

According to proud papa, Andon, Dimitar was at the resort hotel playing soccer with some other kids he had known from other national events... and the game was breaking up because some of them were playing in the blitz event. 15 minutes before the registration cutoff, Dimitar asked his dad if he could join too. At first, his father was reluctant, but Dimitar can be persuasive when he wants to be and soon the 7-year-old found himself sitting at the board as a last-minute registrant, one of 110 players.

"I'm glad I listened to him!" said Andon. (Editor's Note: Let that be a lesson to all parents out there!)

Dimitar first became a national champion almost a year ago when he won the 4th ChessKid.com Invitational's Under 6 Section. He also won the Grades 2-3 Section at the 2016 Illinois K-8 Championships and was the K-1 Champion at the 2015 Illinois K-8's.

In the K-6 Blitz, Aydin Turgut placed second with the top tiebreak in a 7-way tie of 10.0-point finishers. Aydin was also perfect heading into the final round, losing both games to the eventual champion, Anthony He of Washington state. Anthony was a perfect 12-for-12 in the event.

175 players competed in the K-6 Blitz.

Aydin, the defending champion at the K-6 Bughouse (along with partner Jason Daniels who "aged out" of Elementary competition), paired with a new friend from Virginia, Aasa Dommalapati, to take fifth place in this year's event. 

The pair lost both third-round games to the eventual champions, the aforementioned Anthony He and Eric Zhang, both of Washington. He and Zhang compiled 11.0/12, the Turgut-Dommalapati team tallied 9.0.

The main event kicks off today and runs through May 8.