2016 Arizona Interscholastic Association Chess State Team Championship
The State Championships were held at Basis Flagstaff on November 4-5. Twenty four teams that qualified from all across the State participated in five rounds of intense chess. Two rounds played on Friday and three on Saturday. In the Varsity section 124 players participated and 64 in the alternate section. Hosts Chris Lamb and Luke Calhoun both avid chess players and chess coaches of the Basis Flagstaff Chess team put up a wonderful tournament, it was well run, rounds started on time, there was plenty of room for the various teams to relax in, a well stocked concession stand and plus the beautiful views of the San Francisco peaks from the school cafeteria.
No AIA Tournament is complete or successful without tournament director Jeff Semmens. He is the first one to arrive to set up and last one to leave after clean up and this year was no exception.
The tournament kicked off with the national anthem, followed by rules and regulations by Jeff and the first round began at 5 PM sharp on the dot. Brophy Prep was the top seed, followed by Basis Flagstaff ,Basis Chandler, Catalina Foothills, Chaparral High School, Arizona College Prep (ACP -returning Champions from last year).
The first upset of the tournament was on day 2, when Chaparral High lost to ACP and Basis Flagstaff to Basis Chandler. BASIS Chandler also had another key win against Brophy and ACP to clinch the title by getting a clear first with five wins and no losses. Brophy Prep came in second on tie breaks and BASIS Flagstaff came in third. Both Brophy and Basis Flagstaff had 4 points each, ACP came in fourth on tie breaks and Hamilton fifth (ACP and Hamilton had 3.5 each).
Top five team and their players are:
1. BASIS Chandler (Prateek Pinisetti, Manu Reddy, Joanna Liu, Antonio Ferris, Swaroop Sayyaparaju)
2. BROPHY PREPARATORY (Dave Mohan, Rahul Reddy, Herman Sanghera, Daniel Noon, Robbie Coffman)
3. BASIS Flagstaff (Adam Skrocki, Winston Zeng, Cyrus Kirby, Ryan Crone, Allen Noah)
4. Arizona College Preparatory (Bryson Gregory, Michael Sauer, Marte Serrano, Liam Gomez, Walter Ayers)
5. Hamilton High (Michael Buyer, Mohammed Khezrian, Nagaprasad Rudrapatna, Tejas Singh, Rohit Shenoy)
Top boards medals were as follows:
First board: Justin Fink of Chandler prep
Second board:Winston Zeng of BASIS Flagstaff
Third board: Marte Serrano of ACP
Fourth board: Daniel Noon of Brophy Prep
Fifth board: Swaroop Sayyaparaju of BASIS Chandler
In the Alternate section, Ryan DeJohn of BASIS Chandler got a clear first winning all the five games. Adithya Chandramouli also of BASIS Chandler placed second with 4.5, Matt Scheller of Brophy Prep placed third, Jeremy Segal of Catalina Foothills fourth and Shane Readway of Basis Flagstaff placed 5th based on tie breaks. All the three players had 4 points each.
Congrats to all the winners and players. Hope it was fun for all.
Below are some pictures from the tourney.
Basis Flagstaff extends a warm welcome to all the players and coaches and spectators.
Hosts Chris Lamb on the left and Luke Calhoun on the right.
Jeff Semmens, AIA Tournament Director between rounds.
Pairings and Standings between rounds.
Prep between rounds.
Trophy and medal table.
Hosts Chris Lamb on the left and Luke Calhoun on the right.
Jeff Semmens, AIA Tournament Director between rounds.
Pairings and Standings between rounds.
Prep between rounds.
Trophy and medal table.
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| The Championship Winners BASIS Chandler L-R Shayan Islam, Ryan DeJohn, Vijeeth Guggilla, Antonio Ferris, Prateek Pinisetti, Manu Reddy, Joanna Liu, Swaroop Sayyaparaju, Adithya Chandramouli and Yash Raka |
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| Runners Up: Brophy Preparatory L-R Robbie Coffman, Rahul Reddy, Dave Mohan, Daniel Noon and Herman Sanghera |
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| Third Place Winners BASIS Flagstaff Chris Lamb and Luke Calhoun with their Team |
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| Fifth place winners Hamilton High School L-R Rohith Shenoy, Nagaprasad Rudrapatna, Tejas Singh, Micheal Buyer and Mohammed Khezrian  Varsity: First board first place Justin Fink of Chandler Preparatory with 4.5 points  Alternate Section: First Place Ryan DeJohn of BASIS Chandler with 5 wins and no losses  Alternate Section: Second Place Adithya Chandramouli of BASIS Chandler with 4.5 points  Coach Joel Banawa with his team and Jeff Semmens |
