Chess team brings home trophies from state tournament; Ryan Chang Pelham’s first champion

By Henry Driesen, Sports Editor

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Ryan Chang won first place March 3 in the Elementary Reserve division of the New York State Chess Championships, and the Colonial team tied for third in the division, taking fourth place on tie breaks.

Ryan became Pelham’s first ever state champ after scoring five wins and one draw. Players on the reserve team were Sidney Skop, Reed O’Brien, Matthew Meyer, Matyas Spunberg and Ryan. The tournament was played by more than 600 kids from more than 30 schools.

“I’m very happy about winning,” said Ryan (4M) in an interview. “I was very proud of myself. Mr. E was also proud of me.”

Rishi Basu participated in the Elementary Championship division because his rating was too high to play in the reserve section with the other Colonial players. One of the hard parts for Rishi was he had to play alone. He scored one win, two draws and three losses.

The Primary Division team from Colonial finished in seventh place, with players Tyler Chang, Kyle Skop, Noah Breskin, Christian Shiels, Aidan Resnick and Maxwell Resnick.  Kyle won a trophy for second place among unrated players.

The Kindergarten-first grade team of Eleanor Neu, Larisa Breskin, Kyle Chang, Amelia Resnick and Timmy Meyer recorded impressive wins, and Timmy finished second among unrated players.

Pelham Middle School students PJ Shiels, Nicklas Neu, Nicholas Breskin and Jared Morel—all Colonial alumni—also did good, taking sixth in the Elementary Championship division.

The Middle School Reserve team won fifth. Players were Andrew Kalyvas, Jake Beckman, Cameron Catana, Eli MacColl and Jack MacColl.Congratulations to all of the players. This was a very interesting tournament. It was the first time that Pelham had a state champion. Thanks Ryan!

This story also appears on the Colonial Times website.