Scarsdale Students Take Home Awards from All-Girls Chess Championship

Audrey Zhou, Tanishqa Balasubramanian and Nikki Chan with Coach Matan Prilleltensky.Scarsdale students demonstrated their chess prowess at the 20th Annual All-Girls National Chess Championships held April 4-6 in Chicago, Illinois. The event which was presented by The Kasparov Chess Foundation and Chicago's Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation, attracted a record-breaking 546 players from 33 states, Washington, DC, and US Virgin Islands, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom.

Chess champion Garry Kasparov attended the event and expressed enthusiasm about the growing popularity and engagement of girls in the chess community.Coach Matan Prilleltensky, Alexandra Wang, Allison Zhou (leading scorer), and Amelia Chen

Under the guidance of National Scholastic Chess Foundation Executive Director Matan Prilleltensky, local students achieved great results across multiple age divisions.

Greenacres Makes National Debut

The Greenacres Chess Team competed in the Under 8 section, marking their first appearance as a full team in a national competition. The young squad—featuring Alexandra Wang, Allison Zhou (leading scorer), and Amelia Chen, and Brooke Gao (not shown) —secured the sixth place team trophy with a strong finish.

Edgemont Claims National Runner-Up Status

In the Under 14 section, the Edgemont Chess Team placed second in the nation—the school's best team result at a national championship in many years. Notably, Edgemont was the only non-New York City school to place in the top 3 across all six competition sections. The team comprised Audrey Zhou, Tanishqa Balasubramanian, and Nikki Chan.

Edgemont students Alice Shi (Under 16) and Leah Chan (Under 18) also posted solid results as individual competitors.

Individual Championships for Zhou and Liang

Audrey Zhou claimed the individual national championship title in the Girls Under 14 division, scoring an impressive 5.5 out of 6 points. With this achievement, Audrey joins National Master William Graif and Max Li on the exclusive list of students who have won individual National Championships while attending Edgemont High School.

Melanie Liang, Girls Under 10 National Chess Champion.Another stellar performance was achieved by Melanie Liang, a Scarsdale resident who is a fourth grader at Rye Country Day School. Melanie, who is coached by NSCF Founding Director Sunil Weeramantry, scored a perfect 6 points to become the Girls Under 10 National Chess Champion.

All these students have taken classes and participated in tournaments organized by the National Scholastic Chess Foundation. Young chess enthusiasts can look forward to the organization's next tournament, scheduled for Saturday, May 17, at Bronxville School. The event is open to competitors in grades K through 12. For more information or to register, visit the NSCF website at nscfchess.org.Audrey Zhou, Girls Under 14 National Chess Champion.