The top 17 chess players were determined from approximately 300 3rd grade students following a chess tournament on Monday, May 14th in the Brownwood Intermediate School/Coggin Elementary cafeteria.

Each round at the tournament lasted approximately 15 minutes. Players who earned the most points (calculated by their remaining pieces) went on to play other players that ended up with the most points, while competitors with the least points played each other in the subsequent rounds.

At the end of the tournament the top players were awarded a Sonic gift card, a bowling pass, and a $10 Wal-Mart gift card provided by Big Country Ford.

Pictured at top are the tournament’s top players:  Front Row: (left to right) Virginia Cooley, Jimmy Kniss, Gabriel Hernandez, John Monson, Jashyah Anderson, Andy Pham, Christian Fijer, Jaedyn Feltner, and Ethan Edmondson.  Back Row: Josiah Campos, Collin Lyons, Romulus Romero, Malachi Revada, Andrew Miles, Autumn Rouse, Jacob Davis, Bridget Montemayor.

Above: John Monson concentrates on a chess game during the 3rd grade chess tournament Monday, May 14th.  Photos contributed.