Sparta 6th graders shine in chess tourney

SPARTA — Sparta Chess Team's sixth graders won their fourth consecutive grade level state championship. The team was led by Vaiden Pollard with 4 wins out of five. Ayush Iyer had three wins and a tie. JC Langeraap, Ian Bellush, and Griffin Brawer had three wins each. Surekha Selvaraj, Chloe Brawer, and Christian Posada were also on the team. Sparta's ninth graders are also state champs, with Timothy Lee, Akshat Iyer, and Cole Potter winning three games each. The 12th grade team, the 10th grade team and the 2nd grade teams all finished third. Michael Flores led the seniors wit three wins. Karthik Selvaraj scored a lifetime best three wins and a draw for the 10th grade. Beck Hassloch led the second graders with help from Noah Dunbar, Rohan Flores, and Christopher and Michael Louie. Joey Potter scored three wins for the kindergarten team, and received individual recognition. the 6th, 9th and 12th grade teams will be going to the National Grade Level Championships in Orlando Florida the second week of December. Two years ago, the seniors were National Public School Champs and the sixth graders were ninth.