The Colorado State Scholastic Chess Championships and new Rising Talent Unrated Championship
The 2026 Colorado State Scholastic Chess Championships were held over the President’s Day weekend at a new location, STEM School of Highlands Ranch. The event was a resounding success in its new location with over 270 participants in the three scholastic tournaments. The State Scholastic Blitz championship was held on Friday the 13th, and the Colorado State Scholastic Chess Championship and Rising Talent Unrated Championships were held on February 14th and 15th.
Congratulations to this year’s state champions
Colorado State Scholastic Blitz Champions:
K-5 – Ella Zhang
K-12 – Vedant Margale
Rising Talent Unrated Champions:
K-5 – Grayson Evans
K-12 – Caleb Welch
Colorado State Scholastic Chess Champions:
K-1- Connor Wolf Garby
K-3 – Christian Hardy
K-5 – Dylan Kovacs
K-8 – Ashwin Mathimaran
K-12 – Grayson Manuel
Top Colorado female player – Tanya Prabhu
Christian will be our Colorado Representative for the Ashley K-3 Tournament of Champions.
Dylan will be our Colorado Representative for the Rockefeller K-5 Tournament of Champions.
Ashwin will be our Colorado Representative for the Barber K-8 Tournament of Champions.
Tanya will be our Colorado Representative for the Ruth Haring Tournament of Champions.
Grayson will be our Colorado Representative for the Denker K-12 Tournament of Champions.
The Colorado State Chess Association will offer a travel stipend of $800 to each of these state champions as well as whoever wins our Colorado State Senior Chess Championship!
Next up, the Colorado Closed Championships are only 2 weeks away on March 6th, 7th and 8th. If you think your rating qualifies you for one of the sections, you should register! Lastly, please join us for the Colorado State Quick Chess Championship on March 20th at the Hilton Garden Inn Denver Tech Center. We are hosting this championship in Denver in the hopes that we will see a record turnout!
Until next time,
Kevin McConnell
President
Colorado State Chess Association
New Front Range Freestyle Chess tournament and early registration for Colorado State Scholastic Chess Championship!
Hello chess enthusiasts,
The very first Front Range Freestyle chess tournament was held two weeks ago and was a huge success! We had a total of 31 players, and everyone had a good time. The randomized back row positions were chosen ahead of the tournament and revealed 5 minutes prior to the start of each round. We paid out more than $630 in prize money!
Secondly, registration is now open for the Colorado State Scholastic Chess Championship. We have relocated the tournament from the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds to STEM School Highlands Ranch. On the scholastic tournament page, you will find 4 different tournament registrations. We have two new tournaments we are adding to the championship weekend. We will start off with the Colorado State Scholastic Blitz Chess Championship on Friday, February 13th starting at 6:30 pm. Then on Saturday, February 14th we are launching the new “Rising Talent” championship. This brand-new tournament will be a 1-day, unrated chess championship for newer players and any players who want to dip their toes in the water of a state championship to see what it is like! We are planning on a K-5 section and a K-12 section. We will also be holding the K-1 State Scholastic Chess Championship at the same time as the “Rising Talent” championship. You can register for any of these three tournaments on the scholastic tournament page. Registering early for any of these events will save you money!
Finally, we will have the Colorado State Scholastic Chess Championship K-3, K-5, K-8 and K-12 2-day USCF rated chess tournament beginning on Saturday, February 14th and concluding on Sunday, February 15th. We are currently looking for volunteers that would be willing to assist at our information table and help guide new parents and children to where each tournament is being held. These volunteer shifts are 3 hours long and your help would be much appreciated! Registration for this event can also be found on the scholastic tournament page and registering early will save you money! We are hoping for the biggest student participation EVER. We will have a giant chess board on hand for kiddos to play with in between rounds and there will be booths where they can get their games analyzed by masters as well as the opportunity to play blitz chess with various coaches and lots, lots more! Please spread the word and join us for the 2026 Colorado State Scholastic Chess Championship!
Thanks in advance and I will look forward to seeing you there!
Kevin McConnell
President
Colorado State Chess Association
Bylaws Amendment
Dear CSCA Member, A Special Meeting of the Membership will be held on Monday, December 8, 2025, at 7:30 P.M., for the purpose of discussing and voting on the adoption of Amended Bylaws for the Colorado State Chess Association. A copy of the proposed amended bylaws is attached and available on the CSCA website. The purpose of the Amendment is to add optional additional seats on the Board of Directors for at large and junior members, to allow voting by the membership electronically, and clarification of ambiguities in the current bylaws. All current members of the Association are eligible to vote. The meeting will be held at the following location: Central Christian Church of Denver3690 Cherry Creek S. DriveDenver, CO. CSCA AMENDED BYLAWS
Colorado Informant – July
The July edition of the Colorado Informant is now available!
In This Issue:
and more! |
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CSCA Board Meeting Thursday July 10, 7:30 – 9:00 PM
| Earle Wikle is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/ Meeting ID: 898 2391 2647 One tap mobile — Dial by your location Meeting ID: 898 2391 2647 When |
| Thursday Jul 10, 2025 ⋅ 7:30pm – 9pm (Mountain Time – Denver) |
Colorado Informant – April
The April edition of the Colorado Informant is now available!
In This Issue:
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and more! |
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DTG BOARDS for COLORADO CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIP 2025
DGT Boards All Sections: DGT BOARD LINK
COLORADO CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS
| 2025 Colorado Closed Championship | ||
|
# |
Name | Rating |
| 4 | LM SULLIVA MCCONNELL | 2302 |
| 3 | NM EAMON MONTGOMERY | 2246 |
| 5 | NM GRIFFIN MCCONNELL | 2202 |
| 1 | LM BRIAN D WALL | 2200 |
| 6 | NM MATTHEW WOFFORD | 2185 |
| 2 | CM RHETT LANGSETH | 2165 |
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2025 Colorado Closed Challenger |
||
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# |
Name | Rating |
| 2 | ALEXANDER STEGER | 2117 |
| 1 | NM DANIEL HERMAN | 2114 |
| 4 | ROBERT BUCHOLTZ | 2050 |
| 3 | PATRICK ZIJLSTRA | 2046 |
| 5 | LUIS ALB DE AVILA | 2021 |
| 6 | CHRIS MOTLEY | 1961 |
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2025 Colorado Closed Scholastic Championship |
||
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# |
Name | Rating |
| 2 | GRAYSON MANUEL | 1906 |
| 4 | SHUBH MISRA | 1889 |
| 6 | AMITAI SEBBA | 1865 |
| 3 | VEDANT MARGALE | 1863 |
| 1 | REYANSH AGARWAL | 1832 |
| 5 | TANYA GURPUR MADKE PRABHU | 1794 |
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2025 Colorado Closed Scholastic Challenger |
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| # | Name | Rating |
| 5 | HENRY KOVACS | 1779 |
| 1 | KAAVYA SAKTHISARAVANAN | 1768 |
| 6 | KRISH MATHIMARAN | 1675 |
| 3 | JOHN SCHOENKE | 1675 |
| 2 | FELIX MCMILLAN | 1670 |
| 4 | ASHWIN MATHIMARAN | 1587 |
Colorado Informent – History of Denver Chess
The July edition of the Colorado Informant is now available!
In This Issue:
and more! |
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