On Saturday, Feb. 7, 19 elementary and middle school students from the Lexington City Schools competed in the 2025 Southwest Virginia Chess Championships in Roanoke.
Five students from Waddell Elementary School, Aiden Adkins, Jack Heilpern, Alice Ingersoll, Nora Ingersoll and Owen Smith, played in the Beginners section of the tournament. All of the students performed extremely well, with Aiden Adkins and Alice Ingersoll distinguishing themselves by finishing in second and third place overall.
Seven students from Waddell participated as a team in the K-5 section of the tournament, finishing in first place. The Bulldogs were led by Theo Buenafe, who finished in first place overall with a perfect score of four wins out of four games, and Sawyer Fox, Graham Davis, and Grayson Olds, who each had three wins (finishing in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively). The rest of the team included Arham Hasan, Rose Hierman, and Henry Rahl, with both Arham Hasan and Rose Hierman finishing in the top 10.
Seven students from Lylburn Downing Middle School participated as a team in the K-8 section of the tournament, finishing in first place. The Trojans were led by Ahmad Hasan, Gibson Fox, and Harry Loughhead, who each had three wins out of four games (finishing in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively). The rest of the team included Luca Favero, Lilianne King, Franklin Palisano, and Caleb Rodocker, with both Luca Favero and Caleb Rodocker finishing in the top 10.
LDMS students who competed in the K-8 section the tournament included (first row, from left) Gibson Fox, Franklin Palisano, Harry Loughhead, Luca Favero, (second row) Lilianne King, Caleb Rodocker and Ahmad Hasan.
