Over 1,100 players at Washington State Elementary Championship

2011 Washington Elementary Championship held April 30 at Tacoma Convention Center
By Russell Miller

From information found at http://chess.ratingsnw.com/tournreports.html the following data was compiled. Tournament directors listed were Southcote-Want and Stensland. The order of finish listed below might not be the tie-break order used at the tournament for trophies. 1130 players took part plus 45 in the I Love Chess 2 sections.

Kindergarten 102 Players
Stanley Zhong 5-0 Cherry Crest School Bellevue

1st Grade 90 Players
Neil Chowdhury 5-0 Somerset Elem. Bellevue
Aryan Deshanded 5-0 Stevenson Elem. Bellevue
Jaden Zhang 5-0 Lowell Elem. Bellingham

2nd Grade 180 Players
Freya Gulamali 5-0 Bellevue Children Acad. Bellevue
Omakar Shetti 5-0 Challenger Elem. Everett
Richard Yang 5-0 Spiritridge Elem. Bellevue

3rd Grade 238 Players
Derek Zhang 5-0 Spiritridge Elem Bellevue
Michael Han 5-0 Apollo Elem. Issaquah
Jan Buzek 5-0 View Ridge Elem Everett
Michelangelo Barozzi 5-0 Open Window School Bellevue

4th Grade 194 players
Roland Feng 5-0 Thurgood Marshall Elem. Seattle
Bryce Tiglon 5-0 Louisa Alcott Elem. Redmond
Brendan Zhang 5-0 Creekside Elem. Issaquah
Zothi Ramesh 5-0 Meridian Park Elem. Shoreline

5th Grade Section 196 players
Nathaniel Yee 5.0 Springridge Elem. School Bellevue
Kyle Haining 5.0 Ridgecrest Elem. School Shoreline
Sangeeta Dhingra 5.0 Louisa Alcott Elem. School Redmond

6th Grade 130 Players
Samuel He 5.0 Thoreau Elem. School Kirkland
Trevor Johnson 5.0 Home Schooled
Faris Gulamali 5.0 Stevenson Elem. Bellevue

I Love Chess 2 Section One 33 players: Quinn Chow, Bush School Seattle 1st Grade and Jad Gorman, Epiphany Seattle 3rd Grade both 4.5-.5, they drew with each other
I Love Chess 2 Section Two 12 players: Dorian Clay 5-0, Cherry Crest School, Bellevue 5th Grade

Info provided by Russell (Rusty) Miller

Route 6 Champion Lives 1,000 Miles From The Grand Army of the Republic Highway

Yes, it's true.  The man who spearheaded the cause to reawaken interest in what was once America's Longest Highway (and remains the longest CONTIGUOUS federal road in the USA) lives in Washington State - nearly one thousand miles from any point on US Route 6.

Russell Lombard, President/CEO/Founder of the Non-Profit US Route 6 Tourist Association grew up in Pasadena, CA - and in the 1950's would visit family in Nebraska by driving on the only highway that ran from California to Nebraska - Route 6.  Memories of these road trips remained with him his whole life, and after a career in city planning and retirement near Puget Sound, he thought of a way to preserve and enhance them.

In October 2000, a few neighborhood teens came to Russell with a question.  They were asked to design a web-page as a high school school project and believed that Mr. Lombard would have some ideas.  He did.  "Why not start a US Route 6 Association?" he recommended.  It was once the only road that ran coast to coast and no-one these days really knew about it.  The kids were intrigued.  And then obsessed.

"What began as a school project turned into something much more," Lombard told me.  "Those kids would come over every day after school into the evenings, contacting towns and cities along the Route.  They started getting invitations from communities, from mayors and selectmen."  By the summer of 2001, The US Route 6 Tourist Association had obtained IRS Non-Profit Status.

Russ called me recently to tell me this story.  Even though he has never traveled on 6 East of Council Bluffs, IA, he has a deep fondness for America's Highway.  "US Route 6 is a symbol of culture and time and history and experiences.  It is a symbol of our country."

My own travel obsessions take me on the road.  It's there I discover our great, diverse and rich land firsthand.  I can't wait until I get and STAY ON 6 later this Spring.  Sign up for this blog and come along starting May 20, 2011.