May 21 2025

NEO Championship Brings Scholastic Chess Back to Akron!

Wes Tarca Tournaments 2025, Akron, Tournament

NEO Championship Brings Scholastic Chess Back to Akron!

May 17th, 2025 – Akron, Ohio

Two chess buddies turn rivals as they meet to do battle on the chess board in the Championship section.

$1,500 in scholarship prizes awarded to Northeast Ohio chess champions in Akron tournament!

The North East Ohio Chess Championship, organized and directed by Progress With Chess, proved to be an intense day for scholastic chess competitors, grades K-12, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic. Over 120 brave chess kids arrived to battle hard over the boards to compete for ratings points, trophies and $1,500 in scholarship prizes. The stakes were high and only the most steadfast could emerge victorious.

Akron chess kids ages 5-12 dominated the U400 and U700 sections.

USCF Expert Sean Tan (left) and Scotty Robinson (right) calculate variations as the clock ticks down past the 3 minute mark.

Many champions did emerge after four rounds of dodging hidden tactics and checkmating attacks. National Master Anant Adury earned the $1,000 first-place scholarship with an outstanding display of skill and composure throughout the tournament. National Master Amogh Tripathi and Scott Robinson shared the $500 second-place scholarship, showcasing remarkable talent, determination and sportsmanship.

The prestigious scholarship was made possible through the generous support of the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul.

Stacia Pugh (left) presents NM Anant Adury (right) with his scholarship prize.

Trophies were also awarded to individuals and teams at the event:

In the U400 section:

Heritage Classical Academy of Peninsula secured the first place trophy.
For the individual award winning first place goes to Everett Maxfield.
Hawken Lower School from Lyndhurst claimed the second place trophy.

In the U700 section:

Heritage Elementary of Lewis Center captured the first place trophy.
For the individual award winning first place goes to Grayson Pero-Luter.
Hawken Lower School of Lyndhurst earned the second place trophy once again.

In the U1000 section:

Muraski Elementary of Strongsville secured themselves as northeast Ohio chess champions.
For the individual award winning first place goes to Aurora Huang.

Lastly, in the final section U1400:

For the individual award winning first place goes to Nodirbek Aminov.

Click here to see our Champions Photo Gallery!

Local phenoms, NM Sharath Radhakrishnan and NM Amogh Tripathi face off.

The story doesn’t end with just a single scholastic tournament however. The Akron-Canton area has a history of scholastic chess that was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic; and somehow never returned…. until now.

The NEO Scholastic Championships is the second tournament dreamed up by Santosh Kanakkanatt, who has taken Akron scholastic chess into his own hands and is now leading the charge by working with Michael Joelson and Progress With Chess, the largest and most experienced chess organization in Northeast Ohio, as well as David Bills, the President of the Ohio Scholastic Chess Association. Driven by his passion for his city, and his desire to bring all the benefits of chess to his community, a resurgence of scholastic chess is surely on the horizon for the Akron-Canton area!