Simsbury Student Secures Second Place in Chess Championship

On December 11, student Jonathan Aiyathurai emerged from the venue at Windsor Locks’ Sheraton Hotel at Bradley Airport after seven rounds of chess exhausted but feeling victorious, having placed second at the eighth annual New England Scholastic Chess Championships/Middle School section. Earlier this year he placed third in the Connecticut Elementary School Championship and first in the Rhode Island Elementary School Championship.

Jonathan is the son of Jerry and Sashi Aiyathurai of Simsbury. Mom Sashi was quite proud of her son, noting that last year Jonathan had finished in 10th place, so he was very pleased with his improvement.

“Jonathan had a good tournament, upsetting a highly ranked second seed. He is very tired after seven rounds of games, but very happy with his result,” said Sashi Aiyathurai.

The competition was open to all students in kindergarten through grade 12, who were divided into five sections. Jonathan was eligible to compete against students from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Jonathan attributes his wins to the support he has received from his school, his coaches and his chess clubs. Since third grade he has been a member of the Simsbury Library Chess Club where more than 45 Simsbury elementary school students meet every other Tuesday during the school year. The club is coached by Gert Hilhorst and advised by Shelley Spoering and Cheryl Donahue. The purpose of the club is to teach chess, but along the way the children also learn problem-solving and sportsmanship.

The “graduates” of the chess club expect to field a Henry James Memorial School team at the Connecticut State Scholastic Championship in March 2012.

For more information on the Simsbury Library Chess Club, visit http://www.simsburychess.info. For information on the New England Scholastic Championship, go to http://www.chesstour.com/nes11.htm.

This information was provided by the Simsbury Public Schools.