1168 young chess players from 34 states competed in the 2003 National Junior High School Chess Championship held April 24-28 at the Hyatt Orlando in Kissimmee, FL. The Championship was a seven round, Swiss system tournament with five sections. The scores of the top four players from each school in each section are combined to create a team score. Kazim Gulamali of Forest Park, GA won the National Junior High School individual championship by scoring 6 � out of a possible seven points in the K-9 section. The University School of Florida and Hunter College High School of New York, NY shared top team honors in the K-9 section with 19 � points each. Michael Cambareri of Spokane, WA, Aleksandr Pelekhaty and Alex Lenderman of Brooklyn, NY became National Middle School Co-Champions by scoring 6 � points each in the K-8 Championship section, and IS 228 of Brooklyn, NY won the National Middle School Team Championship with a score of 21 � points.

The number of junior varsity sections increased this year from two to three, and the amazing team from Brooklyn's IS 318 won the team championship in all three of these sections. In the under 1250 section, Jeffrey Wang of Brooklyn, NY achieved a perfect score of 7-0 and led the IS 318 team to victory with a score of 23 points. Conor Myhrvold and Cameron Myhrvold of Bellevue, WA, and Cailin McGrath of Minnetonka, MN were co-champions of the Under 1000 section with 6 � points each; IS 318 of Brooklyn, NY won the Under 1000 team championship with 22 � points. Jose Sosa of Brooklyn, NY scored a perfect 7 out of 7 to win top individual honors in the Under 750 section and lead the IS 318 team to victory with an amazing team score of 25 out of a possible 28 points.

Alex Lenderman won the National Junior High blitz chess championship held on April 24 with a score of 11 � out of a possible 12 points, and IS 228 of Brooklyn, NY won the blitz team championship with a score of 37 out of a possible 48 points. Blitz chess is played with a time limit of five minutes per player per game. The team of Francis and Gulamali won the National Junior High bughouse championship on April 24 with a score of 11 out of a possible 12 points. Bughouse is a chess variant involving two-player teams. The next National Junior High Chess Championship will be held in Tucson, AZ, May 7-9, 2004.

The U. S. Chess Federation (USCF) organizes the annual National Junior High School Chess Championship. Founded in 1939, it serves as the governing body for chess in the U. S. The non-profit organization seeks to extend the role of chess, promotes the study and knowledge of chess, and provides national ratings for members who want to play in rated tournaments. The USCF has over 90,000 members, of which more than 50 percent are youth 19 and under. For more information visit the USCF�s website located at http://www.uschess.org.

The United States Chess Federation, founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with more than 90,000 members. For more information, please see http://www.uschess.org.