As eight of the best chessplayers under the age of 16 rolled into town to take part in the highly competitive 2010 U.S. Cadet Championship from July 12-16, 2010 in Cumberland County Bank on Main Street, they were welcomed by many dignitaries from the area. This is a national invitational chess tournament for the top eight players in the United States under age 16. The players consisted of Aleksandr Ostrovskiy, from New York; Michael Yang, from Minnesota; David Adelberg, from Arizona; Yian Liou, from California; Jarod Pamatmat, from Texas; Ryan Joseph Moon, from Georgia; Atulya Shetty, from Michigan; and Adarsh Jayakumar, from Texas. Yang and Pamatmat are no strangers to Crossville as they participated in the 2009 U.S. Cadet Championship.

Although Crossville’s own Mayor J.H. Graham quoted Winston Churchill by telling the players, “Never Give Up!” that was hardly in the player’s minds. They have to come to Crossville to do battle. Others that spoke words of encouragement were Bill Startup, president of Cumberland County Bank; Cosby Stone, publisher and CEO of Tap Publishing; Larry Doster, owner of Crossville Trophy and Gifts; Susan Houston, president of the Cumberland County Chess Club; James Perry, serving on the Board of Directors Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce; Bill Hall, executive director of the U.S. Chess Federation; and Paul Semmes, dean of Tennessee Tech University. Other sponsors were House of Staunton; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Vol First.

A drawing was held to determine the round-by-round pairings:

Adelberg (white) versus Jayakumar (black)

Moon (white) versus Liou (black)

Pamatmat (white) versus Ostrovskiy (black)

Shetty (white) versus Yang (black)

Liou (white) versus Adelberg (black)

Jayakumar (white) versus Shetty (black)

Ostrovskiy (white) versus Moon (black)

Yang (white) versus Pamatmat (black)

Shetty (white) versus Adelberg (black)

Pamatmat (white) versus Jayakumar (black)

Ostrovskiy (white) versus Liou (black)

Moon (white) versus Yang (black)

Adelberg (white) versus Pamatmat (black)

Jayakumar (white) versus Moon (black)

Liou (white) versus Shetty (black)

Yang (white) versus Ostrovskiy (black)

Moon (white) versus Adelberg (black)

Ostrovskiy (white) versus Jayakumar (black)

Yang (white) versus Liou (black)

Pamatmat (white) versus Shetty (black)

Adelberg (white) versus Ostrovskiy (black)

Jayakumar (white) versus Yang (black)

Liou (white) versus Pamatmat (black)

Shetty (white) versus Moon (black)

Yang (white) versus Adelberg (black)

Jayakumar (white) versus Liou (black)

Moon (white) versus Pamatmat (black)

Ostrovskiy (white) versus Shetty (black)

What is at stake here? These eight players are fighting for full four-year scholarships from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. Everyone will receive plaques.

There will be daily reports and updates right here on Chess Life Online. Games will be broadcast live on the Internet at http://monroi.com/watch/?tnm_id=1411. The schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 9 am and 4 pm, Wednesday at 9 am and 4 pm, Thursday at 9 am and 4 pm, and Friday at 9 am. Come down and see the exciting chess. You won’t be disappointed and the players will “never give up!”