Knights of Columbus “Swiss Style” Round Robin Chess Tourney

Posted on by Dan DiBella Posted in Florham Park Press, Madison Monthly, Our Publications
(above) The chess players in the 2024 K of C “Round Robin” Chess tournament.

Florham Park/Madison Knights of Columbus Chess Tourney

Submitted by Joe O’Brien

The Florham Park/Madison Knights of Columbus “Swiss Style” Round Robin Chess Tourney was played on Saturday, April 13th in the Holy Family Gym in Florham Park. This was a true “round robin” in that players played each other and were awarded 2 points for a win, 0 point for a loss, and 1 point for a draw. If a player goes undefeated then the average game/total score (AG/TS) would be a “2”!

A Division: For 6th to 8th graders and fortunately, we had 3 players that were able to play.  Lexi Currie, 7th grader, from Madison Junior School, Ava Laudicina, 6th grader, Ridgedale Middle School, Florham Park, and Mia Marulanda, 7th grader, All Saints Academy, Parsippany. Since they had more time, they played more games with each other. Currie took the 1st place trophy with AG/TS of 1.75, Laudicina, took 2nd with .75 and Marulanda, took 3rd, with .67!

(above, l-r) Div A:  Lexie Currie: 1st, Madison, Ava Laudicina: 2nd, Florham Park and Mia Marulanda: 3rd, Parsippany. 

B Division: For 3rd to 5th graders had a nice turnout with 15 players! Ritvik Karankal, 5th grader, Brooklake Elementary School (BES), Florham Park, won the 1st place trophy playing the most games at 13. He was undefeated but had one draw, gaining an AG/TS of 1.92! He also was undefeated last year (no draws) winning the division. Ezra Lewis, 5th grader, Central Avenue School (CAS), Madison, was the player who got the draw with Karankal. He won 2nd place with a 1.70. David Marulanda, 4th grader, East Lake School, Parsippany, took 3rd place with 1.64. Arul Mareeswaran, 5th grader, CAS, took 4th place ribbon, with 1.42. Kelsey Heitzmann, 3rd grader, CAS, took 5th place, with 1.20, and Dominic Ospina, 5th grader, BES, took 6th place with 1.0.

(above, l-r) Div B:  Ritvik Karankal: 1st, Florham Park, Ezra Lewis: 2nd, Madison, David Marulanda: 3rd, Parsippany, Arul Mareeswaran: 4th, Madison, Kelsey Heitzmann: 5th, Madison, and Dominic Ospina: 6th, Florham Park.

Other fine players in B were Luke Healey-Saint Vincent Martyr School, Madison, Isabella Santibanez -St. Elizabeth, Bernardsville, Kyrie Simonneau and David Murray – both from CAS, Brennan Warner-Thomas Jefferson, Morristown, Teddy Muccifori- TJS, Madison, and Owen Schoenfelder, Calvin Gerber, and Griffin Laudicina, all from BES.

All players received free chess literature, hot dog lunch, chips, cookies, grapes and other refreshments. Joe O’Brien, Tournament Chairman, said, “ ‘Win, Lose or Draw’, judging by the robust cheers for the winners and all the players at the end of the tourney, showed good sportsmanship was truly displayed by all; and they had a great time!”

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