RVE, LFHS Teams Win Divisions at Regional Chess Championships

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

Rancho Verde Elementary and Los Fresnos High School won first places in their divisions at the Texas Chess Association Region VIII Scholastic Chess Championships Saturday at Brownsville Veterans Memorial High School.

Rancho Verde Elementary, made up of team members Carlos Zertuche, Joaquin Cavazos, Sean Torres and Cristian Loera, won the Primary JV K-3 U700 division.

Los Fresnos High School, made up of team members Edward Maciel, Jolie Gonzalez, Arnulfo Limon and Jose Medina, won the High School JV U1000 division.

Individually, Villareal Elementary’s Casper Kaechele, who competed in the Los Fresnos CISD Spelling Bee the same morning, won first place in the Elementary JV K-5/6 U800 division.

The tournament attracted 1,284 chess players from kindergarten through 12th grade in the area participating. Division winners are elegible to participate in the National Chess Championships.

Placing in the top 10 in their respective divisions were the following:

Kinder-First Division: Olmito Elementary, 7th place

Primary JV K-3 Division: Rancho Verde Elementary, 1st place; Olmito Elementary, 3rd place

Elementary K-5/6 Championship Division: Rancho Verde Elementary, 8th place

Elementary JV K-5/6 Division: Olmito Elementary, 6th place; Lopez-Riggins Elementary, 8th place.

Middle School JV U900 Division: Resaca Middle School, 3rd place.

High School JV U1000 Division: Los Fresnos High School, 1st place.

Individuals placing in the top 10 in their respective divisions were the following:

Kinder/First (178 participants): Caleb Perez, Lopez-Riggins Elementary, 10th place.

Primary K-3 Championship (216 participants): Marco Peña, Rancho Verde Elementary, 5th place.

Primary JV K-3 U700 (107 participants): Carlos Zertuche and Joaquin Cavazos, 2nd and 3rd place

Rancho Verde Elementary; Braden Londrie, Olmito Elementary, 5th place.

Elementary K-5/6 Championship (273 participants): Kevin Zhou, Rancho Verde Elementary, 4th place.

Elementary JV K-5/6 U800 (119 participants): Casper Kaechele, Villareal Elementary, 1st place; Mark Conde, Villareal Elementary, 7th place.

Middle School JV U900 (82 participants): Elijah Hinojosa, Resaca Middle School, 5th place.

High School Championship (107 participants): Christian Muraira, Los Fresnos High School, 1st place.

High School JV U1000 (42 participants): Edward Maciel, 4th place; Jolie Gonzalez, 5th place; Arnulfo Limon, 7th place.

Rancho Verde students pictured are (front row, left to right): Daniel Ramirez, Carlos Zertuche, Joaquin Cavazos, Christian Loera, (back row) Sophia Barajas, Robert Ramirez, Marcus Ramirez, and Sean Torres.

Resaca Middle School, which just started its chess program in the fall, also had a Top 3 finish. Scoring points for the Gators were the top four finishers – Elijah Hinojosa, Ethan Maciel, Brandon Kunzel and Javier Mata.