The Elbridge Gale Elementary School chess team led by award-winning educator and 2013-14 Florida Chess Coach of the Year Antonis Loudaros, solidified itself as the top chess program in Florida after an outstanding performance at the Florida State Scholastic Championship recently in Boca Raton.
The powerhouse team consisted of 24 elite players in total, with eight students competing in each of three divisions. The Elbridge Gale K-5 team dominated and placed first in the state.
The K-5 championship lineup, with a total score of 13.0, was comprised of RaghavVenkat, Antonio Selva, VanshVarak, Anthony Bleeker, Nicolas Bolanos, KamuliBahemuka, ShelseaRomelus and Isabella Tombari.
The Elbridge Gale K-3 team finished with an impressive second-place win with a total score of 13.0 points. The winning lineup was David Selva, Logan Memberg, Brandon J. Lee, Pranav Kher, Sophia Antoni, Patrick McDermott, Jackson Colombier, and VeenyaOodal.
Rounding out Elbridge Gale’s exceptional showing was the K-1 team, placing third with 8.0 points. This young team of determined players included VarshiniVenkat, Julio Bolanos, Roshan Oodal, Luke Galera, Isabella Antoni, Christopher Linson, Mia Zelhof and Eric Bolanos.
In addition, the individual standings also gave Elbridge Gale much to celebrate. The K-5 team not only had two players in the top 10, but had the No. 1 player in the state, RaghavVenkat, with Antonio Selva placing tenth. The K-3 team had David Selva (Antonio’s brother) placing eighth and Logan Memberg placing 11th.
Timothy Chen from Binks Forest Elementary School, along with and Gary Wu and Anthony Leyva from Suncoast High School, also placed. For complete results, visit www.chess.org.
For more about the Elbridge Gale Elementary School chess program, call Loudaros at (561) 422-9300.
ABOVE: Coach Antonis Loudaros and the Elbridge Gale chess students.
