Evansville Scholastic Chess Club Players Perform At SCI State Championships

Evansville Scholastic Chess Players Perform At SCI State Championships

On January 27, 2007, 292 eager Hoosier chess players amassed at Anderson Indiana's East Side Middle School for a day of one-on-one chess competition. No players were to be eliminated in this Swiss System pairing tournament.

All players had to qualify at one of six regional locations in the state in the weeks prior to this championship event. Over 700 players players had fought to make it to Anderson. These were the best scholastic players in the State.

Three higher education scholarships were presented to the winners of the three championship sections:

Brian Yamin Scholarship
H. Brian Yamin was an honor student and promising chess player from the Sycamore School in Indianapolis. As a sixth grader, he led his Sycamore team to the Elementary Team State Championship in 1989, winning all five of his games. His USCF rating placed him 1st in the state and 19th in the nation for players 11-12 years of age.
Brian was killed in an automobile accident on June 27, 1989, the summer before the institution of the Individual State Scholastic Championships. His parents have established a scholarship fund in his name. The SCI Elementary Champion (6th Grade and Under), upon graduation from high school, will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship to an institution of higher learning.

Billy Colias Scholarship
William H. Colias was an outstanding scholastic player from Munster, Indiana. As an 8th grader, he was on the Wilbur Wright team that won the 1981 Junior High State Team Championship. His Munster High School team won two state championships, and as a senior, he placed 2nd in the National High School Individual Championships.
Billy developed leukemia during his sophomore year at Munster, but recovered to continue his chess achievements, attaining the title of Senior Master and teaching chess in North Carolina, New York, Chicago, and Indiana. He also had written articles for Chess Life and other publications and co-authored The Staunton Defense.
At the time of his death on November 4, 1993 at the age of 27, Billy was working for the American Chess Foundation in New York. The scholarship which bears his name will be presented to the SCI Junior High Champion (9th Grade & Under), who upon graduation from high school will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship to an institution of higher learning.

"Teddy" Jacobi Scholarship
Paul "Teddy" Jacobi was a talented young chess player from Michigan City. He excelled in both academics and sports, but one of his great loves was competing with his many friends in chess. Teddy won the Indiana State Chess Association 3rd grade and 6th grade championships and had captained the Crichfield Elementary School in La Porte to a 5th place finish in the National Elementary School Championship in 1998. In November 2002, he competed and finished 14th in the National Youth Action Chess Championship.
Teddy was tragically lost in an automobile accident on January 14, 2003, just four days before the SCI regionals. He had been looking forward to this tournament, not only to play chess, but also to renew friendships with fellow chess players with whom he had played throughout his young life.
This $2,000 scholarship, which bears Teddy's name, has been established by the family and friends of Teddy Jacobi and Scholastic Chess of Indiana, to be presented to the SCI High School Champion (12th Grade & Under) upon graduation from high school and with proof of enrollment in an institution of higher learning.

Details of the event can found at the United States Chess Federation page here.

SCI summary page here.

Qualifying and attending players from the Evansville Regional were:

Ryder Burns, Matheu Dewitt, Aidan Payne, Jimmy Schraeder, Trae Stewart, Ellen Jackson, Hannah Hoffman, Joe Munning IV, Teddy Sterne, August Katz, Aaron Persohn, Brock Wandel, Joshua Dewitt, Mason Rickelman, Andres Aston Zapata, Patrick Barner, Philip Eykamp, Sean Vibbert, Jacob Weaver, Jon Munning, Michael Cree, Daniel Vibbert, Chris Weaver, Jared Vibbert, Ben Sterne, and Avir Kalva

Jacob Weaver, age 11, a talented Hebron Elementary fifth grader, tied for second place with only one loss.

Evansville Regional participants captured one State Championship title. Sean Vibbert, age 10, a home schooled fourth grader, won all five rounds to win the 6th grade and under Scholastic Championship and the Brian Yamin Scholarship. This is Sean's third State Individual Title. Sean also holds four State Grade Championship titles and one National Title.