Back to the Washington Nationals Newsfeed

D.C.-area scholastic chess tournament smashes attendance records

The DMV represented, and the future of American chess is blindingly bright.

That’s two easy conclusions in the wake of the U.S. Chess Federation’s record-shattering 2022 National K-12 Grade Championships, held Dec. 9-11 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The gathering at the Potomac River showplace crowned 13 new national individual and team champions at every grade level from kindergarten through high school.

You can credit the timing, the lifting of COVID-19 over-the-board restrictions, the quality of the playing facilities or the proximity to Washington and so many historical sites, but the National Harbor event proved a massive success.