Largest USA Chess Tournament Also Crowns First-Ever National Puzzle Champions

Supernationals, the quadrennial mega-tournament hosted by US Chess, took place in Orlando, Florida, from May 8-11, 2025, with a non-stop barrage of events. More than 4600 kids from all over the U.S. attended this eighth iteration of the event, and the first since 2017, since COVID cancelled the 2021 edition.

US Chess began hosting national scholastic events in the 1970s, and traditionally, the elementary, middle school, and high school events are held in different cities on different weekends. But beginning my senior year of high school in 1997, they began combining all of the grades into the same place at the same time.

As for me, I was ranked number two in the high school section of that first event in Knoxville, Tennessee, but lost on Saturday night on what would have been my prom night had I stayed home. Chess can be brutal, but luckily, these days, the kids have all the pressure, not me. I was able to dig up one of my wins from the event, but even those didn't come easy. Here I am back in the inaugural Supernationals with my king wandering about against future U.S. Women's Champion Elina Cotler, nee Groberman.

ChessKid attended this year and co-hosted with US Chess a first-of-its-kind national puzzle championship. On the Thursday before the main event, kids could choose optional competitions like the usual blitz or bughouse, but 275 kids also decided to put their tactical prowess to the test. US Chess certified the event as an official national championship.

Kids brought their own device and were all given a brand-new account, and then after I announced "Start!" they all had 15 minutes to get the highest puzzle rating they could on the ChessKid app (for those who follow streamers, this is akin to a "speed run"). The contest ran continuously with a live leaderboard and countdown at the end. Although all kids competed at the same time, prizes were given in two sections: K-6 and 7-12 grades. Interestingly, the top eight kids in the younger section had roughly comparable over-the-board ratings to the top kids in the 7-12 section. 

In the end, NM Elliott Goodrich of the famous Dalton School in New York City won first place in the K-6 section by solving more than 100 puzzles correctly and going from the starting rating of 600 to an astounding 2702 in those 15 minutes. Two other national masters finished in the top five: Ethan Guo and Tariq Yue. This would prove to be a fantastic warmup for the main event as Tariq won clear first the K-6 Championship, while Ethan finished fourth place and Elliott seventh.

In the 7-12 grade section, NM Rohan Rajaram took top honors and, despite getting to 2727 at one point, he curiously finished with the exact same puzzle rating (2702) as Elliott, his younger counterpart. Rohan would go on to finish ninth in the K-8 Championship main event.

And as for that main event, several ChessKid Ambassadors made history in classical chess. Despite hosting the high school studies of several GMs like Marc Arnold and Hans Niemann, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School (CGPS) in New York City had never won the High School National Championship. That all changed this year when IM-elect Tani Adewumi and newly-minted FM Megan Paragua joined forces to help CGPS edge out Thomas Jefferson High School of Virginia by a half point.

Also key to the success was CGPS top board IM Nico Chasin, whose last-round win over Thomas Jefferson's Kent Slate proved to be the difference. Individually, Nico and Tani would be part of a seven-way tie for first in the K-12 Championship section (6.0/7), with NM Joseph Levine of Nevada winning first on tiebreaks. Nico would actually win five(!) national titles on the weekend: K-12 Individual, K-12 Team, K-12 Blitz, K-12 Blitz Team, and K-12 Bughouse. He graduates this spring and plans to take a gap year to play chess before going to college.

Besides all of the outstanding chess, Supernationals also hosts many side events. ChessKid was there in full force with a booth, prizes, more puzzles, and a Kahoot-style trivia event. We gave away 1500 wristbands and likely needed more!

The US Chess Girls Room, now in its 10th year, has grown in size and scope in the last decade. They had a wide array of non-stop activities in their conference room, including simuls, piece-stacking competitions, art, and much more.

US Chess also invited many top players to Supernationals VIII so that kids had many chances to play their heroes. 

Even former ChessKids got in on the act. Three-time U.S. Women's Champion IM Carissa Yip, now a full decade removed from being the youngest female master in U.S. history, needed no help from GM Elshan Moradiabadi on this one. 

Occasionally, I also got roped into a game.

Mostly, though, I was busy signing anything and everything! From hats to chess boards to stress balls to rubber bracelets, I needed a few Sharpies to get through the weekend.

Until next nationals!