January 2026 Scholastic Sectional Tournament Report

Written By Anthony Miranda

The Hawaii Chess Federation hosted its January 2026 Scholastic Sectional tournament on Saturday, January 10th, at Washington Middle School. The tournament consisted of five rounds of chess played at a time control of G/45+5 (45 minutes per player with a 5-second increment) and included 80 student participants and a number of adult players as well.

After a long and exciting day of chess, there were multiple stand-out performances: Dylan Rich from Voyager Public Charter School won the K-2 division with a perfect score of 5.0; Owen Chun from Punahou School won the K-5 division with a perfect score of 5.0; Aven Kim from S. W. King Intermediate School won the K-8 division with a perfect score of 5.0; and Aurelia White from Homeschool and J.P. Bennett from Punahou School tied for first in the K-12 division with scores of 4.0. In the team competition, first place winners included ‘Iolani School (K-2) and Punahou School (K-5, K-8, and K-12).

We also had nine adults competing in two sections. The winner of our first section was Chris Bueno, with a perfect score of 3.0. Tied for first in our second section were John Mussack and Jianguo Zhang, with scores of 3.0.

Congratulations to our winners and to all participants for their hard work and dedication to chess! Our next tournament will take place on Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 16th, at Washington Middle School - we look forward to seeing you there!

 

Primary School (k-2) Prize Winners

Team Awards:

  1. ‘Iolani School (10.0)

  2. Punahou School (8.0)

  3. Kamehameha Schools (5.5)

Individual Awards:

  1. Dylan Rich (5.0)

  2. Koa Vanvelzer (4.0)

  3. Elliot Manabe (4.0)

Elementary School (k-5) Prize Winners

Team Awards:

  1. Punahou School (13.0)

  2. Hanahau’oli School (7.0)

  3. Homeschool (7.0)

Individual Awards:

  1. Owen Chun (5.0)

  2. Harlem Correa (4.0)

  3. Aiden Lee (4.0)

Middle School (k-8) Prize Winners

Team Awards:

  1. Punahou School (9.0)

  2. S. W. King Intermediate (5.0)

  3. ‘Iolani School (4.0)

Individual Awards:

  1. Aven Kim (5.0)

  2. Matteo Kinsey (4.0)

  3. Yoshiki Choh (3.0)

High School (k-12) Prize Winners

Team Awards:

  1. Punahou School (9.0)

  2. ‘Iolani School (7.5)

  3. Homeschool (7.5)

Individual Awards:

  1. Aurelia White (4.0)

  2. J.P. Bennett (4.0)

  3. Noah Cheng (3.5)

Adult Prize Winners

Section # 2

  1. John Mussack (3.0)

  2. Jianguo Zhao (3.0)

Quad # 1

  1. Chris Bueno (3.0)

Anthony Miranda
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December 2025 Scholastic Open Tournament Report