On Saturday, February 1, 107 students from 31 schools around the Brookfield area gathered to participate in the 2020 Spartan Chess Open at Brookfield East High School.

The inclusive event allows scholastic players to compete in three different divisions: K-5, K-8, and K-12. "When we started the Spartan Chess Team three years ago, our top charge was to bring students together in a common interest and the Spartan Open has been an opportunity to expand that mission to a district level," said Spartan Open Coordinator and BEHS Chess Team Advisor, DJ Richlen. “We are very blessed with many, many talented chess players in our district.”

The three division champions were Burleigh Elementary in the K-5 division, Wauwatosa Whitman Middle School in the K-8 division, and Brookfield East High School in the K-12 division. At the event, all Elmbrook elementary students were also invited to compete in The Elmbrook Cup, a traveling trophy awarded to the top-performing Elmbrook elementary school. This year, Burleigh Elementary defended and retained The Elmbrook Cup at the competition with scoring players: Tarunsukirtha Selvakumar, Thomas Kennedy, Sean Neylon, Avinash Muthupandiyan and Ananya Asokan.

The event included free face-painting by BEHS Drama Makeup Artist Sofia Grimault, free game analysis by WHMS student Gauri Menon, and a lifesize chess board for kids sponsored by NJP Construction.

Photos from the event courtesy of Kaylee Metz.