Three Success Academy Chess Teams Tie for First in the Nation at the National Elementary Championships

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 13, 2019**

Contact: Liz Baker, 646-902-4200 [email protected]

Three Success Academy Chess Teams Tie for First in the Nation at the National Elementary Championships Success Academy Bronx 1 Middle School, Harlem East Middle School, and Hudson Yards Middle School chess teams tie for first in K-6 Under 1400 Section

SA Harlem East Chess Team, Left to Right: Sameer Sherif, Coach Alejandro Montalvo, Gabriel Espinal, Jason Huang, Jahia Joseph, Julian Rodriguez, and Aiden Bailey

NEW YORK, NY — Three teams from Success Academy tied for first place in the K-6 Under 1400 Section at the U.S. Chess Federation National Elementary Championship this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. Teams from Success Academy Bronx 1 Middle School, SA Harlem East Middle School, and SA Hudson Yards Middle School beat out schools from across the nation. Success Academy Bensonhurst tied for second place, and Success Academy Union Square tied for third.

Success Academy Hudson Yards Middle School placed sixth in the country in the K-6 Championship division. “What this shows me is that Success Academy has finally arrived as a competitor in the Championship division,” said Jerald Times, Director of Success Academy’s Chess Program. The Open or Championship divisions are the most competitive divisions at chess tournaments, with no rating maximum for participation. “There is an incredible amount of talent here.”

The top individual performer was Nicole Leonardo, sixth grader from SA Myrtle Middle School. Reyes-Rivera emerged undefeated at the tournament, tying for first place in the country in the Under 1400 section.

Success Academy’s chess program had a strong 2018-2019 season. Jessica Hyatt, an eighth grade scholar at SA Bed-Stuy Middle School, won first place at the New York State Chess Championship in March. The SA Bed-Stuy MS team took second place in the Under 14 Division at the All-Girls National Chess Championship in Chicago in April, where eighth-grader Geah Jean-Baptiste finished fourth in the country.

Last month at Junior High Nationals in Grapevine, Texas, Success Academy Midtown West Middle School’s team finished fifth in the country in the K-8 open championship.

SA takes its top chess teams and players from across its network of 47 schools to five National tournaments each year and 15 local tournaments, and it provides memberships for all players at New York City’s famed Marshall Chess Club.

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ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools are free public K-12 schools open to all children in the state through a random lottery. With 47 schools across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, Success Academy enrolls 17,000 students, primarily children of color from low-income households in disadvantaged neighborhoods: 74% receive free or reduced-price lunch, 94% are students of color, 16% have disabilities, and 8% are English language learners. Success Academy schools received more than 17,700 applications for 3,288 open seats for the 2018-19 academic year.

For more information about Success Academy, go to Successacademies.org and virtualtour.successacademies.org.

Success Academy Elementary School Players at the U.S. Chess Federation National Elementary Championship in Nashville, Tennessee