Thirty-five participants did battle in two sections at the C.H. Booth Library on Saturday, March 29, for the title of 2014 Connecticut State Chess Champion.

The championship section was won by National Master Gary Shure of Westport, with three wins and one draw in four games. Mr Shure was declared State Chess Champion, the third time he has won that title.

Second place, with two wins and two draws, went to Connecticut State High School Champion, National Master Kapil Chandran.

The third place winner, with three wins and one loss, was former National Master Derek Meredith of West Hartford.

Jonathan Aiyathurai of Simsbury won the Candidates Section of the tournament, with three wins and one draw. He will be given free entry into next year’s Connecticut State Chess Championship tournament.

Several members of the Newtown Chess Club participated in the event including Rahul Malayappan, Karim Naba, and Leo Liu of Danbury, Michael Knatz of Newtown, and Matthew Gibbs from Shelton. Mr Malayappan, the 2014 Danbury Area Scholastic Chess League Individual Champion and one of the Top 100 chess players in the nation in his age group, handed third place winner Derek Meredith his only loss.

The star of the Newtown Chess Club participants was 10-year-old Leo Liu, also in the national Top 100 list for chess players of his age. Liu had three wins and one loss, good enough to tie for third place in the Candidates Section.

The tournament was organized by Glenn Budzinski of Newtown Chess Club and Derek Meredith of New Britain Chess Club.