Chess Match’s 4th Round Ends in Draw

The fourth round of the Southern California High School Chess Championship ended in a draw Sunday afternoon at Monroe High School, after 17-year-old chess whiz Harutyan Akopyan failed to capitalize on an early lead.

The stalemate in the varsity division match left Akopyan tied with fourth-round opponent, Alex Huff, 16, of San Juan Capistrano.

Two remaining rounds played late Sunday night at Monroe High would determine the winner of the event, which drew 87 players from 15 elementary, middle and high schools.

The two-day tournament, sponsored by the Southern California Chess Federation, featured players ranging in age from 7 to 18.

After the fourth-round tie, Akopyan complimented opponent Huff’s tenacity.

“He hung on pretty good,” said the 10th-grade student at Arshag Dickranian High School in Hollywood.

Huff attends St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano.

Representing the Valley in the competition were Monroe and North Hollywood high schools and Van Nuys Middle School.

Monroe led the team competition after four rounds.

On Saturday, the Monroe team won the freshman-sophomore division while Saugus High School took the junior varsity title.

Edgar Zardanyan, 12, of Columbus Elementary School in Glendale took the freshman-sophomore individual title Saturday. The junior varsity champion was 11-year-old Harut Heshishian of Cheremoya Elementary School in Hollywood.

Monroe chess coach and English teacher Steve Hughes said the weekend tournament is a precursor to a national chess competition.

“This competition is a warmup event to the National High School Chess Championship which will be held in Southern California this year in May,” Hughes said.