Scholastic chess in the United States

Scholastic chess in the United States has progressively grown in recent years, evidenced by the increasing membership numbers of school-aged children in the United States Chess Federation. The onset of scholastic chess in the United States began in the early 1970s due to the "Fischer Boom", the phenomenon of markedly increased interest in chess in the United States due to the ascendency of eventual world champion Bobby Fischer. The first large-scale open national scholastic chess tournament was the National High School Championship, which was started by Bill Goichberg in 1969; the winner of the inaugural event was John Watson.

Since the 1990s, the number of student participants in national scholastic chess tournaments has also been steadily climbing, as shown by the rapid growth of the major national championship, the National Scholastic Chess Championships. Of course, with the exception of the few students competing at the top level, most participants are there to make friends, learn new skills, and simply have a good time.

As far as the competition and awards are concerned, there are both team and individual awards at each grade and skill level. This format encourages players of all levels to compete for trophies and awards against opponents of similar playing ability. Generally, tournaments consists of seven rounds (games) spread over three days, where players with the same score coming into that round are paired against each other.

With one point for a win, half a point for a draw, and zero points for a loss, the players with the highest individual score after seven rounds are ranked for individual awards. In the team competition, the four highest scoring players from a particular school or club sum their scores for an overall team score. With so many scoring possibilities based on many individual outcomes, the team event usually causes the most discussion, planning and anticipation between coaches, players, and parents.

The major national scholastic chess championships are the National High School (K-12) championship (est. 1969), National Junior High School (K-9) championship (est. 1973), the National Elementary (K-6) championship (est. 1976), and the National Primary (K-3) championship (est. 1983). These tournaments, held annually during the spring, have been around for the longest period of time, and typically attract the most participants, with the National Elementary championship often being the largest event (in terms of participants). Only five players in history have won the National Elementary, Junior High School and High School championships: Joel Benjamin, Joshua Waitzkin, Nawrose Nur, Danial Asaria, and Harutyun Akopyan; only Waitzkin, Nur and Danial have won the National Primary championship as well, Danial Asaria won 2016 National junior High School Chess Championship K-8, 2015 National K-12 Grade Championship, National Junior Chess Congress 2014 and 2012 National Elementary Chess championship. Akshat Chandra won the National High School Championship (K-12) in 2015, and the SuperNational Junior High School Championship (K-9) in 2013, both in his first and only appearance, but never played in the National Elementary Championship due to his late start in Chess.

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