May 5，2024

Stan Vaughan (792) 890-2322 [email protected]

The 75th anniversary of the Nevada State Chess Association at their State Scholastic Team and Individual Championships today was held in Las Vegas, hosted and sponsored by the New East West Academy.  

The event saw a record number of schools competing in all 3 divisions as 38 schools competed in the High School , 36 teams competed in the Middle School and 23 teams in the Elementary Divisions.

Team awards were won by New East West Academy winning the High School Team title by 8 points over nearest rival in the High School Division, by 8 points over nearest rival in the Middle School Division and by 4 points over nearest rival in the Elementary Division.

Individual awards were won by the following:

Isaac Wang of Hyde Park Middle School won the NSCA State 12th grade under title turning in a 6-0 result.

Jason Xie of New East West Academy won best 11th grade under with 5.5/6.

Gabriel Encabo of Odyssey  went 5/6 to win top 10 grade under . Jarl Bitcoon of Wallin Elementary went 5/6 to take top 9th grade under.

Middle School individual awards were won by  Alan Griffin of St. Viator 5/6 for top 8th grade below. 

Christina Bommarito of New East West Academy 5/6 for top 7th grade in tiebreaks over her sister Elizabeth Bommarito also of New East West Academy who also turned in 5/6 performance. 

Michael Xie  of New East West Academy  scored 5/6 to take 1st 6th grade under.

Elementary School individual winners were Justin Zhou of McCaw Elementary 4.5/6 for top 5th grade/below.

Timi Guo of Star Chess Castle Academy 4/6 for top 4th grade/below. 

Edward Teems of New East West Academy 4/6 for top 3rd grade below. 

Leo Zhao of Coral Cadence 4/6 for top 2nd grade/below. 

Eric Wang of New East West Academy 3/6 for top 1st grade below and Hugo Liu of Challenger School for top kindergarten.

You can view the full standings below:
Nevada State Chess Association 2024 Individual Final Standings State Scholastic Chess Championships 05

New East West Academy saw these record breaking performances in only the first year of the program under Coach Stan Vaughan, a legendary coach noted for his ‘Russian System’ as he was coaxed out of retirement after previous success back in the 1990s when he coached numerous national and state team and individual champions which had been honored by then Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones with a ‘Stan Vaughan Day’.  Vaughan, who has been featured  on a stamp in Burundi for his chess exploits, was also previously twice honored by then Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman as well with ‘Stan Vaughan Days.