Leah Perry, principal of Logan Elementary is proud to announce that 8 year old, Advait "Adi" Patel, a 3rd grade student in Ms. Tiffany Sargent’s classroom, has started a Chess Club. The Chess Club meets Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. at Logan Elementary and is open to students from grades K-12 in all area schools.

Adi started playing chess when he visited India six months ago. He learned from his grandfather and learned quickly all along developing a passion for the game. He played a couple of local tournaments and won without any proper coaching. He was successful at beating other children with good ratings who had coaching and had experience playing in many tournaments. After much consideration, his parents Ruhi and Rupal Patel thought he should pursue this enthusiasm. They began traveling to Charleston twice a week to be coached by David Saville who is well known for his skills in Chess.

Adi, the only competitor from West Virginia, entered the National Youth Championship on November 6-7 in New Jersey. He participated in the K-3 section in which 97 children competed. These children were very experienced, however, this was Adi’s first big tournament and he entered as a non-rated player. Surprisingly, Adi won four matches and had one draw out of nine games, placing him 36th out of the 97 players. Adi is now rated 832.

If you are interested in being a part of the Logan Elementary Chess Club, contact Perry or Sargent at Logan Elementary School at 304-752-4180.