Advait Patel, 9, is pictured with the first place trophy he won at the National Chess Championship in Nashville.

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A Logan County boy has won a national chess championship.

Logan Middle School fifth-grader Advait Patel, who is just 9 years old, tied for first place at the National Chess Championship, held at Gaylord Opryland in Nashville.

The chess competition was held May 11-13.

More than 2,200 students from 40 states competed for the championship.

Patel also won 7th place in the National Blitz Championship held at the same location on May 10. He had to play 10-minute games and about 400 students participated.

Before the competition, Patel promised his mom that he would win the trophy as gift for Mother’s Day.

Patel recently also tied for second place in the Queen City Classic in Cincinnati. In that competition, more than 800 kids participated.

With these achievements Patel’s rating has reached above 1800 in 18 months where mostly people take more than two years, his mother, Ruhi Patel, said.

“Patel’s coach, David Saville, says now he is ready to take his game to the next level,” Ruhi Patel said.

Last year, Patel won the West Virginia Junior Chess Championship only 11 months after learning to play the game.

After learning to play and developing a love for the game, Patel started traveling all across West Virginia for tournaments, as well as to tourneys in New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas and Florida.

He won the 2011 South Carolina Class Championship and the Scholastic Championship K-12 in West Virginia.

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To contact Staff Writer Michael Browning, call 304-752-6950, extension 309, or email him at mbrowning@loganbanner.com.