Scott Varagona wins Alabama chess championship title

National Chess Master Scott Varagona won his seventh Alabama chess championship title over the Labor Day weekend. Varagona, who is a professor at University of Montevallo, won five games straight and drew his last round game to take clear first over a strong field.

Tejas Thorat won clear second place. Last year’s state champion Bill Melvin, who is an eight times Alabama state championship title holder, finished in a tie for third place.

Concurrent with the state championship were two days of K-12 chess events. All of Alabama’s top scholastic chess programs, ChessKidsNation, Madison City Chess League, CaesarChess, MagicCityChess, and Tuscaloosa’s Freedom Chess Academy were represented in the tournament.

The 34-year old Varagona was very pleased with his result and the games he played. “It feels great to win the title after my disappointing near-miss last year,” he said.

Full article here: http://www.al.com