Do my eyes deceive me? It seems that Delaware has crowned a new chess champion for 2011 and his name is Phil Saponaro! Way to go Phil. After so many years with Charlie Bouzoukis and Dave Gertler dominating the state championship scene, it is great to see a few new names make their way into the top 3. Although I’m sure Charlie and Dave will be back strong next year – so watch out. Of course, Dave did not play in this year’s championship, so that could be one reason for his poor showing. 
Phil won the championship with a score of 4.5/5, followed closely by Prasanna Kannappan with 4/5 and Terence Coffee with 3/5. Phil tied for first in 2008 but this time stands alone at the top.
The ‘under 1600′ section saw Truxton Boyce come out on top also with a 4.5/5 score. Dave Power and Sal Nolfo tied for the ‘under 1400′ crown.
Congratulations to all who participated and I look forward to seeing more new names atop next year’s list. (That is a challenge to you Phil to repeat as champion!)
The full results can be found in a pdf file here.
A list of previous state champions since 1991 can be found here.
Id like to note that Prasanna, me, and Trxuton (who won the under 1600 section) are all from the University of Delaware.
Way to go Phil, Prasanna, and Truxton. A great victory for UD!!!
Hey I go to the University of Delaware too…..
Phil got lucky he didn’t play me. I would have Morra’d his face.