• 52°
Hartselle Enquirer
Enquirer Photo Winners of this year’s Morgan County 2017 Fall Chess Tournament are (left to right) fifth place – Eli Hawkins, sixth grade, Priceville; fourth place – Tatum Sivley, fifth grade, Priceville; third place – Treyce Oden, seventh grade, Cotaco; second place – Mason Holmes, seventh grade, Cotaco; and first place – Joseph Harden, seventh grade, Priceville.

Morgan middle school students compete in chess

Special to the Enquirer

Nov. 21, students representing all nine Morgan County middle schools, grades five through eight, participated in the 2017 Fall Chess Tournament.

Cotaco Principal Brad Stapler hosts this event for the entire county school system every year.

This year, 120 students participated – after a challenging selection process. At each school, gifted program teachers held mini-tournaments to decide who would get to attend.

The tourney was single-elimination until the final six students. “At that point, those six played in a double elimination tournament to decide the ultimate first through fifth place trophies,” gifted teacher Cristal Owens explained. “The other ‘not-so-winners’ kept playing for eight games.”

Each round of games lasted 10 minutes. At the end of a round, the students tallied their captured opponent’s pieces for points.

“Even with a loss, a student can count the points he achieved toward a final tally and possible trophy for highest points,” Owens said.

The tourney, Owens added, is “highly competitive, from students playing at their own schools to see who attends, to the actual tourney.” However, “we are very proud of our students, who always exhibit the finest of good sportsmanship – shaking hands before and after a round and congratulating each other on a game well played.”

This year’s winners are:

  • First place – Joseph Harden, Priceville, seventh grade
  • Second place – Mason Holmes, Cotaco, seventh grade
  • Third place – Treyce Oden, Cotaco, seventh grade
  • Fourth place – Tatum Sivley, Priceville, fifth grade
  • Fifth place – Eli Hawkins, Priceville, sixth grade

Sponsoring gifted teachers were:

  • Max Parker, Cotaco
  • Carrie Aultman, Priceville
  • Melissa Parker, Danville
  • Kara Ibrahim, Lacey’s Spring, Union Hill
  • Mica Rabb, West Morgan and Priceville Junior High
  • Cristal Owens, Falkville
  • Julia James, Eva and Sparkman
  • Sherri Mann, Central Office gifted coordinator

The spring tournament is scheduled for March 15.

 

At a Glance

PowerGrid Services in Hartselle evacuated for bomb threat

Morgan County

20 under 40: Trey Chowning

Falkville

20 under 40: TJ Holmes

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Spencer Bell

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Shelby Keenum

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Rachel Howard

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Mary Virgina Halbrooks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Maggie McKelvey

Decatur

20 under 40: Maegan Jones

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Lindsey Tapscott

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

‘He lets us have sex’: More details emerge on Hartselle man accused of child exploitation 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Hartselle church creates Easter-themed escape rooms 

Danville

Family tradition: State livestock show legacy spans generations

Editor's picks

Baseball for Beau: More than $8k raised for scholarship named after Hartselle child  

Falkville

20 under 40: Lela Weeks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Kalleigh Thomas

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Jaime Hatcher

Hartselle

Veteran Hartselle firefighter charged with possessing child porn

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Cerrowire expansion named finalist in Business Alabama Awards  

At a Glance

Work begins on repairing two bridges over I-65 in Morgan County in coming weeks

At a Glance

Tickets for Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame banquet available

Falkville

Morgan County volunteers celebrated at annual fire department banquet 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Man jailed for stealing car from jail after earlier release 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Police: Hartselle man encouraged children to have sex inside his apartment

x