Novice Blows Away at State Tournament
A chess novice turned into a star in just one year.
Rigler Elementary School had never qualified for the State Finals until this year.
The team was composed primarily of students who were new to chess. But at the state finals in April 2022, a student from Rigler showed that she belonged with the best.
Lovely Castillo-Bojorquez was 5th grader at Rigler that wowed us all in competitive Chess in 2021-22. First, she won 4 of 5 games in the regional tournament and qualified for 1st among 5th graders. This earned her an invitation to the Oregon State Chess Finals. At the 2-day event, Lovely won all five games in Team Play on Friday against the best players in Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. The following Saturday, she won 4 of 5 games to be 2nd in the Individual Tournament. She lost only to the State’s best player in a tough match. 9 out of 10 games in 2 days against the best in the State of Oregon is not bad.