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DC Public Libraries “Battle of the Branches” on October 23

Capital-area chess players of all ages are invited to the latest edition of “Battle of the Branches,” a fun competition among teams representing various locations throughout the DC Public Library systems.   The tournament will be held on Sunday afternoon, October 25, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library opposite Gallery Place.

Organized by the Big Chair Chess Club, the U.S. Chess Center, Chess Girls DC and the DC Chess Association, the event has separate sections for children (grades K-12), adults and seniors (65+).  All players must register in order to compete, but registration is free and open now.

Previous editions, such as the 2024 tournament pictured above, have drawn big crowds, and this time around we expect a similarly large contingent of children and adults turning up to represent their favorite library branches.

Pictures from DCPL Battle of the Branches

Dozens of Washington chess enthusiasts turned out this past Saturday for D.C. Public Libraries’ Battle of the Branches.  Hosted at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library near the National Portrait Gallery in Northwest, the event had chess players from all over the city turning out to represent their favorite library branch.

The event had separate categories for children (ages 5-12), teens (ages 13-19), adults, and seniors, and all four age groups were well represented.  In the final standings, the host branch, MLK, came out on top, with Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library placing second and Petworth Neighborhood Library taking third.

Great day of Chess at DC Public Library’s Battle of the Branches

On Saturday, June 10th, the DC Public Library System held it’s first “Battle of the Branches” chess tournament at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.  The Chess Center’s own, Ms. Riley Dosh, served as Tournament Director and students from our Friends of Cleveland Park Library Chess Club were among the 57 competitors (of which 26 were children and 31 were adults).  Chess players were divided into two leagues by self-declaration – a Beginner League with 16 players and an Intermediate League with 41 players.  

Congratulations to Richard Wu (10 years old), representing MLK Library, who won the Beginner League with an undefeated 7 of 7 wins!  Meanwhile, Jesse Webb took second place and Elbert deGuzman, representing Bellevue Library, was third.

The Intermediate League was won by Jarock Davis, representing Cleveland Park Library (one of our students!).  Larry Jefferson, representing Benning Road Library, took second place; Nathan Pho, representing Southwest Library, was third; and Richard Aiken, representing Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library, took fourth place.

In the “Battle of the Branches” overall competition where the scores of the top three players from each branch were compared, Benning Road Library emerged victorious with 13 of their 17 games won.

DCPL Battle of the Branches 2023-06-10

Thank you to Dubian Ade, Carol Auerbach, and the rest of the DCPL staff and librarians for organizing the tournament.  Thank you to NM David Bennett for assisting Ms. Dosh in running the tournament, and thank you to Robin Ramson of ChessGirlsDC, for providing chess sets and other logistical support.

Congratulations to all the winners and players!