Ducharme Captures 2018 Iowa Class E Title with Perfect Score

Aidan Ducharme went undefeated to capture the Iowa Class E State Championship title. This annual tournament was held Saturday May 5, 2018 at the West Des Moines Learning Resource Center. Ducharme is a 5th grader at St. Augustin’s Elementary school in Des Moines.

Aiden Ducharme - 2018 Iowa Class E Champion

Seventeen players competed in this annual event. Fourteen scholastic and three adult players battled in this five round Swiss system tournament. Ducharme entered the tournament as the sixth seed.

There were no surprises in round one. In round two, Dylan Ducharme, Aidan’s younger brother, knock-off Lucius Ray, Aidan defeated top-seeded Brad Huss and Jack Li up-set Randy Li, they are not related.

Aidan Ducharme continued his winning ways in round three with a victory over Stan Bujakowski, the number four seed. There were no other up-sets in round three. There were three more up-sets in round four. Ian Spray bested Bujakowski, Jack Li knock-off Huss and once again Aidan Ducharme pulled off an up, this time the victim was Srinivas Rao.

Randy Li fell prey to Aidan in the final round which was the only up-set in round five. If you are counting, Aidan scored four up-set wins in five rounds! Aidan’s coach, Jim Freerksen, owner of DSMChess very pleased with the play of his students, Jack Li, and Aidan and Dylan Ducharme.

*notation ends after 31….h5.

My analysis, White to move and can’t hold the draw. White must play 32. Kh2 Black then plays g5 and I White can’t stop Black’s Kingside pawns. Am I correct! Or did I miss something?

Top five players Overall

1st Aidan Ducharme 5-0, 2nd on tie-break Srinivas Rao 4-1, 3rd on tie-break Jack Li 4-1, 4th on tie-break Brad Huss 3-2 and 5th on tie-break Randy Li 3-2.

Under 1000: 1st Stan Bujakowski 2nd Andrew Blair Under 800: 1st Ian Spry 2nd James Martin Under 600: 1st Mengdie Hu 2nd Jacob Suresh Under 400: 1st Yuyan Julia Hu 2nd Dylan Ducharme Under 200: 1st Liam Toohey Unrated: 1st Chris Li 2nd Lalith Madan.

Aidan is the oldest of five children, three are enrolled at St. Augustin’s Elementary School in Des Moines and all three are in chess club! The two youngest are not old enough to be in school.

The chess board is a cake made by Aiden's mother for his birthday. Dylan Ducharme is second from the left, Audra Ducharme, Derick Ducharme, and Aidan Ducharme. The fifth addition to the family, Paxton, is four months old and not pictured. Aidan’s mom, Erin, commented that coach Jim pointed out the square by Aidan’s left hand should be black.