Gold tournaments are the highest level of junior regional tournaments, and only one Gold tournament is scheduled in the USA on any given weekend.

Zachary Ingber notched his first BU15 Gold title last month at the Baird E Haney Junior Gold in New York City. Inigo Jordan set a then personal best third-place BU15 finish at the same event. Caroline Dupree took home an 11-12 finish in GU17, matching a personal best.

At the Calvert Junior Gold last weekend, Akaisha Bhatia, Inigo Jordan, and Christian Keng posted the highest finishes by NCS juniors by reaching the GU19, BU15, and BU17 finals. Christian dropped just one game on the way to the final, which he lost by scores of (4), 8, (8), (13). He set a personal best BU17 finish.

Inigo, one of the most rapidly improving juniors in the nation, notched yet another personal best with his appearance in the final. The semifinal was an incredible battle. After taking the first game 11-4, he lost the second game 18-20(!) before closing out the final three games with scores of 10, (9), 8. The final was another five-game battle.

It was Akaisha’s first tournament in the GU19 age group, two divisions higher than her age. But she proved her strength by pushing her opponent in the final to five games with scores of (5), (4), 9, 9, (9). Indira Moshi took third place in that division, matching a personal best Gold tournament result. Caroline Burg finished fifth, giving NCS girls three of the top five finishes in the top girls’ division.

GU17 Trinity Moshi took third place, matching a personal best GU17 finish. She nearly made the final, falling in five games in the semis, with a 13-11 game-five result.

Radha Vadlamani reached the GU15 quarterfinals.