Altamont’s Sarah Peter won the 2024 All Girls State Chess Championship, held last month at the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering in Hunstville. Sarah will represent the state of Alabama at the 12th Annual WIM Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions, an invitation-only tournament that takes place July 27-30 in Norfolk, Virginia. She will represent Alabama for the second time, having participated in the 2023 event.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SHAJAN PETER AND SUSAN JACOB
Sarah Peter (far left)
“We feel honored that Sarah has the opportunity to represent her state again and feel very thankful for God’s grace,” say her parents, Shajan Peter and Susan Jacob.
The WIM Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions invites each state affiliate’s nominee to compete for the Haring National Champion title. A tie for first place will result in the naming of co-champions.
Each state representative must be a female player in grades K-12 “who has demonstrated her ability in a manner satisfactory to the state affiliate. Each affiliate is encouraged to arrange for an alternate player to attend should the original selected player be unable to participate. If there are an odd number of players, the host state affiliate may include a second participant to complete the field of players,” according to the tournament website, new.uschess.org/haring.
The winner is named U.S. Chess WIM Ruth Haring National Girls Champion of Champions and qualifies for the World Youth or World Cadet Championship, if the player is eligible to join the U.S. Chess delegation. She is also seeded into the U.S. Girls Closed Championship and will receive a scholarship and other prizes. Richard Schiffrin, who sponsors the top prize of this event with his wife, Barbara Schiffrin, says, “Chess is a link to STEM fields, because it teaches relational and abstract thinking, along with patience and perseverance.”
One of Sarah’s teachers, Lia Gerety, Director of Middle School and a member of the Science Faculty, notes that, “Sarah has been an integral part of the Altamont community since fifth grade. Her curiosity and inquisitiveness have always stood out. In addition to academic achievements, Sarah has actively participated in our middle school LEAD program, promoting leadership skills and community engagement. This year, she took the initiative to reinstate Altamont’s chess club, which unfortunately dissolved during the challenging times of COVID. We are proud to have Sarah as part of our school community.”