After weeks of intense competition, the final round of the Guam National Chess Championship was held Sunday in Dededo. And James Marcus Justo, a 10-year-old from Tamuning, took the top spot as our national champion.

In all, James prevailed through nine challenging matches, and got checkmate on eight of his opponents, while drawing to a stalemate on one. He told KUAM News of his thought process, "It's fun, but it's also hard. But I get to think a lot, and when I think a lot, I have fun. Instead of taking the long game, I just attack straight from the middle and then they would have a bad position, and then I can make it my advantage, and I can win."

Participants ranged in age from players in their 50s to 8, and had fun sharpening their pattern-recognition and strategy skills.

Congratulations to all the winners across the divisions!