30 to Compete in 2 Chess Tournaments

Thirty youngsters from Orange and Los Angeles counties will participate in two national chess tournaments this month and in May, according to Robert M. Snyder of Chess for Juniors, a chess academy in Garden Grove.

Four of the students will go to the national junior high school championships in New York, Thursday through April 19, and 26 to the national elementary school championships in San Jose, May 5 to 9.

One of the students competing in New York is Alexander Huff, 13, of Irvine, who placed second in the national seventh-grade championship in St. Louis last year, Snyder said.

The other students participating in the New York tournament, which is expected to draw more than 1,200 entries from around the country, are Johnny Morgan, 11, of San Clemente, Christian Cambre, 14, of Hermosa Beach and Tohm Kantikovit, 12, of Coto de Caza.

Harry Akopyan of Los Angeles, who won the national elementary school championship last year in Charlotte, N.C., will defend his title at the San Jose tournament.