Sophie Velea (standing on left), a rising second-grader at The Bear Creek School, won the 2016 Pan American Chess Championship in the U8 Girls section July 24-31 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

She played nine tense rounds with six wins, two draws and one loss against opponents from Honduras, Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, Mexico and the United States.

With this win, she becomes Woman Candidate Master and the official United States representative at the 2016 World Chess Championships (Oct. 18-31 in Batumi, Ga.) and 2017 Pan American Chess Championships (next April in Costa Rica).