Monday, July 5, 2010
On the Road Trip with RK…2010 All Girls' National Championship, Columbus, Ohio
by Sheila Heiser
The drive to Columbus, Ohio was pleasant and not too long. As always, on a road trip everyone is happy when arriving at their destination. The Hyatt was very accommodating and enjoyable; bustling with enthusiastic chess players of all ages. After check in and unpacking, it was time to acclimate to the venue and meet up with the other players.
Everyone was excited to be there. This was Georgia’s Wolf’s first National, and Shayna Provine, who is more seasoned on traveling and participating in out of state tournaments, was happy to share in Georgia’s joy of this experience. The girls’ combined friendship and chess made it an exceptionally pleasant time for all.
Georgia did very well; she played in ‘U10 and under’ winning half her games, 3 wins out of 6 games, placing 26th out of 55. She was constantly alert, always ready to do analysis of her games with RK Coach FIDE Expert Eric Heiser, was a wonderful good sport no matter how her games went, plus she had a lot of fun and loved the experience. Georgia was an absolute pleasure to be with at all times. RK would love to take her on all our "On the Road Trips"!
Shayna Provine played up in the ‘U18 and under' the only 4th grader in this section. Shayna is 10 years old and has been playing at tournaments for only 1 year, her first tournament was the Knights Quest in March '09. Her performance was amazing, winning 3 ½ games out of 6, and placing 7th out of 16. Winning two trophies! (One in the main tournament and one in the blitz tournament). Watch out, Shayna may be the first home grown female chess master from Illinois! She was also a pleasure to be with all weekend; RK is very fortunate to have such fantastic girls!
Huge congratulations to Shayna and Georgia, plus big thank you to the great parents of the girls, everyone made this trip a big success!
Click here: 2010 All Girls' National Championship
Annotated Game analysis by Jeff Cavaney:
White: Shayna Provine (1489)
Black: Janel Diaz (1368)
1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qa5
4.d4 c6
5.Nf3 Nf6
6.Bc4 Bg4
7.O-O e6
8.Bf4 Nbd7
9.Re1 Bxf3
10.Qxf3 Qb4
11.b3 Qb6
11...b5 doesn't work because it leaves the c6 pawn pinned: 12.Nxb5! cxb5 13.Qxa8+.
12.d5 cxd5
13.Bxd5 Rc8
14.Bc4
14.Bxb7 doesn't work because 14...Rxc3! 15.Qxc3 Qxb7 wins the bishop and knight for the rook, and Black still has the threat of ...Bb4 skewering the queen and the rook.
14...Bb4
15.Re3 O-O
16.Qg3 Nh5
17.Qh4 Nxf4
18.Qxf4 Bxc3
19.Rxc3 e5
20.Qf5 Qd4!
Surprisingly White has no good defense to this move. Black exploits the two unprotected white rooks on the same diagonal, as well as the pin on the white bishop on the c-file. On the last move White needed to keep her queen controlling d4 to stop this move.
21.Qh3
21.Qd3 wasn't any better after 21...b5! 22.Qxd4 exd4 23.Bxb5 Rxc3 24.Bxd7 Rxc2 and Black is winning.
21...Nf6
Black misses her chance: 21...b5! was the winning move. Even after the mate threat 22.Bd3, the block 22...g6 is still winning for Black because of the deadly attack on the white rooks. After 23.Rxc8 Qxa1+ 24.Bf1 Rxc8 25.Qxd7 Rxc2 the black king hides on g7 and Black is winning. This is simpler than 22...f5 23.Bxf5 Rxc3 and Black has to calculate all the ways the queen and bishop can chase her king around.
22.Rf1
Whew! With one rook safe, Shayna can get her other rook and bishop out of the sticky situation on the c-file, or do even better...
22...b5
23.Bxf7+!
Shayna turns the tables on the c-file: instead of a pin, now it's a discovered attack by her rook and queen on the black rook on c8! And just like that, White is winning. When two good players compete, one move can be the difference between victory and defeat
23...Kxf7
24.Rxc8 Rxc8
25.Qxc8 Ne4
26.Qf5+ Kg8
27.Re1 Nd6
28.Qxe5 Qxe5
29.Rxe5
With the queens exchanged Black has no chance to save the game anymore: in this kind of endgame with pawns on both sides of the board, the knight cannot compete against the rook.
29...Kf7
30.f4 Nc8
31.Rxb5 Nd6
32.Rd5 Ke6
33.c4 Nf5
34.Kf2 h6
35.g4 Ne7
36.f5+ Kf6
37.Rd6+ Kg5
38.Kg3
The sudden threat of h4 mate! forces Black to give up her knight for just a couple pawns.
38...Nxf5+
39.gxf5 Kxf5
40.c5 Ke5
41.b4 h5
42.h4 a6
43.Rxa6 Kd5
44.c6 Kd6
45.b5 g6
46.Ra7 Kc5
47.c7 Kb6
48.c8=Q Kxa7
49.Qc6 g5
50.b6+ Kb8
51.Qc7+ Ka8
52.Qa7 mate 1-0.
Everyone was excited to be there. This was Georgia’s Wolf’s first National, and Shayna Provine, who is more seasoned on traveling and participating in out of state tournaments, was happy to share in Georgia’s joy of this experience. The girls’ combined friendship and chess made it an exceptionally pleasant time for all.
Georgia did very well; she played in ‘U10 and under’ winning half her games, 3 wins out of 6 games, placing 26th out of 55. She was constantly alert, always ready to do analysis of her games with RK Coach FIDE Expert Eric Heiser, was a wonderful good sport no matter how her games went, plus she had a lot of fun and loved the experience. Georgia was an absolute pleasure to be with at all times. RK would love to take her on all our "On the Road Trips"!
Shayna Provine played up in the ‘U18 and under' the only 4th grader in this section. Shayna is 10 years old and has been playing at tournaments for only 1 year, her first tournament was the Knights Quest in March '09. Her performance was amazing, winning 3 ½ games out of 6, and placing 7th out of 16. Winning two trophies! (One in the main tournament and one in the blitz tournament). Watch out, Shayna may be the first home grown female chess master from Illinois! She was also a pleasure to be with all weekend; RK is very fortunate to have such fantastic girls!
Huge congratulations to Shayna and Georgia, plus big thank you to the great parents of the girls, everyone made this trip a big success!
Click here: 2010 All Girls' National Championship
Annotated Game analysis by Jeff Cavaney:
White: Shayna Provine (1489)
Black: Janel Diaz (1368)
1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qa5
4.d4 c6
5.Nf3 Nf6
6.Bc4 Bg4
7.O-O e6
8.Bf4 Nbd7
9.Re1 Bxf3
10.Qxf3 Qb4
11.b3 Qb6
11...b5 doesn't work because it leaves the c6 pawn pinned: 12.Nxb5! cxb5 13.Qxa8+.
12.d5 cxd5
13.Bxd5 Rc8
14.Bc4
14.Bxb7 doesn't work because 14...Rxc3! 15.Qxc3 Qxb7 wins the bishop and knight for the rook, and Black still has the threat of ...Bb4 skewering the queen and the rook.
14...Bb4
15.Re3 O-O
16.Qg3 Nh5
17.Qh4 Nxf4
18.Qxf4 Bxc3
19.Rxc3 e5
20.Qf5 Qd4!
Surprisingly White has no good defense to this move. Black exploits the two unprotected white rooks on the same diagonal, as well as the pin on the white bishop on the c-file. On the last move White needed to keep her queen controlling d4 to stop this move.
21.Qh3
21.Qd3 wasn't any better after 21...b5! 22.Qxd4 exd4 23.Bxb5 Rxc3 24.Bxd7 Rxc2 and Black is winning.
21...Nf6
Black misses her chance: 21...b5! was the winning move. Even after the mate threat 22.Bd3, the block 22...g6 is still winning for Black because of the deadly attack on the white rooks. After 23.Rxc8 Qxa1+ 24.Bf1 Rxc8 25.Qxd7 Rxc2 the black king hides on g7 and Black is winning. This is simpler than 22...f5 23.Bxf5 Rxc3 and Black has to calculate all the ways the queen and bishop can chase her king around.
22.Rf1
Whew! With one rook safe, Shayna can get her other rook and bishop out of the sticky situation on the c-file, or do even better...
22...b5
23.Bxf7+!
Shayna turns the tables on the c-file: instead of a pin, now it's a discovered attack by her rook and queen on the black rook on c8! And just like that, White is winning. When two good players compete, one move can be the difference between victory and defeat
23...Kxf7
24.Rxc8 Rxc8
25.Qxc8 Ne4
26.Qf5+ Kg8
27.Re1 Nd6
28.Qxe5 Qxe5
29.Rxe5
With the queens exchanged Black has no chance to save the game anymore: in this kind of endgame with pawns on both sides of the board, the knight cannot compete against the rook.
29...Kf7
30.f4 Nc8
31.Rxb5 Nd6
32.Rd5 Ke6
33.c4 Nf5
34.Kf2 h6
35.g4 Ne7
36.f5+ Kf6
37.Rd6+ Kg5
38.Kg3
The sudden threat of h4 mate! forces Black to give up her knight for just a couple pawns.
38...Nxf5+
39.gxf5 Kxf5
40.c5 Ke5
41.b4 h5
42.h4 a6
43.Rxa6 Kd5
44.c6 Kd6
45.b5 g6
46.Ra7 Kc5
47.c7 Kb6
48.c8=Q Kxa7
49.Qc6 g5
50.b6+ Kb8
51.Qc7+ Ka8
52.Qa7 mate 1-0.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
CHESS BLOOMS in CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Chess Blooms in Chicago Public Schools by David HeiserAs the end of winter was approaching, 643 Chicago Public Schools students in Grades K-8 competed at the district’s Elementary Schools Sports Program (ESSP) Regional Chess Playoffs to determine which schools and individuals will compete on the first day of spring (March 20, 2010) at the City-Wide Championship to be held at King High School.
Over the past three years chess has blossomed within CPS Sports Program. In 2007 fewer than 200 students in grades K-8 participated in the City-Wide Chess Championship. Due to problems with the tournament, Calvin Davis, Director of Sports Administration, decided to hold another chess tournament, and choose the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation to organize and run the event. RK and CPS Sports Department ran the ‘CPS All Grade Tournament’ and it was such a huge success that everyone was enthusiastic for more organized chess for the CPS students. Also, RK had recently partnered with CPS and the City of Chicago to make chess a part of the annual Chicago Sports Festival held annually in December, resulting in continued grow with apparent positive results for the CPS chess programs.
Working closely with the Sports Administration and the school chess coaches, RK continued its involvement with CPS Chess which saw a tremendous growth in just the first year. Chess is a recognized sport in CPS and is a part of the Winter Sports Season which runs from December through April. At the conclusion of the 2007/2008 season we introduced the North and South Regional Playoff tournaments, in our first year participation increased to 427 students, and the growth continued the 2nd year with 567 students. 3rd year, we are happy to report, 643 players from 68 schools competed in the Regional Playoff’s!
The Regional Playoffs are individual/team competition with team awards based on the top 5 scores in 4 divisions: K-2, K-4, K-6 & K-8. The top three teams and top 4 individuals (not part of the top three teams) advance to the City-Wide Championship. At the championship the top three teams are limited to 5 players making a move even playing field for smaller schools.
This year’s South-Side Regional Playoff was held on March 6 at Phillips High School where 243 students from 29 Schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the ‘CPS Championship’ are: K-8 Gunsaulus, Beasley Academic Center & Seward Academy; K-6 Beasley Academic Center, Keller & Lenart; K-4 Deenen, Coles Academy & Tarkington; and K-2 Keller, Turner-Drew & Deneen. Due to an ineligible player on the Keller team they were disqualified from advancement paving the way for the 4th place team from Metcalfe to advance.
The North-Side Regional Playoff was held at Northwest Middle School where 400 students from 39 schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the championship are: K-8 Burbank, Bateman & Goudy; K-6 Bell, Edgebrook & Edison Regional Gifted; K-4 Edgebrook, Decatur & Burbank; and K-2 Decatur, Burbank & Walt Disney. My Congratulations to all who made the ‘CPS Championship’.
Not only has chess grown at these events but during the past year there has been a dramatic increase in the number of CPS students and schools participating in weekend tournament in the city. I credit this growth to one of the first changes I made to the program that required all schools and individuals to participate in at least one tournament to be eligible to compete in the Regional Playoffs.
As a Co-Founder and President of the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation it has been a privilege working with and supporting chess in Chicago Public Schools for the last several years, and I was honored to be asked to serve as the ESSP Chess Coordinator this year and look forward to the growth of Chess in Chicago.
More information about Chicago Public Schools Chess program can be found at www.cpschess.com
This year’s South-Side Regional Playoff was held on March 6 at Phillips High School where 243 students from 29 Schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the ‘CPS Championship’ are: K-8 Gunsaulus, Beasley Academic Center & Seward Academy; K-6 Beasley Academic Center, Keller & Lenart; K-4 Deenen, Coles Academy & Tarkington; and K-2 Keller, Turner-Drew & Deneen. Due to an ineligible player on the Keller team they were disqualified from advancement paving the way for the 4th place team from Metcalfe to advance.
The North-Side Regional Playoff was held at Northwest Middle School where 400 students from 39 schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the championship are: K-8 Burbank, Bateman & Goudy; K-6 Bell, Edgebrook & Edison Regional Gifted; K-4 Edgebrook, Decatur & Burbank; and K-2 Decatur, Burbank & Walt Disney. My Congratulations to all who made the ‘CPS Championship’.
Not only has chess grown at these events but during the past year there has been a dramatic increase in the number of CPS students and schools participating in weekend tournament in the city. I credit this growth to one of the first changes I made to the program that required all schools and individuals to participate in at least one tournament to be eligible to compete in the Regional Playoffs.
As a Co-Founder and President of the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation it has been a privilege working with and supporting chess in Chicago Public Schools for the last several years, and I was honored to be asked to serve as the ESSP Chess Coordinator this year and look forward to the growth of Chess in Chicago.
More information about Chicago Public Schools Chess program can be found at www.cpschess.com
Saturday, June 26, 2010
STEVENSON HIGH SCHOOL FINISHES 2nd at STATE
The Stevenson Chess Team finished the 2010 IHSA State Chess Team Tournament with a record of 6-1, with tie-breaker points earning them the 2nd Place trophy. Niles North (another North Suburban Chess League -NSCL- team) captured the State Championship with a 7-0 record. This is the 7th consecutive year that Stevenson has finished in the top 6 at the state tournament, including a State Championship 2 years ago. Stevenson's only loss was to the number one seed Whitney Young High School.
In addition to the team trophy and 2nd place player medals for each team member, freshman Matt Yang won the first place medal on Board 3, senior Scott O'Connor tied for 10th place on Board 4, senior Peter Karalis finished in first place on Board 6, and senior Victor Zhou finished in 9th place on Board 8. Other team members were Josh Dubin, Kent Cen, Adele Padgett, Corbin Rudnick, with alternates Saieesh Rao and Vishish Verma. Sophomore Josh Dubin won a special award as one of the highest rated high school chess player in Illinois. The Stevenson team is coached by Rob Krause, with Scott Oliver club sponsor.
Rob Krause also initated a special one day chess clinic on Saturday with the assistance of Renaissance Knights and FIDE expert Eric Heiser.
In addition to the team trophy and 2nd place player medals for each team member, freshman Matt Yang won the first place medal on Board 3, senior Scott O'Connor tied for 10th place on Board 4, senior Peter Karalis finished in first place on Board 6, and senior Victor Zhou finished in 9th place on Board 8. Other team members were Josh Dubin, Kent Cen, Adele Padgett, Corbin Rudnick, with alternates Saieesh Rao and Vishish Verma. Sophomore Josh Dubin won a special award as one of the highest rated high school chess player in Illinois. The Stevenson team is coached by Rob Krause, with Scott Oliver club sponsor.
Rob Krause also initated a special one day chess clinic on Saturday with the assistance of Renaissance Knights and FIDE expert Eric Heiser.
Friday, June 25, 2010
BEST GAME & BEST TACTIC OF THE GCSC
by Jeff CaveneyThe best game I saw at the Greater Chicago Scholastic Championships was Arjun Nandy's attacking win vs. Rohan Mhaskar on Board 2 in the 4th round of the K-8 Varsity section. Arjun's game was an excellent example of how to conduct a kingside attack against the popular Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defense. Rohan put up very tough resistance, and almost escaped with his king right into the center of the board on e5 and d5. To win the game, Arjun had to find a difficult combination where two precise checks set up a pin that made a knight fork of the king and queen work.
White: Arjun Nandy (1600)
Black: Rohan Mhaskar (1702)
Greater Chicago Scholastic Championships
K-8 Varsity section
Round 4, Board 2
February 27, 2010
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 g6
6.Be3 Bg7
7.f3 O-O
8.Qd2 Nc6
9.Bc4
If White castled queenside right away, Black could play the center pawn break d6-d5. White plays Bc4 first to stop d6-d5. This is called the Yugoslav Attack. White attacks on the kingside and Black attacks on the queenside. Chess masters like to play both sides of this position, but in my opinion for amateur and scholastic players it is easier to play for White than for Black. White just pushes his pawns in a "pawn storm" on the kingside, while Black has to combine piece and pawn moves in a more complicated way on the queenside.
9 ... Bd7
10.O-O-O Rc8
11.Bb3 Ne5
12.h4 h5
13.Bh6
The Black king's best defender is the bishop on g7, so White trades it off.
13 ... Nc4
14.Bxc4 Rxc4
15.Bxg7 Kxg7
16.Nd5
White trades off another Black defender, the knight on f6.
16 ... Nxd5
17.exd5 Qc7
18.g4 Rc8
19.Kb1 Rh8
20.Rdg1 Qb6
21.c3 a5
Notice how Black's pawns are much slower than White's pawns, and Black's queen is blocking his own b-pawn from pushing forward.
22.gxh5 Rxh5
23.Rg5!
The Black rook on h5 is the last defender of the Black king, so once again White trades the defender off.
23 ... Rxg5
24.hxg5
The point of the pawn storm is to open files in front of the king, and now White has an open h-file to attack on. He threatens Qh2 with a devastating queen and rook invasion against the Black king.
24...f6
Black recognizes the danger, and after a long think he prepares an escape route for his king.
25.gxf6+ Kxf6
26.Kc1
White probably didn't need this safety move with his king before playing Qf4+.
26 ... Qc5
27.Qf4+ Bf5
28.Qh4+ Ke5
29.Qxe7+ Kxd5
Black has done an excellent job of running away with his king, and there is no guarantee that White will be able to catch him. But now White finds an excellent and very accurate combination of checks to win the game:
30.Qf7+!
When I was watching the game, I was expecting 30.Qxb7+. But Arjun Nandy looked deeper and moved his queen to f7 to check for a very good reason, as we will see two moves later!
30 ... Ke5
31.Re1+ Kf4
32.Ne6+!
The point! The queen checked on f7 so that now the bishop on f5 is pinned! So the bishop can't take the knight on e6, which wins the Black queen with this fork.
32 ... Kxf3
33.Nxc5 Rxc5
And after winning the queen, White went on to win the game.
The most amazing tactic I saw in the tournament was by Ryan Toepfer vs. Derek Mizushima on Board 2 in the last round of the K-6 Varsity section. Derek played very well and was up a rook, but Ryan saw a beautiful hidden tactic to win the queen, and went on to win the game.
Ryan as Black had a rook on e8, protected by his king on f8, and it was pinning the White queen on e6 with the White king on e2. But Derek as White had just played one of his rooks down to d8, counter-pinning the Black rook on e8. Derek's other rook on d1 protected his rook on d8. But now Ryan's amazing tactic was his queen on b4 moved ...Qxc4+!! Since the white queen on e6 is still pinned, it can't take the Black queen on c4. White has to get out of check, and next move Black will play Queen takes Queen on e6, winning the white queen. Ryan did this and went on to checkmate and win several moves later.
There are many examples of this tactical pattern from real games in chess puzzle books, which means that many chess masters don't see it coming either. This game was a good experience for both Ryan and Derek, who I am sure will both use this tactic to win a lot of games in the future.
Ryan deserves a lot of credit for finding this beautiful tactic, but the first thing Ryan said to Derek after the game was, "I was very lucky, you were winning." This is excellent sportsmanship: After winning, Ryan gave his opponent credit for playing well and having a winning position most of the game. Derek also exhibited good sportsmanship in defeat, not complaining or getting angry or upset, even though it is always painful to lose a tough game when you were winning. It was so pleasant to see both players' good sportsmanship, instead of the opposite situation where the player who lost tells the winner, "You were very lucky," which is bad sportsmanship. As a tournament director and teacher, I am always happy to see players being good sports whether they win or lose.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
GREATER CHICAGO SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP
GREATER CHICAGO SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP by Jeff Caveney
Over 150 enthusiastic young chess players came to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Northbrook the weekend of February 27-28 to play in the Greater Chicago Scholastic Chess Championships. The kids and their families came from Chicago, the suburbs and all over Illinois, neighboring Wisconsin and Indiana, and even as far as Colorado and Maryland to compete for the beautiful and gigantic trophies for the top teams and individuals. Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation and the Kasparov Chess Foundation sponsored the event, modeled after the long-running successful New York tournament with the same format. This is the first time the event has been held in the Chicago area.
In the K-12 section, the competition was so tough that 6 players tied with 4 points out of 5 games. Shivram Chandramouli (Munster High School, Munster, Indiana) took 1st place with the best tiebreaks, an impressive result since he was rated 9th out of the 30 players in the section. James Bowen (University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Tyler Lerner, Lukasz Zak (Lane Tech High School, Chicago), Matthew Barbian (Libertyville High School, Libertyville, Illinois) and Eric Emer (Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 2nd through 6th places respectively. Especially notable was Lukasz Zak, who was unrated going into the tournament. Since Zak won an overall prize, Anud Dahiya (Naperville North High School, Naperville, Illinois) took the 1st unrated prize with 3 points, and his teammate Charles Coffman (Naperville North) took 2nd place unrated with 2 points.
Alex Yerukhimov (University School of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) took the 1st under-1500 prize with 3 points. His teammates dominated the Junior Varisty top prizes: Kern Khanna, Sam Schlesinger, John Venable and Ishan Sinha (all University School of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) took 1st through 4th. Charles Helding (St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago) took 5th place JV. Thomas Grudzinski (Lane Tech, Chicago) took 1st place under-900 JV.
The 1st place K-12 team trophy went to University School of Milwaukee. Naperville North and Lane Tech took 2nd and 3rd place.
In the K-8 Varsity section, Yue "Penny" Xu (Urbana Middle School, Urbana, Illinois) took clear 1st place with 4 wins and a draw. Arjun Nandy (University of Chicago Lab School, Chicago) took clear 2nd place with 4 points, and Rohan Mhaskar (The Prairie School, Racine, Wisconsin) took clear 3rd place with 3.5 points. David Peng (Winkelman School, Glenview, Illinois), Jack Xiao (Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Eamonn Moore (Elm Place School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 4th through 6th places with 3 points each. Alec Feygin (Glen Grove School, Glenview, Illinois) won the 1st place under-1200 prize with 3 points.
St. Gilberts School in Grays Lake, Illinois took the 1st place K-8 Varisty team trophy.
In the K-8 Junior Varsity section, John Lennon (Keystone Montessori School, River Forest, Illinois) took clear 1st place with 4 wins and a draw. Alfredo Rodriguez (Logandale Middle School, Chicago) took clear 2nd place with 4 points, and Andy Xu (Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took clear 3rd place with 3.5 points. Brian Davis and Sylvester Highley, Jr. (James Hart Junior High School, Homewood, Illinois) took 4th and 5th places with 3 points, and Billy Hoseman took 6th place with 2 points. Frederic Fosco (GIFT Homeschool Group, Elgin, Illinois) won the 1st place under-700 prize with 3 points. Durman Jackson (James Hart Junior High School, Homewood, Illinois) won the 1st place unrated prize with 3 points, Quentin Kakuda (Lake Zurich Middle School South, Lake Zurich, Illinois) took 2nd place unrated, and Joshua Chan (Thomas Jefferson School, Hoffman Estates, Illinois) took 3rd place unrated.
James Hart Junior High School in Homewood, Illinois won the 1st place K-8 Junior Varsity team trophy, and Logandale Middle School in Chicago took 2nd place.
In the K-6 Varsity section, Allen Guo (Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took clear 1st place with a perfect score of 5 points. Ryan Toepfer (Decatur Classical School, Chicago) and Daniel Bronfeyn (Aspen Elementary School, Vernon Hills, Illinois) took 2nd and 3rd places with 4 points. Miranda Liu (Lake Bluff Elementary School, Lake Bluff, Illinois) took 4th place with 3.5 points. Derek Mizushima (Potomac Elementary School, Potomac, Maryland) and Josh Power (Bernard Zell School, Chicago) took 5th and 6th places with 3 points. Asher Borstein (Bernard Zell School, Chicago) won the 1st place under-1000 prize with 3 points.
In a very close competition between two Chicago schools, Decatur Classical School took the 1st place K-6 Varsity team trophy by a half point over Bernard Zell School, who took 2nd place.
The K-6 Junior Varsity was by far the largest section of the whole tournament, with 46 kids competing. Brody Frapolly (Wildwood School, Chicago) and Coleman McJessy (Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School, Chicago) both earned perfect scores of 5 points, with Brody Frapolly taking 1st place on tiebreaks and Coleman McJessy 2nd place. Erik Csima (Lone Tree Home School, Lone Tree, Colorado), Finn Buck (Homeschool, Cambridge, Wisconsin), Dylan Cotter (Crow Island School, Winnetka, Illinois) and Jacob Fox (Dewey Elementary School, Evanston, Illinois) took 3rd through 6th places with 4 points. Georgia Wolf (Thorp Scholastic Academy, Chicago) won the 1st place under-900 prize with 3.5 points. Nikita Smyrno (Ivy Hall School, Buffalo Grove, Illinois) won the 1st place unrated prize with 3.5 points, and Alex Ortiz (Galileo Math & Science Academy, Chicago) and David SIlva (Canty Elementary School, Chicago) took 2nd and 3rd place unrated with 3 points.
Dewey Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois won the 1st place K-6 Junior Varsity team trophy. Bernard Zell School in Chicago took 2nd place and Thorp Scholastic Academy in Chicago took 3rd place.
In the K-3 Varsity section, Derek Mizushima who came all the way from Potomac, Maryland took clear 1st place with a perfect score of 5 points. Ronin Moore (Sherwood School, Highland Park, Illinois) took clear 2nd place with 3.5 points. Ranadheer Tripuraneni (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois), Megan Wei, Michael Wu (both Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Kevin Wang (Oak View Elementary School, Fort Wayne, Indiana) took 3rd through 6th places with 3 points. Sean Li (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois) won the 1st place under-900 prize.
Laura Sprague School in Lincolnshire, Illinois won the 1st place K-3 Varsity team trophy. May Whitney School in Lake Zurich, Illinois took 2nd place.
In the K-3 Junior Varsity section, 4 players tied for the best score with 4 points. Jesse Prilutsky took 1st place with the best tiebreaks. Erik Csima who came all the way from Lone Tree, Colorado took 2nd place, Edward Esgar (Sherwood School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 3rd place, and Vishay Ram (Fry Elementary School, Naperville, Illinois) took the 1st place under-500 prize -- all of them scored 4 points. Finn Buck (Homeschool, Cambridge, Wisconsin) took 4th place with 3.5 points, and Allan Lopez (Three Oaks School, Cary, Illinois) and Annie Xu (Half Day Elementary School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took 5th and 6th places with 3 points. Sonny Zhou (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois) and Annie Clement (Jane Addams School, Palatine, Illinois) won the 1st and 2nd place unrated prizes with 3 points, and Sam Zacks (South School, Glencoe, Illinois) won 3rd place unrated with 2.5 points.
Finally, Amanda Csima from Lone Tree, Colorado won the 1st place kindergarten prize with an amazing 3 points. William Zhu (Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) won the 2nd place kindergarten prize with 2 points, and Colin Mizushima from Potomac, Maryland won the 3rd place kindergarten prize with 1.5 points.
Lone Tree Home School in Lone Tree, Colorado won the 1st place K-3 Junior Varsity team trophy.
Standings K-3 & K-8 Championships photos K-6 & K-12 Championships photos
Over 150 enthusiastic young chess players came to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Northbrook the weekend of February 27-28 to play in the Greater Chicago Scholastic Chess Championships. The kids and their families came from Chicago, the suburbs and all over Illinois, neighboring Wisconsin and Indiana, and even as far as Colorado and Maryland to compete for the beautiful and gigantic trophies for the top teams and individuals. Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation and the Kasparov Chess Foundation sponsored the event, modeled after the long-running successful New York tournament with the same format. This is the first time the event has been held in the Chicago area.
In the K-12 section, the competition was so tough that 6 players tied with 4 points out of 5 games. Shivram Chandramouli (Munster High School, Munster, Indiana) took 1st place with the best tiebreaks, an impressive result since he was rated 9th out of the 30 players in the section. James Bowen (University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Tyler Lerner, Lukasz Zak (Lane Tech High School, Chicago), Matthew Barbian (Libertyville High School, Libertyville, Illinois) and Eric Emer (Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 2nd through 6th places respectively. Especially notable was Lukasz Zak, who was unrated going into the tournament. Since Zak won an overall prize, Anud Dahiya (Naperville North High School, Naperville, Illinois) took the 1st unrated prize with 3 points, and his teammate Charles Coffman (Naperville North) took 2nd place unrated with 2 points.
Alex Yerukhimov (University School of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) took the 1st under-1500 prize with 3 points. His teammates dominated the Junior Varisty top prizes: Kern Khanna, Sam Schlesinger, John Venable and Ishan Sinha (all University School of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) took 1st through 4th. Charles Helding (St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago) took 5th place JV. Thomas Grudzinski (Lane Tech, Chicago) took 1st place under-900 JV.
The 1st place K-12 team trophy went to University School of Milwaukee. Naperville North and Lane Tech took 2nd and 3rd place.
In the K-8 Varsity section, Yue "Penny" Xu (Urbana Middle School, Urbana, Illinois) took clear 1st place with 4 wins and a draw. Arjun Nandy (University of Chicago Lab School, Chicago) took clear 2nd place with 4 points, and Rohan Mhaskar (The Prairie School, Racine, Wisconsin) took clear 3rd place with 3.5 points. David Peng (Winkelman School, Glenview, Illinois), Jack Xiao (Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Eamonn Moore (Elm Place School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 4th through 6th places with 3 points each. Alec Feygin (Glen Grove School, Glenview, Illinois) won the 1st place under-1200 prize with 3 points.
St. Gilberts School in Grays Lake, Illinois took the 1st place K-8 Varisty team trophy.
In the K-8 Junior Varsity section, John Lennon (Keystone Montessori School, River Forest, Illinois) took clear 1st place with 4 wins and a draw. Alfredo Rodriguez (Logandale Middle School, Chicago) took clear 2nd place with 4 points, and Andy Xu (Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took clear 3rd place with 3.5 points. Brian Davis and Sylvester Highley, Jr. (James Hart Junior High School, Homewood, Illinois) took 4th and 5th places with 3 points, and Billy Hoseman took 6th place with 2 points. Frederic Fosco (GIFT Homeschool Group, Elgin, Illinois) won the 1st place under-700 prize with 3 points. Durman Jackson (James Hart Junior High School, Homewood, Illinois) won the 1st place unrated prize with 3 points, Quentin Kakuda (Lake Zurich Middle School South, Lake Zurich, Illinois) took 2nd place unrated, and Joshua Chan (Thomas Jefferson School, Hoffman Estates, Illinois) took 3rd place unrated.
James Hart Junior High School in Homewood, Illinois won the 1st place K-8 Junior Varsity team trophy, and Logandale Middle School in Chicago took 2nd place.
In the K-6 Varsity section, Allen Guo (Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took clear 1st place with a perfect score of 5 points. Ryan Toepfer (Decatur Classical School, Chicago) and Daniel Bronfeyn (Aspen Elementary School, Vernon Hills, Illinois) took 2nd and 3rd places with 4 points. Miranda Liu (Lake Bluff Elementary School, Lake Bluff, Illinois) took 4th place with 3.5 points. Derek Mizushima (Potomac Elementary School, Potomac, Maryland) and Josh Power (Bernard Zell School, Chicago) took 5th and 6th places with 3 points. Asher Borstein (Bernard Zell School, Chicago) won the 1st place under-1000 prize with 3 points.
In a very close competition between two Chicago schools, Decatur Classical School took the 1st place K-6 Varsity team trophy by a half point over Bernard Zell School, who took 2nd place.
The K-6 Junior Varsity was by far the largest section of the whole tournament, with 46 kids competing. Brody Frapolly (Wildwood School, Chicago) and Coleman McJessy (Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School, Chicago) both earned perfect scores of 5 points, with Brody Frapolly taking 1st place on tiebreaks and Coleman McJessy 2nd place. Erik Csima (Lone Tree Home School, Lone Tree, Colorado), Finn Buck (Homeschool, Cambridge, Wisconsin), Dylan Cotter (Crow Island School, Winnetka, Illinois) and Jacob Fox (Dewey Elementary School, Evanston, Illinois) took 3rd through 6th places with 4 points. Georgia Wolf (Thorp Scholastic Academy, Chicago) won the 1st place under-900 prize with 3.5 points. Nikita Smyrno (Ivy Hall School, Buffalo Grove, Illinois) won the 1st place unrated prize with 3.5 points, and Alex Ortiz (Galileo Math & Science Academy, Chicago) and David SIlva (Canty Elementary School, Chicago) took 2nd and 3rd place unrated with 3 points.
Dewey Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois won the 1st place K-6 Junior Varsity team trophy. Bernard Zell School in Chicago took 2nd place and Thorp Scholastic Academy in Chicago took 3rd place.
In the K-3 Varsity section, Derek Mizushima who came all the way from Potomac, Maryland took clear 1st place with a perfect score of 5 points. Ronin Moore (Sherwood School, Highland Park, Illinois) took clear 2nd place with 3.5 points. Ranadheer Tripuraneni (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois), Megan Wei, Michael Wu (both Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Kevin Wang (Oak View Elementary School, Fort Wayne, Indiana) took 3rd through 6th places with 3 points. Sean Li (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois) won the 1st place under-900 prize.
Laura Sprague School in Lincolnshire, Illinois won the 1st place K-3 Varsity team trophy. May Whitney School in Lake Zurich, Illinois took 2nd place.
In the K-3 Junior Varsity section, 4 players tied for the best score with 4 points. Jesse Prilutsky took 1st place with the best tiebreaks. Erik Csima who came all the way from Lone Tree, Colorado took 2nd place, Edward Esgar (Sherwood School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 3rd place, and Vishay Ram (Fry Elementary School, Naperville, Illinois) took the 1st place under-500 prize -- all of them scored 4 points. Finn Buck (Homeschool, Cambridge, Wisconsin) took 4th place with 3.5 points, and Allan Lopez (Three Oaks School, Cary, Illinois) and Annie Xu (Half Day Elementary School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took 5th and 6th places with 3 points. Sonny Zhou (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois) and Annie Clement (Jane Addams School, Palatine, Illinois) won the 1st and 2nd place unrated prizes with 3 points, and Sam Zacks (South School, Glencoe, Illinois) won 3rd place unrated with 2.5 points.
Finally, Amanda Csima from Lone Tree, Colorado won the 1st place kindergarten prize with an amazing 3 points. William Zhu (Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) won the 2nd place kindergarten prize with 2 points, and Colin Mizushima from Potomac, Maryland won the 3rd place kindergarten prize with 1.5 points.
Lone Tree Home School in Lone Tree, Colorado won the 1st place K-3 Junior Varsity team trophy.
Standings K-3 & K-8 Championships photos K-6 & K-12 Championships photos
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