2011 North American Youth Chess Championship

The 2011 North American Youth Chess Championship started on Sunday June 25 in scenic Tarrytown, NY.  A number of Bay Area kids, including Weibel's Alisha Chawla, are competing in this tournament.  This is an international tournament, FIDE-rated, with 264 participants from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, and Bermuda taking part.  The top player in each section (and there are numerous sections - U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 for both Open and Girls) will earn the FIDE Candidate Master title.

Official Website:  http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/

UPDATE: FINAL STANDINGS.  Alisha ended up with 3.5 out of 7.  Leyton Ho and Vignesh Panchanatham both ended up with draws and came up just a bit short for 1st place and the coveted CM FIDE title.  So, after 7 rounds, results for the Northern California participants:

U8 Girls
Estella Wong (1042) 5.0 (tied for 3rd)
Chenyi Zhao (1207) 4.5
Selena Wong (940) 4.0

U10 Open
Leyton Ho (1717) 5.5 (clear 2nd place)
Justin Tan (1476) 3.5
Lawrence Wong (1424) 3.5

U10 Girls
Alisha Chawla (1227) 3.5

U12 Open
Vignesh Panchanatham (2025) 5.0 (tied for 3rd)
Siddarth Banik (1951) 3.5

U18 Open
Nicholas Karas (2150) 3.5

Bay Area Chess Grand Prix in Pleasanton

The world of Bay Area chess descended upon Pleasanton at the Hilton Hotel on Saturday, as around 80 players competed in 3 tournaments - the advanced $uper$wiss for players 1200 and above, a scholastic Swiss tournament, and a late afternoon Quads tournament. The Grand Prix is a concept borrowed from other sports (and also used by Weibel every year when hosting their 3 fall Quads tournaments) where points are accumulated for performing well at various tournaments. At the end of the tournaments (in this case, 3 tournaments, overall winners based on the total number of points accumulated will be declared the winners of the Grand Prix).

The Hilton Hotel in Pleasanton is a very nice location, with 2 separated event rooms that looked like it could accomodate around 120 chess players. Centrally located in Pleasanton, the location is ideal as it is central to the Fremont area as well as the people who live in the Peninsula and Contra Costa areas.

Michael W

Kia S

Anthony Z

As usual there are always large numbers from Fremont that seem to be at every tournament, and this tournament was no exception. 6 players from the Weibel Team played in the 3 tournaments on Saturday.

USCF results:

$uper$wiss

Scholastic Swiss

Scholastic Quads

ALAN'S K-2 SUMMER CHESS PROGRAM IS UNDERWAY

I am pleased with the turn-out for my special summer chess program. I wanted 12 and I got 12 students. As I noted in my earlier e-mails, there is room for single day drop ins. The information is available from the http://www.WeibelChess.org site. Just look for the Alan's Summer Chess link. There is just one catch--any K-2 player (Fall 2011 school grade) attending must be committed to attending the Team next year. Third grade players who have no U.S. Chess Federation rating or are rated under 300 are also welcome.

I understand a few parents are concerned about the commitment of 6 chess tournaments during the 2011-2012 school year. Considering that almost all the tournaments are in Fremont or Santa Clara County, that really doesn't require a lot of travel to complete the 6. The required State Championships in mid-April are also in Santa Clara. And, yes, there are Sunday events as well. Most of our Team players attend far more events because they love chess competition.

If you have any questions, drop me an e-mail: alan@WeibelChess.org

Watch for Carl's notices on summer tournaments and chess camps. You can find a list of summer tournaments and weekly events at my http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/Tournaments.html page. That site lists a few tournaments not found on the official CalChess website.

Alan

Las Vegas brillancy prize

At the Las Vegas National Open last weekend, prizes were given out for the best games played (players aged 14 and under who submitted their games), as judged by GM Ron Henley. Weibel Team member Abhishek Handigol got one of the prizes, for this game.

Norcal House of Chess June Quads

the Norcal House of Chess hosted a scholastic Quads tournament this past weekend.  Good to see many of our up and coming younger kids play in this tournament, even though summer vacation has just started.  Anvi was the big gainer  - she took 3 out of 4 and gained over 100 rating points, to 752.

USCF Rating report: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201106188421

GM Robson at Norcal House of Chess

A number of Weibel team members attended the lecture and simul that was given by GM Ray Robson Friday night at the Norcal House of Chess in Fremont, CA. The lecture and simul was given to approximately 30 members.  His dad, Dr. Gary Robson, was also on hand to promote his new book, Chess Child.  Yes, GM Robson did win all of his games.  Thanks to Club director and Weibel coach Ted Castro for promoting this event!

Las Vegas Chess Festival - final results

Kevin and Abhishek with the big payday at the National Open (well, not really)

well another long weekend over.  To some extent most of the top kids across the country who played in this tournament found out that being at the top of a section doesn't necessarily translate into big money.  But a good tournament nonetheless for a couple of our team members.

U1800 - Kevin Moy 4.5 - won $128
U1600 - Abhishek Handigol 4.0 - won $67, and won one of the brillancy prizes.

Las Vegas Chess Festival

The annual National Open is going on this weekend in Las Vegas, as well as the International Youth Championship, replacing the Polgar Tournament, which has relocated to Chicago.
In the National Open, after 4 rounds out of 6:

U1800
Kevin Moy 3.5
Joanna Liu 1.5

U1600
Abhishek Handigol 3.0



In the Youth Championship, after 3 rounds out of 5:
U14 - U1100
Angela Chan 2.0
Veronica Show 0.0

U9 Open
Serafina Show 1.0

USCF Top 100 Lists - June 2011 edition

Congrats to all the Weibel Team members who made the lists.  Rating is based on end of April rating. You are truly among the elite in the entire country:

The entire lists can be found here:  http://main.uschess.org/component/option,com_top_players/Itemid,371/


12 year old
#81 - Justin Wang 1711

10 year old
#21 - Kevin Moy 1795
#59 - Abhishek Handigol 1597

9 year old
#2 - Michael Wang 1904

8 year old
#20 - Joanna Liu 1543
#22 - Anthony Zhou 1506

Under 13 Girls -
#38 - Joanna Liu - 8 years old - 1543
#79 - Sharon Lu - 11 years old - 1357
#86 - Desiree Ho - 9 years old - 1333
#99 - Serafina Show - 9 years old - 1285