Weibel vs. NorCal House of Chess match, Part I

On Saturday March 29, many members of the Weibel Elementary Varsity Chess team along with players going to the Girls' Nationals competed against select members of the powerful NorCal House of Chess club, National Championship winners in 5 age groups last month at the US Junior Chess Congress in Irvine,  in the 3rd Annual Weibel versus NorCal House of Chess team match.  The match took place in an adjacent building near the NorCal House of Chess club, as the NorCal House of Chess Amateur Team, winners of the Amateur West tournament back in February, was competing simultaneously in the club, in the playoffs against the winners from the other 3 regions.  23 players from each side played in a 2 game match.  This was a friendly rivalry, as Ted Castro, the head of the NorCal House of Chess, teaches at Weibel and many members of the Weibel team also are members of the NorCal House of Chess.   In addition to the competition, the other main purpose of the match was to prepare the players for playing with longer time controls (G/90) before the State and/or National competitions.

Weibel raced out to a 13.5-9.5 point lead after the first round, but NHC came storming back and took an almost insurmoutable 23-20 lead with 3 games to go. However, 3rd graders Louis Law and Oliver Wu got wins for Weibel, which left the top boards Anthony Zhou (1842) from Weibel and Ganesh Murugappan (1835) battling in the final game to see if Weibel could take the match into an Armageddon overtime match.  The position turned into a complicated one, with Ganesh having a couple of rooks and 2 extra pawns to Anthony's rook and 2 (strong) bishops, along with a 15 to 20 minute clock advantage.  Anthony fought valiantly, eschewing draw offers, but Ganesh managed to push his slight advantage into a win, with only 15 seconds left on his clock.  NHC wound up winning the match 24-22.  Every year has been a close match and this year was no different.  It was a really good day for the NorCal House of Chess, as an hour later, they wrapped up the US Amateur Team championship.

This was an almost free event, and I want to thank Ted for helping organize the event, as well as the numerous Weibel alumni volunteers who helped TD and go over the games - Experts Kevin Moy and Joanna Liu, along with former State Champions Daniel Ho and Steven Li.  I hope some of the current Weibel players will give back to the chess community after they depart from Weibel, just like the others mentioned have.  I also thank Dr. Alan Kirshner for donating his time, equipment and trophies, and to Joyce LaForteza and Tigran Darbinyan for their usual help in Weibel and NHC events.

Weibel will face NHC in a rematch on May 3, in a prelude to the Elementary School Nationals the following weekend.

USCF Results
CalNorth Youth Chess Photos