WEIBEL PLAYERS AND PARENTS SHOW THEIR METTLE AT THE POLGAR NATIONALS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS!

I could not be happier.  Weibel players and teams did beautifully at this weekend’s (May 5-6, 2018) 13^th Susan Polgar Foundation National Open for Girls and Boys.  Grandmaster Susan Polgar held the event in Livermore and Bay Area Chess handled the organization.  Weibel players and parents showed their new found mettle as well.

Sadly, this prestigious event with it championship sections and two divisions for less experienced chess players, a blitz tournament, a puzzle solving section and other worthwhile activities dropped in attendance this year.  Last year, the event drew 427 players and this year 347.  While it is always difficult to know what causes a drop-in attendance, I can say that this year,  though it was held on the same weekend last year, had many more people tell me of other activities in which they had to participate.  Surprisingly, we had 40 players this year and only 33 last year. To some extent that is the theme of the beginning of this article—the amazing excitement our players and parents have taken in entering chess tournaments this year. 

As most of you know, members of the Weibel Team must attend six tournaments of their choice before the State Championships.  Parents also commit to the State Championships.  The members of the Weibel Chess Club have no commitments.  I really feel great, in fact, proud that so many parents selected to attend the Polgar and a few others after the April 7-8, 2018 State Championships.

What has changed?  From what I can deduce, many of the parents and players have observed the growth in chess skills and the success from those players who have attended more competitions.  Going to the tournaments together this year’s parents and the players have developed a sense of team, a sense of community and a feeling of accomplishment.  We have also been very lucky to have two excellent chess store front programs nearby who have expanded the tournaments they hold each month.  Thank you, Demetrius—Shoreview Chess—and Ted—NorCal House of Chess.  Your programs along with our classroom teachers have enabled us to be successful.

There are also so many other chess tournaments in the Bay Area.  As most of you know Bay Area Chess holds events every weekend, yet this year, besides Shoreview Chess and NorCal House of Chess, groups like Berkeley Chess and Hanley’s Chess Academy are holding more events.  There are many other tournaments run by different programs, even right here in Fremont, Yes for Chess, U.S. Chess Mates (not sure they are still here), Success Chess School (yes, they are holding rated tournaments in places like Mountain View and Fremont) and Kidz to Pro.  Yup, all those programs are based in Fremont. We are a hot bed of chess, no question about it.  When I started the Weibel program in 1988 we were the only youth game in town.   I do my best to search out these tournaments, as some do not appear on the CalChess Clearinghouse, and post them at http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/Tournaments.html.

As I mentioned in my Weibel Chess Facebook site, I was not able to go to the tournament on Sunday and unexpected circumstances drove me away on Saturday afternoon.  I did take photographs on Saturday before I left, and they are linked from http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/photographs.html.   
Parents sent me the photographs inserted in this article. 

 Now, on to Weibel at the 13^th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation National Open for Girls and Boys. As is my practice when Weibel has a large number of entrants, I only discuss those individuals who won trophies and the players whose points counted for the Team.  I feel guilty about not mentioning everyone, but perhaps they will strive harder to get their names mentioned in my next posting.  Meanwhile, I thank you all for your participation and I know if you continue doing so you will improve your skills and be among our top Team players in the future.  If not, then just remember that chess has increased your critical thinking ability and that, like chess, is forever.

As I noted earlier, the Championship sections, divided by age, were not the only chess competition at the tournament. Weibel had a number of players who selected to enter the K-4 Under 500 and K-8 Under 800 called the Reserve Sections.  They competed only on Saturday.

Both Weibel Teams in the Reserve section finished second. In the K-8 Under 800 section we finished second to Fallon Middle School of San Ramon.  Fallon’s chess program has not only been growing over the last few years, it is also becoming a chess powerhouse under the able direction of their coach Eric Lai, a former Bay Area scholastic player.  Fallon won the U14 Championship section as well.   Four players counted for the team score with Nathan Xu, Krishank Sardesai, Matthew Miu and Vivaan Pathar listed as our top performers.  However, Charlene Kwok and Anish Shankar actually had the exact number of points as Vivaan—two.

In the K-4 Under 500, Weibel was second behind our perennial rival, Mission San Jose.  Our top scorers were Krish Behl, who tied for second in the individual competition, Ojas Parhar, Kevin Xu and Nikita Jain. However, Stanley Kwok had the exact 2.5 points as Nikita.  Stanley and Ojas are both in Kindergarten and I have high hopes for them for next year. 

On to the individual competition in the Championship/Open part of the competition: 

In the Under 12 Boys Division, Vincent Yang and Dharshan Vetrivelan tied for first a half point behind the winners.  Umesh Gupta and Krish Gupta also obtained one of the 15 trophies in this section tying for 13^th place,

In the Under 12 Girls Division can only be described as another amazing finish.  Yesun Lee, took home the championship title which also earned her an invitation to the Susan Polgar Foundation’s Girl’s Invitational at Webster University in St. Louis with her room and meal expenses fully covered.  Yesun, in Fifth Grade, is also on track to become the highest rated girl ever at Weibel.  She broke 1600 and this qualifies her for the Weibel Chess Hall of Fame.  Serafina Show, our highest ever rated girl while still at Weibel had a similar rating when in fifth grade.  Prisha Jain tied for second winning the second place trophy on tie-breaks. Prisha lost her only game to her teammate, Yesun. Rachael Tiong, new to the Team this year, placed 12^th and Sabrina Kuntjara took home the 14^th place trophy.

In the Under 10 Boys Division Ryan Tiong led our team tying for sixth place.

In the Under 10 Girls Division Mai-Ha Nghiem led our team tying for sixth place. Shruti Nath tied for eighth place along with Mahika Deshpande.

We did not have any players in the Under 8 Boys section. Our only girl in the Under 8 Girls Division, Anusha Mukhopadhyay, brought home an eighth place trophy.

And now for the team competition:  Weibel won all the Championship sections we had teams in—the Under12 Boys and Girls as well as the Under 10  Boys and Girls.  Vincent Yang, Dharshan Vetrivelan, Umesh Gopi and Krish Gangal were our four scorers in the Under 12 boys section.  Yesun Lee, Prisha Jain, Rachael Tiong and Sabrina Kuntjara brought us victory in the Under 12 girls.  We only had three boys in the Under 10, but that was enough to win first place for the team.  We had four girls on the Under 10 winning team, Mai-Ha Nghiem, Shruti Nath, Mihika Deshpande and Shriya Surana.

I end this article with a big shout out to all the players and parents who took their time from other activities last weekend to come to Livermore for the Susan Polgar Foundation National Open for Boys and Girls. 

Chess is Forever,

Alan

Photo of GM Susan Polgar awarding Yesun Lee her first place trophy and piece of luggage for winning the Under 12 championship title. Susan Polgar posted this photo that was likely taken by her husband, Paul Truong an excellent photographer, on her Facebook site.