12/21/13
I just sent this e-mail to the President of CalChess, our State affiliate of the U.S. Chess Federation:
"Hi Tom,
I had hoped we could reach some sort of tentative agreement or get close to a tentative agreement by yesterday, December 20, so I could forward the information to my parents for a vote on whether they would feel secure under the arrangements we agreed to or were close to agreeing to. With the Grade Level three weeks away and school out with many of my parents leaving the area for the holidays I could not in all good faith continue negotiating. I need to let the Weibel parents and players know if the Team will attend. I thought we were getting close and you were negotiating in good faith, but then yesterday morning you sent me a different proposal than your previous one. Interestingly that proposal related back to the original and I was at a loss for words. I begged you to clarify which proposal we were working on as well as to inform me as to the names of the three members of the CalChess Scholastic Council besides Lynn Reed. I asked you to do so with all deliberate speed. I have not heard back from you. The deadline has passed. Sadly, you leave me no choice but to notify my parents that Weibel will not be attending the State Grade Level this year as we did last year when it was organized by Elizabeth Shaughnessy.
I want to assure you that I still have a desire to have Weibel attend the State Championships as we have since 1989 and before Salman Azhar, as organizer, turned on our players and parents in 2011. Weibel had only missed the 2005 State Championships before that. You know that was because the organizer at the time unilaterally switched the meet after getting approval from CalChess for a date he said he would hold then. I had contracted my Regionals for a month after the original posted day so my players could attend the States. The organizer set his new date to the same day I had set my Regionals. The CalChess Board objected. The organizer, who was also the CalChess treasurer walked off with all the money. The CalChess, under its lawyers advice to get back their treasury held by the organizer, finally voted approval to support the conflicting date. You also know that the Regionals not only drew more than twice the number of players as the so-called Sate Championships, but the CalChess Board members,minus one, attended the Regionals and not the States they had been contractually forced to hold. I can’t remember if it were you or Eric Hicks that was forced to remove the famous picture of then Board President Elizabeth Shaughnessy shaking hands with me at the Regionals.
Where to now? Do you want to respond to my earlier requests and inform me which proposal we are working on in hopes that we might be able to achieve an agreement for you to present to your Board and for me to present to my parents before the April 26 and 27 CalChess Scholastic States?
--
Chess is Forever!
Alan"
As I noted in an earlier e-mail, where Weibel parents can attend Salman Azhar's organized events if they disagree with the vote of the vast majority of our parents for the last two years if they do not identify themselves as Weibel students on their forms or wear our T-shirt, they cannot have this freedom at the State Championships. This event has a Team competition. This translates to it is mandatory that players formerly compete for a school even if they are not members of the schools chess program. While I would like to have Teams at these events I agree with the action of the parents and I hold that as members of this Team we have no choice but to respect their decision. Weibel Team members cannot attend the Grade Level next month since they will have to identify themselves as competing for our Team. As you read in the letter above, I still have some hope that Tom Langland, the CalChess President, would like to continue looking for a solution in time for the April State Championships. As is always the case, members who do not adhere to a competitive Team policy cannot remain on the Team. This is why we have a small competitive Team and a large Chess Club.
I am inserting a summary of the reasons for the parents' votes that I forwarded to Tom Langland, CalChess President, to remind him what happened. Following the summary are links to the letters describing the disturbing events at the 2011 CalChess Grade Level. The Lu, Show and Zhou families sent these to the U.S. Chess Federation. After a year of not responding I was able to get the Executive Director of the U.S. Chess Federation, Bill Hall, to explain, at least why he took no action. It pretty well boiled down to the fact that there were no rules in the tournament rules to cover the actions take by the organizer.
Here is my summary to Tom Langland:
Salman, in the public arena, attacked one of our parents and her child, refused to intervene when one, a fourth grade Weibel child, was being yelled at by a parent from another school. Then, in my opinion, Salman went off the deep end on our child's father for getting justifiably upset for Salman's refusal to intervene immediately. Salman even went as far as to unilaterally remove the abused child from the playing hall in the middle of his game to punish his Dad even though we had a parent waiting for the child to finish his game. I remind you that the parent who screamed at and threatened my player never had his son removed from his game and that father kept sneaking back into the hotel. Our parent left the hotel when asked. He only wanted to wait across the street from the hotel to wait the outcome of his son’s game. Of even more concern, as identified in one of the four complaints our parents wrote to the USCF, was that Salman left the child alone in a darkened hallway after pulling him from his game without supervision while he went outside to find his father. I reiterate—the problem is not between Salman and myself. The problem is that when a person in authority, teacher, police officer, parent or chess organizers becomes upset with someone as Salman apparently did at me and takes his anger out on others in the ugly manner he did—that person should not be handling children no matter how efficient an organizer he or she is.
To read a more extensive summary I posted in the U.S. Chess Federation's Chess Life Online:
http://www.uschess.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=235943&sid=e36f324f4c9d4566aa5a0dee76a0ad9a#p235943
Links to the letters from Mike Lu, Susan Wang (Michael & Sharon Lu's parents) and Zhi Zhou (Anthony Zhou's father) as well as Christy Lin (Serafina Show's mother):
http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/COMPLAINTS-AGAINST-SALMAN-AZHAR
Miscellaneous:
Don't forget to checkout the NorCal House of Chess' camps and tournament over the holidays.
Mark the Age Level Championships, February 9, on your calendar.
Once again:
Have a wonderful holiday season!
Chess is Forever,
Alan
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Pre-Vacation Newsletter to Weibel Team Parents
We will meet for chess this Friday, December 20th, to start at 2:55. Please let
me know if your child will not be there so they can receive a half point bye.
This will still be a USCF rated event. As I noted in the information sheet at
the beginning of the year, we will meet when school has half day sessions
unless I notify you otherwise. Homework will be due on Friday, December 20.
As I believe I mentioned in an earlier e-mail, there will be no homework over
the vacation—because that is what it should be, a vacation. I understand that
our Team children (well most of them) love chess and want to study and play
games. That is great, because it is their choice not a required assignment.
We return to chess on January 10. The first homework will be due on January
17.
I am still in negotiations with the President of CalChess, Tom Langland, to try
and find a way where our concerned parents can feel safe for themselves and
their children at the CalState Championships run by Salman Azhar. I, of course,
as all of you, need assurance that our Team will receive fair treatment through
some form of due process. My hope in these negotiations is to also set up a
process by which the other schools refusing to attend the States or reducing
the attendees will find a way to return to the Northern California scholastic
chess community. The negotiations are progressing, as negotiations do, very
slowly. To be candid, I do not believe they will conclude by the deadline I
set of December 20. I explained to Tom that I need to let you know if we will
attend. The Grade Level States are the second week in January.
I have not taken a vote this year as in the past two years because I have been
trying to resolve the situation through negotiations for the last two months.
If I believe we have reached a compromise that CalChess can live with and we
can, I will understand the feelings of any parents who still do not want their
families anywhere near Dr. Azhar. Translation, the requirement will be waived
for attending the States for those parents who decide they cannot go due to what
had occurred despite an agreement. I do need to make it clear that since it is
mandatory for a players school to be noted in the State Championships, it would
be violating the parents' previous motions if any Weibel student entered a
division where s/he would need to be reported publicly as a competitive Team.
Those of you that were here for the horrors of the last Salman Azhar State
Championships are familiar with what occurred. Those of you that were not will
receive a summary of the events as expressed in the complaints filed by four of
our parents to the United States Chess Federation plus a link to the actual
letters. I hope it will become clear why two years in a row the parents voted
not to attend the State Championships organized by Salman Azhar. This year I
did have one parent read the letters as she did not understand what happened.
She indicated that she was shocked by the events and would keep her child away
from Salman Azhar as well. We did attend the Grade Level States last year
because Salman Azhar was not the organizer. So to be clear, we are not
boycotting CalChess.
This is my segue to the requirement that our Team girls attend the CalChess
Girls State Championships in San Rafael at St Marks School organized by Ray
Orwig on Saturday, February 1. You can download the application at
http://www.calchess.org/pdfs/event_flyers/2013_02_01_CalChess_Girls.pdf You
will need to mail this in. Ray does not have online registration. Please note
that there is a requirement to join CalChess ($5) for this tournament. Since
last year’e event was before Feb 1, you will need to rejoin. Join online at:
http://www.calchess.org/membership_submission_page.html
Everyone should gear up for February 9, Sunday, our next big event. This year
Carl Moy has graciously agreed to give this old man a break and organize the
Age Level Championships. The competition will once again draw over 500 players,
I am sure. As many of you know, I started it in 2008 to celebrate my 70th
birthday. I have now decided that it will be my legacy chess event.Therefore, it needs someone younger to keep it going. This year Carl has also created a first Annual Kirshner Cup for the Open 4-9 year old section. I will be proud to hand it out to the winner.
One final note. This Friday I will be thrilled to hand out another Honor Roll
cap. The recipient this week, breaking 1000 at the Weibel Quads Saturday
(ratings are posted), is Rahul Ravishankar. He went to 1024. KUDOS!
--
Chess is Forever!
Alan
me know if your child will not be there so they can receive a half point bye.
This will still be a USCF rated event. As I noted in the information sheet at
the beginning of the year, we will meet when school has half day sessions
unless I notify you otherwise. Homework will be due on Friday, December 20.
As I believe I mentioned in an earlier e-mail, there will be no homework over
the vacation—because that is what it should be, a vacation. I understand that
our Team children (well most of them) love chess and want to study and play
games. That is great, because it is their choice not a required assignment.
We return to chess on January 10. The first homework will be due on January
17.
I am still in negotiations with the President of CalChess, Tom Langland, to try
and find a way where our concerned parents can feel safe for themselves and
their children at the CalState Championships run by Salman Azhar. I, of course,
as all of you, need assurance that our Team will receive fair treatment through
some form of due process. My hope in these negotiations is to also set up a
process by which the other schools refusing to attend the States or reducing
the attendees will find a way to return to the Northern California scholastic
chess community. The negotiations are progressing, as negotiations do, very
slowly. To be candid, I do not believe they will conclude by the deadline I
set of December 20. I explained to Tom that I need to let you know if we will
attend. The Grade Level States are the second week in January.
I have not taken a vote this year as in the past two years because I have been
trying to resolve the situation through negotiations for the last two months.
If I believe we have reached a compromise that CalChess can live with and we
can, I will understand the feelings of any parents who still do not want their
families anywhere near Dr. Azhar. Translation, the requirement will be waived
for attending the States for those parents who decide they cannot go due to what
had occurred despite an agreement. I do need to make it clear that since it is
mandatory for a players school to be noted in the State Championships, it would
be violating the parents' previous motions if any Weibel student entered a
division where s/he would need to be reported publicly as a competitive Team.
Those of you that were here for the horrors of the last Salman Azhar State
Championships are familiar with what occurred. Those of you that were not will
receive a summary of the events as expressed in the complaints filed by four of
our parents to the United States Chess Federation plus a link to the actual
letters. I hope it will become clear why two years in a row the parents voted
not to attend the State Championships organized by Salman Azhar. This year I
did have one parent read the letters as she did not understand what happened.
She indicated that she was shocked by the events and would keep her child away
from Salman Azhar as well. We did attend the Grade Level States last year
because Salman Azhar was not the organizer. So to be clear, we are not
boycotting CalChess.
This is my segue to the requirement that our Team girls attend the CalChess
Girls State Championships in San Rafael at St Marks School organized by Ray
Orwig on Saturday, February 1. You can download the application at
http://www.calchess.org/pdfs/event_flyers/2013_02_01_CalChess_Girls.pdf You
will need to mail this in. Ray does not have online registration. Please note
that there is a requirement to join CalChess ($5) for this tournament. Since
last year’e event was before Feb 1, you will need to rejoin. Join online at:
http://www.calchess.org/membership_submission_page.html
Everyone should gear up for February 9, Sunday, our next big event. This year
Carl Moy has graciously agreed to give this old man a break and organize the
Age Level Championships. The competition will once again draw over 500 players,
I am sure. As many of you know, I started it in 2008 to celebrate my 70th
birthday. I have now decided that it will be my legacy chess event.Therefore, it needs someone younger to keep it going. This year Carl has also created a first Annual Kirshner Cup for the Open 4-9 year old section. I will be proud to hand it out to the winner.
One final note. This Friday I will be thrilled to hand out another Honor Roll
cap. The recipient this week, breaking 1000 at the Weibel Quads Saturday
(ratings are posted), is Rahul Ravishankar. He went to 1024. KUDOS!
--
Chess is Forever!
Alan
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
NEW WEIBEL ELITE PLAYER
BREAKING NEWS: Jeremy Chen is now 1459 and becomes our 6th Varsity-Elite player. I am ordering his jacket. KUDOS!
Sunday, December 8, 2013
CalNorth Youth Chess Information -- DECEMBER 2013
The last of the three Fall Weibel Chess Quads-Grand Prix will take place this Saturday, December 14. As has been the case for most of the 14 years I have been holding these Quad tournaments, the turnout has been phenomenal. The November Quads pulled 214 players. Why the popularity? I can only speculate. I believe people show because I get large numbers and this whets their appetite to find out why. They soon learn that their children have a better chance to participate in an event where they can challenge their skills against individuals of near equal ability who are in or near the same grade. They like the idea that in most cases their children will not have to play someone from their own club or team. The atmosphere at the Elementary School is warm and friendly and seldom if ever crowded. This differs dramatically from many tournaments where players are cramped together in a dull stuffy hotel conference room. CalNorth Youth Chess also offers great equipment for playing with mouse pad like chessboards and regulation pieces(weighted pieces for the higher rated player) and chess clocks at every board. We also have more than enough tournament directors to cover the number of players. I am happy to write that our experienced TD’s take their roles seriously and are not outside the playing area if a conflict arises.
On the school campus I scatter chess sets around for players and parents to use between games or to go over the games. Large chess sets dot the campus for the kids to have some extra fun. At many of the events I have experienced adult players willing to go over the games with the children to help them improve. Sometimes we use a DGT board to send games that are being played over the internet. When available we have someone analyze these games in public as they are being played. We hope to have this ongoing analysis again this Saturday.
Robert Chan, one of our parents and the PTO president, has been able to create free internet on the campus for the tournament days. Parents set-up food and snack tables with all the profits going to provide financial aid through the Success Chess Scholarship fund. And, perhaps best of all no one yells at you for bring you own food on the site because the hotel or the convention center forbids it.
If your child is not already registered to play, why not give us a try. For more information and a link to the online application, go to: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/Applications/FallQuads13-GP/
The dates of the Spring CalNorth Youth Chess Quads have been set. I will hold them on March 8, April 5 and May 17. The first and the last will be at Weibel. The second Quads will be at Tierra Linda in San Carlos. I will soon post more information at: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/SpringTournaments2014/
In February, CalNorth Youth Quads will, for the seventh year, hold its Age Level event. I would argue that no other youth chess event has received more praise for its family friendly environment than this unique annual championships. This tournament has only been surpassed in the number of players by the Spring CalChess State Championships. I created this event to celebrate my birthday and perhaps provide a legacy name event in the far future. Carl Moy, Weibel Chess’ parent coordinator, is this year’s organizer. The CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level in 2014 will not be held on Super Bowl Sunday as it was for the last two years. I don’t know if that will mean more than the 584 chess kids that registered last year. If it does and the tournament reaches 600 players we will have to stop registration. The date is Sunday, FEBRUARY 9, at the Newark Pavilion. Please mark your calendars. You can register right now at: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2014/
Many people have asked me as to what happened to the CalChess 2013 State Grade Level Championships that were suppose to be held this weekend. Well there will not be a 2013 Grade Level. A Grade Level event will be held on the second weekend in January 2014. I do not know if that will mean there will be two State Grade Levels in 2014. CalChess set a rule a few years ago that the Grade Level must be held in December. CalChess, three years ago, pulled the Championships from the North Stockton Rotary Club that had been running the event since 1996 because they could not get the University of the Pacific site in December, but only in November. The Stockton Grade Levels were extremely popular. Admittedly there were a few complaints, but personally none that I think demanded that the Board take it from the organizers of the North Stockton Rotary and turn it over to one of their own. This year CalChess opened bids until August and only received one bid. That was from Dr. Salman Azhar. For what it is worth, I know of two organizers that would have bid if they didn’t think it was a forgone conclusion as to who would obtain the event. They based their skepticism on past experience. A third potential organizer told me he hadn’t even seen the bid on the website. I confirmed it had been there. I learned that the bid that had been provided could not guarantee a date in December only a date that was possible. I asked why CalChess failed to reopen bidding and do as most organizations would, contact people directly seeing if they could provide a site in December. Initially, the President of CalChess, Tom Langland, indicated that it could not be in December because they could not get a site with a hotel attached. I wrote back and remaindered him that for years it had been at sites without attached hotels. He wrote he was in error and that it was the inability to get a site on the date that had been initially put out to bid—December 7 and 8. I then noticed that Dr. Azhar will be holding a tournament, not the grade level in Stockton this very weekend. Guess where?—yup, the University of the Pacific. Ahhhh!
I am sure that some of you who know the hurt and harm done to my players and parents at the Grade Level three years back are wondering if Weibel will be attending the event in January. I do not have an answer. I, in all honesty, would like to have my players there as well as those from other schools who are boycotting the event. I have been trying to discuss with Tom Langland, the President of CalChess, a way to make this happen. Right now there is a lull in communications. Translation—I do not know at this writing.
Chess is Forever,
Alan
On the school campus I scatter chess sets around for players and parents to use between games or to go over the games. Large chess sets dot the campus for the kids to have some extra fun. At many of the events I have experienced adult players willing to go over the games with the children to help them improve. Sometimes we use a DGT board to send games that are being played over the internet. When available we have someone analyze these games in public as they are being played. We hope to have this ongoing analysis again this Saturday.
Robert Chan, one of our parents and the PTO president, has been able to create free internet on the campus for the tournament days. Parents set-up food and snack tables with all the profits going to provide financial aid through the Success Chess Scholarship fund. And, perhaps best of all no one yells at you for bring you own food on the site because the hotel or the convention center forbids it.
If your child is not already registered to play, why not give us a try. For more information and a link to the online application, go to: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/Applications/FallQuads13-GP/
The dates of the Spring CalNorth Youth Chess Quads have been set. I will hold them on March 8, April 5 and May 17. The first and the last will be at Weibel. The second Quads will be at Tierra Linda in San Carlos. I will soon post more information at: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/SpringTournaments2014/
In February, CalNorth Youth Quads will, for the seventh year, hold its Age Level event. I would argue that no other youth chess event has received more praise for its family friendly environment than this unique annual championships. This tournament has only been surpassed in the number of players by the Spring CalChess State Championships. I created this event to celebrate my birthday and perhaps provide a legacy name event in the far future. Carl Moy, Weibel Chess’ parent coordinator, is this year’s organizer. The CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level in 2014 will not be held on Super Bowl Sunday as it was for the last two years. I don’t know if that will mean more than the 584 chess kids that registered last year. If it does and the tournament reaches 600 players we will have to stop registration. The date is Sunday, FEBRUARY 9, at the Newark Pavilion. Please mark your calendars. You can register right now at: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2014/
Many people have asked me as to what happened to the CalChess 2013 State Grade Level Championships that were suppose to be held this weekend. Well there will not be a 2013 Grade Level. A Grade Level event will be held on the second weekend in January 2014. I do not know if that will mean there will be two State Grade Levels in 2014. CalChess set a rule a few years ago that the Grade Level must be held in December. CalChess, three years ago, pulled the Championships from the North Stockton Rotary Club that had been running the event since 1996 because they could not get the University of the Pacific site in December, but only in November. The Stockton Grade Levels were extremely popular. Admittedly there were a few complaints, but personally none that I think demanded that the Board take it from the organizers of the North Stockton Rotary and turn it over to one of their own. This year CalChess opened bids until August and only received one bid. That was from Dr. Salman Azhar. For what it is worth, I know of two organizers that would have bid if they didn’t think it was a forgone conclusion as to who would obtain the event. They based their skepticism on past experience. A third potential organizer told me he hadn’t even seen the bid on the website. I confirmed it had been there. I learned that the bid that had been provided could not guarantee a date in December only a date that was possible. I asked why CalChess failed to reopen bidding and do as most organizations would, contact people directly seeing if they could provide a site in December. Initially, the President of CalChess, Tom Langland, indicated that it could not be in December because they could not get a site with a hotel attached. I wrote back and remaindered him that for years it had been at sites without attached hotels. He wrote he was in error and that it was the inability to get a site on the date that had been initially put out to bid—December 7 and 8. I then noticed that Dr. Azhar will be holding a tournament, not the grade level in Stockton this very weekend. Guess where?—yup, the University of the Pacific. Ahhhh!
I am sure that some of you who know the hurt and harm done to my players and parents at the Grade Level three years back are wondering if Weibel will be attending the event in January. I do not have an answer. I, in all honesty, would like to have my players there as well as those from other schools who are boycotting the event. I have been trying to discuss with Tom Langland, the President of CalChess, a way to make this happen. Right now there is a lull in communications. Translation—I do not know at this writing.
Chess is Forever,
Alan
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
CARPOOL FOR TOURNAMENT IN CONCORD THIS WEEKEND DECEMBER 6-8, 2013
Daniel Emmanuel's parents are looking to carpool to Concord. If you are interested, please indicate in the comments section & I will put people in touch.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
WEIBEL CHESS TEAM INFO PLUS SOME PERSONAL COMMENTS FROM THE THANKSGIVING BREAK
All:
I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holidays. I sure did. It is my favorite holiday.
I wanted to remind you to remind your children that the Chess Magnet School homework for the week of November 16 through the 22 is due this Friday, December 6. For the Varsity Team members they are to also turn in their game (annotated) that they played on November 15 or one they played in a tournament during the holiday break.
I am happy to say that a lot of our Varsity players did attend tournaments from Los Angeles to the Santa Clara over the break. I report unhappily that few of our players did extremely well. A few gained a few points and a few lost a few points. We had one truly major breakthrough. Eshaan Mistry destroyed the 1000 barrier and will be receiving his honor roll cap this Friday. He did not lose a game (drew one of 5) in the California Class Warfare Championship 800 to 999 division winning a clear first. Even better news—in almost every division where there were Mission San Jose players Weibel students topped them. Of course, our players don’t show as Weibel because it was a Salman run tournament. Our players that competed were mostly listed as Shoreview Chess. This is our instructor Demetrius Goins' Chess Club.
While I am on the subject of our instructors—IM Ricard De Guzman won the Open division of the California Class Warfare Championship. WARNING—What you are about to read is not for the faint of heart. Something about the name Class Warfare really bothers me although it shouldn’t surprise me knowing the organizer. This commentary on a Google forum sent to me and attributed to Salman Azhar is a bit frightening:
Salman Azhar apparently posted:
" India spending weeks debating whether to boycott the
tournament or not, was really much ado about nothing. In retrospect it
seems like quite a waste of time and money to send the cricket team
to Sharjah.
In any case Indian cricket supporters can now spend there time
much more productively suppressing (and killing) minorities in Kashmir
and Punjab (as originally planned by the Indian government). :-) (https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/soc.culture.pakistan/C1FHucMYFYo)"
I don’t find this kind of vicious class/cultural/national stereotyping funny. Is it any wonder that he has made such ugly comments to and about our players, parents and team? I apologize to all of you that don’t want me mixing politics in my chess newsletters, but I just got this link and it is eating me up. The way I ease my own tension, anger and disgust is to write it out. So you are at this point my sounding board. Sorry!
Back to IM De Guzman and positive news. While the event ratings have not been posted it looks as if he broke a rating of 2500. He hasn’t been over 2500 since 2004. KUDOS!!
A former Weibel student now in seventh grade NM Michael Wang tied for third in that same division. Another of our instructors NM Hayk Manvelyan tied for fourth in the biggest Open event in the LA area over the holidays, the 49th Annual American Open. He is now rated 2357
I want to remind the parents of the Varsity players that they must have their children compete in two tournaments with over 90 minute time controls. I recently suggested the
2nd Annual East Bay Open in Concord coming up this weekend, https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8Yij5LT5mjzejVFUm5aUTUtSkE/preview?pli=1 All reports I have received were that last year the location was good and the event was well run.
--
Chess is Forever!
Alan
I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holidays. I sure did. It is my favorite holiday.
I wanted to remind you to remind your children that the Chess Magnet School homework for the week of November 16 through the 22 is due this Friday, December 6. For the Varsity Team members they are to also turn in their game (annotated) that they played on November 15 or one they played in a tournament during the holiday break.
I am happy to say that a lot of our Varsity players did attend tournaments from Los Angeles to the Santa Clara over the break. I report unhappily that few of our players did extremely well. A few gained a few points and a few lost a few points. We had one truly major breakthrough. Eshaan Mistry destroyed the 1000 barrier and will be receiving his honor roll cap this Friday. He did not lose a game (drew one of 5) in the California Class Warfare Championship 800 to 999 division winning a clear first. Even better news—in almost every division where there were Mission San Jose players Weibel students topped them. Of course, our players don’t show as Weibel because it was a Salman run tournament. Our players that competed were mostly listed as Shoreview Chess. This is our instructor Demetrius Goins' Chess Club.
While I am on the subject of our instructors—IM Ricard De Guzman won the Open division of the California Class Warfare Championship. WARNING—What you are about to read is not for the faint of heart. Something about the name Class Warfare really bothers me although it shouldn’t surprise me knowing the organizer. This commentary on a Google forum sent to me and attributed to Salman Azhar is a bit frightening:
Salman Azhar apparently posted:
" India spending weeks debating whether to boycott the
tournament or not, was really much ado about nothing. In retrospect it
seems like quite a waste of time and money to send the cricket team
to Sharjah.
In any case Indian cricket supporters can now spend there time
much more productively suppressing (and killing) minorities in Kashmir
and Punjab (as originally planned by the Indian government). :-) (https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/soc.culture.pakistan/C1FHucMYFYo)"
I don’t find this kind of vicious class/cultural/national stereotyping funny. Is it any wonder that he has made such ugly comments to and about our players, parents and team? I apologize to all of you that don’t want me mixing politics in my chess newsletters, but I just got this link and it is eating me up. The way I ease my own tension, anger and disgust is to write it out. So you are at this point my sounding board. Sorry!
Back to IM De Guzman and positive news. While the event ratings have not been posted it looks as if he broke a rating of 2500. He hasn’t been over 2500 since 2004. KUDOS!!
A former Weibel student now in seventh grade NM Michael Wang tied for third in that same division. Another of our instructors NM Hayk Manvelyan tied for fourth in the biggest Open event in the LA area over the holidays, the 49th Annual American Open. He is now rated 2357
I want to remind the parents of the Varsity players that they must have their children compete in two tournaments with over 90 minute time controls. I recently suggested the
2nd Annual East Bay Open in Concord coming up this weekend, https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8Yij5LT5mjzejVFUm5aUTUtSkE/preview?pli=1 All reports I have received were that last year the location was good and the event was well run.
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Chess is Forever!
Alan
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
WEIBEL CHESS HALL OF FAME
As most of you know this is the 25th year of Weibel Chess. In honor of our Silver Anniversary I have created a Weibel Chess Hall of Fame. In the 25 years of Weibel Chess over 3000 students have participated in the program. Of this number less than one percent have been selected to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame. Weibel Chess has produced many great chess players. Those selected for our Hall of Fame are the best of our best. The criteria used to determine entrants to the Hall of Fame are:
Obtaining a National or State Championship title.
Qualifying for the World Youth Championships.
Obtaining the U.S. Chess Federation or FIDE title of Expert or higher at or after leaving Weibel.
Obtaining a U.S. Chess Federation rating of 1600+ while still at Weibel.
You can view the current members and their accomplishments at: http://www.weibelchess.org/Hall-of-Fame.html
Obtaining a National or State Championship title.
Qualifying for the World Youth Championships.
Obtaining the U.S. Chess Federation or FIDE title of Expert or higher at or after leaving Weibel.
Obtaining a U.S. Chess Federation rating of 1600+ while still at Weibel.
You can view the current members and their accomplishments at: http://www.weibelchess.org/Hall-of-Fame.html
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
FORMER WEIBEL STUDENT MICHAEL WANG OBTAINS NATIONAL CHESS MASTER TITLE
Ted Castro posted the following on Facebook:
"Kudos to 11-yr. old kid Michael Wang who is now officially a National Master (2264)! His performance in the CalChess Labor Day State Championship was amazing; beating 3 International Masters and a National Master. Only lost 2 games against the 2 IMs (who both tied for 1st). A 2-time member of the Weibel Team that won the Nationals in Atlanta & Texas (sic-Atlanta & Nashville). Aside from being a State Champion, this kid also went to Brazil to play for the World Youth. This year, he will represent Kennedy Middle School (together with other topnotch kids) and will definitely win another State & National Title for his school. Congratulations Michael!"
Weibel was very lucky to have Michael move into our district after returning from China in Third Grade. Michael's training in China and his intense individual study helped our Team win, as Ted noted, two National Championships. Even though he only attended our Team sessions for a year Michael was an inspiration to all our players. We were unlucky when he moved to Cupertino in sixth grade. Our loss is Kennedy Middle School's gain. I send my own Kudos to Michael and know I will be sending him many more Kudos in the future.
Michael Wang is the second former Weibel student to obtain the title of National Master. Rohan Agarwal did so in 2008. Rohan is now studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Studies at Berkeley.
Chess is Forever,
Alan
"Kudos to 11-yr. old kid Michael Wang who is now officially a National Master (2264)! His performance in the CalChess Labor Day State Championship was amazing; beating 3 International Masters and a National Master. Only lost 2 games against the 2 IMs (who both tied for 1st). A 2-time member of the Weibel Team that won the Nationals in Atlanta & Texas (sic-Atlanta & Nashville). Aside from being a State Champion, this kid also went to Brazil to play for the World Youth. This year, he will represent Kennedy Middle School (together with other topnotch kids) and will definitely win another State & National Title for his school. Congratulations Michael!"
Weibel was very lucky to have Michael move into our district after returning from China in Third Grade. Michael's training in China and his intense individual study helped our Team win, as Ted noted, two National Championships. Even though he only attended our Team sessions for a year Michael was an inspiration to all our players. We were unlucky when he moved to Cupertino in sixth grade. Our loss is Kennedy Middle School's gain. I send my own Kudos to Michael and know I will be sending him many more Kudos in the future.
Michael Wang is the second former Weibel student to obtain the title of National Master. Rohan Agarwal did so in 2008. Rohan is now studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Studies at Berkeley.
Chess is Forever,
Alan
Saturday, July 27, 2013
more from Southern California - Jonathan Homidan
So we've been out here in Southern California a couple of times in July, first for the Pacific Southwest Open right at the LAX airport and then 2 weeks later at the Pacific Coast Open in beautiful Agoura Hills. A chance to play with different players without missing any school and get in some vacation time and see friends and relatives. In these tournaments, I have witnessed what is perhaps the greatest run to a FIDE title that has ever occured. I defy any chess historian to come up with any player who has had a run like Jonathan Homidan has in the last 30 days. In brief, the 16 year old to-be high school senior has gone from a USCF rating of 2146 to 2364 in the last month. Rating gains like this are done at the lower levels, never at this level. He not only smashed his way to his first title (USCF National Master), he may have just gotten himself all the way into an FIDE FM title, from being FIDE unrated this month. Or if not, he'll be pretty darn close. Now there have been a few players who have gone from unrated to getting a FIDE FM title, but almost all are earned the so-called easy way, via winning a prestigious tournament.
His run started innocently enough at a local club tournament at the end of June, winning all his games and beating an NM in the process. Nice tournament, gained almost 50 points in the process. Then, at the Pacific Southwest Open over the Fourth of July weekend, his scorecard went like this: win against IM Amanov (2444), win against NM Krishnan (2346), draw against IM Peters (2446), draw against FM Beelby (2375), draw against NM Brown (2343), win against FM Duckworth (2313). Unbeaten, 4.5 out of 6 with 6 titled players. In the process, he got his USCF National Master title. He didn't sneak across 2200 like how most players who get there do it, he smashed through it in style, gaining 85 points to 2279. Ironically, Jonathan inadvertently screwed up my kid with pairings and possibly mentally in the tournament - Kevin had just come off of a very tough long game in the 1st round against NM Brown in which he could have held on for a draw, and his reward for the loss was an even tougher pairing in Round 2 against IM Amanov - who had lost to Jonathan in the first round.
Fast forward to 2 weeks later. If the results wasn't impressive enough at the PSO, his encore at the Pacfic Coast Open was one for the ages. Win against FM Akopyan (2296), draw against IM Matikozyan (2577). Surely his streak would end soon since he was now in the GM pool. But sure enough, he beat GM Maghami (2613), then beat IM Yankovsky (2531). Ok, the streak must end now that he was going to play super GM Timur Gareev (2768), one of the top players in the world. Nope - draw. Then another draw against a very active GM Sevillano (2559). Another 4.5 out of 6 against titled players - high titled players. Another 85 point gain, to 2364.
If you're keeping score at home, in those 3 tournaments - 16 games, 12 wins, 4 draws - 2.5 out of 3 against NMs, 3.5 out of 4 against FMs, 2.0 out of 3 against IMs, 2.0 out of 3 against GMs (3 out of 3 against untitled players).
When you look at his record, he hasn't played in many tournaments. Well, you say, there have been many who have gotten a high rating after a few tournaments. Well, most if not all of them generally have played in many tournaments in another country before playing in the US. From the looks of it, it looks like Jonathan started in 5th grade. At the end of 6th grade he had a pedestrian rating of 1267, and at the end of 8th grade, he was at 1760 - an excellent rating but certainly a rating that wouldn't lead one to believe that he would be smashing records a scant 3 years later. So to you parents out there, there's always hope. Perseverance and confidence along with talent can go a long way.
His run started innocently enough at a local club tournament at the end of June, winning all his games and beating an NM in the process. Nice tournament, gained almost 50 points in the process. Then, at the Pacific Southwest Open over the Fourth of July weekend, his scorecard went like this: win against IM Amanov (2444), win against NM Krishnan (2346), draw against IM Peters (2446), draw against FM Beelby (2375), draw against NM Brown (2343), win against FM Duckworth (2313). Unbeaten, 4.5 out of 6 with 6 titled players. In the process, he got his USCF National Master title. He didn't sneak across 2200 like how most players who get there do it, he smashed through it in style, gaining 85 points to 2279. Ironically, Jonathan inadvertently screwed up my kid with pairings and possibly mentally in the tournament - Kevin had just come off of a very tough long game in the 1st round against NM Brown in which he could have held on for a draw, and his reward for the loss was an even tougher pairing in Round 2 against IM Amanov - who had lost to Jonathan in the first round.
Fast forward to 2 weeks later. If the results wasn't impressive enough at the PSO, his encore at the Pacfic Coast Open was one for the ages. Win against FM Akopyan (2296), draw against IM Matikozyan (2577). Surely his streak would end soon since he was now in the GM pool. But sure enough, he beat GM Maghami (2613), then beat IM Yankovsky (2531). Ok, the streak must end now that he was going to play super GM Timur Gareev (2768), one of the top players in the world. Nope - draw. Then another draw against a very active GM Sevillano (2559). Another 4.5 out of 6 against titled players - high titled players. Another 85 point gain, to 2364.
If you're keeping score at home, in those 3 tournaments - 16 games, 12 wins, 4 draws - 2.5 out of 3 against NMs, 3.5 out of 4 against FMs, 2.0 out of 3 against IMs, 2.0 out of 3 against GMs (3 out of 3 against untitled players).
When you look at his record, he hasn't played in many tournaments. Well, you say, there have been many who have gotten a high rating after a few tournaments. Well, most if not all of them generally have played in many tournaments in another country before playing in the US. From the looks of it, it looks like Jonathan started in 5th grade. At the end of 6th grade he had a pedestrian rating of 1267, and at the end of 8th grade, he was at 1760 - an excellent rating but certainly a rating that wouldn't lead one to believe that he would be smashing records a scant 3 years later. So to you parents out there, there's always hope. Perseverance and confidence along with talent can go a long way.
Friday, July 26, 2013
A number of young Northern California players decided to skip the People's Tournament in NorCal last weekend and go for the big money in SoCal. They succeeded at the 18th Pacific Coast Open at Agoura Hills. Eighth grader Kevin Moy, former Weibel student and now an instructor at Weibel Chess, went undefeated--4 wins and two draws--for a clear first place. He won $1800 in the under 2100 section and is now 2107. The big question is will he or seventh grader Michael Wang (2173) become the second former Weibel student to obtain the National Master title? Former Weibel student Rohan Agrawal obtained his National Master's title a few years ago at 16 and still holds the distinction of being the only student from any Fremont school to obtain a Chess Master's title. Also finishing in the money was NorCal player Ojas Chinchwadkar who also won first and took home the same amount of money, $1800, in the Under 1900 moving his rating to 1967. Ojas along with his father have been tournament directors at many of my tournaments. Seventh grade student Tina Chatterjee tied for second in the under 1500 division without losing a game--4 wins and 2 draws. She moved her rating from 1345 to 1549. KUDOS!
Chess is Forever,
Alan
Chess is Forever,
Alan
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
WEIBEL CHESS & CLUB REGISTRATION READY FOR 2013-2014
You can read the information/application for Weibel Chess' 25th year from the tab titled "APPLICATION, 2013-2014" located on our website: http://www.WeibelChess.org. After you read all about what to expect in the 2013-2014 chess year, you are welcome to register now or wait, as most people do, until the end of summer. I do not expect to be filled up in the Club until after the first day of chess. The Team will always have room for chess players dedicated to improving their skills through intense training and tournament competition. Enjoy your summer break.
Chess is Forever,
Alan
Chess is Forever,
Alan
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Girls' Nationals - Weibel wins U12
A team consisting of 4 Weibel girls ranging from 4th grade to 6th grade won the U12 section of the Girl's Nationals this weekend, with a total for the top 3 players of 11 points, one point ahead of 2nd place IS 318 Junior High of New York. Serafina Show (5th grade) and Desiree Ho (6th) each had 4 points while Anvi Surapaneni (4th) and Sara Kaushik (6th) had 3 points. Congratulations to the girls!
Also, congratulations goes out to sisters Ashritha Eswaran and Aksithi Eswaran. They are both National Champions - both won their sections - Ashritha won the U14 and Aksithi won the U8.
Final results here
Also, congratulations goes out to sisters Ashritha Eswaran and Aksithi Eswaran. They are both National Champions - both won their sections - Ashritha won the U14 and Aksithi won the U8.
Final results here
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Girls' Nationals in Chicago
At the end of Round 4 (this is a 6 Round tournament), the 12U Girls Team from Weibel is currently in the lead by 1 point with 8 points (top 3 scorers get points). Serafina Show and Desiree Ho each have 3 out of 4, while Anvi Surapaneni and Sara Kaushik both have 2 out of 4. Play concludes on Sunday with the final 2 rounds. Good luck to the girls!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Final results in for the SuperNationals
Final results for the Weibel teams:
In the K-1 section, the team finished in 11th place overall, with a score of 14.5 points (out of a possible 28). Individual trophy winners were 1st graders Praydum Chitlu and Weslie Chen, each with 5 points (out of 7). Kindergartener Erin Law finished with 3.5 points and 1st grader Aaron Hu finished with 3 points.
In K-3, the team finished in 9th place with 14.5 points. Oliver Wu had 4.5, Louis Law had 4.0, and Eshaan Mistry and Aaron Lee had 3.0.
In K-5, the team finished in a tie for 6th place with 17 points. Anthony Zhou finished in a 15-way tie for 9th place with 5.5 points. Atri Surapaneni and Serafina Show both had 4.0, and Jeremy Chen had 3.5 points.
The Irvington High school K-9 team finished in 6th place with 14 points.
Congratulations to the Bay Area individual and team winners - Millbrae's Chinguun Bayaraa won the K-1 title, Foster City's Rayan Taghizadeh won the K-5 title, Foster City's Siddharth Banik won the K-8 title, Gomes Elementary in Fremont won the K-5 team title, and Mission San Jose in Fremont won the K-6 team title.
In the K-1 section, the team finished in 11th place overall, with a score of 14.5 points (out of a possible 28). Individual trophy winners were 1st graders Praydum Chitlu and Weslie Chen, each with 5 points (out of 7). Kindergartener Erin Law finished with 3.5 points and 1st grader Aaron Hu finished with 3 points.
In K-3, the team finished in 9th place with 14.5 points. Oliver Wu had 4.5, Louis Law had 4.0, and Eshaan Mistry and Aaron Lee had 3.0.
In K-5, the team finished in a tie for 6th place with 17 points. Anthony Zhou finished in a 15-way tie for 9th place with 5.5 points. Atri Surapaneni and Serafina Show both had 4.0, and Jeremy Chen had 3.5 points.
The Irvington High school K-9 team finished in 6th place with 14 points.
Congratulations to the Bay Area individual and team winners - Millbrae's Chinguun Bayaraa won the K-1 title, Foster City's Rayan Taghizadeh won the K-5 title, Foster City's Siddharth Banik won the K-8 title, Gomes Elementary in Fremont won the K-5 team title, and Mission San Jose in Fremont won the K-6 team title.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Halfway mark of the SuperNationals
We are past the halfway mark of the SuperNationals in Nashville, TN. Weibel Elementary has sent a team for K-1, K-3 and K-5. After 4 rounds, here are the results:
K-1 - in 8th Place after Round 4, with 11.5 out of a possible 16
Praydum 3.0
Aaron H. 3.0
Weslie 3.0
Erin 2.5
K-3 - in 8th place after Round 4, with 9.5 out of a possible 16
Oliver 3.5
Louis 2.0
Eshaan 2.0
Aaron L. 2.0
K-5 - in 12th place after Round 4, with 9.5 out of a possible 16 (top 4 scores)
Anthony 3.5
Serafina 2.0
Atri 2.0
Jeremy 2.0
Surya Teja 1.5
Enya 1.0
Also, an Irvington High K-9 team, consisting of all former Weibel Team members, is in 6th Place after the 4th round with 8.0 points.
Justin Wang - 2.5
Daniel Ho - 2.5
Nikhil Jaha - 2.0
Amarinder Chahal - 1.0
K-1 - in 8th Place after Round 4, with 11.5 out of a possible 16
Praydum 3.0
Aaron H. 3.0
Weslie 3.0
Erin 2.5
K-3 - in 8th place after Round 4, with 9.5 out of a possible 16
Oliver 3.5
Louis 2.0
Eshaan 2.0
Aaron L. 2.0
K-5 - in 12th place after Round 4, with 9.5 out of a possible 16 (top 4 scores)
Anthony 3.5
Serafina 2.0
Atri 2.0
Jeremy 2.0
Surya Teja 1.5
Enya 1.0
Also, an Irvington High K-9 team, consisting of all former Weibel Team members, is in 6th Place after the 4th round with 8.0 points.
Justin Wang - 2.5
Daniel Ho - 2.5
Nikhil Jaha - 2.0
Amarinder Chahal - 1.0
Monday, March 18, 2013
CalNorth Youth Chess Swiss on March 16, 2013
The following e-mail was sent to all registrants of the March 16, 2013 CalNorth Youth Chess Swiss held at Weibel Elementary School.
The CalNorth Youth Chess staff and myself would like to thank you all for attending the March 16, 2013 Swiss Style tournament. While 169 players was far from a record for this event, my staff reports that things went more smoothly than most large tournaments and the parents and children were wonderful.
The results, USCF Ratings and photographs can be viewed from the links at http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/photographs.html. As always, you can download any posted photographs gratis.
I look forward to your joining us again on May 11 and June 8 for the always popular CalNorth Youth Chess Quads. The CalNorth Youth Chess staff wishes everyone attending this year's Super Nationals in Nashville and the Girl's Nationals in Chicago the best of luck. In fact, good luck to all those players attending any upcoming chess event.
The CalNorth Youth Chess staff and myself would like to thank you all for attending the March 16, 2013 Swiss Style tournament. While 169 players was far from a record for this event, my staff reports that things went more smoothly than most large tournaments and the parents and children were wonderful.
The results, USCF Ratings and photographs can be viewed from the links at http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/photographs.html. As always, you can download any posted photographs gratis.
I look forward to your joining us again on May 11 and June 8 for the always popular CalNorth Youth Chess Quads. The CalNorth Youth Chess staff wishes everyone attending this year's Super Nationals in Nashville and the Girl's Nationals in Chicago the best of luck. In fact, good luck to all those players attending any upcoming chess event.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Vote is In!
Forty-eight families voted as to whether or not the Weibel Team should attend the CalChess State Championships this year. I had indicated that unless 40 families voted, I did not think the outcome should be binding. I also wrote that the outcome of the vote had to be clear even if 40 families did vote. Seven people abstained, 15 voted to attend and 26 voted not to attend. The outcome is clear. The Weibel Team players will not be attending the 2013 CalChess Scholastic State Championships.
A number of people wrote comments on their ballot even though I did not ask for any. Rather then print all of the comments, I will simply print one that I think is representative of each side.
To attend: “I would vote to attend the CalChess State Scholastic Championships even though I really do not like to see Dr. Azhar in charge of this event.”
Not to attend: “We have to send the right message, so I vote No.”
A number of people wrote comments on their ballot even though I did not ask for any. Rather then print all of the comments, I will simply print one that I think is representative of each side.
To attend: “I would vote to attend the CalChess State Scholastic Championships even though I really do not like to see Dr. Azhar in charge of this event.”
Not to attend: “We have to send the right message, so I vote No.”
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
I have removed my posting of last night as Tom withdrew his permission for his initial response to the parent. He revised his comments without any history of the events that led up to the initial decision of the Weibel parents not to attend the 2012 CalChess State Championships. In his revised statement he only presented information on how he felt future situations similar to the ones that occurred to our players, parents and team might be avoided. He did give permission for the inserted information to be posted along with his willingness to work on any further details of these statements:
FROM TOM:
"1. When a child enters a tournament where I am a director, I want them to be treated absolutely equally regardless of race, background, gender or team/school/coach affiliation.
2. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, all players in Northern California are welcome to have a fun and enjoyable State Championship Event experience.
3. Both John McCumiskey and I (as the chief TDs) have offered to be the direct contacts with any player, parent or coach that may have an issue with any organizer that runs a CalChess tournament, and we will personally help resolve any issues directly with the player, parent or coach.
4. Both John and I will supervise the TD staffing to ensure that any TD will not oversee a section where they have sibling participating. We will also be instructing the entire staff as to what their responsibilities are and how issues should be resolved properly."
Tom Langland
CalChess President
FROM TOM:
"1. When a child enters a tournament where I am a director, I want them to be treated absolutely equally regardless of race, background, gender or team/school/coach affiliation.
2. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, all players in Northern California are welcome to have a fun and enjoyable State Championship Event experience.
3. Both John McCumiskey and I (as the chief TDs) have offered to be the direct contacts with any player, parent or coach that may have an issue with any organizer that runs a CalChess tournament, and we will personally help resolve any issues directly with the player, parent or coach.
4. Both John and I will supervise the TD staffing to ensure that any TD will not oversee a section where they have sibling participating. We will also be instructing the entire staff as to what their responsibilities are and how issues should be resolved properly."
Tom Langland
CalChess President
Sunday, February 24, 2013
FROM ALAN:
As I believe you all know the Weibel parents overwhelming voted last year not to attend any scholastic tournaments that Dr. Salman Azhar organizes including his State Championships. I said we would revisit this decision this year. I have asked two parents to express their reasons for going and against going to the CalChess State Championships on April 26 and 27. I decided against listing the names of the parents as I wanted the votes to be based on the positions and not the authors. I am distributing these position statements today and will invite anyone who wants to contribute comments to do so. These other comments will also be distributed to all the Team parents. Next weekend I will send out a ballot. If the vast majority of those voting or a clear majority of the Team parents vote one way that will be the position of the Team. If, however, there is no clear decision then the Weibel parents can decide for themselves if they want to play as individuals or create teams. Please do read the two position papers below.
POSITION PAPER TO ONCE AGAIN NOT ATTEND THE CALCHESS STATE SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS:
As a parent of a player that was not directly involved in the organizer, Salman Azhar's, attacks on the Weibel Chess Team, some of its players and parents at the CalChess Grade Level in 2011, I ask you to vote not to attend the State Tournament this year for the following reasons:
1) In the 2011 Grade Level the organizer Salman Azhar, who will be running the 2013 CalChess State Championships at the end of April, publicly called one of our players a liar after our player questioned Salman Azhar's integrity by his asking one of his Directors to delay the start of his game because his opponent, Salman Azhar's son, was going to be late. The Director also had a son in the same division. Both individuals should have requested that the Chief Tournament Director handle the situation. Salman Azhar continued to attack the parents of this player for teaching their child to cheat. From what Dr. Kirshner told me he also went on to claim that Weibel always cheats. I saw many of his attacks on Facebook.
2) In that event as well, the tournament organizer (Salman Azhar) decided to pull a Weibel chess player out of the tournament after he unreasonably expelled the kid's father from the hotel. It is true that the parent did question Salman Azhar as to why he delayed action on another parent who was yelling at his son. I understand from a number of witnesses that Salman Azhar refused to take immediate action because he said it was just Weibel causing problems again. The tournament organizer, Salman Azhar, then decided to walk the little kid out of the hotel alone without the supervision of any other Weibel parent or Weibel team guardian. As a parent, I would never allow a stranger to take my kid anywhere alone. Salman Azhar should have brought the kid's father or the Weibel team guardian back to the tournament to pick up the kid. After this incident, I decided to stand by the tournament entrance for each of my kid's game until my kid finished. This was too unproductive and too uncomfortable as tournament entrances were often crowded. After the tournament, I simply decided not to go to any tournaments hosted by Salman Azhar.
3) The 2010-2011 State Tournaments were run poorly. They did not start on time. The space was too cramped for the players. Pairings were posted last minute and placed poorly. This caused unnecessary stress for both kids and adults.
The amount of people in the room often exceeded the maximum capacity per life safety code. In case of any emergency event, it would not be fun. The organizer, Salman Azhar, has historic data to estimate the number of players plus chaperones but failed to reserve the correct size of room in favor of , I believe, to make more profits in hosting tournaments.
4) Another reason not to attend the 2013 State Championships is because Weibel chess team has lots of girl chess players who will be attending the Girl's National in Chicago the same weekend. Going to the State tournament will impact the strength of Weibel team significantly. The CalChess has a rule that the States should not be held on the same weekend as a National Championship. They violated this rule to suit Salman Azhar and I believe this is another reason we should not attend the State Championships.
5) Chess is not the best team sport but as part of Weibel chess community, we can make some history. In the past couple years, we have shown the United State Chess Foundation that West Coast can have strong chess teams. We are one of those teams, The Weibel Chess Team. We should make our decision as a team and we should be proud to be part of that team. We should stand behind our players and support each other.
As a parent, I refuse to participate in any event that can put my child in danger and create unnecessary stress for myself. I ask you to do the same by voting not to attend this April's CalChess State Championships.
POSITION PAPER TO ATTEND THE CALCHESS STATE SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The State Chess Championship is the main championship that we, Weibel Elementary, play for every year. This is what the team practices week after week for, to do well at the States. Last year, the parents voted not to play in the tournament, although I feel that most of the parents really did not understand the ramifications of this decision. It denied the kids the chance to play in the ultimate tournament to test their skills against players from all over the state, the ultimate learning opportunity. It denied the opportunity for some kids to win an individual state title, either to obtain a Varsity title or some lower level title, and in some cases it was a last chance to win a title. It denied us the opportunity to win numerous team titles, a feeling of togetherness and accomplishment for many of the kids at all levels on the Team that can't be replicated by any other tournament.
Furthermore, I saw numerous 6th grade kids (and even some 5th graders) on the Team last year literally quit, never to play another game, as a result of having no more incentive to play. Sure, some of the players went to a misplaced Junior High Nationals, tournament, and some of the players went to the more appropriate Elementary School Nationals tournament, but National tournaments should be a complement for the State tournament, not a substitute. This has had a far-reaching effect on our younger players as well. Without an incentive or target to play for late last year, many of the kids and parents slacked off, for lack of a better term, from last winter through the summer, and I feel that has had a major effect on this year's team, as I have not seen the big gains in player ratings that normally would happen by this time of the year. Usually by now I would see 10 to 15 players with huge gains in rating - this year I have seen only about 2 or 3 players with huge gains - hardly anyone has improved from the end of last school year until now.
As parents, we have to realize that it's the kids that get hurt, it's the kids that will miss out on a once a year, maybe even a once in a lifetime opportunity. Kids need to be goal-oriented to do well, especially at the Team level. Please do not be selfish and take away the main goal for the kids. If you have a personal problem with the tournament organizers, discuss this personally with Dr. Kirshner, but do not deny the ultimate chance for the kids to shine.
For those of you who are new to the Weibel Team and, after having read the position papers, want further information as to what occurred last year, you can go to the following sources:
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/Alan-postedUSCF.html
This was my response to a question asked on May 11, 2012 in the U.S. Chess Federation Forum. I wrote it while I was in Nashville for the momentous National Elementary School tournament at which Weibel Chess took first in the K-6 Championship division.
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/WeibelChess/ParentMeeting-12-20-11.html
This is the tape of the parents' meeting held after the 2011 CalChess Grade Level in which the coaches and parents present voted overwhelmingly not to attend any scholastic tournaments organized by Dr. Salman Azhar and his Bay Area Chess business.
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/WeibelChess/BrianLuComplaint.html
Dr. Brian Lu's complaint filed against Dr. Salman Azhar for his unprofessional actions as organizer of the 2011 CalChess Grade Level Championships.
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/WeibelChess/ZhiZhouComplaintUSCF.html
Zhi Zhou's complaint filed against Dr. Salman Azhar's ethics as organizer of the 2011 CalChess Grade Level Championships.
While others sent complaints and comments to the U.S. Chess Federation, I believe that there is enough information in these links to whet anyone's curiosity as to why the Weibel parents voted to not attend Dr. Salman Azhar's and his Bay Area Chess youth events last year. The question at hand that will be voted on next week is whether to continue our boycott of the prestigious State Championship as CalChess selected Dr. Azhar to organize the event again. Yes, there was at least one other bid to do so.
There was no official action taken on the part of the U.S. Chess Federation on the complaints. They simply failed to respond to any follow-up inquiries by the parents.
As I believe you all know the Weibel parents overwhelming voted last year not to attend any scholastic tournaments that Dr. Salman Azhar organizes including his State Championships. I said we would revisit this decision this year. I have asked two parents to express their reasons for going and against going to the CalChess State Championships on April 26 and 27. I decided against listing the names of the parents as I wanted the votes to be based on the positions and not the authors. I am distributing these position statements today and will invite anyone who wants to contribute comments to do so. These other comments will also be distributed to all the Team parents. Next weekend I will send out a ballot. If the vast majority of those voting or a clear majority of the Team parents vote one way that will be the position of the Team. If, however, there is no clear decision then the Weibel parents can decide for themselves if they want to play as individuals or create teams. Please do read the two position papers below.
POSITION PAPER TO ONCE AGAIN NOT ATTEND THE CALCHESS STATE SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS:
As a parent of a player that was not directly involved in the organizer, Salman Azhar's, attacks on the Weibel Chess Team, some of its players and parents at the CalChess Grade Level in 2011, I ask you to vote not to attend the State Tournament this year for the following reasons:
1) In the 2011 Grade Level the organizer Salman Azhar, who will be running the 2013 CalChess State Championships at the end of April, publicly called one of our players a liar after our player questioned Salman Azhar's integrity by his asking one of his Directors to delay the start of his game because his opponent, Salman Azhar's son, was going to be late. The Director also had a son in the same division. Both individuals should have requested that the Chief Tournament Director handle the situation. Salman Azhar continued to attack the parents of this player for teaching their child to cheat. From what Dr. Kirshner told me he also went on to claim that Weibel always cheats. I saw many of his attacks on Facebook.
2) In that event as well, the tournament organizer (Salman Azhar) decided to pull a Weibel chess player out of the tournament after he unreasonably expelled the kid's father from the hotel. It is true that the parent did question Salman Azhar as to why he delayed action on another parent who was yelling at his son. I understand from a number of witnesses that Salman Azhar refused to take immediate action because he said it was just Weibel causing problems again. The tournament organizer, Salman Azhar, then decided to walk the little kid out of the hotel alone without the supervision of any other Weibel parent or Weibel team guardian. As a parent, I would never allow a stranger to take my kid anywhere alone. Salman Azhar should have brought the kid's father or the Weibel team guardian back to the tournament to pick up the kid. After this incident, I decided to stand by the tournament entrance for each of my kid's game until my kid finished. This was too unproductive and too uncomfortable as tournament entrances were often crowded. After the tournament, I simply decided not to go to any tournaments hosted by Salman Azhar.
3) The 2010-2011 State Tournaments were run poorly. They did not start on time. The space was too cramped for the players. Pairings were posted last minute and placed poorly. This caused unnecessary stress for both kids and adults.
The amount of people in the room often exceeded the maximum capacity per life safety code. In case of any emergency event, it would not be fun. The organizer, Salman Azhar, has historic data to estimate the number of players plus chaperones but failed to reserve the correct size of room in favor of , I believe, to make more profits in hosting tournaments.
4) Another reason not to attend the 2013 State Championships is because Weibel chess team has lots of girl chess players who will be attending the Girl's National in Chicago the same weekend. Going to the State tournament will impact the strength of Weibel team significantly. The CalChess has a rule that the States should not be held on the same weekend as a National Championship. They violated this rule to suit Salman Azhar and I believe this is another reason we should not attend the State Championships.
5) Chess is not the best team sport but as part of Weibel chess community, we can make some history. In the past couple years, we have shown the United State Chess Foundation that West Coast can have strong chess teams. We are one of those teams, The Weibel Chess Team. We should make our decision as a team and we should be proud to be part of that team. We should stand behind our players and support each other.
As a parent, I refuse to participate in any event that can put my child in danger and create unnecessary stress for myself. I ask you to do the same by voting not to attend this April's CalChess State Championships.
POSITION PAPER TO ATTEND THE CALCHESS STATE SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The State Chess Championship is the main championship that we, Weibel Elementary, play for every year. This is what the team practices week after week for, to do well at the States. Last year, the parents voted not to play in the tournament, although I feel that most of the parents really did not understand the ramifications of this decision. It denied the kids the chance to play in the ultimate tournament to test their skills against players from all over the state, the ultimate learning opportunity. It denied the opportunity for some kids to win an individual state title, either to obtain a Varsity title or some lower level title, and in some cases it was a last chance to win a title. It denied us the opportunity to win numerous team titles, a feeling of togetherness and accomplishment for many of the kids at all levels on the Team that can't be replicated by any other tournament.
Furthermore, I saw numerous 6th grade kids (and even some 5th graders) on the Team last year literally quit, never to play another game, as a result of having no more incentive to play. Sure, some of the players went to a misplaced Junior High Nationals, tournament, and some of the players went to the more appropriate Elementary School Nationals tournament, but National tournaments should be a complement for the State tournament, not a substitute. This has had a far-reaching effect on our younger players as well. Without an incentive or target to play for late last year, many of the kids and parents slacked off, for lack of a better term, from last winter through the summer, and I feel that has had a major effect on this year's team, as I have not seen the big gains in player ratings that normally would happen by this time of the year. Usually by now I would see 10 to 15 players with huge gains in rating - this year I have seen only about 2 or 3 players with huge gains - hardly anyone has improved from the end of last school year until now.
As parents, we have to realize that it's the kids that get hurt, it's the kids that will miss out on a once a year, maybe even a once in a lifetime opportunity. Kids need to be goal-oriented to do well, especially at the Team level. Please do not be selfish and take away the main goal for the kids. If you have a personal problem with the tournament organizers, discuss this personally with Dr. Kirshner, but do not deny the ultimate chance for the kids to shine.
For those of you who are new to the Weibel Team and, after having read the position papers, want further information as to what occurred last year, you can go to the following sources:
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/Alan-postedUSCF.html
This was my response to a question asked on May 11, 2012 in the U.S. Chess Federation Forum. I wrote it while I was in Nashville for the momentous National Elementary School tournament at which Weibel Chess took first in the K-6 Championship division.
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/WeibelChess/ParentMeeting-12-20-11.html
This is the tape of the parents' meeting held after the 2011 CalChess Grade Level in which the coaches and parents present voted overwhelmingly not to attend any scholastic tournaments organized by Dr. Salman Azhar and his Bay Area Chess business.
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/WeibelChess/BrianLuComplaint.html
Dr. Brian Lu's complaint filed against Dr. Salman Azhar for his unprofessional actions as organizer of the 2011 CalChess Grade Level Championships.
http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/WeibelChess/ZhiZhouComplaintUSCF.html
Zhi Zhou's complaint filed against Dr. Salman Azhar's ethics as organizer of the 2011 CalChess Grade Level Championships.
While others sent complaints and comments to the U.S. Chess Federation, I believe that there is enough information in these links to whet anyone's curiosity as to why the Weibel parents voted to not attend Dr. Salman Azhar's and his Bay Area Chess youth events last year. The question at hand that will be voted on next week is whether to continue our boycott of the prestigious State Championship as CalChess selected Dr. Azhar to organize the event again. Yes, there was at least one other bid to do so.
There was no official action taken on the part of the U.S. Chess Federation on the complaints. They simply failed to respond to any follow-up inquiries by the parents.
Monday, February 4, 2013
I want to thank all of the parents and children who attended the CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level extravaganza Sunday. While we had a few logistics problems that did not rival the lights going out at the Super Bowl, our super event celebrating Superman's and my 75th birthday was an amazing success and you made it so. Not only because it was the Weibel parents who did almost all of the volunteer work, but because your children did well in their over the board chess games. I admit that by the end of the day I was exhausted and at times a bit cranky. Yet, every time I went outside and saw happy kids enjoying themselves, in formal and informal activities, with cute designs painted on their faces thanks to Josh Eads of Success Chess, I was energized anew. You can find the results of the Championships at http://calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2013/PAIRINGSandSTANDINGS.html
There is no chess for Team NEXT Friday, February 15, as the school is closed due to Presidents' Weekend.
I will soon be sending out information about the Super-Nationals at the beginning of April.
I will be distributing arguments pro and con, that two parents composed, for attending the CalChess State Championships at the end of April. After e-mail discussion the team parents and coaches will have an opportunity to vote on whether our Team will attend.
For those who are looking for another chess tournament there are two events next Saturday, February 9. For the Challenger Team player and Potential Team players, I suggest the Hanley Chess Academy Tournament in San Jose. For our Special Team member the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco has a scholastic tournament. You can get more information at http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/Tournaments.html
There is no chess for Team NEXT Friday, February 15, as the school is closed due to Presidents' Weekend.
I will soon be sending out information about the Super-Nationals at the beginning of April.
I will be distributing arguments pro and con, that two parents composed, for attending the CalChess State Championships at the end of April. After e-mail discussion the team parents and coaches will have an opportunity to vote on whether our Team will attend.
For those who are looking for another chess tournament there are two events next Saturday, February 9. For the Challenger Team player and Potential Team players, I suggest the Hanley Chess Academy Tournament in San Jose. For our Special Team member the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco has a scholastic tournament. You can get more information at http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/Tournaments.html
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Age Level Championships
This Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday, February 3, the largest non-State/non-National tournament in California, the 2013 CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level Championships will take place in Newark, CA. The way it looks right now, the tournament will reach its maximum of 600 players very shortly. The number of advanced entries as last published was at 536. Almost 100 entries were received on Wednesday (1/30). If you haven't registered your child yet, better do it soooooon.
Besides the tournament itself, there will be many other activities, ranging from simuls given by World Youth team members and former Weibel students Kevin Moy and Joanna Liu, along with former Weibel team member Abhishek Handigol, to game analysis from many titled players (GM Enrico Sevillano, IM Ricardo De Guzman, IM Ronald Cusi, WFM Uyanga Byaamba, NM Emmanuel Perez, NM Hayk Manvelyan), to face-painting. Strategy games outside of chess will be available for play as well outside.
More info here: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2013/
Besides the tournament itself, there will be many other activities, ranging from simuls given by World Youth team members and former Weibel students Kevin Moy and Joanna Liu, along with former Weibel team member Abhishek Handigol, to game analysis from many titled players (GM Enrico Sevillano, IM Ricardo De Guzman, IM Ronald Cusi, WFM Uyanga Byaamba, NM Emmanuel Perez, NM Hayk Manvelyan), to face-painting. Strategy games outside of chess will be available for play as well outside.
More info here: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2013/
Monday, January 28, 2013
CalChess Girl's State Championships
Twenty Weibel players attend the CalChess Girls State
Championships at St. Mark's School in San Rafael. This year only 52 players
registered - in previous years there have been at least 25 to 30
more
competitors.
I had a meeting with the Weibel and Horner players. Two of our girls, Shivangi Gupta and Amy Chan had birthdays that could have been celebrated this weekend.. Louis Law, the brother of Kindergarten competitor Erin Law, was celebrating his birthday on the same day of the tournament. I wished the three Happy Birthday and gave them little gifts for their dedication to chess by traveling to San Rafael for the Girls Championships. Then I dropped the bad news--since Weibel had almost half the players they would be playing against each other starting in round one.
And, so it came to pass. Each round saw our black shirts face off against each other. Interestingly, there were a number of upsets where the lower rated Weibel girl defeated her higher rated teammate. While this, I know upset our girls, it will result, I believe, that one to three of our girls will break the 1000 rating points barrier, placing them on the Weibel Chess Honor Roll. I will have their pink or black caps (their choice) ready for them. I do not expect the USCF ratings for awhile--one to two weeks as has been the case in
past years.
This was the first year of the Girl's States that we did not have a State Champion in any of the Elementary School sections. Sharon Lu, however, did win the Junior High School title so we didn't go home completely void of an individual State Champion.
I am happy to report that as has been the case throughout the history of this event, our girls brought home State Team titles. We won a clear first in the 4-6 grade section. Well, OK--there weren't any other teams competing. I have little doubt, however, that if there were, the outcome would not have changed. All you had to see was the plethora of black shirts in the awards ceremonies to realize the depth of our Team. We may not of had an individual champion, but we had loads of runner-ups. I am proud of how well the girls played and how seriously they took each game.
In the 2-3 grade division we also took a first place Team title tying with Mission San Jose. For the first time we could not field a Team in the-1 section, but neither could any other school. I hope next year some of this year's Kindergarten girls in the Club join the Team. Our young women attending Horner won the Junior High School section.
I might mention that Ray Orwig, the organizer, and I bounded through out the event. We shared the same ice bag. When he was done icing his ankle, he lent me the bag so I could ice my wrist. I just had an operation and the swelling remains.
I do want to thank all you wonderful parents who were willing to make the journey to San Rafael to support your daughters. I appreciate it as a coach and I know your daughters appreciate your being there with
them.
You can find the full results of the tournament and the photos I took at: http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/photographs.html
Dr. Alan Kirsher
I had a meeting with the Weibel and Horner players. Two of our girls, Shivangi Gupta and Amy Chan had birthdays that could have been celebrated this weekend.. Louis Law, the brother of Kindergarten competitor Erin Law, was celebrating his birthday on the same day of the tournament. I wished the three Happy Birthday and gave them little gifts for their dedication to chess by traveling to San Rafael for the Girls Championships. Then I dropped the bad news--since Weibel had almost half the players they would be playing against each other starting in round one.
And, so it came to pass. Each round saw our black shirts face off against each other. Interestingly, there were a number of upsets where the lower rated Weibel girl defeated her higher rated teammate. While this, I know upset our girls, it will result, I believe, that one to three of our girls will break the 1000 rating points barrier, placing them on the Weibel Chess Honor Roll. I will have their pink or black caps (their choice) ready for them. I do not expect the USCF ratings for awhile--one to two weeks as has been the case in
past years.
This was the first year of the Girl's States that we did not have a State Champion in any of the Elementary School sections. Sharon Lu, however, did win the Junior High School title so we didn't go home completely void of an individual State Champion.
I am happy to report that as has been the case throughout the history of this event, our girls brought home State Team titles. We won a clear first in the 4-6 grade section. Well, OK--there weren't any other teams competing. I have little doubt, however, that if there were, the outcome would not have changed. All you had to see was the plethora of black shirts in the awards ceremonies to realize the depth of our Team. We may not of had an individual champion, but we had loads of runner-ups. I am proud of how well the girls played and how seriously they took each game.
In the 2-3 grade division we also took a first place Team title tying with Mission San Jose. For the first time we could not field a Team in the-1 section, but neither could any other school. I hope next year some of this year's Kindergarten girls in the Club join the Team. Our young women attending Horner won the Junior High School section.
I might mention that Ray Orwig, the organizer, and I bounded through out the event. We shared the same ice bag. When he was done icing his ankle, he lent me the bag so I could ice my wrist. I just had an operation and the swelling remains.
I do want to thank all you wonderful parents who were willing to make the journey to San Rafael to support your daughters. I appreciate it as a coach and I know your daughters appreciate your being there with
them.
You can find the full results of the tournament and the photos I took at: http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/photographs.html
Dr. Alan Kirsher
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