Weibel vs. NorCal House of Chess match, Part I

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

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

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

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

USCF Results
CalNorth Youth Chess Photos

WEIBEL TEAM PARENTS VOTE TO NOT ATTEND CALCHESS STATE SCHOLASTICS

Last week, while I was enjoying the sun in Hawaii, the President of the Weibel Parent Teacher's Organization gathered the Team parent votes on attending the CalChess State Championships.  Last night, the PTO President sent the results to all the Weibel Team parents.  The vote is official and for the third straight year the parents voted overwhelmingly not to attend the CalChess State Championships because they were being organized by Salman Azhar.  The parents were sent the ballots along with a link to arguments pro and con, the parent letters sent to the U.S. Chess Federation describing the unprofessional behavior, the lack of ethics and their fears of having the said organizer around children.  This information is posted at: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/VOTE2014.html

My hopes that Weibel children and those of other programs could be protected outside the playing hall through some form of due process procedure came to naught when the President of CalChess never responded to my e-mails requesting that we continue negotiations after the CalChess Grade Level. 

I see a strong possibility that, with many things changing next year, Weibel will be back on the State scene next year.  Meanwhile this year, as the last two years, we are focusing our attention on the National stage.  Our girls are gearing up for the All-Girls Nationals in Chicago in two weeks.  The whole Team is training hard for the National Elementary School Championships in Dallas in May.  At these events we will confront school teams from all over the country as well as strong California teams like Gomes Elementary and Mission San Jose Elementary Schools.  I do hope we can return to Northern California with at least one national title and another national championship banner for our school.

Chess is Forever!
Alan

OUR GIRLS TEAM HEADING FOR CHICAGO IN APRIL

OUR TEAM GOING TO DALLAS IN MAY