CALNORTH YOUTH CHESS WINTER 2015 NEWSLETTER

IN THIS ISSUE:
CalNorth Youth Age Level + CalNorth Youth Age Level Invitational
Winter Chess Tournaments to Aim For
Chenyi Wins Big
Parent Resources Website

CalNorth Youth Age Level + CalNorth Youth Age Level Invitational

Only two weeks to go before the most popular tournament of the Winter Season.  For the last few years the CalNorth Youth Age Level Championships have register over 500 players.  Only one other youth event is expected to surpass it in size and that is the CalChess State Championships that will be held on May 2 and May 3.  No other youth championships, in my humble opinion, will surpass it in popularity.  David Hwang, from Corte Madera and a father of three boys who almost always attend the CalNorth events wrote my favorite, of many, compliments: "Our family really appreciates the CalNorth Youth Chess tournaments because they are not only superbly run, from a logistical and organizational standpoint, but it is also clear that the principles that guide all those involved, from the leadership to the volunteers, are to cherish, motivate, and inspire our children -- and to do so with excellence, integrity, good humor, and warmth.”

The CalNorth Age Level Championship on Sunday, February 8, 2015 at Ohlone College, Newark Campus, is the only tournament on the West Coast that is held strictly by a child’s age.  Not only are there trophies in each age group that will be awarded for the top 15 players, there are three extra awards for brand new players who have never competed in a United States Chess Federation event before.  All four and five year olds will get trophies.  If a child does not win a trophy they will go home with a unique commemorative chess medal.  Carl Moy, the organizer, does not promise loads of trophies and then stipulate a player has to have a positive score. Whereby many are never awarded.   All trophies are awarded, plus some.  http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2015/

This year, Carl Moy, has added a new section to the Championships.  For a number of years there has been a 4 to 9 year old division that transcended the specific age groups.  This section was designed for more experienced and higher rated players in the 4 through 9 age groups.  Last year Carl added a special award that he named the Kirshner Cup to honor Dr. Alan Kirshner and his contributions to Northern California Chess.  This year he added a new section for the super stars in the10 through 13 bracket.  He created a second award, the Orwig Cup.  This award is to honor the individual most responsible for beginnings of scholastic chess competition in Northern California who continues, unselfishly running chess tournaments teaching chess to the children at the school where he works--Mark Day School, formerly St. Marks—Ray Orwig.  Carl went a step further this year.  To provide longer time controls he created a two day tournament called the CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level Invitational.  He also decided to have it dual rated with both the U.S. Chess Federation and FIDE, the International Chess Federation. These Championships will also be held at Ohlone College, but on both Saturday, February 7 and February 8.  To compete in the 4 through 9 age section of the Kirshner Cup, a player must have a U.S.Chess Federation rating of at least 1000.  Entry into the Orwig Cup for 10 through 13 year old chess player requires a minimum 1300 rating.

http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2015/AgeLevelInvitational.html

You can view all current entries at: http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/AgeLevel2015/ENTRIES.html


Winter Chess Tournaments to Aim For

As many of you know Bay Area Chess has a mass of youth tournaments to offer almost every weekend.  Since Judit Sztaray became Executive Director of BAC I have been posting them on my tournament site, http://www.CalNorthYouthChess.org/Tournaments.html
Sadly, the large number of BAC events often mask other fine youth events.  I would like to mention just a few.  And, just so I am not misquoted, I think it is great that there are so many quality youth competitions organized by Bay Area Chess.

Let me start with the CalChess Girls State Championship next Saturday, January 31 at Mark Day School in San Rafael. http://calnorthyouthchess.org/Applications/CALCHESS-GIRLS-ENTRY-FORM-2015.pdf

Success Chess School, one of the sponsors for the CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level Championships has two events this Winter:
On January 31 in Fremont, http://www.successchess.com/Tournaments/Game_Kastle_Tournament_INFO.html

And

On Valentine’s Day, February 14 in Cupertino: http://successchess.com/Tournaments/BethelTournament_INFO.html
On January 31, Alex Veksler is holding the first of his monthly Chess for Kids Quads in San Jose:  http://calnorthyouthchess.org/Applications/FlyerChessQuads_013115.pdf
This one even has a parent section with a Grand Prize for the best combined family—a Gevalia coffee maker.

The NorCal House of Chess, another sponsor of the CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level, has youth Quads on February 15 and March 7 in Fremont: http://norcalhouseofchess.com/?page_id=9

On March 7 in Santa Clara, Matthew Bensen is holding another of his Let’s Play Chess tournaments: http://www.chessthings.com/events.php

On March 15, Dennis Myers is running his yearly, non-rated tournament, at Fox School in Belmont: http://peninsulachess.blogspot.com/2015/01/2015-fox-school-scholastic-chess.html

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the weekly Friday night tournaments the Hanley Chess Academy holds in San Jose: http://www.hanleychessacademy.com/SJFriQuads.html
And then there is the new man on the block—Demetrius Goins’ Shore View Chess Club in Fremont.  Shore View Chess holds weekly events at it site near Pacific Commons on Thursday nights and weekends.   They are also running monthly Quads the first one on February 21:  http://www.shoreviewchess.com/tournament  PS: Shore View Chess is also a sponsor of the CalNorth Youth Age Level Chess Championships.

I would like to end this section to urge people to attend the Susan Polgar Foundation’s Boys and Girls Championships on February 28 and March 1.  This prestigious event, that has been held over the years in other parts of the country, has made its way to Northern California.  Chris Torres, through his Chess and Music Academy, is the local organizer for this event that offers $100,000 in prizes: http://www.chessandmusic.com/susanpolgarfoundation/

Chenyi Wins Big
Chenyi Zhao, a student at Warm Spring Elementary School, has always been one of my favorite young chess players.  Since she was in first grade she remembered me because of my car that had a honu (Hawaiian for turtle) on my side window.   Chenyi, always a good chess player, made a big break through at the Golden State Open a week ago when she won the under 1900 section and brought home to Fremont a check for $2000.  She now sports a rating of 1917.  KUDOS!

Parent Resources Website
Over the many years of my writing this newsletter either under the CalNorth Youth Chess title or my 14 year stint as CalChess Scholastic Chair I included not just Kudos to young chess players, but resources and websites that they can use to improve their chess.   This season I offer a shiny new website for parents.  No, it will not help parents become better parents, but maybe better chess parents.  Jay Stallings who has been active in youth chess in Southern California almost as long as I have been active in Northern California has a wonderful and exciting project in the works:  http://chessparentresource.com/
Jay writes the following in his Welcome to ChessParentResources.com:

“My name is ‘Coach Jay’ Stallings. I have coached chess full-time for almost 20 years and currently serve on the Scholastic Council for the United States Chess Federation (USCF). When I learned in 2014 that, before USCF’s new website would launch, there would be many committee meetings, votes, more committee meetings, etc., I decided to create this site to bridge the gap.

Please email me with anything that you think is missing. I’m trying to keep the site simple, with information that 99% of the parents need. If you are one of those 1% who have other needs, please send me an email and I will try to answer your questions as soon as possible.


Check you later!
Coach Jay”
I was very impressed with the information as well as excited that parents now have a resource that can guide and direct them as they grow with their child’s chess.  Check it out now, not later.

Chess is Forever,
Alan