OLIVER WU RECEIVES ANOTHER HONOR

Oliver Wu, a Weibel third grader with a 1745 rating, just received news that he won ninth place nationally in the 2013 Junior Grand Prix sponsored by Chess Magnet School and the U.S. Chess Federation.  The points are based upon how well you do in USCF Junior Grand Prix designated events throughout the nation. Oliver has had a great year so far.  He won the most difficult scholastic chess tournament of the year to date—the Under 10 open section of the CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level--bringing home the unique Kirshner Cup. The same month, February,  Oliver became the 27th player in the 25 year history of Weibel Chess to obtain Hall of Fame status.  There are a number of criteria to receive that honor.  You can view the vigorous requirements and the other honorees listed from the link at WeibelChess.org.  Oliver did it by obtaining a 1600 rating.  He has made an amazing jump to 1745 in just a month and a half.  Oliver not only received a certificate for his accomplishment but also a membership in Chess Magnet School and in the Chess Lecture program.  As you know, all our Weibel Chess students get Chess Magnet School free and a select few are enrolled in Chess Lecture free as well.  Oliver has been watching the Chess Lecture tapes for many hours every week and keeping a log with reviews of each tape he views as part of his homework. KUDOS TO OLIVER! What is next for this boy wonder?—I am betting on a National title.

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

TO THE WEIBEL CHESS COMMUNITY AND ALL OUR SUPPORTERS

I am pleased to report that the Weibel Chess Team and Club players with their parents and their coaches deserve Kudos for their results at the 7^th Annual CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level Sunday, February 9.  In 2000, during a conversation with NM Sunil Weeramantry, the father of  GM Hiraku Nakamura, presently the number 1 US player, he told me an interesting story.  When Hiraku was 12 years old Sunil told him that he felt it was time to get him a Grand Master as his coach. Sunil reported that Hiraku told him that he definitely did not want a coach.  Sunil, surprised, asked him why.  Hiraku said, “Well, then they will take credit for my greatness.”

            The moral of the story is that while we as parents, friends, teachers and coaches can inspire and provide opportunities to our children their ultimate success comes from within.  A few weeks ago I had two of our Weibel coaches patting themselves for training one of our students.  I had to step in and tell them of the long successful history this young girl had in chess before she entered any of their classrooms.  She took the best from each of them and succeeded because she was the talent.  I get sick to my stomach when someone in the business of chess exploits the talents of a player who took one lesson from them, went to their camp one summer or shook their hand.   Granted, I know they are making a living at chess or  have a need to assuage their own ego, but I say, let the results speak for themselves. I thank the large number of Weibel players and their parents for coming to the Age Level, especially those parents and coaches that volunteered their time. In my mind they expressed the respect for Weibel and the program I organized because of my children and one of their coaches, Richard Shorman. 

            On to the Weibel Team and individual results in the CalNorth Youth Chess Age Level Championships, one of the largest youth chess by age events, in the nation.  This year Carl Moy skillfully organized the event. 

I was asked a few weeks back by a chess program director as to how the CalNorth Youth event drew so many players—over 500 signed up this year.  Sadly, due to sickness and other reasons many players withdrew at the last minute.   As soon as it is rated, which should be Tuesday, I will have a better count.  My response to this chess organizer was that Northern California has loads of programs and players that are boycotting, for various reason, the CalChess State tournaments under the auspices of  Dr. Salman Azhar.  These players, schools and programs have selected to come to the CalNorth events so they can test their mettle.  Added to these numbers are the players who love good competition wherever they can find it.

            Weibel took first place Team trophies in the 6, 7, 8, 9(here we tied with Chadborne), 10, and 11 year old divisions.  In the 12 year old Team division Tierra Linda Junior High School of San Carlos won and in the 13 year old division (the oldest age competing) Hopkins Junior High School took first.

            There was no Team trophy in the 4-5 Age Group or the 4-9 Special Open competitions.  The 4-9 age group was established to give the top young players longer time controls. This year Carl Moy decided to create a special award called the Kirshner Cup for first place.  He felt this would be a special legacy award for my creation of this event.  I might note that all first place winners were given certificates to attend the NorCal House of Chess Summer camps.

            Let me begin the individual awards with the 4-9 Special Open.  I worked a computer in the younger players hall.  Due to the longer time controls of the 4-9 Special Open Division they played in the 10 through 13 year-old building. After we were done I walked over to the other building and was met by an excited third grader Oliver Wu who shouted out, “I think I have won the Kirshner Cup.”   I felt great for this was another birthday award for me—Oliver is Weibel’s top third grade player and one of the best in the country.  I felt honored to give him the trophy at the awards’ ceremonies. 

            Three other Weibel 3^rd grade players entered this division designed for those with a minimum 1000 rating:  Louis Law,  Vincent Wang and Eshaan Mistry.  Eshaan decided to switch over to the 4-9 Open after competing for three rounds in the 8 year old section without losing a game.

We awarded 15 plus trophies.  The plus refers to those who tied at 15th place.  We awarded logo chess medals to all participants.  The 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 year olds played 5 games.  The 10, 11, 12. 13 year olds played 4 games. Here are the Weibel trophy winners:

FIVE YEAR OLDS (23 entries):

Aakash Koneru (2^nd)

David Gao (3^rd)

SIX YEAR OLDS (51 entries):

Rutansh Pathak (3^rd tie)

Alex Han (9^th tie)

Mihir Gadre (11^th )

Nik Sadeghi (11^th tie)

Reyansh Samanta (11^th tie)

Zayaan Madhini (11^th tie)

SEVEN YEAR OLDS (79 entries):

Dharshan Vetrivelan (2^nd tie)

Prisha Jain (4^th tie)

Weslie Chen (4^th tie)

Umesh Gopi (4^th tie)

Isha Varada (4^th tie)

Aryan Yenni (4^th tie)

Erin Law (14^th tie)

Mihir Chauhan (14^th tie)

EIGHT YEAR OLDS (109 entries)

Sasha Prakir (1^st tie)

Sidarth Raman (4^th)

Surya Somasundaram (4^th tie)

NINE YEAR OLDS (76 entries)

Aaron Lee (3^rd)

Stanley Ko (3^rd tie)

Zayaan Khan (3^rd tie)

Frederick Zhang (3^rd tie)

TEN YEAR OLDS  (75 entries)

Jeremy Chen (1^st)

Rahul Ravishankar(4^th tie)

Anish Kasam (7^th tie)

Jaden Wei (7^th tie)

Prithvi Nagamanivel (7^th tie)

Tanabh Mishra (7^th tie)

ELEVEN YEAR OLDS (45 entries)

Daniel Emmanuel (3^rd tie)

Suryateja Mandadi (5^th)

Raisha Khan (5^th tie)

Avi Khanna (5^th tie)

Praveen Ravindar (5^th tie)

Avikam Chauhan (12^th tie)

Shivangi Gupta (12^th tie)

Congratulations to all of the above and to all the other Weibel attendees who spent the day with tough competition and I am sure learned a lot of chess on the practice field.

Alan

Director

Weibel Chess

           

WEIBEL CHESS GIRLS REMAIN NUMERO UNO

Today was the Eighth Annual Girls State Chess Championships and for the eighth year Weibel won a section.  This year Weibel won the Team Championship in the K-6 and the K-8 sections.  Yup, Junior High School. Since we had so many great players in the K-6, we placed two of our best in the K-8—Serafina Show and Raisah Khan, both sixth graders.  Serafina won the section and became this years Junior High School Champion.  On her way to the victory she drew a 2199 rated player by forcing a draw through a three-move repetition that prevented her opponent from winning.  Today was Serafina’s birthday and a beautiful one it turned out to be.  It was also my birthday and a great one for me as well as I can add to our next year’s T-shirts that Weibel has won at least one section in a CalChess State Championship from 1990 to 2014.  This was an important win since Weibel did not attend the CalChess Grade Level and may not attend the CalChess Super States in April if the CalChess President does not respond to my request to continue negotiations on establishing due process protection for parents and players outside the playing hall.

I will add more detail in a later note about how our individual players did when I get a list of all the results.  I would be remiss in this short note if I failed to mention that the K-6 Co-Champion, winning the first place trophy on tie-breaks, was Aria Lakhmani, a former Weibel student who switched to Warm Springs last year but still attends our Friday sessions.   Kudos to all players and their supporters at today’s games.

JOANNA LIU IS NOW A NATIONAL CHESS EXPERT

My KUDOS to Joanna Liu. After last weekend's Golden State Open in Concord Joanna broke the 2000 (2005) rating barrier and is now a National Expert.  Joanna, a sixth grade student at Gomes, who led her school Team to a National Open Scholastic title last Spring, is a former Weibel student.  Joanna attended Weibel until the middle of fourth grade when her family moved into the Gomes district.  When she left Weibel she had obtained the highest ever rating for a girl in our program, 1587.  This was broken by her good friend Serafina Show last week with her 1613.  I sent the following note to Joanna's father Jay:

"Please congratulate Joanna for reaching the Expert title.  She is only the fourth ever former Weibel student to have obtained an Expert title: Kevin Moy, NM Michael Wang, NM Rohan Agrawal, Micah Fisher-Kirshner.   In my 25 years with chess in NorCal only one young girl has obtained the title of Master.  This was Jennie Frenklakh at 16 back in the 80’s.  I am sure that Joanna will break that record."

BREAKING NEWS: Serafina Show Breaks Record

Serafina Show has just become the highest rated girl ever while at Weibel Chess.  Her present rating is 1613.  The previous best was 1587 (Joanna Liu).  This would definitely place Serafina in our Hall of Fame if  she were not already a member for winning two State Girls Championships.  Serafina also joins two other girls (Jocelyn Lee and Sharon Tseung) who, since 1989, have been the highest rated player participating in our chess team classes on Friday.* KUDOS To Serafina.

*Anthony Zhou, who is a sixth grade student at Weibel, has a current rating of 1810.  He does come to help out the Chess Team on Friday by going over games. He is not taking the classes or playing in our Friday tournament.