the Open section continues today for one last round, but the remaining sections are complete. Weibel Team coach NM Hayk Manvelyan was a big winner in the U2300 section, tying for first place with 6.0 out of 7 and getting a cool $4,000 check. In the U2100 section, former Weibel attendee and coach Kevin Moy finished with 5.0, as did former Weibel Team attendee Abhishek Handigol. Both received a check for $68.
Joanna Liu had 4.5 in U1900. Anthony Zhou in U1900, Steven Li in U1700, and Vittal Thirumalai in U1250 all had plus scores of 4.0 as well.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
North American Open in Las Vegas
| The annual post-Christmas edition of the 2012 North American Open in Las Vegas is nearing its completion. Many Weibel team members, alumni, and coaches are participating, in sections ranging from Open all the way to U1250. Here are some pictures of many of the participants. |
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Monday, December 17, 2012
I want to thank everyone for giving up their weekend to attend the State Grade Level Championships in a crowded and inadequate facility at the Pleasanton Hilton. I want to assure all of you that are new to large events that not all big tournaments are run as badly. For those of you heading to the Super-Nationals in April, I do expect you to see how proper preparation can produce a successful event with 5000 plus participants, not just 400 plus as appeared at this weekends event.
On a very very positive note--I had a number of parents from other schools ask how they could join the Weibel Chess Team, not just because they could tell we had serious chess players, but because our children were truly enjoying themselves playing chess. They were disappointed to learn that except for a very few exceptions, our program was limited to students attending our elementary school.
Our happy kids, as a whole, did quite well with a good number coming home with trophies. Since I do want to get to bed before I collapse, I am not going to list all the trophy winners. You can find the full results of the Championships at http://bayareachess.com/events/12/c15.php
The best result of the evening came from fifth grade student Anthony Zhou. As the new State Fifth Grade Champion Anthony will forever have his name engraved in the Weibel Chess Hall of Fame. Oliver Wu, in second grade continues his meteoric rise to someday winning a State Championship and maybe more. He finished third without a lose, winning four games and tying a fifth. Close on his tail was Louis Law who only lost to the ultimate winner of the event. Right behind Louis in the standings with four wins and one loss was Eshaan Mistry. Both tied for fourth place. There were a large number of other Weibel players in this section that give us amazing depth. I have predicted that by the time this group is in sixth grade, baring anyone moving, Weibel will win the Nationals again.
I had mentioned last Friday that I would provide special awards to anyone in grades K, 1, 2 & 3 who get 4 out of five points. Since grades 4 and up played 6 games, winners of my special award would have to obtain 4.5 points and up. Besides the names I mentioned earlier, third grade student Ryan Song obtained a tie for third place with 4 points. Second grader William Sartorio obtained four points. In fourth grade, Jeremy Chen will be a recipient of the award with 4.5 points and a tie for sixth place.
What about Team results? Well, many would say getting second in every section except Kindergarten was a great result. However, it is hard for me to feel that way. We went into the last round in every division either in first place or with a great chance of winning first place. Our--my--Weibel Team fell victim once again to the gremlins that have plagued us in almost every major tournament except the Nationals over the last five years. Our players lose their final games. We do not have the staying power and I am at a loss as to how to fix the problem. I have tried different motivation methods over the years all to no avail. This year I tried to work on visualization and confidence. I am going to continue that theme for the rest of the chess year as we may need more time. Time will tell.
Now on to my heroes--the players and parents in Kindergarten. They gave us our only State Championship Team. We have only two Kindergarten players on the Team. We needed three for a team in the Grade Level. In other championships a Team consists of four players. I put out a call to our Club for an extra player. Three people responded and so Weibel had five players in Kindergarten to draw its three top player points from. The five Kindergarten players on this year's State Championship Team are: Mihir Gadre, Nik Sadeghi, Erin Law, Alex Htutt, Natalie Brahan.
One final note: Throughout most of my tenure at Weibel the vast majority of the players drop out of organized tournament chess by Junior High School. Our class of 2010 continues playing chess even though they do not train any more at Weibel. Last year they placed second in the Junior High Nationals. Today, they won the Ninth Grade State Championship. I can't express how much this meant to me to stand on stage next to this group of wonderful, dedicated and skilled players. I can literally say that I looked up to each and every one of them. I tried standing on my toes, but it didn't help. KUDOS to Irvington students Daniel Ho, Justin Wang, Amarinder Chahal, Nikhil Jaha, Shubham Gupta. I hope they join us at the Super Nationals in Nashville the first weekend in April.
--
On a very very positive note--I had a number of parents from other schools ask how they could join the Weibel Chess Team, not just because they could tell we had serious chess players, but because our children were truly enjoying themselves playing chess. They were disappointed to learn that except for a very few exceptions, our program was limited to students attending our elementary school.
Our happy kids, as a whole, did quite well with a good number coming home with trophies. Since I do want to get to bed before I collapse, I am not going to list all the trophy winners. You can find the full results of the Championships at http://bayareachess.com/events/12/c15.php
The best result of the evening came from fifth grade student Anthony Zhou. As the new State Fifth Grade Champion Anthony will forever have his name engraved in the Weibel Chess Hall of Fame. Oliver Wu, in second grade continues his meteoric rise to someday winning a State Championship and maybe more. He finished third without a lose, winning four games and tying a fifth. Close on his tail was Louis Law who only lost to the ultimate winner of the event. Right behind Louis in the standings with four wins and one loss was Eshaan Mistry. Both tied for fourth place. There were a large number of other Weibel players in this section that give us amazing depth. I have predicted that by the time this group is in sixth grade, baring anyone moving, Weibel will win the Nationals again.
I had mentioned last Friday that I would provide special awards to anyone in grades K, 1, 2 & 3 who get 4 out of five points. Since grades 4 and up played 6 games, winners of my special award would have to obtain 4.5 points and up. Besides the names I mentioned earlier, third grade student Ryan Song obtained a tie for third place with 4 points. Second grader William Sartorio obtained four points. In fourth grade, Jeremy Chen will be a recipient of the award with 4.5 points and a tie for sixth place.
What about Team results? Well, many would say getting second in every section except Kindergarten was a great result. However, it is hard for me to feel that way. We went into the last round in every division either in first place or with a great chance of winning first place. Our--my--Weibel Team fell victim once again to the gremlins that have plagued us in almost every major tournament except the Nationals over the last five years. Our players lose their final games. We do not have the staying power and I am at a loss as to how to fix the problem. I have tried different motivation methods over the years all to no avail. This year I tried to work on visualization and confidence. I am going to continue that theme for the rest of the chess year as we may need more time. Time will tell.
Now on to my heroes--the players and parents in Kindergarten. They gave us our only State Championship Team. We have only two Kindergarten players on the Team. We needed three for a team in the Grade Level. In other championships a Team consists of four players. I put out a call to our Club for an extra player. Three people responded and so Weibel had five players in Kindergarten to draw its three top player points from. The five Kindergarten players on this year's State Championship Team are: Mihir Gadre, Nik Sadeghi, Erin Law, Alex Htutt, Natalie Brahan.
One final note: Throughout most of my tenure at Weibel the vast majority of the players drop out of organized tournament chess by Junior High School. Our class of 2010 continues playing chess even though they do not train any more at Weibel. Last year they placed second in the Junior High Nationals. Today, they won the Ninth Grade State Championship. I can't express how much this meant to me to stand on stage next to this group of wonderful, dedicated and skilled players. I can literally say that I looked up to each and every one of them. I tried standing on my toes, but it didn't help. KUDOS to Irvington students Daniel Ho, Justin Wang, Amarinder Chahal, Nikhil Jaha, Shubham Gupta. I hope they join us at the Super Nationals in Nashville the first weekend in April.
--
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Grade Level State Championships
The Grade Level championships is taking place this weekend, December 15 and 16. Day 1 started with the 4th grade and up sections. After Day 1, two Weibel players, 4th grader Atri Surapaneni and 5th grader Anthony Zhou, are in with perfect 3.0 out of 3.0 so far. Another player on the team, Vittal Thirumalai, also has a perfect 3.0 out of 3.0 so far.
The Kindergarten thru 3rd grade Grade Level groups begin play on Sunday, while the 4th thru High School sections go into Day 2 on Sunday. The Weibel Team room is very small, so we ask all parents to refrain from staying in the room on Sunday - there will be at least another 30 players from K-3 playing, and the Team Room is designed for players to go over their games and prepare for upcoming games.
Pictures will be posted soon.
The Kindergarten thru 3rd grade Grade Level groups begin play on Sunday, while the 4th thru High School sections go into Day 2 on Sunday. The Weibel Team room is very small, so we ask all parents to refrain from staying in the room on Sunday - there will be at least another 30 players from K-3 playing, and the Team Room is designed for players to go over their games and prepare for upcoming games.
Pictures will be posted soon.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
World Youth Chess Championship - Final Results
In the U12 Open Division, Santa Clara's Samuel Sevian won the gold medal, while Cupertino's Cameron Wheeler also tied for first but got the silver medal. In the U14 Open Division, Utah FM Kayden Troff wold the gold medal. In the U8 Open Division, Ohio's Christopher Shen won the bronze medal. Congratulations to the four!
As far as the Weibel alumni goes, Joanna Liu wound up with 7.0 (out of 11) in the Girls U10 Division, while Kevin Moy wound up with 4.5
As far as the Weibel alumni goes, Joanna Liu wound up with 7.0 (out of 11) in the Girls U10 Division, while Kevin Moy wound up with 4.5
Monday, November 12, 2012
World Youth Chess Tournament - halfway point
The World Youth Chess Tournament is now at the halfway point. Two games were played on Monday, and Tuesday is a free day. Many of the families will be taking excursions to Lake Bled and the Postojna Caves along with the capital city of Ljubljana. Others are sticking around and catching up on homework.
There are two former players from Weibel Elementary that are playing in this tournament, 12 year old Kevin Moy and 10 year old Joanna Liu (pictured on the right, along with Boston's U10 player Carissa Yip). After Round 6, Joanna Liu is 4.5 out of 6.0 in the Girls U10 Division, while Kevin Moy is at 3.5 out of 6.0 in the Open U12 Division.
Other scorers from the Bay Area (out of 6 so far):
Baaji Daggaputi - Boys U8 - 4.5
Kelvin Jiang - Boys U8 - 2.5
Milind Maiti - Boys U8 - 3.0
Ben Rood - Boys U8 - 4.5
Joanna Liu - Girls U10 - 4.5
Rayan Taghizadeh - Boys U10 - 4.5
Ashritha Eswaran - Girls U12 - 4.5
Sam Sevian - Boys U12 - 5.5 (in first place)
Cameron Wheeiler - Boys U12 - 5.0
Kevin Moy - Boys U12 - 3.5
Vignesh Panchanatham - Boys U12 - 4.0
Siddharth Banik - Boys U12 - 4.0
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
World Youth Chess Tournament
The World Youth Chess Tournament, which is the Olympics and the Super Bowl combined of the international scholastic chess world, is taking place from November 7-19. This year, the tournament is being held in the ski resort city of Maribor, Slovenia. There are a total of 1587 total participants in various age categories. This is the most important youth chess event of the year, and therefore we see strong participation of much of the world's best young talents. 90+ participants from the United States are taking part this year in the event, ranging in ages from 6 to 17, including 15 from the Bay Area. Future sites include Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates for 2013 (August) and in Durban, South Africa in 2014 (September).
For the 5th year in a row, a current or former Weibel Elementary attendee will be participating in the event. This year, the participants are Horner Junior High and Weibel graduate 7th grader Kevin Moy in the Open U12 section, and former Weibel attendee 5th grader Joanna Liu in the Girls U10 section. For Kevin, this will be his first time at the World Youth, while this will be Joanna's 2nd trip to the World Youth. Joanna represented the US at the World Youth tournament two years ago in Greece in the Girls U8 division.
Other Weibel attendees in the past were Alisha Chawla (2008, 2009) and Michael Wang (2011).
The official website for more information is at http://www.wycc2012.com. Live games and results can be seen at http://www.chessdom.com and at http://www.chess-results.com. Look for further updates on this blog as well.
For USA qualification rules for future World Youth tournaments, please refer to the USCF guidelines page here (subject to change).
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