Tanuj Leads at National Elementary Championships

First grader Tanuj Vasudeva leads a small delegation of CalChess members attending the Bert Lerner National Elementary Championships this weekend. The biggest annual USCF rated tournament in the country drew 2100 players and an even larger number of parents and coaches to Pittsburgh. The competitors range from unrateds to about a dozen class A players and even one expert, all in kindergarten through 6th grades.

After four rounds, Tanuj maintains a perfect score in the K-1 division. Rated 1545 after recent tournaments, he is by far the top seed in his section--although I'm not sure that ratings really mean much among players so young. Kyle Shin has 3.5 in the K-5 section. Three more local kids have 3.0 out of 4: Alisha Chawla (K-1), Allan Beilin (K-3) and Armaan Kalyanpur (K-3). Good luck to all of our local representatives!

Update on Sunday night: Tanuj won tonight and still leads with 5.0/5 in the K-1 section. Likewise, Kyle won and, thanks to draws on all of the top boards, he now shares first place with ten other players at 4.5/5 in the K-5 section. Unfortunately, Armaan drew while Allan and Alisha both lost, all to much lower rated opponents. This tournament is proving to be quite a challenge for these young kids. Good luck to all in Sunday's final two rounds!