June Top 100 Lists

(Left: NM Rohan Agarwal and IM Sam Shankland. Center: FM Danya Naroditsky and NM Steven Zierk. Right: Vignesh Panchanatham and Cameron Wheeler.)

The USCF posted the June Top 100 lists, including all tournaments rated by May 1 and an age cutoff also on May 1. Please note that the CalChess Scholastics on May 2-3 did not make the cutoff and will be rated on the July rating supplement.

I also finally updated the CalChess Top 100 lists for the first time since last October. Sadly, nobody else appears willing to dedicate 2-3 hours every other month to maintain these rankings, leaving the dirty work to me. Gee thanks!

Nine Northern California players have earned my gold medal distinction for being ranked in the top 5 of the country for their age. Three kids are ranked #1 in June: Tanuj Vasudeva (1767 at age 7), Samuel Sevian (2003 at age 8) and the veteran FM Danya Naroditsky (2378 at age 13). Congratulations to these three stars and best of luck in pursuit of their goals (IM title for Danya, NM for Samuel and 1800 + 2000 for Tanuj). A fourth #1 would have been NM Nicholas Nip, but his USCF membership expired at the end of February and, regretably, his family and coaches apparently chose other activities.

The two highest rated high school students in the Bay Area, IM Sam Shankland and NM Steven Zierk, are both ranked #2 at their age. Two middle school students, NM Greg Young and CalChess K-12 champion Yian Liou, check in at #3. Finally, I would like to welcome National K-3 champion Cameron Wheeler and the "master gambiteer" NM Rohan Agarwal as they earn their first gold medals on my blog!

GOLD MEDAL (top 5)
Tanuj Vasudeva (#1 age 7)
Samuel Sevian (#1 age 8)
Cameron Wheeler (#5 age 8)
Yian Liou (#3 age 11)
FM Danya Naroditsky (#1 age 13)
NM Greg Young (#3 age 14)
NM Steven Zierk (#2 age 15)
NM Rohan Agarwal (#5 age 16)
IM Sam Shankland (#2 age 17)

Players ranked in the top 10 and top 25 of the country also deserve a special recognition. The names shown in bold and italics are all current or former students of mine.

SILVER MEDAL (top 10)
Rayan Taghizadeh (#7 age 6)
Arun Khemani (#9 age 6)
John Canessa (#10 age 7)
Kesav Viswanadha (#9 age 9)
Jack Zhu (#8 age 10)

BRONZE MEDAL (top 25)
Alisha Chawla, Jeffrey Tao, Allan Beilin, Vignesh Panchanatham, Armaan Kalyanpur, Neel Apte, Kyle Shin, Daniel Zheng, Jerome Sun, Daniel Liu, Hemang Jangle, Hayk Manvelyan, Adarsh Konda, Michael Zhong

USCF Election and Endorsements

(From left to right: FM Bill Goichberg, WIM Ruth Haring and Jim Berry.)

Update on June 3. I included my most relevant USCF forum posts in the comments section at the bottom of this item. They offer additional insight into the entire legal mess.

The US Chess Federation faces a severe leadership crisis during which two elected members of the Executive Board have neglected their responsibilities to the Federation and, instead, filed a lawsuit against the USCF, other Board members and several third parties. In my opinion, the $25 million (later reduced to $10M) lawsuit by GM Susan Polgar is frivolous and without merit, especially as it pertains to the Federation.

To the contrary, I believe that Polgar and her husband FM Paul Truong engaged in a pattern of selfishness and deception dating back to the previous election two years ago. They hid the nature of their relationship from the voters and later Truong declined to cooperate with an investigation of allegedly slanderous internet posts. I deeply regret endorsing Polgar in 2007 and I am further disappointed that the electorate made the mistake of also electing her husband.

The lawsuits must end for the USCF to move forward and promote chess in a positive manner. Unfortunately, Polgar and Truong remain on the Board for another two years. If two candidates loyal to them get elected, then they have the potential to destroy the USCF as we know it. That makes the election so highly important.

All USCF adult members (age 16 and older) will receive a ballot in the June issue of Chess Life magazine, or through a separate mailing if they don't receive the periodical. Please vote! One contributing cause to this mess is that less than 15% of eligible voters do, in fact, vote, increasing the odds of a fringe candidate being elected (e.g. Sam Sloan in 2006).

Here are my endorsements for the 2009 USCF Executive Board election. You may vote for up to 4 candidates.

• Bill Goichberg. A FIDE master and a veteran of chess politics, Goichberg owns the Continental Chess Association and organizes many of the largest tournaments around the country, including the World Open, Chicago Open and North American Open (plus lesser events such as Concord and Agoura Hills). He is the ultimate insider, but has the knowledge and leadership to guide the Federation in this time of need. While owning the CCA does present a conflict of interest on the Board, he has demonstrated the ability to manage both roles well over the years. Goichberg currently serves as USCF President, but term limits would prevent him from continuing in that role if reelected.
• Ruth Haring. Living in Chico, Haring is the local candidate in this election. She holds the international title of WIM and recently returned to the chess community after a layoff of over 20 years. During this time off, she managed large projects for well-known corporations such as IBM, Lockheed and eBay, gaining skills that she seeks to apply to the USCF crisis. Her commitment to chess is also unquestioned; she played in the US women's championship many times in the 1970s and represented the USA at five Olympiads. Haring's husband is GM Peter Biyiasas and one son, Theodore Biyiasas, is an active 1600 level player.
  
• Jim Berry. Hailing from Oklahoma, Berry came to national prominence when he and his brother Frank personally organized and financed the US Championship in 2007 and 2008. He is an easygoing man who loves chess, playing in about 10 tournaments a year. As the second incumbent in the race (Goichberg is the other), Berry has contributed his lifelong expertise in business and finance to the USCF.

I only endorsed three candidates. Readers may wish to vote for a fourth, choosing between Mike Atkins, Mike Nietman and Mikhail Korenman. However, I have modest reservations about each of these individuals and cannot give them my stamp of approval.

I strongly oppose the other candidates in the election: IM Blas Lugo, Eric Hecht, Brian Mottershead, Brian Lafferty (he withdrew recently) and Sam Sloan. I do not believe any have the skills or temperment needed to promote chess and get us out of the legal mess.

Long Weekend of Chess in Chicago

(The Westin Chicago North Shore was my home this weekend.)

For the second year in a row, I chose the Chicago Open as a place to relax and play chess after coaching my students at the CalChess Scholastics and Supernationals. With no students or close friends in attendance, this was the perfect opportunity to concentrate on my own games. I ended up with a respectable 5.0 out of 7, good enough for a share of 6th place in the U2300 division.

The field was extremely competitive with many strong players; the winner, 18 year old Tyler Hughes of Colorado, just came from the US Championship last week in St. Louis, where he finished at 4.0 out of 9. I started out poorly with a short win, two ugly draws and a painful opening mistake against veteran FM Renard Anderson. Fortunately, I recovered with three straight wins, culminating with the black side of a b3 Sicilian against young Cuban-American WFM Liulia Cardona. The highlight of my tournament was a marathon win against NM Ariel Levi of Michigan in round 6--a game full of wild tactics and time scrambles both at move 40 and at the end. (Click on links to view games on Chess Publisher.)

Somehow, I managed to score 3.5 out of 4 against teenagers (two masters and two experts) but merely 1.5 out of 3 against three floored 2200 adults, all 55 or older. I gained about 8 rating points USCF for my 2324 performance, but lost about the same points FIDE because my last two wins came against FIDE unrated opponents. Sigh!

Update: Here's a link to the Chicago Open rating report.

As a side note, it was a great weekend to be named Samuel at the Bay Area Chess Memorial Day tournament. Kudos to my student Sam Bekker (see photo at right) for winning the Expert section, jumping nearly 100 points to 1958! FM Kenan Zildzic of Sacramento won the Master section, ahead of IM Ricardo DeGuzman, NM Arjoe Loanzon and 8 year old Samuel Sevian. The young rising star drew with five masters including IM DeGuzman and even beat one of the state K-12 co-champions! His new rating is 2036. Simply amazing!

Time to Conquer Chicago

(Photo taken from the 95th floor of the Hancock Building.)

The fpawn has landed in Chicago. In fact, he has already been in the area for several days to visit and relax. The 18th annual Chicago Open chess tournament begins on this evening at the spacious Westin Chicago North Shore hotel in Wheeling, IL.

This weekend is one of the flagship events organized by USCF President Bill Goichberg and his Continental Chess Association. Despite the weak economy, nearly 600 players have already registered. Counting on-site entries, the total attendance will probably be near last year's 703. The prize fund of $100,000 is unconditionally guaranteed, including $8000 for 1st in the Open section and $6000 for 1st in each of the lower classes.

I signed up in the U2300 division again, hoping to improve on my tie for 3rd place last year with 5.5 out of 7. I know that it won't be easy! Hopefully I won't need to reenter into the wild 2-day schedule as I did a year ago. Fortunately, with no students here, I can focus strictly on myself without any coaching distractions. Wish me luck!

Those of you back in California, don't forget the Bay Area Chess Memorial Day event in San Jose. Choose between 3-day and 2-day (Sunday and Monday only) schedules. The top section will feature IM DeGuzman, FM Zildzic, NM Loanzon and one or two other masters.

Danya 6.0/11 at Young Stars!

Our local star FM Daniel Naroditsky played the final round of the Young Stars of the World (also called Somov's Memorial) invitational today in Kirishi, Russia. Check out the list of invitees here or read my report after round 3 at Chess Life Online.

After a topsy-turvy two weeks, Danya finished at "plus 1" or 6.0 out of 11 with 4 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. While the 2406 FIDE performance was not enough meet the strict requirements for an IM norm, Danya proved worthy of competing among some of the best young chess masters in Russia and the World. In fact, he drew against both of the co-champions, FM Daniil Dubov (2372) and GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2519), both from the host country. I wonder how many of the players in this tournament will become Grandmasters, perhaps even 2700+!?

IM John Donaldson accurately describes the way the event progressed in his weekly newsletter for the Mechanics' Institute. "He started off well scoring two and a half points from his first three games before castling queenside (three straight defeats). Daniel then showed excellent character by not losing another game in the event, closing with three and a half from five against the higher rated players in the competition."

The turning point of the tournament came in round 7 when, after three straight losses, Danya faced the top rated GM Shimanov with black. He trusted his pet Najdorf and earned a solid 20 move draw to stop the bleeding. With renewed confidence, he essayed his most spectacular win in the very next round against FM Vladimir Belous (2414). Danya was especially pleased after finding the tactic 35.Ng4!! with merely seconds on his clock. (Click on the hyperlinks to play through the games on java game viewer by Chess Publisher.)

Check out all of the tournament games at the official website or play through Danya's wins and draws in my ICC library. (Type /liblist fpawn and start at #70.)

Last Call for Summer Session I in June

Updated May 21: I have 14 sign-ups for Summer Session I. Most of the six students in Advanced class are rated 1400-1650 while eight students in Intermediate class are 1000-1300. Surprisingly, the average age seems to be quite young, around 9.

FPAWN CHESS
INTERNET CHESS CLASSES AND SUMMER TOURNAMENT

MICHAEL AIGNER
USCF Life Master
www.fpawn.com and fpawn.blogspot.com

Coach of Many Elite Juniors............................Each Class Begins with a 60-75 Min Lecture
Intermediate Class for Students 1000 to 1600...Three Homework Assignments per Session
Advanced Class for Students 1400 to 1800.......One G/30 Game Each Class (Not Rated)
Class Size Restricted to 10 Students................Internet Chess Club is $30/year for Juniors

Session I in June (dates have changed!!!)

• Advanced Class (1400-1800) on Monday evenings

• Dates 6/8, 6/15, 6/22, 6/29 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Modern Chess Champions: From Kramnik to Topalov, Anand and now Carlsen
  

• Intermediate Class (1000-1600) on Tuesday evenings

• Dates 6/9, 6/16, 6/23, 6/30 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Intermediate Endgames: King + Pawns and Rook + Pawns

Session II in July (tentative dates)

• Advanced Class (1400-1800) on Monday evenings

• Dates 7/6, 7/13, 7/20, 7/27 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Advanced Endgames: Rooks, Minor Pieces and Queens
  

• Intermediate Class (1000-1600) on Tuesday evenings

• Dates 7/7, 7/14, 7/21, 7/28 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Importance of Gaining Tempo
  

Update May 6: The early entries fall into the ranges 1400 to 1700 for Advanced and 1000 to 1300 for Intermediate, with quite a few kids under age 10.

FEE: $80 per 4-week Session. 25% discount to private students or if you attend both Sessions.

REGISTRATION: Send email to michael (at) fpawn (dot) com with your real name, ICC username, age, USCF rating, email address, phone number and the session you wish to sign up for. I will reply with further info, including the final dates and how to pay. First come, first served.

IMPORTANT INFO: All classes will be conducted on the Internet Chess Club. The instructor examines a board for students to follow. He sets up a position or studies a game, communicating through text (kibitz) and by drawing on the board. The students may also speak with the instructor through text (kibitz or tell). Newcomers to online chess should check out this tutorial.

WARNING: Online classes are not for everyone! It is easy for students to become distracted and it is difficult for the teacher to monitor them. Parents are expected to watch their children closely.

QUESTIONS? Send email to Michael Aigner at michael (at) fpawn (dot) com.

34th CalChess Scholastics Winners 1-3

Top 10 trophies plus ties for 10th place
Top 3 school teams
Click for official Crosstables and USCF Rating Report.
Photos of top individuals plus top team (click on thumbnails to enlarge).
Primary -- Elementary -- Secondary

1-3 Championship

1. Alvin Kong (3) 5.5 -- co-champion, MSJE
2. Art Zhao (3) 5.5 -- co-champion
3. Pranav Nagarajan (3) 4.5-- Forest Park
4. Steven Yuan (3) 4.5
5. Kevin Moy (3) 4.0
   
6. Rayan Taghizadeh (1) 4.0
7. Jeffrey Tao (3) 4.0
8. Udit Iyengar (3) 4.0
9. Chris Xiong (3) 4.0 -- Foster City
10. Aadeesh Shastry (3) 4.0 -- Forest Park
11. Joseph Wan (1) 4.0 -- MSJE
12. Leyton Ho (2) 4.0
13. Siddharth Banik (3) 4.0 -- Foster City
    

Top 1-3 school teams

1. Mission San Jose Elementary, 15.5
2. Forest Park Elementary, 15.0
3. Foster City Elementary, 13.5

34th CalChess Scholastics Winners 4-6 and 4-5

Top 10 trophies plus ties for 10th place
Top 3 school teams
Click for official Crosstables and USCF Rating Report.
Photos of top individuals plus top team (click on thumbnails to enlarge).
Fpawn current students in bold.
Primary -- Elementary -- Secondary

4-6 Championship

1. James Kwok (6) 5.0 -- co-champion, MSJE
   
2. Vignesh Panchanatham (3) 5.0 -- co-champion
3. Max Chen (6) 5.0 -- co-champion
4. Daniel Zheng (6) 4.5
5. Aakaash Rao (6) 4.5
   
6. Michael Meng (6) 4.5 -- Weibel
   
7. Hemang Jangle (6) 4.0 -- MSJE
   
8. Vikram Ganesh (6) 4.0 -- Forest Park
   
9. Austin Cheng (5) 4.0
   
10. Muhammed Mohideen (6) 4.0
11. Taylor McCreary (6) 4.0
12. Truman Leung (5) 4.0
13. Trisha Agrawal (6) 4.0 -- Forest Park
    

Top 4-6 school teams

1. Mission San Jose Elementary, 14.0
   
2. Weibel Elementary, 12.0
3. Forest Park Elementary, 11.0

4-5 Championship

1. Daniel Liu (5) 5.0 -- co-champion
   
2. Neel Apte (5) 5.0 -- co-champion
   
3. Colin Chow (4) 5.0 -- co-champion
4. Tanuj Vasudeva (2) 5.0 -- co-champion
5. Armaan Kalyanpur (4) 4.5 -- MSJE
   
6. Cameron Wheeler (3) 4.5
7. Hun Klotz-Burwell (5) 4.5
8. Joshua Chan (5) 4.0
9. Kevin Zhangxu (5) 4.0 -- MSJE
   
10. John Guiragossian (5) 4.0
    
11. Naveen Janarthanan (5) 4.0
    
12. Richard Yi (5) 4.0
    
13. Justin Wang (5) 4.0 -- Weibel
    
14. Rahul Mohan (4) 4.0 -- Stratford-DeAnza
    

Top 4-5 school teams

1. Mission San Jose Elementary, 14.5
   
2. Weibel Elementary, 12.5
3. Stratford-DeAnza Elementary, 7.5

Danya Wins Round 1

(Danya is on the left in the first photo and third from left in second photo. Click on each thumbnail for a clearer image.)

FM Danya Naroditsky won his first game at the Young Stars of the World invitational. His central pressure on the black side of the Sicilian Najdorf was just too much for his opponent Ganichev. Readers may check out all of the games at the official website.

Sunday update: Danya also won round 2 and is now the only player at 2-0. I uploaded Danya's games to my ICC library (type: /liblist fpawn) starting at game 30.

US Championship Begins in St. Louis

(On left, Friedel versus Onischuk. On right, Shankland vs Benjamin. Photos taken by official photographer Betsy Dynako.)

The 2009 US Championship began on Friday at the brand new Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. The competitors were welcomed during an impressive opening ceremony on Thursday evening, featuring many celebrities.

This year's elite field of 24 includes 15 Grandmasters and 4 talented teenagers. The top players include defending champion GM Yury Shulman (2697 USCF) plus three fellow members of the Olympiad team: GM Gata Kamsky (2798), GM Hikaru Nakamura (2757) and GM Alexander Onischuk (2736). The prize fund of over $130,000 includes a whopping $35,000 for first place, plus an additional $64,000 if that player can match Bobby Fischer's legendary perfect score in 1963-64.

Two Northern California masters earned a spot in the premier chess tournament in America. GM Josh Friedel received a wild card entry, no doubt on the strength of his fourth place showing (and GM norm) last year. CalChess State Champion IM Sam Shankland qualified by winning the State Champion of Champions tournament on ICC.

Both Josh and Sam had some chances to draw blood in the first round, but split the point against former US champions with white. Josh drew with GM Onischuk (2006 winner) while Sam drew versus GM Joel Benjamin (1997 and 2000). The round 2 pairings should prove just as challenging: Josh black against veteran GM Gregory Kaidanov and Sam black versus GM Larry Christiansen (2002).

Click to read the full round 1 report on Chess Life Online or to download the games.

Watch the games live on ICC beginning at noon Pacific time. If you can't find the games, look for the Events list under the menu options. Hopefully the relay from St. Louis will be better than it was today. And don't forget to cheer on our two local gladiators!

34th CalChess Scholastics Winners 9-12 and 7-8

Top 10 trophies plus ties for 10th place
Top 3 school teams
Click for official Crosstables and USCF Rating Report
Photos of top individuals plus top team (click on thumbnails to enlarge).
Fpawn current students in bold.
Primary -- Elementary -- Secondary

9-12 Championship

1. Yian Liou (6) 5.5 -- co-champion
2. Evan Sandberg (10) 5.5 -- co-champ and Denker representative
   
3. Arthur Liou (9) 5.0 -- MSJHS
   
4. Charles Sun (11) 4.5 -- Saratoga
   
5. Rohan Agarwal (10) 4.0
   
6. Steven Zierk (10) 4.0
7. Brian Wai (9) 4.0 -- Saratoga
   
8. Greg Bodwin (12) 4.0
   
9. Alan Naroditsky (12) 4.0
   
10. Evan Ye (9) 4.0 -- Saratoga
11. Paul Richter (6) 4.0
12. Kyle Shin (5) 4.0
13. Jeff Young (12) 4.0 -- Saratoga
    
14. Vincent Tian (9) 4.0 -- MSJHS
    

Top 9-12 school teams

1. Saratoga High School, 16.5
   
2. Mission San Jose High School, 14.5
   
3. Hanford High School, 9.5
   

7-8 Championship

1. Ted Xiao (8) 5.5 -- co-champion
2. Rahul Desirazu (8) 5.5 -- co-champion
3. Samyukta Bhat (8) 5.0 -- Polgar representative
   
4. Ojas Chinchwadkar (8) 4.5
   
5. Sudarsha Seshadri (8) 4.5
   
6. Kevin Garbe (8) 4.5
   
7. Sam Bekker (7) 4.0
8. Andrew Chen (8) 4.0 -- Windemere Ranch
   
9. Roland Zhu (7) 4.0 -- Windemere Ranch
   
10. Christopher Wu (8) 4.0
11. Kevin Hui (8) 4.0
12. Jonathan Uesato (8) 4.0
13. Aditya Kumar (8) 4.0
14. Thomas Gonda (7) 4.0
15. John Clara (8) 4.0
16. Ajaiyanand Rajendran (8) 4.0

Top 7-8 school teams

1. Windemere Ranch Middle School, 14.0
   
2. Hopkins Junior High School, 11.0
3. Foothills Middle School, 10.5
   

Blitz Tournament at Mechanics on Sunday

I just received this note from Chess Room director IM John Donaldson:

3rd Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz Tournament A chance to remember and pay tribute to an old friend May 10th (Sunday) at the Mechanics' Institute.

• When: Sunday, May 10th. Blitz tournament will be held from 2 to 4 pm. There will be a chance to reminiscence about Ray over light refreshments both before and after the event.
• Where: Mechanics' Institute
• Format: Five Double-Round Swiss or Round-Robin depending on entries.
• Guaranteed Prizes: 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100, 4th $75, 5th $50, 6th $25
• Entry Fee: $10. Free to IMs and GMs. Enter at tournament from 1pm to 1:45. Entries close at 1:45 pm please take note. No phone entries.

Come honor Ray's memory and help make this the largest and strongest blitz tournament in the history of Northern California chess!

Young Stars of the World

Several readers of this blog remarked at the absence of two-time CalChess High School champion FM Danya Naroditsky from last weekend's festivities in San Jose. No, he was not boycotting the state championship; instead he was preparing to fry bigger fish.

This week, Danya flew to St. Petersburg, Russia to play in the Somov's Memorial, better known as the Young Stars of the World tournament. Recent winners include Aleksandr Shimanov (2008), Ivan Popov (2006) and Sergey Karjakin (2005). This year's event isn't quite as strong as 2005, but still it is a strong Category 5 with IM norm possibilities. Like Danya, many of the participants are former World Youth champions. The format will be a 12-player round-robin at a time control of G/90 plus 30 second increment.

• GM Shimanov, Aleksandr (Russia 1992) ELO 2519 -- Defending Champion
  
• IM Ipatov, Alexander (Spain 1993) ELO 2486 -- 2nd place at 2008 LeMans Open
  
• Belous, Vladimir (Russia 1993) ELO 2414 -- 2009 Russian U16 Champ
  
• IM Narayanan, Srinath, (India 1994) ELO 2381 -- 2005 World U12 Champ
  
• FM Stukopin, Andrey (Russia 1994) ELO 2380
• FM Chan, Yi-Ren Daniel (Singapore 1994) ELO 2375 -- played in 2008 Olympiad
  
• FM Dubov, Daniil (Russia 1996) ELO 2372
• FM Bukavshin, Ivan (Russia 1995) ELO 2365 -- 2006 European U12 Champ
  
• FM Naroditsky, Daniel (USA 1995) ELO 2335 -- 2006 World U12 Champ
  
• FM Kovalev, Vladislav (Belarus 1994) ELO 2320
• FM Fedoseev, Vladimir (Russia 1995) ELO 2318
  
• Ganichev, Alexander (Russia 1994) ELO 2154

Danya faces a very stiff challenge in this talented field. He already played against Narayanan and Bukavshin at World Youth. Here's wishing him good luck!

Good news from Russia: Danya won in round 1 of Young Stars on Saturday morning! Check out all of the games online.

Judge Says No to Drug Testing of Chess Club

I found the following startling article on the website of the San Francisco Chronicle. I support the position of the USCF that performance enhancing and other illegal drugs cannot improve results in mental sports such as chess. Caffeine is not considered a drug.

"REDDING -- A Northern California high school district's drug testing of students taking part in competitive, nonathletic activities - such as the chess club, math team or school band - is an unjustified invasion of privacy, a judge ruled Wednesday in the first case of its kind in the state. ... Judge Monica Marlow of Shasta County Superior Court ... drew a distinction between students in the band or the chess club and student athletes."

Click here to read the full article.

Poll by Dana Mackenzie

Now that Yian Liou won the K-12 section of the CalChess Scholastics in 6th grade, the logical question is "What next?"

Actually, there is precedent: FM Danya Naroditsky won as a 5th grader and then tied for first last year too. This year, Danya sat out to prepare for the Young Stars of the World tournament near St. Petersburg, Russia (May 8-21).

Fellow chess blogger Dana Mackenzie asked the question and provided five choices. I added two more. Which is most likely?

1. Yian Liou wins seven high school championships in a row.
2. He doesn’t win seven in a row because he graduates early.
3. He doesn’t win seven in a row because 2008 champion FM-elect Steven Zierk gets revenge next year.
4. He doesn’t win seven in a row because, by the time he reaches high school, he is already too good to bother with scholastic chess.
5. He doesn’t win seven in a row because by the time he gets to high-school age, there is some other sixth-grader who is even better than he is!
6. (Fpawn) He doesn't win seven in a row because the three retirees FM Danya Naroditsky, NM Gregory Young or NM Nicholas Nip decide to lay down some smack.
7. (Fpawn) He doesn't win seven in a row because completing a good education takes priority over chess.
   

Saratoga High Wins 5th Straight State Title!

(Players from left to right: Charles Sun, Jeff Young, Sankash Shankar, Evan Ye, Amol Aggarwal, Brian Wai and Alex Lun hiding behind Amol.)

I wrote the following note to the Saratoga High School team yesterday and edited it for this blog. After six years, I have developed a close relationship with these kids. We traveled to many tournaments, beginning with the 2004 National Junior High School Championship in Tucson, AZ (see photo at right). Two years later, the team earned 3rd place at the 2006 National High School Championship in Milwaukee, WI! Four weeks ago, eight players and I flew to Nashville, TN for SuperNationals IV, but sadly we could only muster an 11th place result. The players came to the CalChess Scholastics hungry and eager to prove that they were still the team to beat. And they succeeded!

Dear Saratoga team,

Congratulations! You have proven yourselves worthy once again, earning a record-tying fifth straight CalChess High School team championship (Lowell High in San Francisco won five straight in early 1990s). The lead photo shows the team receiving the trophy.

You also earned six individual trophies. Kudos to Charles (4th place), Brian (7th), Evan (10th), Jeff (13th), Sankash (17th) and Alex (26th). Charles scored 4.5 points, then Brian, Evan and Jeff all had 4.0 and Sankash had 3.5. The team finished with 16.5, a full two points ahead of second place Mission High School from Fremont.

I want to single out 9th graders Brian and Evan. Math superstar Brian Wai (see photo at right) drew with top seed and defending champion FM-elect Steven Zierk in round 2 and then faced three straight experts on Sunday, drawing with all three, including the talented older brother of FM Danya Naroditsky. Evan Ye beat longtime Saratoga-killer Greg Bodwin (1878), beat a 1772 and drew with the older Naroditsky brother plus an 1823 rated 6th grader. Between the two of them, Brian and Evan combined for two upsets wins and six draws against opponents rated at least 150+ points higher! They lost only once, when Evan went down against the top seed Zierk. Nice work guys!

• Charles (1859) = 4.5 for clear 4th place
• Brian (1826) = 4.0 for 7th place (tied for 5th) -- drew FM-elect Zierk (2311) and A.Naroditsky (2035)
  
• Evan (1659) = 4.0 for 10th place (tied for 5th) -- beat Bodwin (1878) and drew A.Naroditsky (2035)
  
• Jeff (2013) = 4.0 for 13th place (tied for 5th)
• Sankash (1532) = 3.5 for 17th place -- beat Steiner (1681)
• Alex (1600) = 3.0 for 26th place
• Avinash (1531) = 2.5 for 29th place
• Amol (1239) = 2.5 for 31st place
• Kevin* (1729) = 4.5 for 6th place (tied for 4th *in 7-8 Varsity section)
  

I hope this exciting performance will inspire the younger members of the team to fill the shoes of those who will graduate (plus last year's grads David and Marvin). Charles will be the lone senior next year--clearly the baton has passed to next year's sophomores. Here's your challenge: Can you keep going the tradition of the Saratoga chess dynasty?

All six team members who graduated last year or will walk in June were admitted at elite universities. Two picked my alma mater Stanford, two chose Cal while one each picked UC San Diego and Marquette (Wisconsin). Indeed, there's life after chess in high school!

Signed, your coach Fpawn

This is what happens when you don't resign

Andrew Chen had a wee bit too much fun trying to checkmate his opponent with four knights and a bishop. Another student of mine promoted to two bishops of the same color. Of course, in both cases, the opponent could have avoided the ignominy by resigning.

Five State Champions!!!

(CalChess High School co-champions Yian Liou and Evan Sandberg pose with trophies.)

The reason why I did not post the results from the last weekend's CalChess Scholastics is because I am overwhelmed and speechless. In 2006, three of my students took first in three different sections. This year, I have an amazing five CalChess champions! Woot!

• Yian Liou and Evan Sandberg in K-12
• Ted Xiao in K-8 (not really my student, but he lives in my city and attends club)
  
• James Kwok in K-6
• Daniel Liu and Neel Apte in K-5

Yian, a precocious 6th grader from Alamo, continued the local trend of kids playing up and then winning the K-12 section! In the final round, he defeated defending champion FM-elect Steven Zierk to claim his share of the title. He also beat third seed Adarsh Konda on the road to victory. After his recent results, including a pair of wins against my nemisis IM Ricardo DeGuzman, it seems very likely that Yian will become the next local master under the age of 18. He is also a bundle of energy, as became apparent after the last round when he joined my older students in bughouse.

Evan is more your typical high school student, a quiet yet very likable 10th grader from San Francisco. His recent tournament results have become increasing strong; in fact, he leads the Mechanics' Institute Tuesday Night Marathon heading into tonight's final round. In San Jose, Evan defeated second seed NM Rohan Agarwal, crushing the notorious Philidor counter gambit. Since Yian is not old enough, Evan qualified to represent Northern California at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions in Indiana this August.

James, Daniel and Neel represent some of the brightest young talents in the Bay Area. James is the veteran of the group and is co-captain of the 2009 National K-6 champion and 5-time state champion Mission San Jose Elementary team. Neel flew in under the radar, saving his best for the biggest weekend of the year. Daniel is the new kid on the block; he was rated in the 800s just 18 months ago, gaining 1000 rating points since!

• Complete results.
• My photos on Flickr and Facebook. (please send other photo links to me)
• Photos by Richard Shorman on ChessDryad.
  
• USCF rating report.
  
• I plan to post more results and photos throughout the week, including a big final report on Friday (hopefully).
  

Here are the captions for photos below, from left to right:

• Neel (left) and Daniel (right) pose with their trophies and teacher.
• James smiles for the camera!
• Yian, Arthur Liou (3rd place K-12) and Daniel stand for a group photo.
  

Fpawn Summer Classes Are Baaaaaaack!

Back by popular demand....

FPAWN CHESS
INTERNET CHESS CLASSES AND SUMMER TOURNAMENT

MICHAEL AIGNER
USCF Life Master
www.fpawn.com and fpawn.blogspot.com

Coach of Many Elite Juniors............................Each Class Begins with a 60-75 Min Lecture
Intermediate Class for Students 1000 to 1600...Three Homework Assignments per Session
Advanced Class for Students 1400 to 1800.......One G/30 Game Each Class (Not Rated)
Class Size Restricted to 10 Students................Internet Chess Club is $30/year for Juniors

Session I in June (tentative dates)

• Advanced Class (1400-1800) on Monday evenings

• Dates 6/1, 6/8, 6/15, 6/22 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Modern Chess Champions: From Kramnik to Topalov, Anand and now Carlsen
  

• Intermediate Class (1000-1600) on Tuesday evenings

• Dates 6/2, 6/9, 6/16, 6/23 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Intermediate Endgames: King + Pawns and Rook + Pawns

Session II in July (tentative dates)

• Advanced Class (1400-1800) on Monday evenings

• Dates 7/6, 7/13, 7/20, 7/27 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Advanced Endgames: Rooks, Minor Pieces and Queens
  

• Intermediate Class (1000-1600) on Tuesday evenings

• Dates 7/7, 7/14, 7/21, 7/28 from 8:00 to 10:30 PDT
  
• Lecture Topic: Importance of Gaining Tempo
  

Update May 6: The early entries fall into the ranges 1400 to 1700 for Advanced and 1000 to 1300 for Intermediate, with quite a few kids under age 10.

FEE: $80 per 4-week Session. 25% discount to private students or if you attend both Sessions.

REGISTRATION: Send email to michael (at) fpawn (dot) com with your real name, ICC username, age, USCF rating, email address, phone number and the session you wish to sign up for. I will reply with further info, including the final dates and how to pay. First come, first served.

IMPORTANT INFO: All classes will be conducted on the Internet Chess Club. The instructor examines a board for students to follow. He sets up a position or studies a game, communicating through text (kibitz) and by drawing on the board. The students may also speak with the instructor through text (kibitz or tell). Newcomers to online chess should check out this tutorial.

WARNING: Online classes are not for everyone! It is easy for students to become distracted and it is difficult for the teacher to monitor them. Parents are expected to watch their children closely.

QUESTIONS? Send email to Michael Aigner at michael (at) fpawn (dot) com.