Congrats to Four State Champions!

I am deeply honored to be the coach of four CalChess scholastic champions for 2010. The winners competed in three of the five Varsity sections: K-5, K-6 and K-8. Although nearly half of my private students attend high school, I was unable to claim the K-12 division this year because the masters all stayed at home. However, the Saratoga High chess team won again, now for a state record sixth year in a row! Way to go students!!!

• James Kwok (top left) -- clear champ in K-8 (fourth title after K-3, K-3, K-6)
• Neel Apte (bottom left) -- co-champ in K-6 (third title after K-3, K-5)
• Kyle Shin (bottom right) -- co-champ in K-6 (second title after K-5)
• Rahul Mohan (top right) -- co-champ in K-5

Another six private students, plus one former student, scored at least 4.5 out of 6 to earn a spot on the informal 2010 All-Fpawn Team. Kudos to Brian Wai (K-12), Arthur Liou (K-12), Edward Li (K-8), Roland Zhu (K-8), Aamir Azhar (K-8), Tudor Muntean (K-8) and Joshua Cao (K-6). Our dominance was greatest in junior high, where five of my students ended up in the top eight finishers (4.5 points or more). Likewise, we claimed three of the top six spots (4.5 points or more) in the elite elementary section. Woot!