fpawn chess blog: Andrew Hong

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Wednesday, November 4

Hunting for Medals in Greece

One of four tournament rooms in Porto Carras. Many girls play chess!

As the World Youth Championships enters the home stretch, the battle for the trophies reached a climax. After nine rounds, 3 players are currently in medal position and up to 11 others have a chance with a strong finish. In most sections, a final score of 8.5 or 9.0 will be required to reach the podium. The best hopes for Team USA lie in the U12 category, both Open and Girls. Indeed, NMs Andrew Hong and Carissa Yip have played among the leaders throughout the championships. Can they finish the deal? Other medal hopes lie with WIM Agata Bykovtsev in Girls U16 and NM Justin Wang in Open U10. Good luck to all!

The penultimate round has already begun. The final round starts bright and early on Thursday: 10AM in Greece or midnight in California. Check out the live games online! Hundreds of photos are available for viewing at Chessdom and Flickr.

Unfortunately, I am traveling for the next week with little internet access. I leave early tomorrow, before the last round begins. Readers will need to find the final results elsewhere.

Team USA Medal Contenders
(Updated after Round 9)
(Round 10 results in blue)

Open U18
- none

Open U16
- FM Cameron Wheeler 6.0 in 17th place -- drew

Open U14
- FM Nicolas Checa 6.0 in 16th place -- WON
- FM Rayan Taghizadeh 6.0 in 18th place -- drew

Open U12
- Andrew Hong 7.5 in 3rd place -- lost
- Hans Niemann 7.0 in 5th place -- lost
- CM David Peng 7.0 in 10th place -- WON
- Aydin Turgut 6.5 in 11th place -- lost
- FM Awonder Liang 6.5 in 12th place -- WON

Open U10
- Justin Wang 7.0 in 4th place -- drew
- CM Arthur Guo 6.5 in 13th place -- drew
- Anthony He 6.5 in 14th place -- drew
- Rohun Trakru 6.5 in 15th place -- drew

Open U8
- CM Aghilan Nachiappan 6.5 in 8th place -- lost
- Adi Murgescu 6.5 in 9th place -- WON
- Vishnu Vanapalli 6.5 in 10th place -- WON
- Lucas Foerster-Yialamas 6.5 in 11th place -- lost
- James Oh 6.0 in 17th place -- lost

Girls U18
- none

Girls U16
- WIM Agata Bykovtsev 7.0 in 3rd place -- WON
- WIM Ashritha Eswaran 6.0 in 11th place -- drew

Girls U14
- none

Girls U12
- Carissa Yip 7.5 in 2nd place -- WON
- WFM Martha Samadashvili 7.0 in 6th place -- drew

Girls U10
- Rochelle Wu 6.5 in 8th place -- lost
- WCM Nastassja Matus 6.5 in 9th place -- drew
- Rianne Ke 6.5 in 11th place -- WON
- WCM Aksithi Eswaran 6.0 in 19th place -- WON

Girls U8
- Maya Behura 6.0 in 19th place -- WON

N.B. Includes only players in Top 20 of standings after Round 9. Players ranked by the official tiebreaks. Bay Area representatives in orange.

Tuesday, November 3

Local Kids Play for Medals

USA teammates Aydin Turgut (white) and Andrew Hong shake
hands before playing in round 9. Photo by Kerrie Utsumi.

Two rounds remain at the World Youth Championships in Halkidiki, and half of the Bay Area participants have already clinched at least a 50% final score (5.5). Three remain in contention to earn a medal: NMs Andrew Hong and Hans Niemann in U12 plus Aghilan Nachiappan in U8. Andrew has the strongest chances since he is currently tied for first in U12 with two others.

The championships conclude with round 10 on Wednesday (5am PST) and round 11 on Thursday (Midnight PST). Watch the top boards in each section (except U8) LIVE! Go U-S-A!

Bay Area Juniors at World Youth
(Updated after Round 9)

Open U16
- FM Cameron Wheeler 6.0
Open U14
- FM Rayan Taghizadeh 6.0
Open U12
- NM Andrew Hong 7.5 in 3rd place
- NM Hans Niemann 7.0 in 5th place
- David Pan 5.0
Open U10
- William Sartorio 5.5
- Balaji Daggupati 5.5
- Christopher Yoo 5.5
- CM Chinguun Bayaraa 5.0
- Rishith Susarla 4.0
- Prarthan Ghosh 3.5
Open U8
- CM Aghilan Nachiappan 6.5 in 8th place
- Adrian Kondakov 4.5
- Sriram Krishnakumar 4.5
Girls U16
- WIM Eswaran Ashritha 6.0
Girls U14
- Simona Nayberg 4.0
- WFM Joanna Liu 5.5
- Serafina Show 3.5
Girls U12
- WCM Chenyi Zhao 4.5
- Hiya Ghosh 3.0
Girls U10
- WCM Aksithi Eswaran 6.0
- Annapoorni Meiyappan 5.5
Girls U8
- Wong, Allyson 5.0
- Yan Rui Yang 5.0

Monday, November 2

World Youth Tracker Rd 8

Temple of Poseidon, ancient Greek god of the sea. Photo by Ted Castro.

Team USA Statistics
(Updated after Round 8)

129 players (76 boys + 53 girls)
Round 6 :: 73.5 = 57%
Round 7 :: 63.0 = 49%
Round 8 :: 68.0 = 53%
Rounds 1-5 :: 368.0 = 57%
Rounds 6-8 :: 204.5 = 53%
Score 7.0 = 1
Score 6.5 = 4
Score 6.0 = 5
Score 5.5 = 14
Score 5.0 = 25
Score 4.5 = 26
Average = 4.4 / 8

After a week of intense chess in Halkidiki, several American medal hopefuls hit the proverbial wall in rounds 7 and 8. Is it homesickness or exhaustion? Irrespective, three more rounds remain, just enough time to get back on track and finish strong. One player who stayed on track is Justin Wang of Texas, co-leader of Open U10 with 7.0 out of 8. Tomorrow, he faces the other co-leader, a kid from Poland. Aside from Justin, the best medal chances for Team USA lie in U12, both Open and Girls. Indeed, six of the top 10 scores come from this age group, including three of the four 6.5s. Bay Area readers will recognize two of the 6.5s: NM Andrew Hong (U12) and Aghilan Nachiappan (U8). The other two are Massachusetts master Carissa Yip (Girls U12) and Aydin Turgut (U12) of Illinois.

Top Individual Results
(Updated after Round 8)

Open U18
- Aaron Grabinsky (2194) 4.5
- FM Christopher Wu (2324) 4.5
Open U16
- FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 5.5
Open U14
- CM Jacob Furfine (2174) 5.5
- FM Nicolas Checa (2437) 5.0
- FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 5.0
- FM David Brodsky (2251) 5.0
- Brandon Nydick (2160) 5.0
Open U12
- Aydin Turgut (1884) 6.5 in 3rd place
- Andrew Hong (2136) 6.5 in 5th place
- Hans Niemann (2046) 6.0 in 6th place
- CM David Peng (2231) 6.0
- FM Awonder Liang (2365) 5.5
- Kevin Yang (1904) 5.0
- Justin Paul (1926) 5.0
- Akira Nakada (1831) 5.0
Open U10
- Justin Wang (2046) 7.0 in 1st place
- Anthony He (1820) 6.0
- CM Arthur Guo (2073) 5.5
- Rohun Trakru (1517) 5.5
- Jason Wang (2040) 5.5
- CM Maximilliam Lu (1844) 5.5
- Benjamin Medina (1826) 5.0
- CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 5.0
- Jason Yu (1565) 5.0
- Nathaniel Shuman (1680) 5.0
- Daniel Hung (1538) 5.0
Open U8
- CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 6.5 in 5th place
- Adi Murgescu (unrated) 5.5
- Vishnu Vanapalli (unrated) 5.5
- Lucas Foerster-Yialamas (1687) 5.5
- James Oh (unrated) 5.0
Girls U18
- WCM Apurva Virkud (2027) 5.0
Girls U16
- WIM Agata Bykovtsev (2117) 6.0 in 4th place
- WIM Ashritha Eswaran (2207) 5.0
Girls U14
- WIM Annie Wang (2087) 5.0
- WCM Sasha Konavolenko (1670) 5.0
- Jie Tianhui (1792) 5.0
- WFM Joanna Liu (1857) 5.0
- WCM Priya Trakru (1780) 5.0

Girls U12
- Carissa Yip (2007) 6.5 in 2nd place
- WFM Martha Samadashvili (1711) 6.0
- WCM Naomi Bashkansky (1609) 5.0
Girls U10
- Rochelle Wu (unrated) 5.5
- WCM Nastassja Matus (1761) 5.5
- Rianne Ke (1392) 5.5
- WCM Aksithi Eswaran (1473) 5.5
- WCM Anh Nguyen (1462) 5.0
- Annapoorni Meiyappan (1246) 5.0
Girls U8
- Maya Behura (unrated) 5.0
- Allyson Wong (unrated) 5.0

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE. Includes players with a score of plus-2 or higher. Players ranked by tiebreaks at official standings. Bay Area in orange. Check back for periodic updates.

Saturday, October 31

CalChess Contenders at World Youth

FIDE Masters Cameron (L) and Rayan (R)
smile for Cam's mother Kerrie Utsumi.

The World Youth Championships in Greece have passed the midway point. Ten out of 22 Bay Area participants have maintained a Plus-2 score through Round 6, with another seven sitting at Plus-1! The masters Andrew, Cameron, Rayan and Ashritha are leading the local delegation by example. Five more rounds remain. Go U-S-A!

Bay Area Juniors at World Youth
(Updated after Round 6)

Open U16
- FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 4.5 in 7th place
Open U14
- FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 4.5 in 11th place
Open U12
- NM Andrew Hong (2136) 5.0 in 4th place
- NM Hans Niemann## (2046) 5.0 in 6th place
- David Pan (1848) 3.0
Open U10
- CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 4.5
- Christopher Yoo (1807) 2.5
- Balaji Daggupati (1767) 3.5
- William Sartorio (1725) 3.5
- Rishith Susarla (1505) 4.0
- Prarthan Ghosh (unrated) 2.0
Open U8
- Adrian Kondakov (1565) 4.5
- Sriram Krishnakumar (1280) 3.5
- CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 4.5
Girls U16
- WIM Eswaran Ashritha (2207) 4.0
Girls U14
- Simona Nayberg (1905) 3.5
- WFM Joanna Liu## (1857) 3.0
- Serafina Show (1593) 1.0
Girls U12
- Hiya Ghosh (1785) 1.0
- WCM Chenyi Zhao (1544) 3.5
Girls U10
- WCM Aksithi Eswaran (1473) 3.5
- Annapoorni Meiyappan (1246) 4.0
Girls U8
- Wong, Allyson (unrated) 3.0
- Yan Rui Yang (unrated) 3.5

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE. I am tracking a pair of players (Hans Niemann and Joanna Liu) who have ties to the Bay Area chess community, but now live out of state.

Friday, October 30

World Youth Tracker Rd 5

Unfortunately, USA teammates sometimes must face each other.
Here William Sartorio of CalChess plays Jason Wang of Ohio.

Team USA Statistics
(Updated after Round 5)

129 players (76 boys + 53 girls)
Round 4 :: 70.0 = 54%
Round 5 :: 72.0 = 56%
Rounds 1-5 :: 368.0 = 57%
Perfect 5.0 = 2
Score 4.5 = 4
Score 4.0 = 10
Score 3.5 = 25
Average = 2.9 / 5

Aristo Liu of Ohio proudly
wears red, white and blue.

Congratulations to masters Justin Wang (Open U10) of Texas and Carissa Yip (Girls U12) of Massachusetts for winning the first five rounds! FM Cameron Wheeler (Open U16) and NM Andrew Hong (Open U12) lead the Bay Area contingent with 4.5 each. Rest day on Friday. The tournament resumes on Saturday.

Top Individual Results
(Updated after Round 5)

Open U18
- Aaron Grabinsky (2194) 3.5
Open U16
- FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 4.5 in 2nd place
- Haik Der Maneulian (2163) 4.0
Open U14
- FM Nicolas Checa (2437) 4.5 in 2nd place
- FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 3.5
- FM David Brodsky (2251) 3.5
Open U12
- Andrew Hong (2136) 4.5 in 5th place
- Hans Niemann (2046) 4.0
- Aydin Turgut (1884) 4.0
- Justin Paul (1926) 3.5
- Kevin Yang (1904) 3.5
- FM Awonder Liang (2365) 3.5
- Wesley Wang (2004) 3.5
Open U10
- Justin Wang (2046) 5.0 in 2nd place
- Benjamin Medina (1826) 4.0
- William Sartorio (1725) 3.5
- CM Arthur Guo (2073) 3.5
- Anthony He (1820) 3.5
- Balaji Daggupati (1767) 3.5
- CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 3.5
- Jason Yu (1565) 3.5
- Rohun Trakru (1517) 3.5
- Gabriel Eidelman (1705) 3.5
Open U8
- Vishnu Vanapalli (unrated) 4.5 in 5th place
- Adrian Kondakov (1565) 4.0
- CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 4.0
- James Oh (unrated) 4.0
- Adi Murgescu (unrated) 3.5
- Arthur Xu (1782) 3.5
Girls U18
- WCM Apurva Virkud (2027) 3.5
Girls U16
- WIM Agata Bykovtsev (2117) 4.0 in 3rd place
- WIM Ashritha Eswaran (2207) 3.0
Girls U14
- WIM Annie Wang (2087) 4.0 in 4th place
- Jie Tianhui (1792) 3.5

Girls U12
- Carissa Yip (2007) 5.0 in 1st place
- Chenyi Zhao (1544) 3.5
Girls U10
- WCM Anh Nguyen (1462) 4.0
- Rochelle Wu (unrated) 3.5
- Julia Miyasaka (1512) 3.5
- Rianne Ke (1392) 3.5
- WCM Nastassja Matus (1761) 3.5
Girls U8
- Yan Rui Yang (unrated) 3.5

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE. Includes players with a score of plus-2 or higher (with one exception). Bay Area in orange. Check back for periodic updates. Photos from the official Chessdom photo gallery.

Monday, October 26

CalChess Well Represented in Greece

Ashritha at Pan Am Junior 2015

Rayan at World Youth 2014

Young chess players from the Bay Area comprise one-sixth of Team USA at the World Youth Festival in Greece. Four masters lead the local representatives: FM Cameron Wheeler (silver medal for U12 at 2012 World), FM Rayan Taghizadeh (bronze medal for U12 at 2014 World), WIM Ashritha Eswaran (winner of both 2015 US Junior Girls and 2015 Pan Am Junior Girls) and NM Andrew Hong (champion at 2015 US Elementary K-6 as a 4th grader). Overall, 13 boys and 9 girls, together with their dedicated parents, made the trip from San Francisco to Halkidiki. They will participate in every age group except U18.

Nine out of 22 Bay Area kids have achieved a perfect score through Round 2!!

Bay Area Juniors at World Youth
(Updated after Round 2)

Open U16
- FM Cameron Wheeler (2356) 2.0
Open U14
- FM Rayan Taghizadeh (2240) 2.0
Open U12
- NM Andrew Hong (2136) 2.0
- NM Hans Niemann## (2046) 2.0
- David Pan (1848) 1.0
Open U10
- CM Chinguun Bayaraa (1893) 2.0
- Christopher Yoo (1807) 1.0
- Balaji Daggupati (1767) 1.5
- William Sartorio (1725) 2.0
- Rishith Susarla (1505) 0.5
- Prarthan Ghosh (unrated) 0.0
Open U8

Young Adrian at Berkeley Chess
- Adrian Kondakov (1565) 2.0
- Sriram Krishnakumar (1280) 1.5
- CM Aghilan Nachiappan (unrated) 2.0
Girls U16
- WIM Eswaran Ashritha (2207) 2.0
Girls U14
- Simona Nayberg (1905) 1.0
- WFM Joanna Liu## (1857) 1.0
- Serafina Show (1593) 1.0
Girls U12
- Hiya Ghosh (1785) 0.0
- WCM Chenyi Zhao (1544) 1.0
Girls U10
- WCM Aksithi Eswaran (1473) 1.0
- Annapoorni Meiyappan (1246) 1.0
Girls U8
- Wong, Allyson (unrated) 1.0
- Yan Rui Yang (unrated) 2.0

N.B. All ratings above are FIDE. I am tracking a pair of players (Hans Niemann and Joanna Liu) who have ties to the Bay Area chess community, but now live out of state. If I omitted any other local kids playing in Greece, please contact me ASAP.

Friday, October 23

World Youth Begins in Halkidiki, Greece

The annual World Youth Chess Championships kick off this weekend in Porto Karras, a coastal resort in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece. Most Americans flew on Thursday, arriving on Friday in Thessaloniki via a stopover in western Europe. Team USA consists of a record 129 participants, supported by a dedicated army of parents and coaches. Overall, approximately 1600 players from more than 90 countries have registered, considerably more than South Africa in September 2014 and a modest increase over the same venue in October 2010, but less than United Arab Emirates in December 2013.

Girls and boys compete separately in six age divisions. The largest sections are in the U10, U12 and U14 age groups, each numbering over 180 boys or 110 girls. In a change from past years, there will be no double round. Thus, the schedule calls for 11 rounds over 12 days, including a rest day. Rounds begin at 3pm Greek time, 6am Pacific daylight time (5am after November 1). Traditionally, the boards in each section will be broadcast live.

Cameron, Sam and Kayden were all smiles in 2012.

Despite stiff competition from Russia and India, the American delegation has achieved modest success in recent years. For five straight years, Team USA has earned a gold medal! The best team result of 4 medals came in 2012, when future GMs Troff and Sevian captured gold in U14 and U12, respectively. In each of the past two years, the squad won a pair of medals, including one gold.

Best USA Results

Jennifer Yu, GOLD for Girls U12 in 2014
Awonder Liang, GOLD for U10 in 2013
Kayden Troff, GOLD for U14 in 2012
Sam Sevian, GOLD for U12 in 2012
Cameron Wheeler, Silver for U12 in 2012 (tied for first)
Awonder Liang, GOLD for U8 in 2011
Steven Zierk, GOLD for U18 in 2010
Sam Shankland, Bronze for U18 in 2008 (tied for first)
Daniel Naroditsky, GOLD for U12 in 2007

Steven celebrated his 2010 gold
medal on the beach in Halkidiki.

How will Team USA fare in Halkidiki? Players must recognize that the tournament is like a marathon, and one bad game does not mean disaster. Indeed, 8.5 may be sufficient to win a medal! Check out the following list of the top rated Americans in each section. N.B.: Ratings mean little for the youngest divisions; indeed many participants do not even have an international rating yet.

Whom to Watch on Team USA

#42 FM Chris Wu in U18
#28 FM Cameron Wheeler in U16
#2 FM Nicolas Checa and #25 FM Rayan Taghizadeh in U14
#2 FM Awonder Liang, #8 David Peng and #17 Andrew Hong in U12
#7 Arthur Guo, #9 Justin Wang and #10 Jason Wang in U10
No rating favorites in U8 (too many FIDE unrateds)
#32 Apurva Virkud in Girls U18
#7 WIM Ashritha Eswaran and #17 WIM Agata Bykovtsev in Girls U16
#11WIM Annie Wang in Girls U14
#3 Carissa Yip in Girls U12
No rating favorites in Girls U10 (too many FIDE unrateds)
No rating favorites in Girls U8 (too many FIDE unrateds)

For the latest news, check out the official Twitter feed @fidewycc2015. Dozens of photos daily at Chessdom Photo Gallery.

Sunday, May 10

Andrew Hong + MSJE Excel at K-6 Nationals

National Champions! MSJE K-6 team with Coach Joe. Photo by Donna DePietro Woods.

The 2015 National Elementary Championship concluded successfully for the 35 player contingent from Northern California. No fewer than 11 local children earned trophies for finishing in the top 25 or 30; plus another 5 picked up honorable mention. Nearly everyone who made the trip to Nashville (30 out of 35) finished with a respectable "plus score" of 4.0 or more. Well done!

This shirt (from 2012) needs an update!

Congratulations to Saratoga 4th grader NM Andrew Hong for sweeping the tough K-6 section with a 7-0 score. He came, he saw and he conquered! It is difficult being the top seed, because each opponent has prepared specifically for you. Andrew took it in stride, vanquishing second seeded Alexander Costello from San Diego in the penultimate round. Congrats also to 3rd grader Maurya Palusa for finishing alone in second place in K-3, winning six games and drawing one.

Once again, legendary coach Joe Lonsdale guided his Mission San Jose Elementary squad to victory at Nationals. The K-6 team seized the pole in round 3 and barely held on, nudging ahead of IS 318 from the Bronx on superior tiebreaks. This is the third K-6 national championship for MSJE since 2009! Competing schools bring along Grandmasters and other professional chess trainers. MSJE has smart kids and the irreplaceable Coach Joe. The Fremont program garnered trophies in K-3 and K-5 as well, 4th and 8th place, respectively. Kudos all around!

Click here for PAIRINGS and RESULTS.
Final scores after Round 7.

K-6

NM Andrew Hong 2255 7.0 -- clear 1st place
David Pan 2087 MSJE 5.5 -- 6th place (tied for 5th)

Karthik Padmanabhan 2021 5.5 -- 11th place (tied for 5th)
Annapoorni Meiyappan 1656 MSJE 5.0 -- honorable mention
Rishith Susarla 1906 MSJE 4.5
Daniel Mendelevitch 1643 4.0
Kavya Sasikumar 1438 MSJE 4.0
MSJE team 1772 19.0/28 -- 1st place on tiebreaks

K-5

Milind Maiti 1899 5.5 -- 10th place

William Sartorio 1814 5.0 -- 26th place (tied for 22nd)
Anaiy Somalwar 1887 5.0 -- honorable mention
Chenyi Zhao 1815 5.0 -- honorable mention
Oliver Wu 1789 5.0 -- honorable mention
Jeffrey Liu 1287 MSJE 4.0
Atul Thirumalai 1333 MSJE 4.0
Abhinav Raghavendra 1167 MSJE 4.0
Leo Jiang 1404 MSJE 4.0
MSJE team 1298 16.0/28 -- 8th place (tied for 7th)

K-3

Maurya Palusa 1831 6.5 -- clear 2nd place

Kevin Pan 1807 MSJE 5.5 -- 11th place (tied for 7th)
Christopher Yoo 1761 5.5 -- 12th place (tied for 7th)
Stephen He 1247 MSJE 5.5 -- 21st place (tied for 7th)
Aidan Chen 1199 MSJE 4.5
Arnav Lingannagari 1211 MSJE 4.0
Allyson Wong 1132 MSJE 4.0
Nicholas Jiang 1152 MSJE 4.0
MSJE team 1366 19.5/28 -- 4th place

K-1

Sriram Krishnakumar 1323 6.0 -- 3rd place
Adrian Kondakov 1500 6.0 -- 6th place (tied for 3rd)
Nikko Le 804 5.0 -- honorable mention
Nikhil Parvathaneni 1034 4.5
Nitish Nath 1067 4.5
Jason Liu 439 MSJE 4.0

Friday, May 8

MSJE Hunting for More Trophies in Nashville

A huge glass roof covers the Opryland Resort.

More than 2200 young chess enthusiasts plus their parents, siblings and coaches have descended upon the Nashville, Tennessee for the 2015 National Elementary Championship. That total includes 35 kids from the Bay Area, all eager to take home a giant trophy. Can the California boys (and girls) prove their might once again? I think so!!

Top rated Andrew Hong

A dozen local youngsters enter the weekend seeded in the top 20 of their section, led by NM Andrew Hong, surprisingly the only master in the tournament. Unfortunately, it is difficult being King of the Hill when literally everyone in the field is underrated--some more than others. Watch out for the perennial powers of New York!

The only school team to travel to the Gaylord Opryland Resort was Mission San Jose Elementary of Fremont, fresh off an impressive performance at the CalChess Scholastics last weekend. Coach Joe Lonsdale speaks highly of his teams in K-6 and K-3; even the weaker K-5 squad could finish well. We shall see!

Click here for PAIRINGS and RESULTS.
Scores updated on Saturday evening after Round 5.

K-6

NM Andrew Hong 2255 5.0 -- clear leader
David Pan 2087 MSJE 4.5 -- tied for 2nd

Karthik Padmanabhan 2021 4.5 -- tied for 2nd
Rishith Susarla 1906 MSJE 3.5
Annapoorni Meiyappan 1656 MSJE 3.5
Daniel Mendelevitch 1643 3.0
Kavya Sasikumar 1438 3.0
MSJE team 1772 14.5/20 -- tied for 1st

K-5

Coach Joe with MSJE K-6 team at States.

Milind Maiti 1899 4.5 -- tied for 5th

William Sartorio 1814 4.5 -- tied for 5th
Anaiy Somalwar 1887 3.5
Chenyi Zhao 1815 3.0
Oliver Wu 1789 3.0
Leo Jiang 1404 MSJE 3.0
Jeffrey Liu 1287 MSJE 3.0
Abhinav Raghavendra 1167 MSJE 3.0
MSJE team 1298 11.5/20 -- tied for 6th

K-3

Maurya Palusa 1831 4.5 -- tied for 4th

Kevin Pan 1807 MSJE 4.5 -- tied for 4th
Christopher Yoo 1761 4.0
Stephen He 1247 MSJE 3.5
Aidan Chen 1199 MSJE 3.5
Arnav Lingannagari 1211 MSJE 3.0
MSJE team 1366 14.5/20 -- 4th place

K-1

Sriram Krishnakumar 1323 5.0 -- co-leader
Adrian Kondakov 1500 4.0
Nitish Nath 1067 4.0
Nikhil Parvathaneni 1034 3.5
Nikko Le 804 3.0
Jason Liu 439 MSJE 3.0

Best of luck to all of the players! Bring home the hardware!

Friday, May 1

NorCal Top 20 Elementary

NM Andrew Hong. By Chessdryad

nm Josiah Stearman. By Daily Cal

Top 20 Elementary

(Age 11 & Under)

NM Hong, Andrew Zhang (10) 2255
nm Stearman, Josiah Paul (11) 2100
Pan, David (11) 2087
Daggupati, Balaji (10) 2010
Feng, Justin (11) 1993

CM Chinguun Bayaraa. By Chessdryad

CM Bayaraa, Chinguun (9) 1977
Susarla, Rishith (10) 1906
Maiti, Milind (9) 1899
Somalwar, Anaiy (10) 1887
Chang, Eliam Huai-Yang (11) 1874
Palusa, Maurya (9) 1831
Peng, Andrew (9) 1831
Mccarty-Snead, Callaghan (9) 1817
Zhao, Chenyi (11) 1815
Sartorio, William Jiarui (10) 1814
Ho, Stephen R (11) 1813
Zhang, Jason Shuhe (11) 1810
Pan, Kevin (9) 1807
WCM Garai, Antara (11) 1804
Yoo, Christopher Woojin (8) 1761

Check out this table for rating changes over the past year and FIDE ratings.
Generated from the USCF Top 100 lists.
Last updated using the April 2015 supplement.

Wednesday, January 14

Teenage Mutant Chess Masters

11 y/o NM Hans Niemann (by parents)

10 y/o NM Andrew Hong (by Shorman)

The explosion of scholastic chess in the Bay Area has resulted in the proliferation of a mutant subspecies of chess master. Most of these mental wizards mastered the relevant skills in their early teens, and a few even younger than that! Overfeeding of adult masters forced the mutants to compete against each other, and they studied diligently merely to keep up with peers.

The net results are astonishing: no fewer than 23 local youngsters under age 18 lay claim to the distinguished title of National Master! That's 7 more than just three months ago. Even the legendary state High School championships of 1997 (Zilberstein, Bhat, Mont-Reynaud, Pruess, Frenklakh) and 2006 (Schwarz, D.Wang, Yap, M.Ho, Shankland, Naroditsky) cannot compare to the current tidal wave of precocious masters.

Top CalChess Juniors (rated above 2150 on January supplement)

Rank	Age	Name	USCF	FIDE
1	17	IM Liou, Yian	2502	2417
2	15	IM Viswanadha, Kesav	2389	2404
3	14	FM Wheeler, Cameron	2383	2282
4	14	FM Panchanatham, Vignesh	2365	2303
5	17	NM Richter, Paul	2281	2220
6	14	NM Banik, Siddharth G	2274	2154
7	13	NM Wang, Michael	2269	2112
8	15	NM Chow, Colin	2265	2123
9	16	NM Zhu, Jack Qijie	2254	2092
10	12	FM Taghizadeh, Rayan	2238	2160
11	15	NM Virtanen, Teemu (FIN)	2213	1985
12	15	NM Beilin, Allan	2212	2093
13	17	NM Sun, Jerome	2211	2045
14	15	NM Nagarajan, Pranav	2202	2163
15	11	NM Niemann, Hans Moke	2200	2192
16	11	nm Stearman, Josiah Paul	2195	2007
17	10	NM Hong, Andrew Zhang*	2192	2146
18	13	FM Vasudeva, Tanuj	2190	2013
19	14	nm Jirasek, Ladia**	2190	1972
20	16	Klotz-burwell, Hunter	2188	2104
21	14	nm Iyengar, Udit	2177	2035
22	15	NM Zhao, Art***	2174	2034
23	17	nm Liu, Daniel	2159	2091
24	15	Bick, Gabriel	2156	1939
25	14	Moy, Kevin	2155	1966
26	14	nm Eswaran, Ashritha	2150	1954

nm = NM but currently rated under 2200
* Andrew broke 2200 at New Year Open
** Ladia broke 2200 at NM Lawless Champ but fell below at New Year Open
*** Art broke 2200 at North American Open

All told, there are 2 International Masters, 4 FIDE Masters, 16 rated above 2200 on January rating list. And here's a special round of applause for the newest masters, those who broke 2200 since this post dated September 19: Teemu, Jerome, Pranav, Hans, Andrew, Ladia and Art! (Corrected 1/20)

Who's next?

Sunday, September 28

Medal Hopes in Durban

Flags of the 87 countries hang from ceiling.

After ten days of intense competition, the World Youth Chess Championships in South Africa are drawing to a close. For the American delegation, the hunt for medals reaches a climax, with 7 players ranked in the top 4 for their section and an amazing 20 in the top 11 spots on tiebreaks. Many of these children could claim a medal simply by winning the last two rounds. Round 10 is underway as I write these sentences and Round 11 begins at 1:00 PDT on Monday morning.

The best medal chances for Team USA lie in the following sections:

Girls-U12: Jennifer and Akshita are clear 1st + 2nd and decide gold among themselves.
Boys-U12: David is tied for 1st, Praveen is 3rd, and Rayan + Aravind are tied for 4th.
Girls-U8: Rianne is tied for 3rd with Aksithi and Rochelle just 0.5 behind.
Boys-U10: Aydin is tied for 3rd while Andrew lurks 0.5 back.
Boys-U8: No Americans are in top 6, but somehow 6 squeezed into the top 14.

How many medals will Team USA collect? Coach Ben Finegold predicted five medals at the start of the tournament. Will he be right? Stay tuned!

The CalChess kids have performed well too, with five scoring 6.0 or 6.5. Three have realistic medal hopes if they can win the final two games: Rayan (B12), Aksithi (G8) and Andrew (B10). Ashritha (G12) and Vignesh (B12) should finish in the top 10 with 1.5 out of the last two games. Good luck!!

Sunday late night update: The Sunday round proved tragic for many of the American players. Sigh! The best chances remain in the Boys and Girls U12 sections. At least there will be one medal -- Jennifer Yu (G12) clinched gold! The CalChess medal hopes rest on the shoulders of Rayan (B12) and Aksithi (G8), while Vignesh can finish top 5 with a win. Round 11 begins at 10:00am in Durban -- 1:00am in California. Go U-S-A!!

Team USA -- Average Score: 5.4 out of 9 (60%).
Team USA -- Average Score: 5.8 out of 10 (59%).

Boys-U8

Nathaniel Shuman 6.0 (7th place) Drew Round 11 - Final 15th place
Rohun Trakru 6.0 (8th place) Won Round 11 - Final 10th place
Jason Yu 6.0 (9th place) Won Round 11 - Final 11th place
Rithik Polavaram 6.0 (11th place) Won Round 10 - Final 9th place
Arthur Guo 5.5 (12th place) Won Round 10 + Drew Round 11 - Final 8th place
Pranav Prem 5.5 (14th place) Won Round 10 - Final 14th place

Girls-U8

Rianne Ke 6.5 (4th place) - Final 14th place
Aksithi Eswaran 6.0 (CalChess) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 5th place
Rochelle Wu 6.0 (11th place) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 6th place

Boys-U10

Aydin Turgut 7.0 (4th place) - Final 14th place
Andrew Hong 6.5 (9th place) (CalChess) Won Round 11 - Final 10th place
Maximillian Lu 5.5 Won Round 11 - Final 25th place
Christopher Shen 5.5 Won Round 11 - Final 22nd place

Girls-U10

Martha Samadashvili 6.0 (11th place) Won Round 10 - Final 8th place
Natassja Matus 5.5 Won Round 10 + Drew Round 11 - Final 10th place
Evelyn Zhu 5.5 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 6th place

Boys-U12

David Peng 7.5 (2nd place) Drew Round 10 - Final 5th place
Praveen Balakrishnan 7.0 (3rd place) Drew Round 11 - Final 12th place
Rayan Taghizadeh 6.5 (CalChess) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - BRONZE MEDAL
Aravind Kumar 6.5 (6th place) - Final 25th place
Awonder Liang 6.0 (14th place) Drew Round 10 - Final 24th place
David Brodsky 5.5
Marcus Miyasaka 5.5
Hans Niemann 5.0 (CalChess) Won Round 11 - Final 40th place

Girls-U12

Jennifer Yu 8.0 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - GOLD MEDAL
Akshita Gorti 7.0 (clear 2nd) - Final 12th place
Camille Kao 5.5
Ramitha Ravishankar 5.5
Chenyi Zhao 4.5 (CalChess) Won Round 10 - Final 34th place

Boys-U14

Vignesh Panchanatham 6.0 (CalChess) Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 5th place
Angel Hernandez-Camen 5.5 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 10th place
Bryce Tiglon 5.5 Won Rounds 10 and 11 - Final 11th place

Girls-U14

Ashritha Eswaran 6.0 (CalChess) Drew Round 10 + Won Round 11 - Final 7th place
Priya Trakru 5.0 Drew Round 11
Tianhui Jie 5.0 Won Round 10

Boys-U16

Kapil Chandran 6.5 (6th place) - Final 14th place
Edward Song 5.5 Drew Round 10 - Final 19th place

Girls-U16

Apurva Virkud 6.0 (10th place) - Final 17th place
Agata Bykovtsev 6.0 (14th place) - Final 19th place

Boys-U18

Atulya Shetty 6.0 (10th place) - Final 27th place

Girls-U18

Jessica Regam 5.5 (15th place) - Final 28th place

Wednesday, September 24

Cal Kids Strong in South Africa

Inside the Playing Hall

After a very hectic 6 rounds over 4 days, today is the rest day at the World Youth Champs in Durban. Some participants even took advantage the opportunity for a real African safari! The chess tournament resumes tomorrow with the leisurely pace of one round per day through Monday. Follow the top 10 boards in each section LIVE at the official website starting at 7:00am PDT.

Aksithi Eswaran

Team USA continues to score well at 62% overall. Two girls have staked a 1/2 point lead in their respective sections, and a third player finds himself in a tie for first. Three more guys share second place at the midpoint of the event. Congratulations to Aksithi (G8), Jennifer (G12), Rayan (B12), Rohum (B8), Andrew (B10) and Christopher (B16)! By my count, 14 juniors occupy the Top 10 in their section, and nearly half (34 of 70) currently have a score of 4.0 or more. Of course, a lot can happen over the final 5 rounds.

The 7 CalChess representatives have contributed well to the statistics espoused in the previous paragraph. Aksithi Eswaran leads Girls-U8 outright while her older sister Ashritha led Girls-U14 before a setback in round 6. Andrew Hong and Rayan Taghizadeh carry the standard for the guys, both with 5.0 in Boys-U10 and Boy-U12, respectively. Vignesh Panchanatham stands at 4.0, ready to continue his winning ways after two defeats earlier. Check out his daily blog reports!

Team USA -- Average Score: 3.7 out of 6 (62%).

Boys-U8

Rohun Trakru 5.0 (tied for 2nd)
Jason Yu 4.5
Pranav Prem 4.5