Friday, March 8

CalChess State Scholastics History





Bay Area Chess hosts the annual CalChess State Scholastic Championships this weekend in Santa Clara. This year is the 44th edition of a tradition that started at a school, but has grown to fill several halls of a major convention center. Roughly 1200 children compete in 16 sections divided by age and chess skill. On Sunday evening, state champions will be crowned for the five Championship divisions: K-3, K-5, K-6, K-8 and K-12.


Check out the following trivia from more than three decades. Unfortunately, the records from 1976 through 1985 are not readily available.

  • First exceeded 500 players = 1997
  • First exceeded 1000 players = 2001
  • Largest turnout = 1319 in 2006
  • New sections added = Elementary K-5 section was only introduced in 2007 while Kindergarten began in 1997
  • Most High School individual titles = Vinay Bhat won 4 from 1998-2002. Three masters won 3 times: Andy McManus (1987-1990), Dmitry Zilberstein (1994-1997) and Cameron Wheeler (2013-2015).
  • Most High School team titles = 6 shared by Lowell High (1986-1994) and Saratoga High (2005-2010)
  • Youngest High School winner = 5th grader Daniel Naroditsky
  • Three 5-time champions = Vinay Bhat (K-3, K-12, K-12, K-12, K-12), Neel Apte (K-3, K-5, K-6, K-8, K-8), and Cameron Wheeler (K-5, K-6, K-12, K-12, K-12)
  • Four 4-time champions = Micah Fischer-Kirshner (K-3, K-6, K-6, K-12), Adam Lischinsky (K-3, K-3, K-8, K-12), Daniel Naroditsky (K-3, K-6, K-12, K-12), and James Kwok (K-3, K-6, K-8, K-8) 
  • Eleven 3-time champions = Andy McManus, Alan Stein, Dmitry Zilberstein, Keith Yost, Daniel Schwarz, Steven Zierk, Yian Liou, Kyle Shin, Tanuj Vasudeva, Siddharth Banik, Kevin Pan
  • Grand Slam champions = None! Must win all four of K-3, either K-5 or K-6, K-8, and K-12. Eight juniors have won 3 out of 4. 
  • Champions to become GM = Vinay Bhat, Steven Zierk, Daniel Naroditsky
  • Champions to become IM = Alan Stein, Dmitry Zilberstein, Philip Wang, Yian Liou, Vignesh Panchanatham, Cameron Wheeler, Kesav Viswanadha
  • Current US Champion Sam Shankland never won at the CalChess Scholastics. However, he became adult State Champ at age 16 (a record that was recently broken).
  • The Schism of 2005 saw the CalChess Scholastics in Oakland compete against the CalNorth Regional in San Jose on same weekend. The Regional drew over twice as many kids (906 to 397).
  • More than 20 false 9-1-1 calls from public telephones marred the 1998 edition at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
  • Kudos to the main organizers = Ray Orwig, Dr. Alan Kirshner, Richard Peterson, Dr. Salman Azhar, and Dr. Judit Sztaray

Please contact Michael Aigner with errors, omissions, or additional trivia. Many thanks to Dr. Alan Kirshner for maintaining the records from 1986 to 2011. 

Sunday, January 6

San Francisco Mechanics - PRO Chess League


















Photos: GM Shankland (left, credit St. Louis CC) and GM Naroditsky (right, credit Llada).  

The Professional Rapid Online (PRO) Chess League returns to action this week on the Chess.com live server. The Bay Area is fortunate to have two strong teams in this worldwide competition. They battle in the Pacific Division against squads from San Diego, Seattle, Minnesota, Dallas, Australia and Chengdu (China). Each week, usually on Tuesday evenings, four team members rated under 2500 average each play four online games with the opposition at G/15 time control. After ten weeks, the top four teams in each Division advance to the league playoffs!

The San Francisco Mechanics are co-hosted by the Mechanics' Institute and the Berkeley Chess School. After failing to qualify for the inaugural season, the Mechanics took top honors in the league qualifier last November. The franchise actually has an extensive online history as one of the eight founding clubs of the now-defunct US Chess League. The Mechanics even brought home the USCL championship in 2006, led by a fearless young master who earned first team All Star honors on board 4!

That young master became the 2017 US Champion and is currently ranked #27 in the World. Sam Shankland will lead his hometown club after returning from Holland, where he faces Magnus Carlsen at the Tata Steel Masters beginning on Saturday. Fear not, San Francisco features five other Grandmasters, including child prodigy Parimarjan Negi of India and local superstar Daniel Naroditsky, who both studied at Stanford University. GM Vinay Bhat and GM Steven Zierk also sharpened their skills as juniors in the Bay Area and eagerly represent the Mechanics. The final Grandmaster is free agent Yannick Gozzoli of France, one of the 2018 co-national champions (check out this interview).

The roster includes two International Masters and a quintet of nationally ranked juniors who frequent tournaments at either the San Francisco or Berkeley clubs. IM Yian Liou and IM John Donaldson participated on the USCL teams of the past decade. These two veterans are reinforced by teenagers IM-elect Andrew Hong, IM-elect Ladia Jirasek and three other masters. Expect the Mechanics to spread weekly assignments around to give all the opportunity to shine.

San Francisco kicks off the season against their regional rivals, the San Jose Hackers. Hoping for a strong start, they unveil a triple GM lineup for Week 1: GM Naroditsky, GM Gozzoli, GM Bhat and FM Ezra Chambers. Check out the action on Tuesday evening starting at 5:25PM!

While this writer enthusiastically supports both Bay Area squads in the league, his true allegiance remains with three former students (GM Naroditsky, GM Zierk and IM Liou) plus several longtime friends who play for the Mechanics. Let's go San Francisco! Fix all those cars!

San Jose Hackers - PRO Chess League



Photos: GM Mamedyarov (left) and IM-elect Yoo (right, credit Llada).  

The Professional Rapid Online (PRO) Chess League returns to action this week on the Chess.com live server. The Bay Area is fortunate to have two strong teams in this worldwide competition. They battle in the Pacific Division against squads from San Diego, Seattle, Minnesota, Dallas, Australia and Chengdu (China). Each week, usually on Tuesday evenings, four team members rated under 2500 average each play four online games with the opposition at G/15 time control. After ten weeks, the top four teams in each Division advance to the league playoffs!

The San Jose Hackers are organized by Bay Area Chess and most team members either coach or participate in local chess classes, camps and tournaments. The star of the Hackers is World #3 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan. Two countrymen join "Shak" as free agents for San Jose: World #39 Rauf Mamedov and World #63 Eltaj Safarli. The three Azeris will need to split duties on the top board, since league rules permit only one free agent to play each week.

The other Hackers all reside in the Bay Area. Grandmaster coaches Zviad Izoria and Enrico Sevillano expect to platoon on second board. Coach and journalist IM Kostya Kavutskiy, 12 year old newly minted IM-elect Christopher Yoo and rapid specialist NM Faik Aleskerov will play significant roles throughout the season. Four teen masters, all current or former students of Bay Area Chess, share duties on board 4.

San Jose narrowly missed out on the playoffs last season and will seek to improve this year. Perhaps to make a statement, the Hackers rolled out their strongest lineup for the Week 1 showdown against their rivals, the San Francisco Mechanics: GM Mamedyarov, GM Izoria, IM-elect Yoo and FM Ivan Ke. Check out the action on Tuesday evening starting at 5:25PM!