Close But No Cigar - High School Nationals

Cameron Wheeler - 7th place

Kesav Viswanadha - 4th place

A modest-sized delegation of 39 from Northern California made waves at the National High School Championship in San Diego, but finished short of bringing home the first place trophies.  At the end of a long weekend of competitive chess, the Bay Area teams earned eight individual and two team trophies.  Congratulations to the successful squads from Kennedy Middle School (2nd place) and Monta Vista High School (4th place), both from Cupertino.  Each school depended on the strong individual performances by their top board: FM Cameron Wheeler (7th place) and NM Kesav Viswanadha (4th place), respectively!

Robby on Chess Life cover.

By all accounts, San Diego saw the strongest K-12 Nationals ever, with 33 masters in attendance, including 15 from California alone!  Amazingly, accelerated pairings magically whittled down the number of perfect scores, and after just five rounds, only one player from 345 remained unblemished.  To nobody's surprise, GM-elect Darwin Yang of Dallas won his first six games to finish as undisputed champion with 6.5 out of 7.  On the other hand, the team competition came down to the wire, with underrated Catalina Foothills High School of Tucson pulling ahead at the end, in large part thanks to the tireless effort of legendary coach FM Robby Adamson. 

• Individual Standings
• Team Standings
• Trophy Winners

NorCal Final Results  

• NM Kesav Viswanadha 6.0 - 4th place 
  
• FM Cameron Wheeler 5.5 - 7th place
• NM Allan Beilin 5.5 - 18th place
• NM Vignesh Panchanatham 5.0 - 22nd place
• Neel Apte 5.0 - Honorable Mention
• NM Michael Wang 5.0 - Honorable Mention
• NM Udit Iyengar 5.0 - Honorable Mention
• Hans Niemann 4.5 - 15th place blitz
• Kennedy Middle School 19.5/28 - 2nd place
• Monta Vista High School 19.0/28 - 4th place (tied for 3rd)
  

Photo credit Bay Area International 

Western Invitational Chess Camp

Robby Adamson on cover of Chess Life, March 2009.

I am writing this post on behalf of my friend FM Robby Adamson.  Readers may have met him at West Coast chess tournaments, where he's always one of the most popular players.  Robby actually started out as a scholastic national champion in the 1980s.  Today he confidently sports a 2400 USCF rating, and even loftier ratings on his ICC account BLITZMASTER.  Yes, Robby loves blitz and bullet!  He lives in Tucson, Arizona and coaches many talented juniors, including the perennially powerful Catalina Foothills High School team. 

Robby also organizes one of the premiere chess camps each summer.  Now in its ninth year, the camp has attracted some of the strongest youngsters around the country.  Invitees are rated at least 1500, and the top group is over 2100!  Last year, they had 5 masters and an incredible 30 attendees rated 1900+!  Of course, such talented students are taught by highly qualified instructors, including Grandmasters Josh Friedel, Melik Khachiyan and Alejandro Ramirez.  The camp schedule includes 35 hours of serious chess over 5 days, plus a variety of fun activities in the evening. 

The 2012 Western Invitational Chess Camp runs from July 15 to 19, with an optional weekend tournament at the end.  If this sounds interesting, don't take my word for it--just check out the website!

If you end up going, please beat Robby at blitz or bullet for me.  Thanks!

Western Invitational Chess Camp

(Photo of skittles action from 2008 camp. Click here for more pictures.)

For those readers who have not yet made up their summer plans, I have one more option to consider. I am posting this for my friend FM Robby Adamson from Tucson, Arizona.

For yet another year, Robby hosts the Western Invitational Chess Camp that he bills as the strongest in the USA. Players must be rated a minimum of 1500 to be invited and the top group of participants should have an average rating near 2200. The instructors include Grandmasters Alexander Onischuk, Alex Yermolinsky and Alejandro Ramirez plus other veteran masters.

The dates for this year are July 12-16 (yes, it starts on a Sunday) with the optional Ye Olde Pueblo Open tournament on the following weekend. The camp schedule includes two daily lectures, a GM simul, a G/35 tournament (USCF quick rated), blitz and various fun activities each evening. For more information, please visit the Western Invitational Chess Camp website or contact Robby Adamson by email. A couple of folks from Northern California already attended and came back with enthusiastic reviews.

Landon Brownell 1989-2009

NM Landon Brownell passed away this morning after a car accident. (Update: The crash occurred near Bakersfield, California at about midnight on Monday night.) He was 19 years old, spending much of his life in Corvallis, Oregon and Tucson, Arizona. Landon's claim to fame came in 2006 when he won the National High School Championship. He was a key member of the Catalina Foothills High School (Tucson) dynasty coached by FM Robby Adamson. You can read Robby's tribute on Chess Life Online. Landon's final chess ratings were 2255 USCF and 2283 FIDE. He was also a US Champion and a 7 dan at Go.

Although he played for an Arizona school, I saw Landon frequently, either at nationals or at tournaments in Los Angeles or Las Vegas. He was a fierce competitor yet a gentle and social person. Landon defeated my student David Chock on board 1 in the final round of the 2006 nationals and shared first place with NM Daniel Schwarz at the 2007 nationals blitz. He also faced some other local juniors, most notably Michael Zhong.

If there is a lesson for all of us to learn, it is this: Do not drive while sleepy.

A life taken way too soon. Rest In Peace Landon Brownell.

Good Luck to Gregory Young in the US Junior

(This photo of most of the participants in the US Junior and US Cadet Championships was posted on the official website. Four of the five US Junior players stand at the left side: Daniel Yeager, Edward Lu, Tyler Hughes and Gregory Young.)

San Francisco's own Gregory Young is playing in the US Junior Championship in Lindsborg, Kansas beginning today. He was originally set to play in the concurrent US Cadet (U16) Championship, but when he received the second invitation, he jumped ship. Both events will take place at the Anatoly Karpov International School of Chess on June 14-18. The details have not all been sorted out yet, but instead of the usual 10-player round-robin, this year's US Junior will be a 5-player double round-robin. Yes, only five players came to Kansas for this once-prestigious national championship. Here's the field:

1. FM Daniel Yeager, 2373, age 16 from Pennsylvania
2. NM Tyler Hughes, 2264, age 17 from Colorado
3. NM Edward Lu, 2227, age 16 from Virginia
4. NM Gregory Young, 2213, age 13 from California
5. Bradley Sawyer, 2192, age 19 from Texas

Clearly, the ratings favorite is Daniel Yeager. However, some of the other players are significantly underrated, particularly Tyler Hughes. Although this is the weakest ever field for the US Junior, it is no walk in the park and any person can beat anyone else. For a controversial preview by FM Robby Adamson, including an honest discussion of why so many talented juniors skipped this year's event, visit Chess Life Online and make sure to read the comments at the end of the article. Even after this article was written, one of the invitees, Chris Williams of Massachusetts, dropped out because he never booked a flight!?

Since there is an odd number of participants, Gregory has the bye for round 1. He is currently playing a training game against 11 year old FM Darwin Yang, the heavy favorite of the concurrent US Cadet (U16) Championship (the player list is the same minus Gregory). Tonight, Gregory has white against Edward Lu. Unfortunately, I have not yet found any live coverage on the internet.

Western Invitational Chess Camp in Arizona

(Photo from 2007 Western Invitational Chess Camp. Do you recognize GM Gregory Kaidanov's opponent in the simul? Hint: it is one of my students.)

I am posting this for my friend FM Robby Adamson from Tucson, Arizona. For the fifth straight year, Robby is hosting an elite chess camp that he bills as the strongest in the USA. Players must be rated a minimum of 1500 to be invited and the top group of participants will likely have an average rating around 2200. The instructors include Grandmasters Gregory Kaidanov, Yury Shulman and Alejandro Ramirez plus four other veteran masters. Inside joke: Make sure to invite Yury to Taco Bell.

The dates for this year are July 20-24 (yes, it starts on a Sunday) with the optional Ye Olde Pueblo Open tournament on the following weekend. The camp schedule include two daily lectures, a GM simul, a G/35 tournament (USCF quick rated), blitz and various fun activities each evening. For more information, please visit the Western Invitational Chess Camp website or contact Robby Adamson by email. One of my students went last year and I wouldn't be surprised to see at least three or four go this year. Please let me know.