CalChess Champions Over the Years

Since the turn of the century, the CalChess State Scholastic Chess Championship (occasionally misnamed the Super States) has emerged as the single largest annual USCF rated tournament west of the Rocky Mountains, consistently drawing at least 800 eager young chess enthusiasts.  Indeed, the record turnout of 1319 in 2006 compares favorably to the National Championships each spring.  The first weekend of May saw the 40th edition of this Bay Area event.  Two emeritus organizers deserve the lion's share of credit for building up the event during the 1990s and early 2000s: Ray Orwig and Alan Kirshner.

Unfortunately, those 40 years of history are in danger of being forgotten.  Until recently, the champs were honored in the yearly program booklet and online.  Dr. Kirshner diligently compiled lists of individual and school team champions from 1986 to 2011, but the official record at the CalChess website ceases after 2012  Seeing a need, I extended the honor roll of scholastic champions through 2015.

• CalChess Scholastic State Champions (1986-present)

Curiosity drove me to analyze the ranks of individual champions more closely.  For example, Vinay Bhat won the High School division in four out of five consecutive years (1998-2002), but he sat out of the middle year (2000).  Another three masters captured a hat trick of K-12 titles: Andy McManus (1987-1990), Dmitry Zilberstein (1994-1997) and Cameron Wheeler (2013-2015).  Out of this esteemed foursome, only Cameron managed to win (or share first place) in three consecutive years!

Readers may have already mistakenly concluded that winning a scholastic title is easy pickings for a phenom destined to become Grandmaster (like Vinay) or International Master (like Dmitry).  Not true!  Sam Shankland, the strongest player to grow up in the Bay Area during the past three decades, was never crowned champ at the biggest kids tournament.  To his credit, Sam won the adult State Championship at just 16 years old!

To me, the real question was whether anyone achieved a career Grand Slam?  The four pillars of the Grand Prix are the Varsity or Open divisions in Primary, Elementary, Middle School and High School.  Both the K-5 and K-6 sections count for Elementary School.  All players tied for first place are considered co-champions (e.g. five K-5 winners in both 2008 and 2010). 

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 (needs K-12)
• Cameron Wheeler K-5, K-6, K-12, K-12, K-12

Since 1986, nobody collected more than five CalChess titles.  However, both Neel (11th grade) and Cameron (10th grade) could break that record next spring..

4-Time Champions

• Micah Fisher-Kirshner K-3, K-6, K-6, K-12 (missing K-8)
• Adam Lischinsky K-3, K-3, K-8, K-12 (missing K-6)
• Daniel Naroditsky K-3, K-6, K-12, K-12 (missing K-8)
• James Kwok K-3, K-6, K-8, K-8 (missing K-12)

Sadly, all of the quadruple champions have run out of eligibility.

3-Time Champions

• Andy McManus K-12, K-12, K-12
• Alan Stein K-8, K-12, K-12
• Dmitry Zilberstein K-12, K-12, K-12
• Keith Yost K-6, K-8, K-8
• Daniel Schwarz K-3, K-8, K-12 (missing K-6)
• Steven Zierk K-3, K-8, K-12 (missing K-6)
• Yian Liou K-3, K-6, K-12 (missing K-8)  
• Kyle Shin K-5, K-6, K-8
• Tanuj Vasudeva K-3, K-5, K-6

Kyle (11th grade) and Tanuj (9th grade) could still add a High School championship to their bulging trophy cases, although neither has played competitively for some time.

Therefore, the answer to my question is a disappointing no!  Interestingly, eight different juniors managed to score 75% of the Grand Slam (see green color).  And with a small dose of luck, Neel Apte could even complete the career Slam by winning the K-12 division next spring.

October Top 100 Lists

(Left photo: Organizer Salman Azhar.)

(Right photo: Coaches Alan Kirshner and Ted Castro with 2010 K-3 National Champions.)

I recently updated the CalChess Top 100 and CalChess Top 20 lists for October. The October supplement includes tournaments rated by the first Friday in September, meaning the Labor Day Festival did not make the cut. The age is current as of September 1.

Kudos to 113 local juniors ranked among the top 100 of the nation for their age. Salman Azhar of Bay Area Chess and All Star Coach Ted Castro apparently discovered the mythical Fountain of Youth. No fewer than 50 Northern California kids are nationally ranked for age 10, 9, 8 or 7 & under, the majority affiliated with either Salman or Ted! I can't wait to see how many young masters we'll have in about five years.
(The Chesspunks train with FM Daniel Naroditsky for World Youth. From left to right: Vignesh, Allan, Danya, Kesav and Cameron. Photo from Cameron's blog.)

A record 16 kids age 17 & under are currently rated above 2000, including four in elementary school! New experts this year: Cameron Wheeler, Jack Zhu, Kesav Viswanadha, Daniel Liu, James Kwok and Andrew Yeh. Superstar FM Daniel Naroditsky, incredibly almost 2500, holds the only #1 ranking this month, but nine more youngsters are ranked among the top five for their age, including four #2's. Here's a big round of applause for ten unofficial gold medalists for October!

GOLD MEDAL (top 5)
Advait Budaraju (#4 age 5)
Josiah Stearman (#4 age 7)
Rayan Taghizadeh (#4 age 8)
Michael Wang (#5 age 8)
Samuel Sevian (#2 age 9)
NM Yian Liou (#2 age 13) -- Co-champion of US Cadet Invitational
FM Daniel Naroditsky (#1 age 14)
NM Gregory Young (#2 age 15)
NM Steven Zierk (#4 age 17) -- Winner of Denker High School Invitational
IM Sam Shankland (#2 age 18) -- Winner of US Junior Invitational

Players ranked in the top 15 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 15)
Ben Rood (#15 age 6)
Anthony Zhou (#8 age 7)
FM Tanuj Vasudeva (#8 age 9)
Cameron Wheeler (#6 age 10)
Vignesh Panchanatham (#10 age 10)
Udit Iyengar (#13 age 10)
Jack Zhu (#7 age 11)
Kesav Viswanadha (#9 age 11)
NM Evan Sandberg (#14 age 17)
NM Rohan Agarwal (#15 age 17)

BRONZE MEDAL (top 25)
Solomon Ge (#21 age 7)
Leyton Ho (#21 age 8)
Jeffrey Tao (#18 age 9)
Colin Chow (#17 age 10)
Richard Yi (#20 age 10)
Allan Beilin (#17 age 11)
Daniel Liu (#16 age 12)
Kyle Shin (#17 age 12)
Paul Richter (#21 age 12) -- CalChess K-12 Co-champion
Andrew Yeh (#30 age 14) -- CalChess K-12 Co-champion
Hayk Manvelyan (#19 age 16)

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!

35th CalChess Scholastics Begin

The biggest annual chess tournament in the Bay Area, the CalChess Scholastics, began this evening with the blitz side event. After six years, the tournament returns to the premiere venue in Northern California: the Santa Clara Convention Center at Great America. Thanks to a steady trickle of last minute entrants who don't seem to mind the late fee, paid attendance now stands at 890, including a total of 267 in the five Varsity sections. Organizer Salman Azhar no doubt is pleased with more entries! Counting parents, siblings, relatives, coaches and volunteers, the crowd will approach 2000 people. If you're not there, you're really missing out on pure chess bliss!

Participants compete in one of 14 sections from 1-3 Rookie (unrated) to 9-12 Varsity. Advanced and intermediate youngsters play six rounds over two days while beginners only play one day. The elite players in the Varsity divisions play G/75 to G/90, meaning a single game can take up to three hours. There are three rounds Saturday and three more Sunday (9:00, 12:15 and 3:30 on both days). The Novice, Rookie, Kindergarten divisions play only one day each, with five rounds at G/30.

I will watch my 22 private students closely (plus another half dozen former students). Several have aspirations of winning, including three of the top four seeds in 4-6 and the top three rated players in 7-8. Historically my students have dominated the High School division, but that may not be the case this year because all five of my Masters are skipping this tournament. Some have legitimate conflicts while others don't see any benefit from playing only against much lower rated opponents. Most significantly, the Denker Qualifier was held last month with FM Steven Zierk victorious. What a shame! Perhaps one of my five students seeded between 4th and 12th can step up and hit a home run.

Here are my favorites and dark horses for each of the Varsity divisions. Current and former private students are shown in red bold.

• 9-12 Favorites: Samuel Sevian (2133), Hayk Manvelyan (2103), Michael Brown (2068), Arthur Liou (2010). Dark horse: Daniel Liu (1982).
• 7-8 Favorites: James Kwok (1919), Edward Li (1832), Roland Zhu (1798), Hwai-Ray Tung (1688). Dark horse: Aamir Azhar (1639).
• 4-6 Favorites: Kyle Shin (2052), FM Tanuj Vasudeva (1863). Dark horses: Neel Apte (1802), Colin Chow (1787), Hunter Klotz-Burwell (1704), Richard Yi (1688).
• 4-5 Favorite: Cameron Wheeler (1851). Dark horses: Jeffrey Tao (1599), Udit Iyengar (1556).
• 1-3 Favorites: Rayan Taghizadeh (1648), Michael Wang (1473). Dark horse: Leyton Ho (1428).

The team championships should be competitive as they always are. In the Elementary divisions, 2009 national champion Mission San Jose Elementary has won most of the Varsity trophies in recent years. But this year seems to be the best opportunity for crosstown rival Weibel Elementary to steal a title. Likewise, Saratoga High has captured five straight K-12 team titles and is looking for a record sixth in a row. Can they do it, or will Mission San Jose High end the dynasty? Stay tuned!

Latest news from Santa Clara: 7th grader Michael Brown of Southern California won the 7-12 blitz and Edward Li took 2nd. Hunter Klotz-Burwell won K-6 blitz.

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.
  

Photos and Results from Nashville

(Here is a photo of the Saratoga High School team. Top row from left: parent Steve Young, Charles Sun, Aaron Garg and Alex Lun. Middle: Brian Wai. Bottom row from left: Sankash Shankar, Evan Ye and Coach Fpawn. Not pictured: Avinash Kumar.)

Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in posting a report about SuperNationals IV. I am actually still recovering from the travel; my battle scars include one sprained toe, two bruises above my right eye and a mildly sprained left elbow. Despite these wounds, the trip to Nashville and back went quite well, at least away from the chess board.

Unfortunately, the results at the chess board were quite mixed. The Saratoga High School team finished in 11th place, a respectable finish in a very difficult section of 15 masters and over 50 experts. Kudos to Jeff Young for earning honorable mention with 5.0/7 and to Evan Ye for a solid 3.5/7 against five opponents rated over 1850. The U1600 team, severely handicapped by having only three players, ended up in 28th place. Despite the ups and downs, all eight players from Saratoga seemed to enjoy the team adventure.

As most readers probably already know, the Mission San Jose Elementary team went to Nashville and conquered the K-6 Championship! They blew open a tight race in the final round with a dominating 4-0 score. Special congrats to Hemang Jangle for crushing the top seed (rated 2174) and earning the 17th place individual trophy. See the photo at right of Hemang with his younger sister and former World Champion Garry Kasparov. The rest of the team joined Hemang to finish tied at 5.0/7: Jerome Sun got 20th, James Kwok 24th and Armaan Kalyanpur 33rd place trophies. MSJE also earned two more top 10 team trophies in K-5 and K-3, both for 9th place. The lion's share of credit for organizing such a successful elementary school chess club goes to MSJE coach Joe Lonsdale.

Four local players earned top 10 honors individually, led by National K-3 Champion Cameron Wheeler! Cameron won all 7 games, defeating friend Vignesh Panchanatham in the final round, and now is rated nearly 1800. The photo at left of Vignesh and Cameron was posted on Chess Life Online. Vignesh still earned the 4th place trophy as a consolation for a strong performance. Joseph Wan and Rayan Taghizadeh both got 6.0/7 in the K-1 section, earning 4th and 5th place trophies.

Click here for the final standings and the USCF rating report.

If any local parents have additional photographs that I may post, please forward them to me at the address located in the right sidebar.

Yian Liou Takes Clear First in Elementary 4-6

(As Salman Azhar commented at the awards ceremony, many of the top players in Northern California are friends with their rivals. Top 4-6 players Yian Liou on left and James Kwok are both in a good mood as they shake hands before their round 5 matchup.)

Although major upsets shook up many other sections at the CalChess Scholastics, that was not the case in the 4-6 Varsity when the top four seeds all finished in the top five spots. Rated nearly 200 points above anyone else and ranked #6 in the country for age 10, Yian Liou took his seat at the top board on Saturday morning and stayed there throughout the weekend, taking clear 1st place. He did surrender a half point in round 5 against friend and second seed James Kwok. This draw allowed Aamir Azhar to take the lead going into the final round, but not unexpectedly, Aamir lost to much higher rated Yian in the battle for 1st place. Nonetheless, Aamir managed to squeak ahead of James on tiebreak points. The final person to tie for 2nd place with a score of 5.0 was James' school teammate Jerry Wu, who improved his rating by 100 points with a strong result.

I am proud to say that it is a real pleasure working with all three kids: Yian, James and Aamir. In particular, I have watched Yian grow up from a shy 8 year old rated about 1200 to an outgoing and confident 10 year old rated over 1900. If he didn't live in the shadows of Danya Naroditsky and Nicholas Nip, there's no doubt that Yian would be the local star. Fortunately, Yian has the opportunity to study with Danya, Nicholas and other elite Bay Area kids at the series of Grandmaster seminars sponsored by the Mechanics' Institute.

Final Standings of 4-6 Varsity

1. 5.5 Yian Liou (1939) -- $50 gift certificate
   
2. 5.0 Aamir Azhar (1596) -- 1 year ICC extension
   
3. 5.0 James Kwok (1750) -- 1 year ICC extension
   
4. 5.0 Jerry Wu (1464)
   
5. 4.5 Neel Apte (1588)
6. 4.5 Thomas Gonda (1470)
   
7. 4.5 Kevin Zhu (1577)
   
8. 4.5 Kunaal Naik (1366)
   
9. 4.0 Suraj Nair (1250)
   
10. 4.0 Nathan Zhang (1372)