Photos from Agoura Hills

The top row of players are Bay Area teens while the bottom row of youngsters are still in elementary school. Two things that they all have in common: love and talent for the game of chess. They all entered in the top three sections (Open, U2100 and U1900) at the Pacific Coast Open just for the challenge and experience.

• top row left to right: Evan Sandberg, Michael Zhong and Arthur Liou
• bottom row left to right: Tanuj Vasudeva, Samuel Sevian and Daniel Liu

Final standings of Pacific Coast Open:

• 5.5 GM Khachiyan
• 4.5 IM Matikozyan and IM Tate
• 4.0 IM Sevillano, NM Manukyan, NM Tanaka, NM Kudryavtsev and NM Y.Liou

Regretably, both Michael Zhong (U2100) and Tanuj Vasudeva (U1900) lost their last game to finish outside of the prizes. However, Arthur Liou (U2100) won his last three games to finish in the money at 4.5. He also hit the 2000 rating milestone to officially become an expert. Way to go dude!

Class of 2009

Congrats High School Graduates 2009!!!
(From left to right: Mike Zhong, Jeff Young and Aaron Garg.)
(Update June 12: New photos of Jeff and Aaron.)

As the 2009 graduating class moves on, it is time to briefly reflect on one of the largest classes of chess players ever in Northern California. The graduating seniors include the highest rated local junior ever and five additional players who have been rated over 2000.

They also achieved many noteworthy successes over the years. Sam Shankland flew all the way to Vietnam and came home with a share of first place at the 2008 World Youth U18, thereby earning the esteemed title of International Master. Michael Zhong battled four straight teenage masters en route to a tie for first place at the 2007 National High School Championship. Jeff Young stared down IM Salvijus Bercys to help Saratoga High School earn third place at the 2006 National High School Championship. Veni, vidi, vici!

Here is a list of all of the Bay Area's chess players who are graduating from high school this month. For those whom I know, I included the university that they will attend. Please contact me if I left someone out.

1. IM Sam Shankland 2474 - Brandeis University (Boston)
   
2. Adarsh Konda 2108 - ?
   
3. Mike Zhong 2092 - Columbia University (New York City)
   
4. Alan Naroditsky 2058 - UCLA
5. Jeff Young (Saratoga H.S.) 1990 - UC Berkeley
6. Louiza Livschitz 1981 - ?
   
7. Sreekar Jasthi 1905 - Emory University (Atlanta)
   
8. Greg Bodwin 1882 - ?
   
9. Aaron Garg (Saratoga H.S.) - Stanford University
10. Ken Law - ?
    
11. Alex Lun (Saratoga H.S.) - UC San Diego
12. Avinash Kumar (Saratoga H.S.) - Marquette University (Milwaukee)
    

I had ties to almost everyone on this list. Four were private students: Jeff, Alan, Aaron and Ken. Then Alex, Avinash and Greg participated in some group classes in Saratoga. And although I never formally taught Sam and Mike, I developed friendships with both at tournaments and on ICC. Here's my brief tribute to some of the graduates.

• Jeff, I knew you since you were in 7th grade. You have grown from 1200 to 2000, and from a scrawny kid into a confident and outgoing young man. For many years, you and David Chock were the heart and soul of the Saratoga team, climaxing with a magical result in Milwaukee. Congratulations on your engineering scholarship!
• Alan, you amazed me by cheerfully accepting your role in your family's chess hierarchy, and yet you managed to step out of the shadows to become a star in your own right. You defied the trend of cutting back in chess during the later years of high school, despite your talent in piano and a heavy courseload at a prestigious school.
  
• Aaron, I worked with you for two years but knew you much longer. You always were the genius, but in many ways a gentle giant. I can't believe you got accepted at MIT, Harvard, Yale and literally everywhere else. Go Stanford! Beat Cal!
  
• Alex and Avinash, I didn't know you two as well as your teammates. You contributed to the positive chemistry that made the Saratoga team so enjoyable for everyone. From time to time, your games made us laugh, both brilliancy and blunder.
  

Sam Shankland and Company Conquer Agoura Hills

(Michael Zhong and Sam Shankland share a lighter moment late on Sunday night in my hotel room after picking up their large prize checks.)

Led by the exuberant teenager Sam Shankland, a small yet highly talented group of Northern California juniors left their mark on the top sections at the Pacific Coast Open in Agoura Hills (near Los Angeles). Three local kids took 1st place in either their division or class prize, each winning over $750. Two broke major rating milestones this weekend. Two scored against Grandmasters (one win and one draw).

• FM-elect Sam Shankland tied for 1st place in Open section with 4.5 out of 6!
• Sam defeated top rated GM Sergey Erenburg in final round. (Click here for game.)
  
• NM Steven Zierk finished with 4.0 in the Open section, good for top U2300.
• Steven faced six 2300 players, losing just once and drawing with GM Melik Khachiyan.
• Kudos to Steven for breaking 2200 USCF and earning the National Master title!
• Michael Zhong scored 5.0 to take top honors in the U2100 section.
• Yian Liou finished with 4.0 against six experts to push his own rating over 2000!

Click here for the USCF rating report.

Congratulations to all four juniors for an impressive tournament! Of course, the key to a successful weekend is to win the final round, something which these kids did better than I did. Sadly, I lost miserably on Sunday night to FM Joel Banawa to finish at 50%.

In other news, FM Danya Naroditsky started with an undefeated 2.0/3 in the Czech Open tournament in Europe. He has two draws with 2400+ FIDE rated opponents and is paired with yet another strong player today. His brother Alan Naroditsky also has 2.0/3 in the "Open B" division. Click on this link for daily results from Pardubice, Czech Republic. Update after round 4: Danya drew another 2400+ while Alan won.

Results from Pacific Coast Open

The first four rounds of the Pacific Coast Open were played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the approximately 200 competitors choosing from three different schedules. GM Sergey Erenburg (upper left photo) and IM Enrico Sevillano lead the Open section at 3.5 each while GM Melik Khachiyan (upper right photo) and IM Mladen Vucic are merely half a point behind. The other International Master in the field, Andranik Matikozyan, has struggled, needing a miracle to draw with aging Life Master Jerry Hanken.

Two Northern California juniors have played exceptionally well so far. Steven Zierk (lower left photo) started out with a bang, beating both FM Joel Banawa and FM Eugene Yanayt before yielding a draw to GM Melik Khachiyan. Despite a round 4 defeat to highly rated NM John Bryant, Steven's rating remains slightly above 2200. Will he earn the National Master title? In the U2100 section, 11 year old Yian Liou (lower right photo) shook off a first round loss to 2007 National High School Champion Michael Zhong with three straight wins against experts. If Yian can hold this result, then he will break 2000.

Northern California scores after round 4
Open: Sam 2.5, Steven 2.5, Fpawn 2.0, Rohan 2.0
U2100: Michael 3.0, Yian 3.0
U1900: Arthur 2.5, Samyukta 1.5

National High School Championship in Atlanta

(David Chock versus reigning World U16 Champion IM Alex Lenderman on the top board at the 2006 National High School Championship. David pulled off the upset of his life.)

Four players from Northern California have made the journey across the country to Atlanta for the National High School Championship this weekend. Having attended this tournament in previous years, I can safely say that the intense competition exceeds anything that we might find at the state level. Out of approximately 340 players in the top section, there are 13 masters, 14 rated 2100-2199 and another 20 rated 2000-2099.

In recent years, two underrated players from the Bay Area found substantial success: David Chock of Saratoga High School defeated an International Master in 2006 and sat alone in first place before losing on the top board in the final round; the "Wizard of Oz" Michael Zhong of Los Altos High School faced four straight masters in 2007 and impressively beat three of them to tie for first place! Whose turn is it this year?

The results from the first day include many of the upsets that are typical of this tournament. Three of the masters have drawn a game and one even lost--all against dangerous A players. Likewise, the four local players have had mixed performances so far.

• Mukund Chillakanti (1868, see photo by Shorman at right) has 2.0/2 after defeating two experts!
• Steven Zierk (2154) drew an A player in round 2 and has 1.5.
• Kenneth Law (1664) has 1.0
  
• Kartik Chillakanti (1706) has 0.5

Kudos to Mukund for a very impressive start to the tournament! I know there are still five more rounds, including three on Saturday. Here's wishing the best of skill (and a little luck) to the local delegation! If you're interested in following the action, some games from the top boards are being broadcast live at the MonRoi website.

Update on Saturday afternoon: Through four rounds, Steven has 3.0, Mukund sits at 2.5 (against four experts), while Kenneth and Kartik both have 2.0.

Preparing for a Big Tournament

Budding young writer NM Jonathan Hilton from Ohio offers his detailed advice on how to prepare for a major chess tournament in his preview of this weekend's National High School Championship in Atlanta. With the CalChess Scholastics just a month away, I highly recommend this article on Chess Life Online to both scholastic players and their parents. Hilton, who is in 11th grade and rated 2248, addresses the following topics:

• Check the advance entry list so you know what to expect and whom you may play.
• Repeatedly play over games from previous tournaments to learn from mistakes.
• Understand where you are now and set a realistic goal.
• Avoid overhauling your entire opening repertoire right before the tournament.
• Instead of preparing openings for specific opponents, improve your understanding in one or two variations.
• Be prepared for psychological tricks intended to distract you. For example, resist the temptation to move too fast.
  
• Exercise regularly. Be fit both physically and mentally.
• Rest your mind for a day or two. Do not cram chess!
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Have fun!

(The photo above is of Michael Zhong from Los Altos High School, the 2007 National High School co-Champion. Unfortunately, homework prevents him from playing this year. Zhong's personal experience, which he shared in this interview with CalChess, contradicts Hilton's advice, especially the point about cramming a new opening repertoire.)