By FM Robby Adamson
The 2007 Pre-Summer Foothills Open was held June 16, 2007, at Orange Grove Middle School. This is the first time we ran a tournament in June, and it was a wonderful success, drawing 81 players. The tournament had mostly scholastic players, but also some adults, including four “young men” who traveled from Green Valley to take on the ever tough scholastic monsters in Tucson.
The Championship section was won by Eli Alster (now rated 1688), who won his first three games and choosing not to play his last round, and Carlos Trujillo (now rated 1616). Eli Alster defeated top rated Sam Cotter (1721), Bryan Hu (1570), and Jessica Martin (1536), while Carlos overcame a loss to Sam Cotter by defeating Steve Ostapuk (1611), Jessica Martin, and Bryan Hu to tie for first.
The Reserve Section was won by Hunter Brogna with an impressive 4-0 score, defeating number one seed David Orozco (1471) in the last round. Hunter entered the tournament rated 1145, but finished with a whopping 1390 rating. Congratulations Hunter on an impressive performance. Finishing tied for second was David Orozco (from Mexico), Michael Shevelev (from Basis), David Fan (from University High), and Mario Acosta (from Mexico).
The Booster section usually has the better scholastic players who decide to play up, rather than in the K-3 or K-6 sections. Anno Baliani and Lora Temyanko tied for first, both tallying 3-1 scores. James Zipperian and Rolf Anderson (adult) tied for second, with 2.5/4 scores.
Leading the way in the scholastic sections, Sumhith Aradhyula won the K-6 section with a perfect 4-0 score, while Ian Bell and Sreekar Bommireddy both finished 4-0 in the K-3 sections. These youngsters have tremendous potential and we should see a lot more from them in the future.
Thanks to Vaishnav Aradhyula for directing the event, Satheesh Aradhyula for assisting, and Erwin De Sa for his running of the snack bar. The next Foothills Open will be August 18, 2007, back at Catalina Foothills High School. The Foothills Chess Team appreciates all the support of those who attend the tournaments.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
2006 Western Alliance Chess Camp – Success strikes in Tucson
By FM Robby Adamson
The 1st Annual Western Alliance Chess Camp debut in Tucson was a tremendous success, attracting about 60 participants from Tucson, Arizona, as well as some out of town students from as far as Illinois! The camp was held June 24-27, 2006, at St. Joseph’s in Tucson, and was organized by Tucson International Master, Levon Altounian.
While Levon is best known for coaching Castle Hill Country Day School and their 2004 K-5 National Championship, he also coaches other successful teams and numerous talented chess juniors in Tucson. The other instructors included my former coach, FM Ken Larsen, who has coached in Tucson for over 20 years, National Master Matthew Beelby from California, and Experts Jonathan Shacter, Vaishnav Aradhyula, and Chris De Sa.
Students were divided into groups based on their USCF rating and strength as determined by the instructors. The students varied in strength from beginner to 1700. Each day the instructors rotated between groups so students could be exposed to various teaching approaches and experiences. Lecture topics included tactics, positional ideas, long term planning, playing games, solving puzzles, and playing out specific positions and review of the games. The camp also featured evening activities including lectures, blitz tournament, a simul, and some other fun activities.
Another nice feature of the camp was that it permitted children to attend part of the camp, if they had other commitments.
Following 4 days of intense instruction, the camp was topped off the day after by a USCF rated tournament for those who had not had enough chess! Also, the camp offered an evening session for adults, providing a rare opportunity for adults to get high quality instruction.
This year’s camp is to be held June 25-28, 2007, and is being run by Arizona Chess for Schools, LLC (headed by Levon), an organization designed to provide chess instruction and other chess educational activities in Arizona. This year’s camp promises to be better than last year, with some new instructors, including Tucson’s newest master, Leo Martinez, as well as many of last year’s instructors, including FM Ken Larsen, Vaishnav Aradhyula, and Jon Shacter. The link for the camp can be found on this website. Don’t miss out on chess this summer!!
The 1st Annual Western Alliance Chess Camp debut in Tucson was a tremendous success, attracting about 60 participants from Tucson, Arizona, as well as some out of town students from as far as Illinois! The camp was held June 24-27, 2006, at St. Joseph’s in Tucson, and was organized by Tucson International Master, Levon Altounian.
While Levon is best known for coaching Castle Hill Country Day School and their 2004 K-5 National Championship, he also coaches other successful teams and numerous talented chess juniors in Tucson. The other instructors included my former coach, FM Ken Larsen, who has coached in Tucson for over 20 years, National Master Matthew Beelby from California, and Experts Jonathan Shacter, Vaishnav Aradhyula, and Chris De Sa.
Students were divided into groups based on their USCF rating and strength as determined by the instructors. The students varied in strength from beginner to 1700. Each day the instructors rotated between groups so students could be exposed to various teaching approaches and experiences. Lecture topics included tactics, positional ideas, long term planning, playing games, solving puzzles, and playing out specific positions and review of the games. The camp also featured evening activities including lectures, blitz tournament, a simul, and some other fun activities.
Another nice feature of the camp was that it permitted children to attend part of the camp, if they had other commitments.
Following 4 days of intense instruction, the camp was topped off the day after by a USCF rated tournament for those who had not had enough chess! Also, the camp offered an evening session for adults, providing a rare opportunity for adults to get high quality instruction.
This year’s camp is to be held June 25-28, 2007, and is being run by Arizona Chess for Schools, LLC (headed by Levon), an organization designed to provide chess instruction and other chess educational activities in Arizona. This year’s camp promises to be better than last year, with some new instructors, including Tucson’s newest master, Leo Martinez, as well as many of last year’s instructors, including FM Ken Larsen, Vaishnav Aradhyula, and Jon Shacter. The link for the camp can be found on this website. Don’t miss out on chess this summer!!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
2007 HS Nationals
By NM Landon Brownell
1,500 teenagers. 300 parents. 16 tournament directors. That’s right -- it’s the 2007 National High School Chess Championship. I flew to Kansas City, MO, from Tucson, AZ, with Coach FM Robby Adamson and 16 team members from Catalina Foothills High School. We also brought a few adult chauffeurs, just to keep 17 teenagers from acting TOO much like 17 teenagers. We arrived at the Hyatt Wednesday evening (well, technically, it was Thursday morning) to give us plenty of time to rest up before the blitz tournament Thursday evening.
We all slept in as much as we could Thursday morning, and then everyone sort of goofed off, playing blitz and watching TV, except for the few responsible students who used the extra time to get some homework done. The blitz event was rather uneventful, despite over 300 participants, possibly because of the stellar directing by Roger Brownell, who ran both the blitz and the bughouse (have to do a little bragging about my dad). Catalina Foothills was the decided favorite in the tournament (our 4th board was higher rated than the 2nd board of any other team participating), and proceeded to take first place by 5.5 points. I was fortunate enough to tie for first individually, but my tiebreaks were less favorable than last year’s, and I received the 3rd place trophy. All in all, it was a fun tournament, as the blitz event always is, and we all enjoyed playing in it.
The main event started in good time, and the first round began, surprisingly, within half an hour of its scheduled starting time. Nothing worth noting happened during that round, with the singular exception of Victor Yee (1789) making an amazing 453-point upset against Eric Rodriguez, a master from Florida.
In the second round, Christopher De Sa (2110), our 3rd highest-rated player, hung the exchange and a pawn in the opening, but somehow managed to make something out of nothing, and proceeded to come back and win as only Chris could. Unfortunately, Sean Higgins (2082), who is by far our hardest-working team member, was drawn into an opposite-colored-bishops endgame against a lower-rated opponent, thus bringing our top four scores to equal 7.5/8. However, we were only tied for first.
In the last three years, our main rival has been Edward R. Murrow High School, from Brooklyn, NY. Not only do they have two International Masters on the team, but they also have… TWO INTERNATIONAL MASTERS!! The top two seeds of the national championship are on the same team! What else do they need? Of course, they also have an expert and two class B players, but you really can’t get over those two INTERNATIONAL MASTERS. OK, I’m done now. Anyway, Catalina Foothills and Murrow tied for first in 2005, with the team from Tucson slipping by on tiebreaks for the first place trophy. In 2006, we were ahead by one point going into the last round, and they decided to go 4-0, giving Murrow the championship by half a point. Needless to say, nothing would please either team but the 1st place trophy, and we were going to do all in our power to bring it home to Tucson.
Saturday morning we all woke up bright and early -- well, at least early; the brightness could be debatable. Vaishnav Aradhyula (our 2nd highest-rated player at 2168), Chris, Sean, and I were all playing down, as were Pasha Savine (1928), Eddie Moskala (1782), and Victor Yee, all having gone 1-1 the previous day. The third round was quite uninteresting, although I had to struggle a bit in my game, after having managed to get a very bad position out of the opening, and our top 8 players all won. While that was all well and good, the New York team was close on our heels, only dropping one point. Mikhail Furman (1691), who was our downfall last year, upsetting a 1900 in less than 10 moves, was finally stopped in his tracks by Chris Williams (2217), after defeating two experts in his first two rounds. Thus the standings were now Foothills-11.5, Murrow-10.5.
The fourth round, Chris had to play up against Christopher Williams (who, as their names are so similar, I will refer to as Chrissy Bear). While Robby was prepping Chris in the room, he got a call from Pasha, to whom Chrissy Bear, who is predominantly an e4 player, had confided, “Why is Chris prepping when he knows I’m just gonna bust out 1.d4?” The game continued with De Sa making short work of him, as Chrissy Bear was much less prepared, and had much less experience in the line which he chose to “bust out.” Yet again, I made a small mistake in the opening, and proceeded to get into a very drawish position against my 2043-rated opponent, but achieved ( or rather received) a winning position when he accidentally picked up his rook, intending to move his knight. Vaishnav and Pasha both won easily against lower-rated opponents. Unfortunately, Sean was upset by Joshua Downey (1927), thus making Pasha our 4th highest scorer, but as we were eating dinner at the food court 2 blocks away (though we never had to go outside, as everything was connected by a skywalk), we were greatly heartened to hear that Derek Tan (2137) had played Murrow’s top IM, Salvijus Bercys, to a draw. Foothills-15, Murrow-13.
There were now only seven perfect scores, three of which were Vaishnav, Chris, and me. Vaishnav was forced to play Alex Lenderman (2447), the second IM from Murrow, and Chris was paired against Alex Barnett (2256), who not only is a very strong player, but proceeded to become one of the co-champions of the tournament. I was conveniently paired against the only perfect freshman (perfect score, that is), but unfortunately, despite my preparations, Shinsaku Uesugi (2200) went into a line that is very hard to win for black. We reached a very closed position, and after two hours of maneuvering and re-maneuvering, I finally conceded a draw. Vaishnav went into his preparation against Lenderman and succeeded in getting a relatively easy draw, while Chris, in a much worse position, was able to complicate it so much that neither player knew what was happening, and proceeded to draw also. There were now 16 players tied for first with 4.5/5, three from Catalina Foothills, and two from Edward R. Murrow.
Our top four scorers were now: Landon Brownell (4.5), Vaishnav Aradhyula (4.5), Christopher De Sa (4.5), and Pasha Savine (4.0). The Murrow top four were: Salvijus Bercys (4.5), Alex Lenderman (4.5), Shawn Martinez (3.5), and Nile Smith (3.0). Foothills-17.5, Murrow-16.5.
Coach Adamson let us know the standings Sunday morning. “But just because we’re ahead does NOT mean that it’s over. Not by any means. Bercys and Lenderman will play down both rounds. Martinez will only play down once, and three of our top four players are playing up this round.” We were all quite confident. We were up a whole point, only two more rounds to go; it shouldn’t be too hard to keep the lead. Little did we know what would actually happen. Little did we know we would get 0.5/4 that round. Little did we know that we would not be ahead, but behind by a whole point going into the last round.
Everything went wrong the sixth round. Vaishnav got a great position, but then made a poor decision and lost. Chris had a great position and was outplayed. I, the only team member playing down, went into a very tactical continuation and ended up with a slightly better position, but was drawn into my opponent’s fast pace and lost. Pasha was winning against an expert and couldn’t finish it. Sean was upset by Amanda Mateer (1894). And, of course, Lenderman, Martinez, and Nile Smith all won. The only bright side was that Bercys was held to a draw once again, this time by Tony Cao (2198). Foothills-18, Murrow-19.
We all gathered in Robby’s room. We needed some serious pepping. “We need EVERYONE to win this last round,” he said, looking at each person in turn. “Put last round behind you. We’re down by one point. Nile Smith and Shawn Martinez are both playing up, but if either of them wins, the only way to even tie for first is to win every game.” Then we got the pairings. It turned out Shawn (2006) wasn’t playing up, and Pasha had to play Jonathan Cox (2094) from Tucson, against whom he was 0-5 in tournament play. Things were not looking good.
And then it happened.
5,064 games were played during the tournament, but only one game was to decide the fate of the team championship. Only one game brought cheers outside the playing hall so loud that the tournament directors were forced to come out and restore order (or at least move the chaos further away).
15 minutes before the tournament would be over, 3 hours and 45 minutes into the last round, we were tied for first place with 22 points each. Pasha had completely outplayed Jonathan Cox, and everyone else on both teams had won relatively easily. However, one game was still in progress. Nile Smith (1854) was playing against Benjamin Marmont (1953), who lived only 100 miles away from our school, in Gilbert, AZ. With a draw or a win, the team from New York would win clear 1st place for the second year in a row. If not, Catalina Foothills would win our second national title in three years.
The coaching staffs of both teams were focused on the game, knowing that the outcome of the entire weekend could be decided by one move. Our entire team was waiting impatiently outside the playing hall, peeking in whenever someone came out the door, trying to get a glimpse of the players' faces, the spectators' expressions, anything that might give us a clue as to how our last year together as a high school team would end. The fact that Sean, Chris, Pasha, and Eddie would all be graduating this year made the excitement so intense it was almost unbearable.
One minute went by. Two minutes went by. Robby came out and dolefully announced, "Marmont had a winning position and blew it. Now he's losing." Everyone on the team was devastated. We were all good friends with Ben, but our goodwill toward him at this moment was tenuous, to say the least. The excitement over the possibility of winning 1st place had evaporated. Few of us had any hope left. Until…
Five minutes later Robby came out again, grinning from ear to ear. "Nile missed a mate in two. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I know I saw it, but I still can NOT believe it." The change in the atmosphere was indescribable. People that were near tears before were now jumping up and down, waiting for Ben to emerge from the playing hall. The yell and stampede towards him when he came through the door brought the TDs running, but we were all so excited we didn't care. We had won the national championship.
1,500 teenagers. 300 parents. 16 tournament directors. That’s right -- it’s the 2007 National High School Chess Championship. I flew to Kansas City, MO, from Tucson, AZ, with Coach FM Robby Adamson and 16 team members from Catalina Foothills High School. We also brought a few adult chauffeurs, just to keep 17 teenagers from acting TOO much like 17 teenagers. We arrived at the Hyatt Wednesday evening (well, technically, it was Thursday morning) to give us plenty of time to rest up before the blitz tournament Thursday evening.
We all slept in as much as we could Thursday morning, and then everyone sort of goofed off, playing blitz and watching TV, except for the few responsible students who used the extra time to get some homework done. The blitz event was rather uneventful, despite over 300 participants, possibly because of the stellar directing by Roger Brownell, who ran both the blitz and the bughouse (have to do a little bragging about my dad). Catalina Foothills was the decided favorite in the tournament (our 4th board was higher rated than the 2nd board of any other team participating), and proceeded to take first place by 5.5 points. I was fortunate enough to tie for first individually, but my tiebreaks were less favorable than last year’s, and I received the 3rd place trophy. All in all, it was a fun tournament, as the blitz event always is, and we all enjoyed playing in it.
The main event started in good time, and the first round began, surprisingly, within half an hour of its scheduled starting time. Nothing worth noting happened during that round, with the singular exception of Victor Yee (1789) making an amazing 453-point upset against Eric Rodriguez, a master from Florida.
In the second round, Christopher De Sa (2110), our 3rd highest-rated player, hung the exchange and a pawn in the opening, but somehow managed to make something out of nothing, and proceeded to come back and win as only Chris could. Unfortunately, Sean Higgins (2082), who is by far our hardest-working team member, was drawn into an opposite-colored-bishops endgame against a lower-rated opponent, thus bringing our top four scores to equal 7.5/8. However, we were only tied for first.
In the last three years, our main rival has been Edward R. Murrow High School, from Brooklyn, NY. Not only do they have two International Masters on the team, but they also have… TWO INTERNATIONAL MASTERS!! The top two seeds of the national championship are on the same team! What else do they need? Of course, they also have an expert and two class B players, but you really can’t get over those two INTERNATIONAL MASTERS. OK, I’m done now. Anyway, Catalina Foothills and Murrow tied for first in 2005, with the team from Tucson slipping by on tiebreaks for the first place trophy. In 2006, we were ahead by one point going into the last round, and they decided to go 4-0, giving Murrow the championship by half a point. Needless to say, nothing would please either team but the 1st place trophy, and we were going to do all in our power to bring it home to Tucson.
Saturday morning we all woke up bright and early -- well, at least early; the brightness could be debatable. Vaishnav Aradhyula (our 2nd highest-rated player at 2168), Chris, Sean, and I were all playing down, as were Pasha Savine (1928), Eddie Moskala (1782), and Victor Yee, all having gone 1-1 the previous day. The third round was quite uninteresting, although I had to struggle a bit in my game, after having managed to get a very bad position out of the opening, and our top 8 players all won. While that was all well and good, the New York team was close on our heels, only dropping one point. Mikhail Furman (1691), who was our downfall last year, upsetting a 1900 in less than 10 moves, was finally stopped in his tracks by Chris Williams (2217), after defeating two experts in his first two rounds. Thus the standings were now Foothills-11.5, Murrow-10.5.
The fourth round, Chris had to play up against Christopher Williams (who, as their names are so similar, I will refer to as Chrissy Bear). While Robby was prepping Chris in the room, he got a call from Pasha, to whom Chrissy Bear, who is predominantly an e4 player, had confided, “Why is Chris prepping when he knows I’m just gonna bust out 1.d4?” The game continued with De Sa making short work of him, as Chrissy Bear was much less prepared, and had much less experience in the line which he chose to “bust out.” Yet again, I made a small mistake in the opening, and proceeded to get into a very drawish position against my 2043-rated opponent, but achieved ( or rather received) a winning position when he accidentally picked up his rook, intending to move his knight. Vaishnav and Pasha both won easily against lower-rated opponents. Unfortunately, Sean was upset by Joshua Downey (1927), thus making Pasha our 4th highest scorer, but as we were eating dinner at the food court 2 blocks away (though we never had to go outside, as everything was connected by a skywalk), we were greatly heartened to hear that Derek Tan (2137) had played Murrow’s top IM, Salvijus Bercys, to a draw. Foothills-15, Murrow-13.
There were now only seven perfect scores, three of which were Vaishnav, Chris, and me. Vaishnav was forced to play Alex Lenderman (2447), the second IM from Murrow, and Chris was paired against Alex Barnett (2256), who not only is a very strong player, but proceeded to become one of the co-champions of the tournament. I was conveniently paired against the only perfect freshman (perfect score, that is), but unfortunately, despite my preparations, Shinsaku Uesugi (2200) went into a line that is very hard to win for black. We reached a very closed position, and after two hours of maneuvering and re-maneuvering, I finally conceded a draw. Vaishnav went into his preparation against Lenderman and succeeded in getting a relatively easy draw, while Chris, in a much worse position, was able to complicate it so much that neither player knew what was happening, and proceeded to draw also. There were now 16 players tied for first with 4.5/5, three from Catalina Foothills, and two from Edward R. Murrow.
Our top four scorers were now: Landon Brownell (4.5), Vaishnav Aradhyula (4.5), Christopher De Sa (4.5), and Pasha Savine (4.0). The Murrow top four were: Salvijus Bercys (4.5), Alex Lenderman (4.5), Shawn Martinez (3.5), and Nile Smith (3.0). Foothills-17.5, Murrow-16.5.
Coach Adamson let us know the standings Sunday morning. “But just because we’re ahead does NOT mean that it’s over. Not by any means. Bercys and Lenderman will play down both rounds. Martinez will only play down once, and three of our top four players are playing up this round.” We were all quite confident. We were up a whole point, only two more rounds to go; it shouldn’t be too hard to keep the lead. Little did we know what would actually happen. Little did we know we would get 0.5/4 that round. Little did we know that we would not be ahead, but behind by a whole point going into the last round.
Everything went wrong the sixth round. Vaishnav got a great position, but then made a poor decision and lost. Chris had a great position and was outplayed. I, the only team member playing down, went into a very tactical continuation and ended up with a slightly better position, but was drawn into my opponent’s fast pace and lost. Pasha was winning against an expert and couldn’t finish it. Sean was upset by Amanda Mateer (1894). And, of course, Lenderman, Martinez, and Nile Smith all won. The only bright side was that Bercys was held to a draw once again, this time by Tony Cao (2198). Foothills-18, Murrow-19.
We all gathered in Robby’s room. We needed some serious pepping. “We need EVERYONE to win this last round,” he said, looking at each person in turn. “Put last round behind you. We’re down by one point. Nile Smith and Shawn Martinez are both playing up, but if either of them wins, the only way to even tie for first is to win every game.” Then we got the pairings. It turned out Shawn (2006) wasn’t playing up, and Pasha had to play Jonathan Cox (2094) from Tucson, against whom he was 0-5 in tournament play. Things were not looking good.
And then it happened.
5,064 games were played during the tournament, but only one game was to decide the fate of the team championship. Only one game brought cheers outside the playing hall so loud that the tournament directors were forced to come out and restore order (or at least move the chaos further away).
15 minutes before the tournament would be over, 3 hours and 45 minutes into the last round, we were tied for first place with 22 points each. Pasha had completely outplayed Jonathan Cox, and everyone else on both teams had won relatively easily. However, one game was still in progress. Nile Smith (1854) was playing against Benjamin Marmont (1953), who lived only 100 miles away from our school, in Gilbert, AZ. With a draw or a win, the team from New York would win clear 1st place for the second year in a row. If not, Catalina Foothills would win our second national title in three years.
The coaching staffs of both teams were focused on the game, knowing that the outcome of the entire weekend could be decided by one move. Our entire team was waiting impatiently outside the playing hall, peeking in whenever someone came out the door, trying to get a glimpse of the players' faces, the spectators' expressions, anything that might give us a clue as to how our last year together as a high school team would end. The fact that Sean, Chris, Pasha, and Eddie would all be graduating this year made the excitement so intense it was almost unbearable.
One minute went by. Two minutes went by. Robby came out and dolefully announced, "Marmont had a winning position and blew it. Now he's losing." Everyone on the team was devastated. We were all good friends with Ben, but our goodwill toward him at this moment was tenuous, to say the least. The excitement over the possibility of winning 1st place had evaporated. Few of us had any hope left. Until…
Five minutes later Robby came out again, grinning from ear to ear. "Nile missed a mate in two. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I know I saw it, but I still can NOT believe it." The change in the atmosphere was indescribable. People that were near tears before were now jumping up and down, waiting for Ben to emerge from the playing hall. The yell and stampede towards him when he came through the door brought the TDs running, but we were all so excited we didn't care. We had won the national championship.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Over 600 Compete in Arizona State Chess Championship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2007
Enrique Huerta
maxoftat@yahoo.com
(520) 440-3176
Tucson, AZ - As the weather warmed up and most of the state were enjoying a weekend of sunshine, 631 scholastic chess players stayed indoors to compete in the 2007 State Scholastic Chess Championships. A total of 2100 chess games were played as players ranging from pre-kindergarten to high school senior competed for the official state title. The chess tournament is an annual event that rotates throughout the state from year to year. This year the Southern Arizona Chess Association hosted the event at the Double Tree Inn, in Tucson.
The tournament, which started on March 17, is a 7-round (6 rounds in high school) event that takes two days to complete. Players are separated into sections based on grade: K-1, K-3, K-5, K-6, K-9, and High School. In order to compete in the event players had to qualify at a regional qualifier tournament. The regional tournaments, held between late January and early March, had schools from as far north as Kayenta and as far south as Nogales participate in hopes of qualifying players for the State Championship. For some, just making it to the State Championships is an accomplishment, for others it’s the next step in their quest for the state title.
K-1 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Qi, Richard CoppCn K 7.0
2 Shevelev, Daniel Manzan K 6.0
3 Li, Ethan Corbet 1 6.0
4 Clemmensen, Carter PCDS 6.0
5 Johnston, Lucas A StJoe 1 6.0
6 Bergera, Luc PCDS 5.5
7 Rooney, Harrison PCDS 5.0
8 Hall, Benjamin StJoe K 5.0
9 Brennan, Shaun T Harel K 5.0
10 Smith, Zac A LdyBug K 5.0
K-1 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Phoenix Country Day School, Phoenix 21.0
2 Montessori Schoolhouse, Tucson 16.5
3 Killip Elementary, Flagstaff 15.5
4 Neely Elementary, Gilbert 15.5
5 Greenfields Country Day School, Tucson 15.0
K-3 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Lakshmiprasad, Manas PasHil 3 7.0
2 Wang, David SSciAc 3 6.0
3 Temyanko, Lora CanyVw 2 6.0
4 Pershad, Yash RanSol 6.0
5 Nag, Amrita SunrDr 3 6.0
6 Chen, Michael KeyStn 3 6.0
7 Castro Jr, Francis Horiz 2 5.5
8 Zhao, Andrew Spectr 2 5.5
9 Aradhyula, Sumhith CanyVw 3 5.5
10 Coll, Nathan MadiPk 2 5.5
K-3 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Canyon View Elementary, Tucson 20.5
2 Keystone Montessori, Chandler 20.0
3 Sam Hughes Elementary, Tucson 18.5
4 Manzanita Elementary, Tucson 17.0
5 Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson 17.0
K-5 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Lee, Brennen MadPrk 6.5
2 Chakraborty, Dipro DestSp 5 6.0
3 Hu, Bryan SunrDr 4 6.0
4 Isoe, Kohta Line 4 6.0
5 Gregory, Austin S BenFrk 5 6.0
6 Pecherski, Daniel AbrLin 4 5.5
7 Anand, Anish EduPrz 5.5
8 Zhao, David Spectr 4 5.0
9 Harris, Seth A MadPrk 5 5.0
10 Zipperian, James CastHi 4 5.0
K-5 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Basis, Tucson 19.0
2 Manzanita Elementary, Tucson 18.0
3 Castlehill Country Day School, Tucson 16.5
4 Lineweaver Elementary, Tucson 16.5
5 Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson 16.5
K-6 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Ding, Richard KyrDPb 6 6.5
2 Adelberg, David ZunElm 4 6.0
3 Streety, Beau TownMS 6 6.0
4 Thornton, Joshua M Burk 5 6.0
5 Qi, Eric CoppCn 6 5.5
6 Marstein, Daniel G Burk 5 5.5
7 Meador, Marshal A Pionee 6 5.5
8 Lillard, Grant PCDS 5.0
9 Arnold, Justin Way Harel 6 5.0
10 Thayillam, Bryan K CoppRd 6 5.0
K-6 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Phoenix Country Day School, Phoenix 17.0
2* Harelson Elementary, Tucson, 17.0
3* Khalsa Montessori, Tucson 17.0
4 Montessori Schoolhouse, Tucson 16.5
5 Killip Elementary, Flagstaff 16.0
K-9 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Zhang, Kevin Z Espero 8 7.0
2 Lin, Andy Espero 6.0
3 Mead, Ryan C RanSol 7 6.0
4 Cotter, Samuel StGreg 7 5.5
5 Eng, Randel J Explor 7 5.5
6 Thompson, Nick N TaylJH 8 5.5
7 Reed, Michael S Espero 7 5.5
8 Zhu, Joshua ChanPr 7 5.5
9 Maneth, Jacob MesqJH 8 5.5
10 Pennock, Steven G OranGr 6 5.5
K-9 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Esperero Canyon Middle School, Tucson 23.5
2 Mesquite Junior High, Gilbert 18.5
3 Orange Grove Middle High, Tucson 18.5
4 Taylor Junior High School, Mesa 18.0
5 St. Gregory's, Tucson 18.0
HS Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* De Sa, Christopher CFHS 12 6.0
2 Brownell, Landon CFHS 11 5.0
3 Savine, Pavel A CFHS 12 5.0
4 Burleigh, Kaylan J GilbHS 5.0
5 Aradhyula, Vaishna CFHS 11 4.5
6 Schucker, Daniel D GilbHS 11 4.5
7 Higgins, Sean K CFHS 12 4.5
8 Marmont, Benjamin HlandH 11 4.5
9 Wallace, Jenelle L CFHS 10 4.0
10 Thakur, Ashu D UnivHS 9 4.0
HS Team
Plc Name Score
1* Catalina Foothills High School, Tucson 20.5
2 Gilbert High School, Gilbert 17.0
3 Barry Goldwater High School, Phoenix 14.0
4 Blue Ridge High School, Lakeside 11.5
5 Alchesay High School, Ft. Apache 8.0
* State Champion
Additionally, as the high school champion, Christopher De Sa will represent Arizona in the Denker Tournament of Champions to be held in conjunction with the US Open this August in New Jersery. Jenelle Wallace, the highest finishing female player, will represent Arizona in the Susan Polgar Invitational Tournament, also held at the US Open.
Complete results can be found at www.sazchess.org.
Enrique Huerta
Vice President
Southern Arizona Chess Association
March 19, 2007
Enrique Huerta
maxoftat@yahoo.com
(520) 440-3176
Tucson, AZ - As the weather warmed up and most of the state were enjoying a weekend of sunshine, 631 scholastic chess players stayed indoors to compete in the 2007 State Scholastic Chess Championships. A total of 2100 chess games were played as players ranging from pre-kindergarten to high school senior competed for the official state title. The chess tournament is an annual event that rotates throughout the state from year to year. This year the Southern Arizona Chess Association hosted the event at the Double Tree Inn, in Tucson.
The tournament, which started on March 17, is a 7-round (6 rounds in high school) event that takes two days to complete. Players are separated into sections based on grade: K-1, K-3, K-5, K-6, K-9, and High School. In order to compete in the event players had to qualify at a regional qualifier tournament. The regional tournaments, held between late January and early March, had schools from as far north as Kayenta and as far south as Nogales participate in hopes of qualifying players for the State Championship. For some, just making it to the State Championships is an accomplishment, for others it’s the next step in their quest for the state title.
K-1 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Qi, Richard CoppCn K 7.0
2 Shevelev, Daniel Manzan K 6.0
3 Li, Ethan Corbet 1 6.0
4 Clemmensen, Carter PCDS 6.0
5 Johnston, Lucas A StJoe 1 6.0
6 Bergera, Luc PCDS 5.5
7 Rooney, Harrison PCDS 5.0
8 Hall, Benjamin StJoe K 5.0
9 Brennan, Shaun T Harel K 5.0
10 Smith, Zac A LdyBug K 5.0
K-1 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Phoenix Country Day School, Phoenix 21.0
2 Montessori Schoolhouse, Tucson 16.5
3 Killip Elementary, Flagstaff 15.5
4 Neely Elementary, Gilbert 15.5
5 Greenfields Country Day School, Tucson 15.0
K-3 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Lakshmiprasad, Manas PasHil 3 7.0
2 Wang, David SSciAc 3 6.0
3 Temyanko, Lora CanyVw 2 6.0
4 Pershad, Yash RanSol 6.0
5 Nag, Amrita SunrDr 3 6.0
6 Chen, Michael KeyStn 3 6.0
7 Castro Jr, Francis Horiz 2 5.5
8 Zhao, Andrew Spectr 2 5.5
9 Aradhyula, Sumhith CanyVw 3 5.5
10 Coll, Nathan MadiPk 2 5.5
K-3 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Canyon View Elementary, Tucson 20.5
2 Keystone Montessori, Chandler 20.0
3 Sam Hughes Elementary, Tucson 18.5
4 Manzanita Elementary, Tucson 17.0
5 Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson 17.0
K-5 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Lee, Brennen MadPrk 6.5
2 Chakraborty, Dipro DestSp 5 6.0
3 Hu, Bryan SunrDr 4 6.0
4 Isoe, Kohta Line 4 6.0
5 Gregory, Austin S BenFrk 5 6.0
6 Pecherski, Daniel AbrLin 4 5.5
7 Anand, Anish EduPrz 5.5
8 Zhao, David Spectr 4 5.0
9 Harris, Seth A MadPrk 5 5.0
10 Zipperian, James CastHi 4 5.0
K-5 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Basis, Tucson 19.0
2 Manzanita Elementary, Tucson 18.0
3 Castlehill Country Day School, Tucson 16.5
4 Lineweaver Elementary, Tucson 16.5
5 Sunrise Drive Elementary, Tucson 16.5
K-6 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Ding, Richard KyrDPb 6 6.5
2 Adelberg, David ZunElm 4 6.0
3 Streety, Beau TownMS 6 6.0
4 Thornton, Joshua M Burk 5 6.0
5 Qi, Eric CoppCn 6 5.5
6 Marstein, Daniel G Burk 5 5.5
7 Meador, Marshal A Pionee 6 5.5
8 Lillard, Grant PCDS 5.0
9 Arnold, Justin Way Harel 6 5.0
10 Thayillam, Bryan K CoppRd 6 5.0
K-6 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Phoenix Country Day School, Phoenix 17.0
2* Harelson Elementary, Tucson, 17.0
3* Khalsa Montessori, Tucson 17.0
4 Montessori Schoolhouse, Tucson 16.5
5 Killip Elementary, Flagstaff 16.0
K-9 Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* Zhang, Kevin Z Espero 8 7.0
2 Lin, Andy Espero 6.0
3 Mead, Ryan C RanSol 7 6.0
4 Cotter, Samuel StGreg 7 5.5
5 Eng, Randel J Explor 7 5.5
6 Thompson, Nick N TaylJH 8 5.5
7 Reed, Michael S Espero 7 5.5
8 Zhu, Joshua ChanPr 7 5.5
9 Maneth, Jacob MesqJH 8 5.5
10 Pennock, Steven G OranGr 6 5.5
K-9 Team
Plc Name Score
1* Esperero Canyon Middle School, Tucson 23.5
2 Mesquite Junior High, Gilbert 18.5
3 Orange Grove Middle High, Tucson 18.5
4 Taylor Junior High School, Mesa 18.0
5 St. Gregory's, Tucson 18.0
HS Individual
Plc Name Team Gr Pts
1* De Sa, Christopher CFHS 12 6.0
2 Brownell, Landon CFHS 11 5.0
3 Savine, Pavel A CFHS 12 5.0
4 Burleigh, Kaylan J GilbHS 5.0
5 Aradhyula, Vaishna CFHS 11 4.5
6 Schucker, Daniel D GilbHS 11 4.5
7 Higgins, Sean K CFHS 12 4.5
8 Marmont, Benjamin HlandH 11 4.5
9 Wallace, Jenelle L CFHS 10 4.0
10 Thakur, Ashu D UnivHS 9 4.0
HS Team
Plc Name Score
1* Catalina Foothills High School, Tucson 20.5
2 Gilbert High School, Gilbert 17.0
3 Barry Goldwater High School, Phoenix 14.0
4 Blue Ridge High School, Lakeside 11.5
5 Alchesay High School, Ft. Apache 8.0
* State Champion
Additionally, as the high school champion, Christopher De Sa will represent Arizona in the Denker Tournament of Champions to be held in conjunction with the US Open this August in New Jersery. Jenelle Wallace, the highest finishing female player, will represent Arizona in the Susan Polgar Invitational Tournament, also held at the US Open.
Complete results can be found at www.sazchess.org.
Enrique Huerta
Vice President
Southern Arizona Chess Association
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