Austin Kids Chess Club

Austin Kids #15 Results

2011-02-06T07:21:00.000-08:00

Click here for the USCF cross-table.

We had a nice turnout of 58 players, including 1 Expert and 1 Class A players.

Congratulations to the winners:

Duy Nguyen, Anthony Nguyen, and Mike Ingram: tied for 1st place - Open section. Duy broke the 1800 mark again.
William Liu:1st place U1700 - Open section.
Steve Manion: 1st place - U1400 section.
Camille Kao (1st place U1100), Dang Nguyen, and Glen Liu: tied for 2nd place - U1400 section.
Andrew Lu: 1st place - U900 section.
Kayhaun Ahmadian, Kevin Huang, and Samuel Tian (1st place U600): tied for 2nd place - U900 section.
Bharat Rao (Biggest Upset prize for defeating a opponent 379 points stronger): 1st place U300 - U900 section.
Ben Fincher and Lance He: tied for 1st place Unrated - U900 section.
Steve/Jonathan/Sarah Manion: 1st place Parent/Child team.

We also gave chess medals to players with 3 points who did not win any chess prize.

Each of the winner should receive a prize or get free entry to a future tournament. Please send Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com) an email if you have not picked up your prize.

Austin Kids #15 (2/05/2011, 12 pm – 6 pm) at the Austin Chinese Education Services

2011-01-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Time:
Saturday, February 5th 2011, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
A one-day tournament for all ages.

Open section: USCF rated, 3SS G/60.
U1400 section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
U900 section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
In the Open and U1400 sections, we will subtract 5 minutes when using a delay clock.

Entry fee: $5.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or chess set...) to the top finishers in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the 1st Parent/Child team.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Austin Kids #14 - Results

2011-01-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

Click here for the USCF cross-table.

We had a nice turnout of 55 players, including 1 Expert and 1 Class A players.

Congratulations to the winners:

Craig LaSalle: 1st place - Open section.
Mike Ingram and Duy Nguyen: tied for 2nd place - Open section.
Serena Zadoo and Emily Nguyen: tied for 1st place U1700 - Open section.
Sanjna Zadoo: 1st place - U1400 section.
Sandhya Zadoo, Camille Kao, and Ritik Goyal (1st place U1050): tied for 2nd place - U1400 section.
Eric Ingram and Kody Cardamone (1st place U600): tied for 1st place - U900 section.
NhuAnh Nguyen, Andrew Li, and Kevin Huang: tied for 3rd place - U900 section.
Bharat Rao, Simona Kao (Biggest Upset prize for defeating a opponent 400+ points stronger), Daisy Cheng, and Annie Xia: tied for 1st place U300- U900 section.
Bobby Gittinger: 1st place Unrated - U900 section.
Mike/Eric Ingram: 1st place Parent/Child team.
Grant He: winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Each of the winner should receive a prize. Please send Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com) an email if you have not picked up your prize.

We do not have a good participation on the Puzzles Solving competition. It will be removed from future Austin Kids event.

1st Annual Austin Chess Club Championships - Results

2011-01-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

We have a high participation in that challenging event. Congratulations to:

Duy Nguyen: 1st place in the Reserved section, winning $300.
Andrew Zhang: 1st place U1000 in the Booster section, winning $50.

Anthony Nguyen did not do well nor win any prize, but make it to the list of interesting hair styles.

Click here for the final standings.

Austin Kids #14 (1/15/2011, 12 pm – 6 pm) at the Austin Chinese Education Services

2011-01-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

Time:
Saturday, January 15th 2011, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
A one-day tournament for all ages.

Open section: USCF rated, 3SS G/60.
U1400 section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
U900 section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
In the Open and U1400 sections, we will subtract 5 minutes when using a delay clock.

Entry fee: $5.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the winner of Chess Puzzles Solving competition, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the 1st Parent/Child team.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Unrated chess tournament (01/02/2011) - Results

2011-01-03T06:27:00.000-08:00

Even with the cold weather in the 50s and under short notice, 42 players showed up for this event; one came all the way from Perth, Australia. We had 8 players (most with ratings of over 1600) in the 3SS G30 section and 34 in the 5SS G15 section.

Congratulations to the winners:

3SS G30:
Khoa Nguyen - 1st place trophy with a perfect score 3.0

5SS G15:
Amough Dambal - 1st place trohy with a perfect score 5.0
Dang Nguyen - 2nd place trophy with 4.0/5.0
Earnest Fernades - 3rd place trophy with 4.0/5.0
Shreyes Kaliyur - 4th place medal with 4.0/5.0
Andrew Lu - 5th place medal with 4.0/5.0
Zachary Siegel - 1st place U600 medal with 3.0/5.0
Rishi Ganesh - 1st place U300 medal with 2.5/5.0
Don Hoang - 1st place Unrated medal with 2.5/5.0

Cross tables for the G30 section:

No. Name St Rate 1 2 3 Score

1. Nguyen, Khoa Minh (3)......... TX 1717 W8 W3 W2 3.0

2. Dambal, Sanjeev (4)........... TX 1665 W5 W6 L1 2.0

3. Baumann, Herbert A (2)........ TX 1729 W7 L1 D6 1.5
4. Kaliyur, Rohith (5)........... TX 1611 D6 L7 W8 1.5
5. Nguyen, Huy Van (7)........... TX 1503 L2 D8 W7 1.5

6. Nguyen, Duy Minh (1).......... TX 1737 D4 L2 D3 1.0
7. Hsieh, David (6).............. TX 1593 L3 W4 L5 1.0

8. Pasapuleti, Mukund (8)........ TX 1301 L1 D5 L4 0.5

Standings for the G15 section:

Cross tables for the G15 section:

No. Name St Rate 1 2 3 4 5 Score

1. Dambal, Amogh (2)............. TX 1166 W21 W11 W4 W2 W7 5.0

2. Nguyen, Dang Minh (1)......... TX 1218 W17 W5 W8 L1 W9 4.0
3. Kaliyur, Shreyes (5).......... TX 1026 W24 W13 W9 L7 W11 4.0
4. Fernandes, Ernest (6)......... TX 992 W23 W12 L1 W14 W10 4.0
5. Lu, Andrew Y (12)............. TX 721 W27 L2 W21 W13 W8 4.0

6. Pingale, Chinmay M (3)........ TX 1091 W22 L16 W26 D10 W15 3.5
7. Dong, Dylan Roswell (4)....... TX 1055 -H- W19 W16 W3 L1 3.5

8. Karuturi, Tejas (7)........... TX 923 W25 W20 L2 W16 L5 3.0
9. Fernandes, Louis (8).......... TX 890 W29 W26 L3 W12 L2 3.0
10. Gucer, Doru (9)............... TX 855 D19 W31 W15 D6 L4 3.0
11. Nguyen, Anh Nhu (10).......... TX 769 W34 L1 W17 W22 L3 3.0
12. Pingale, Gargi Mahendra (14). TX 561 W18 L4 W28 L9 W20 3.0
13. Siegel, Zachary (15).......... TX 458 W33 L3 W29 L5 W22 3.0
14. Siegel, Jason (16)............ TX 436 L26 W25 W20 L4 W21 3.0

15. Polavaram, Rohan (11)......... TX 754 -H- W30 L10 W19 L6 2.5
16. Kondubhatla, Siddharth (13)... TX 564 W32 W6 L7 L8 D17 2.5
17. Ganesh, Rishi (19)............ TX 289 L2 W18 L11 W24 D16 2.5
18. Gupta, Somil (22)............. TX 119 L12 L17 D25 W27 W29 2.5
19. Hoang, Don (28)............... nnnn D10 L7 W30 L15 W23 2.5

20. McMullen, Leila Mari (17).... TX 425 W28 L8 L14 W29 L12 2.0
21. Ravilla, Bharat (20).......... TX 248 L1 W32 L5 W28 L14 2.0
22. Karuturi, Rahul (21).......... TX 218 L6 W27 W31 L11 L13 2.0
23. Desai, Aditya H (23).......... TX 110 L4 L28 W27 W31 L19 2.0
24. Cheng, Daisy (24)............. TX 107 L3 L29 W32 L17 W25 2.0

25. Desai, Anshul H (25).......... TX 105 L8 L14 D18 W30 L24 1.5

26. Ngo, Evelyn (34).............. TX nnnn W14 L9 L6 -U- -U- 1.0
27. Momin, Nuha (31).............. TX nnnn L5 L22 L23 L18 W31 1.0
28. Math, Jason (30).............. TX nnnn L20 W23 L12 L21 -U- 1.0
29. Durham, Luke (27)............. nnnn L9 W24 L13 L20 L18 1.0

30. Lee, Elliot (29).............. TX nnnn D31 L15 L19 L25 -U- 0.5
31. Dokka,Bhavana (26)............ TX nnnn D30 L10 L22 L23 L27 0.5

32. VanGulick, Jordan (35)........ nnnn L16 L21 L24 -U- -U- 0.0
33. Nagle, Osric (33)............. nnnn L13 -U- -U- -U- -U- 0.0
34. Nagle, Anish (32)............. nnnn L11 -U- -U- -U- -U- 0.0

If your child has not picked up the trophy/medal, please send an email to nam67@yahoo.com.

Unrated tournament (1/02/2011, 12 pm - 3:30 pm) at Spicewood Elementary

2010-12-30T08:54:00.000-08:00

Time:
Sunday, January 2nd 2011, 12 pm - 3:30 pm

Location:
Spicewood Elementary (pavilion - northwest corner of the playground)
11601 Olson Dr.
Austin, TX 78750

Details:
An unrated chess tournament open to everyone, but seating is limited to the first 36. Send email to nam67@yahoo.com to reserve the seat.
One section: not USCF rated, 5SS G/15 (with 3s delay).

Entry fee: Free.

Prizes: Trophies and medals to top finishers.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

2010 National K-12 Championships - Results

2010-12-30T08:19:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the following Austin Kids who competed in the 2010 National K-12 Championships (10-12 December 2010 · Lake Buena Vista, Florida):

Andrew Jacob: 6th Grade - 11th Place
Rohit Kaliyur: 8th Grade - tied for 10th Place
Shreyes Kaliyur: 3rd Grade - U1200 2nd Place

Click here for the complete results.

Austin Kids #13 - Results

2010-12-16T06:30:00.000-08:00

We had a nice turnout of 53 players.

Congratulations to the winners:

Vasfi Gucer: 1st place - Open section.
Duy Nguyen, Herb Baumann, Jonathan Manion, Andrew Jacob, Khoa Nguyen, Mike Ingram, and Kevin Li (1st place - U1700): tied for 2nd place - Open section.
Sarah Manion, Arjun Devireddy (1st place - U1050), and Louis Fernandes (Biggest Upset prize for defeating a opponent 514 points stronger): tied for 1st place - U1400 section.
Doru Gucer: 1st place - U900 section.
Victoria Ryan, Kayhaun Ahmadian, and Erik Hanson: tied for 2nd place - U900 section.
Raj Kohli: 1st place U600 - U900 section.
Annie Xia, Jonathan Darmawan, and Samual Tian: tied for 1st place Unrated - U900 section.
Vasfi/Doru: 1st place Parent/Child team.
Michael Darmawan: winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Click here for the USCF cross-table.

Each of the winner should receive a chess prize. Please send Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com) an email if you have not picked up your prize.

Austin Kids #13 (12/04/2010, 12 pm – 6 pm) at the Austin Chinese Education Services

2010-11-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

Time:
Saturday, December 4th 2010, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
A one-day tournament for all ages.

Open section: USCF rated, 3SS G/60.
U1400 section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
U900 section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
In the Open and U1400 sections, we will subtract 5 minutes when using a delay clock.

Entry fee: $5.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the winner of Chess Puzzles Solving competition, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the 1st Parent/Child team.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Fundraising for Emily Nguyen to the 2010 World Youth Chess Championships

2010-11-27T12:33:00.001-08:00

Emily Nguyen has been selected to be on the US Youth Chess team to participate in the 2010 World Youth Chess Championships (Halkidiki - Greece, Oct 19-31 2010). This is a great honor for Emily to wear the red/blue/white uniform representing the US Under-8 Girls and to be the first World Youth team member from the Austin area. It is also a wonderful opportunity for her to play against other top chess players her age around the world. Being the 3rd-ranked member in the team, Emily does not get free meals/lodging from the organizer nor travel stipend from the USCF. The expense for the trip runs about $2500 per person.

The Austin Chess Community has been offering tremendous support and encouragement. A lot of discussions and ideas have been brought up to raise money for the trip. Emily has received $1724 so far:

Texas Chess Association: $600

• Received $600 from Barbara Swafford on 9/3/10

Austin Chess Club and its members: $414

• $25: Received from Lori Balkum in 06/10
• $25: Received from Dale McLemore on 8/1/10
• $304: Received from Drew Sarkisian on 10/4/10
• $60: Received from Lori Balkum on 10/10/10

Austin Kids Chess Club members: $305

• Austin Kids #10: $75
• Austin Kids #11: $230

Rocks & Rooks Chess Club: $275

• Chess tournament at NYOS: $110 (Received from Gary Gaiffe on 9/15/10)
• Chess tournament at Baranoff Elementary: $165

The Salvation Army: $100

• Austin Kids #8: $30
• Austin Kids #9: $40
• Austin Kids #10: $30

Laurel Mountain Chess Club members: $30

• $30: Received from Binny Nanavati on 9/15/10

We would like to thank the Austin Chess Community (Lori Balkum, Binny Nanavati, Peter Kappler, Gary Gaiffe, Drew Sarkisian, Jenwei Hsieh, Adrian Diaz, and others) and the Texas Chess Association for your wonderful support; it is greatly appreciated.

RRISD Students Winning at the 14th Annual Texas Grades & Collegiate Chess Championships - by Huy Nguyen

2010-11-27T11:40:00.000-08:00

RRISD Students Winning at the 14th Annual Texas Grades & Collegiate Chess Championships

Over 600 students from across Texas gathered to Brownsville this past weekend November 13-14 for the 14th Annual Texas Grades & Collegiate Chess Championships. In this state championship tournament, the students played in the sections according to their grades. Our RRISD had a group of students participating in the tournament, and they all came back as winners in their grade sections.

Anh Nguyen, Cactus Ranch Elementary School, 3rd Place Trophy in Kinder
Helen Le, Laurel Mountain Elementary School, 8th Place Trophy in Kinder
Dang Nguyen, Cactus Ranch Elementary School, 2nd Place Trophy in 2nd Grade
Collin Le, Laurel Mountain Elementary School, 3rd Place Trophy in 2nd Grade
Emily Nguyen, Laurel Mountain Elementary School, 1st Place Trophy in 3rd Grade
Shreyes Kaliyur, Spicewood Elementary School, 6th Place Trophy in 3rd Grade
Khoa Nguyen, Cactus Ranch Elementary School, 3rd Place Trophy in 4th Grade
Anthony Nguyen, Laurel Mountain Elementary School, 4th Place Trophy in 5th Grade
Duy Nguyen, Walsh Middle School, 1st Place Trophy in 6th Grade
Andrew Jacob, Canyon Vista Middle School, 4th Place Trophy in 6th Grade
Rohith Kaliyur, Canyon Vista Middle School, 5th Place Trophy in 7th Grade

Congratulations to all of the students and parents for their outstanding results!
They all make RRISD very proud!

Huy Nguyen
Cactus Ranch Chess Club Coordinator

Austin Kids #12 - Results

2010-11-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

Click here for the USCF cross-table.

We had a record turnout of 75 players, and had to split the U900 into 2 rooms. There were quite a few new faces in the U900. Some came to the chess tournament for the first time. It was very nice to see a lot of kids so eager to play chess. The registration with a large number of players, some trying to get USCF membership in the last minute, was causing some delay. In the future, please help us ensure that everyone has valid USCF membership and has sent pre-registration email prior to the event. At the end of the day, everyone seemed to enjoy the day. My fatigue seemed to go away when parents asked me when the next event would be.

Congratulations to the winners:

Anthony Nguyen, Jonathan Manion, Michael Ingram, and William Liu: four-way tie for 1st place in the Open section.
Emily Nguyen and Niteka Raina: tie for U1600 - 1st place in the Open section.
Dang Nguyen: 1st place in the U1400 section with perfect score 4/4.
Steve Manion, Forrest Marler, and Dylan Dong: 3-way tie for 2nd place in the U1400 section.
Camille Kao and Louis Fernandes: tie for U1000 - 1st place in the U1400 section.
Ritik Goyal and Duru Gucer: tie for 1st place in the U900 section.
Eric Ingram, Shauhin Ahmadian, Abhishek Rao (Biggest Upset prize for defeating a opponent 683 points stronger), Venkat Alapati (unrated - 1st place prize), Vikas Burugu (U600 - 1st place prize), and Andrew Lu: 6-way tie for 2nd place in the U900 section.
Mike/Eric Ingram: 1st place Parent/Child team.
James Joh: winner of the Puzzles Solving drawing.
Ernest Fernandes: winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Each of the winner should receive a chess prize. Please send Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com) an email if you have not picked up your prize.

Austin Kids #12 (11/20/2010, 12 pm – 6 pm) at the Austin Chinese Education Services

2010-11-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

Time:
Saturday, November 20 2010, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
A one-day tournament for all ages.

Open section: USCF rated, 3SS G/60.
U1400 section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
U900 section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
In the Open and U1400 sections, we will subtract 5 minutes when using a delay clock.

Entry fee: $5.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the winner of Chess Puzzles Solving competition, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the 1st Parent/Child team.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Emily's trip to the 2010 World Youth Championships - by Nam Nguyen

2010-10-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

The official website with daily results/pairings: http://wycc2010.chessdom.com/u8-girls/.

10/19
We left our house at 9 am on Mon and by the time we checked into the hotel, it was almost 9 am on Tue in Texas. After 4 flights and a long bus ride, everyone was a little bit tired. Our baggages would not be here until tomorrow. When we arrived in Vienna, someone left an unattended bag right at our gate causing security issue that prevented us from using that gate. After a long delay, we were asked to get on a bus to get into the airport via a bus gate. We ran to our departure gate for Thessaloniki and barely made it, but our baggages did not make the connection flight.

We had a team meeting with the US coaches and delegation. It was the largest US delegation with 104 persons including 40 players and 6 coaches; everyone had high spirit. The US delegation all stayed in this hotel. The U8 and U10 sections would play in this hotel and other sections would be in the Olympic Hall Congress Center, about 10 min walk from here. Emily and 5 other players were assigned to FIDE Senior Trainer Michael Khodarkovsky for coaching.

Emily ate well and could get some sleep. Hopefully, she would be ready for the first game tomorrow.

10/20
Emily woke up at midnight, did not go back to sleep until 2 am, but then slept straight to 10 am. We had to wake her up for breakfast and team meeting. She enjoyed breakfast, lunch, and looked quite ready for the first round. She worked on tactics for an hour after lunch and looked sharp.

She played Alina Beshukova from Russia in the first round. Alina finished 8th in the 2010 European Youth Chess Championships, U8-Girls section. The game took 3 hours and 45 min to finish and it was the last board in the section. We had the game analyzed with her coach. She played well and dominated but missed a few moves to finish it faster. Tomorrow would not be easier for Emily; she would play Gabriela Antova from Bulgaria. Gabriela was the 2010 European Youth Chess Champion, U8 Girl. Emily slept and ate well today. Our baggages with her favorite snacks/milk arrived today.

10/21
Last night, she woke up around midnight and could not get back to sleep until 3 am. We let her sleep until we woke her up at 12:25 pm. She skipped breakfast and the training session with her onsite coach. She had lunch, did 15 minutes of tactics, took a rest, and headed for the game.

She had some positional advantage with even materials but then suddenly made an uncharacteristic blunder and lost the game. It lasted only 1 hour and 30 minutes with 22 moves. I did not understand what happened. Perhaps the still irregular sleep pattern negatively affected her performance.

After the game, we had her game reviewed by an onsite coach. Then she went swimming and had dinner. We forced her to go to bed around 9:30 pm. She still woke up at midnight and had difficulties getting back to sleep.

10/22
We did not let her sleep until noon like we did yesterday; we woke her up at 8:30 am, had breakfast, and attended the preparation session with her coach. She had a few practice games with Anthony, read a book outside in fresh air, and took a nap at 12:30 pm.

We went to lunch at 1:30 pm and let Emily relax after that. She defeated Anezka Drastichova from the Czech Republic in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

After having her game reviewed by an onsite coach, we walked along the beach and had dinner. She enjoyed having dinner with Annie Wang and Joanna Liu, two of her teamates. They went to Joanna's room and played for 10 minutes. She went to bed at 9:30 pm but did not get to sleep until midnight.

10/23
She slept straight until 9:00 am when we woke her up. We had breakfast with Devina's family and then attended a 30-minute training with her coach. We walked to a small grocery store by the marina and purchased some water bottles and drinks. We walked along the beach enjoying fresh air and beautiful weather. We saw Joanna and her dad by the swimming pool. Emily and Joanna played together in the playground until 12:15 pm. We went back to our room so that she could take a short nap. We went to lunch at 1:30 pm and sat with Devina's and Joanna's families. The girls started to enjoy the friendship.

She defeated Shadan Babazadeh from Iran in round 4. The game lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes. She had dinner and went to bed at 9:30 pm.

10/24
For the first time since the trip, she slept soundly and woke up at 8:00 am. She looked very fresh. We had breakfast quickly and went to the tournament hall. There were 2 games today. The 5th-round game started at 9:00 am. She played Dominika Ferkova from Slovakia. She won the game in 1 hour and 30 min. We went along the beach. She played in the playground with Joanna, and then we went back to the room for a short rest. After lunch, she could nap for 30 min and headed for the second game. She played Joanna Swiech from Poland and won the game in almost 3 hours.

10/25
It was the break day. We woke up early around 8:00 am, had breakfast, and took a water taxi to a village nearby. Emily really enjoyed the trip with her new friends Annie, Devina, Joanna, and Angeli. She wrote her blog, played cards with her brother, and played in the playground in the afternoon. She went to bed around 9:30 pm.

10/26
She woke up early, had breakfast, and attended training. We went along the beach and she played with her friends Joanna/Samritha/Devina in the playground. We went back to the room so that she could take a rest. During lunch, she mentioned she was a little bit tired. She had a 15-min nap after lunch. She played Eszter Morvay from Slovakia. Emily lost the game in 3 hours. She failed to find a critical move that could have turned things around to her advantage.

10/27
She woke up early and was a little bit nervous. She was playing WFM Annie Wang, the official US representative in U8 Girls section, and the highest rated U8 girl in the US. She did not have training session today; It was customary that US coaches would not prepare players against their team-mates. Before the trip, I had gathered the games of top players in the section, including Annie's, and went over them with Mike Feinstein, one of her two coaches. I sent an email to her two coaches Mike Feinstein and Eugene Kohnitz to seek advice on the opening she was playing, and went over again with her with help from her brother Anthony. We made one adjustment. She was not allowed to play with the swings in the playground; we just walked along the beach and went to the marina. She played dodge ball with Anthony and other kids in the US delegation for 15 min and went to lunch. She took a 10-min nap, took a shower, and went to the tournament hall. She seemed confident enough to play Annie. She blundered a knight on move 19 and lost the game in 3 hours. In her games so far, she was even or had advantages going into the mid/end games. The problem was not with preparation. It was how to get her to focus on the games and play to her ability.

10/28
She seemed determined to win the remaining 3 games. She played Elena Badzgaradze from Russia in round 9. Yesterday, Anthony and I tried to come up with a system that helped her avoid blunders. 2 years ago, I had a set of 7 questions for her to ask herself; that seemed to work until this tournament. We came up with a simpler scheme. After the opponent's move, she had to remember Tue/Wed. "T" in Tue stood for "Threats" and "W" in Wed for "Weakness". Before her move, she had to remember Mon/Tue/Wed. "T" in Tue stood for "Tactics", "W" in Wed for "Weakness" (any weakness after her move), and "M" in Mon for "Move" (opponent's next move). We played 2 quick games with her applying the scheme, and she played fine quickly capilalzing on my bad moves. We also went over basic strategies on open file/diagonal, space advantage, weak pawn. lining up Rook/Bishop against opponent's King/Queen, and mobilizing pieces...

She played solidly, used tactics to win a pawn, and defeated the Russian in 4 hours. After the win, her standing moved up to 11th.

Her team-mate, Annie Wang, lost a game where she had clearly won and dropped out of the race for a medal. Annie's standing was 5th coming into the last round.

Medal contenders in the US team included:
U10 Open
Jefferey Xiong: 1st
Cameron Wheeler: 4th

U12 Open
Kayden Troff: 1st

U18 Open
Steven Zierk: 2nd

10/29
She played the second seed of the tournament, Saina Salonika with FIDE rating of 1342 from India. The game came down to Knight/Pawns end game with Emily's slight advantage in position. She could have opened up the King side, and brought the King out in order to win the game. However, she chose to play conservatively and the game ended with a draw. Her standing remained 11th after the game. The organizger made an announcement that they would give prizes to top 8. Emily was playing board 6 against Olga Badelko from Belarus tomorrow. A win would put her in 5th through 11th place, depending on the outcome of boards 1-7. Being in the top 8 would make her very happy. She was alert and energetic coming into the game knowing that she would fight to get to the top 8.

10/30
10 am: the last round started.

11:45 am: the 3rd board finished with an upset; Mahapatra Adyasa from India (7 pts) defeated Assel Serikbay from Kazakhstan (8 pts). The result was unfavorable to Emily. She could be only 6th through 11th with a win.

12:10 pm: Emily came out with a win. What a relief to us!!! Now, just had to wait on the results from boards 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7.

12:35 pm: board 2 was done with the result favorable to Emily. Eszter Morvay from Slovakia (8 pts) defeated the European Champ Gabriela Antova from Bulgaria. Emily secured 10th place or higher.

12:45 pm: board 1 finished with no upset. Yunshan Li from China defeated Aydin Ismayilzada. Emily moved up to 9th place or higher. We would need only 1 favorable result to move her up to 8th place.

12:50 pm: board 6 finished. Her team-mate Kaavya Ramesh lost to Ekaterina Goltseva from Russia. With Kaavya's loss, Emily could only be in 7th through 9th.

1:20 pm: board 5 was done. Annie Wang, Emily's team mate played White against Dominika Ferkova from Slovakia. Emily had played both and Annie was much stronger than Dominika. A win from Annie would help Emily secure 8th place or higher. A win from Dominika would also help Emily get 8th place or higher. Annie came out of the room with a sad face. She drew the game. NO!!! Emily could only be in 8th or 9th place.

Board 5 had finished earlier and I missed the result. I came to the Canadian delegation and asked for the result. It was unfavorable to Emily; Andrea Botez (6 1/2 pts) from Canada lost to Zantye Riddhi (7 pts) from India. With that, Emily would be in 9th place.

4:00 pm: the official results came out. Emily finished in 9th place. I had hoped that I made mistakes calculating the results, but that did not happen. She was very sad for being very close to getting a medal. We told her that finishing 9th in the World Youth Chess Championships was quite an accomplishment. She was OK later. She played soccer and made crafts with other kids in the US delegation.

6:00 pm: the closing ceremony started. They gave cups to 1st-3rd place finishers, and medals to 4th-8th place finishers. Emily finished 9th and just missed the medal by tie-breaks. She had 7.5 pts, same as her team mate Annie Wang who finished 6th. She played blitz and bughouse with Annie, Joanna, and her brother Anthony after dinner.

10/31
We took the 1:45 am bus to the airport. Our flight was at 4:50 am out of Thessoloniki to Zurich, New York, and then Austin. We were very happy with the trip. It was a great honor and opportunity for Emily. She gained a lot of experience playing chess with top players her age around the world. She also exchanged gifts and learnt more about the cultures and places where her opponents were from. She received from her opponents a lot of post cards and brochures about their cities. We wished we had brought some Austin post cards with us. Emily just brought bracelets with USA's on them to give her opponents.

Finishing 9th in the World Youth Championships was a great accomplishment for her. We would like to thank her coaches Mike Feinstein and Eugene Kohnitz for working on her chess skills, and the Austin Chess Community for continuous support before, during, and after the trip.

Hopefully, Austin would be able to send more young talents to the World Youth Chess Championships in the near future. Austin had the talents, the healthy environment, and the wonderful support from schools and parents.

Emily's trip to the 2010 World Youth Championships - by Emily Nguyen

2010-10-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

The US delegation

My team mates in the U8 Girls section

10/19
First Day in Greece - The Plane Trip

We flew from Austin to Dallas. Then, we flew from Dallas to Frankfurt, for 9 hours. Then from Frankfurt, we flew to Vienna. Our last flight was from Vienna, Austria to Thessaloniki, Greece. From that airport, we took the bus to Porto Carras. It took a while to know our room number, 1002. 1002 is in the basement. Well, it looks like being in the basement is bad, but it's actually pretty good! We get a good view of the beach. So we could go outside and see the beach right in front of us. Also, outside, it had 2 sofas and 1 breakfast table. It also had 2 beach chairs. Inside, we got 2 bathrooms, 1 dinning table, 1 king-sized bed, 2 twin-sized beds, 2 TVs, and 1 work table with big lamp. The ceilings were painted dark blue. We went to the lobby, only me, my brother Anthony, and my dad because my dad wanted to have Internet. We were at the lobby for 1 hour. When my dad was done, we went back to the lobby for our USA team meeting. Then, we went to dinner. We ate dinner for one and a half hours. When we were done with dinner, we went back to the basement, took a shower, brushed our teeth, and went to bed.

10/20
The First Round

I woke up at 10:00 am today in Greek time. Yesterday night, I couldn't sleep very well because we slept at 2:30 pm American time. So, I'm not used to it yet. I slept until midnight, then I woke up, tossed and turned for 2 hours and finally slept at 2:00 am. We changed our clothes and went to breakfast. Breakfast was good. Then we went to the gift shop to buy a hair tier. Then we went back to our room to rest. After about an hour, we ate lunch. Lunch was good! I ate pasta and for dessert, I ate plums.

We checked pairings to see who I was playing for round 1. I was going to play a Russian girl named Alina Beshukova. My brother, who is always negative, said that Russian people are always tough. So, we went back to our room, and I relaxed outside on the couch for maybe about 5 min. Then, we went inside and it was 3:00 pm in Greece. The first round would start at 4:00 pm so I took a nap at 3:15 pm and woke up at 3:30 pm. We went back up to the lobby and went in the room to play chess. I played for 3 hours and 45 minutes and I won!

10/21
The Second Round

I woke up at 12:25 pm today in Greek time because still, I was not used to the time yet. The water was clear so we could see the fish in the water and there were lots of fish in the water. My brother and my dad were outside watching the fish. My dad came in and told me to wake up, brush my hair, change my clothes, and go outside. So I did what my dad told me and I went outside to see the fish. They were right! I could see the fish swimming! After about 10 minutes, we went back inside and my mom told me that I skipped breakfast and I skipped the training session. We went to lunch. I did some chess tactics for 15 minutes then I went back to sleep after lunch until 3:30 pm. I went to the lobby to play chess against Gabriela Antova from Bulgaria and too bad, I lost.

We went to our room, and my mom told me that we could swim. So me and my brother changed our clothes into our swimsuits, got 2 towels, and got our goggles. we went to the lobby, and went outside. We tried the swimming pool and the beach, but they were both too cold. So we went in the spa, because they had a swimming pool there. And cool! The swimming pool was like a hot tub! But the bad thing was that it had salt water.

10/22
The Third Round
Yesterday my dad and my friend's dad went to the casino. The casino was being held in a different hotel. My dad came home at midnight and the next morning my dad said that he won 70 Euro (European money) or 90 US dollars. My, Anthony, and my mom all said "Wow!". My dad said he set the alarm for 8:30 am because yesterday I woke up at 12:30 pm and missed breakfast. So we went to eat breakfast. After breakfast, we went to our chess coach's room because it was our time for training.

After training, we went back to our room and went outside and we read for 45 minutes. Then, I played some practice games with my brother Anthony and we went back inside.

He continued reading while I took a nap. We went to lunch after that. At about 2:30 pm, we went back to our room, got some rest, and played with our neighbors, all from the USA. After that, it was 3:45 pm, so we went to the place where we played chess and I played Anezka Drastichova from the Czech Republic.

After 1 hours 45 minutes, I came out and won! My brother and my dad played table tennis while my mom and I walked along the beach. We ate dinner, went back to our room, brushed our teeth, took shower, and went to bed. That night, my dad went to the casino to try to win more money and he won 150 Euro, 220 Euro in all. Wow!

10/23
The Fourth Round
This morning, I woke up at 9:00 am. I went to breakfast and went to my coach'es room for training for about 30 minutes. Today is the first time we went out of the hotel. My mom, my brother, and I were going to buy souvenirs. The owner of the shop was an old lady and my mom found a purse for 10 Euros. The old lady told us and my mom did something not very nice. She said, "8 Euros and it's a deal." My brother said, "Mom, she was just an old lady who gave us things for free and that was not very nice!" When we got back to the hotel, my mom laughed and said she would go back to the store and apologize. That was a funny day. Now back to chess. I was playing Shadan Babazadeh from Iran.

It took me almost 4 hours but I managed to win. My brother also got to play some games of ping-pong. It was a good, funny, inordinary day.

10/24
The Fifth and Sixth Rounds
Today we were going to play two games because it was the day before break day. We woke up early because one game was at 9:00 am. We got ready for the game. I was going to play a Slovakian girl, Dominika Ferkova.

This game was really short. I won! I had 4 out of 5 points. We went to lunch, ate, and got ready for the next round. We got to go on the play-ground. Then the next round came. The girl I was playing was Joanna Swiech from Poland.

Achoo! This time it took 3 hours to defeat her! 5 out of 6 in 11 games was a a good chance to land in the top 3. My brother, my mom, my dad, and I were really happy. We went to the playground for about 30 minutes, after that it was pretty dark, so we went back inside to review and analyze my game. Then we went to dinner. After dinner, we took a bath, brushed our teeth, and went to bed.

10/25
The Break Day
Yes! Today is break day. And you know what it means! No playing chess!!! Yay!!! We started off on our break day by waking up at 8:00 am. Then, we went to breakfast for about 1 hour. Then, we went to the playground for 30 minutes. We went back to our room to wait for my friends Annie Wang and Joanna Liu to come so we could go on the water taxi to the village. After 5 minutes, Annie and Joanna came. We went outside to the dock so we would get on the water taxi.

After we got to the village, we went to a whole bunch of shops that I could not remember them. My mom bargained again and at each store she got at least 10% off. At least, it was a good deal. We bought a lot of stuff and at the end my mom told my dad: "You have to go back to the casino again tonight" because my dad always got some money when he went to the casino. My mom said, "We need more money because we shopped a whole bunch today." Today was a relaxing and wonderful day.

10/26
The Seventh Round
5 more rounds to go! Yay! But too bad break day was over because yesterday we had a lot of fun!

This morning, we woke up at 8:30 am. Then, we went down to breakfast. At 10:00 am, we went to room #1353 for my session of chess training for 30 minutes. After that, we went back to our room to train a little bit more on the opening I was going to play against my opponent. My opponent was going to be Eszter Morvay from Slovakia but she lives in the USA. When we were done training with the opening, I was going to play. We went to the playground for about 10 minutes, then we walked to Sithonia, another hotel in Porto Carras. We went to the playground there but the swings were full, so we went to the gift shop inside to see what they had. We bought a little bit gum and some candy. Then, we went back to Meliton (our own Porto Carras hotel) to have lunch. After lunch, we went back to our room to rest.

At 3:45 pm, we went to the chess room in the tournament hall. It lasted 3 hours and I lost. We reviewed the game, went to dinner, went back to our room, and went to bed. :-(

10/27
The Eighth Round

Today we woke up around 8:30 am and my dad told me that I was playing the #1 from the USA! I wanted to play with her in other tournaments because she was really tough. After we got ready, we went to breakfast. Since I was playing someone from the USA, there was not any training. After breakfast, we went back to our room for my dad to train me on the openings we thought Annie was going to play and what moves I was going to play against that. After the chess training, we went outside to play, but it started to rain so we went back inside to nap. Then, we heard a whole bunch of voices outside the hall. My dad went out to see what was happening outside. After my dad saw what was happening, he told us to come outside. We saw everybody in the basement from the USA playing dodgeball in the hall. My brother and I went outside to play with them. After that, we went to lunch, took a break, played our game, and I lost.

10/28
The Nineth Round

Last night, there was a thunder storm. This morning, there was no power for the whole town. When I woke up, my mom and dad told me to look outside in the ocean. I did and and guess what I saw in the water: broken trees, mud, broken pieces from the boats, and bamboo sticks. After that, we went outside to look at it up-close. While we were doing that, our neighbors came outside. There was a dog on their sofa. They wanted to play with the dog. Our neighbors named the dog Shaggy. We played with them (including Shaggy) for about 20 minutes. Then, we went to breakfast, went to training, rested, and went to lunch. After lunch, we went outside to our deck. We heard a lot of voices and some screaming. We looked to the right and saw our neighbors having a pillow fight. We joined in the pillow fight. We had a pillow fight for about 10 minutes outside, then one of the neighbors found some bamboo sticks. She handed us each one stick, and we started to fight with them until my mom came out and told us to come inside, and we did. I took a shower. We went to the tournament room because it was time. I was playing Elena Badzgaradze from Russia. After 4 hours, I won. I was so happy and glad because I did not make any blunders; usually when I played long, I made a blunder.

10/29
The Tenth Round

Last night, my dad told me I was playing Saina Salonika from India because when he came back from the lobby to check the pairings, I was still awake. She was FIDE rated. It meant she had defeated other FIDE rated players. When we woke up and got ready, we went to breakfast. Then, we went to training. After training, we went to the playground for 1 hour, then we went to lunch. After lunch, we went back to our room, took a nap, and we walked along the beach. Then, we went to the toy store, but there was nothing there. We went back to the basement, took a shower, got prepared, and went to the tournament hall. After 3 hours and 45 minutes, I came out with a draw. I was very happy.

10/30
The Eleventh Round

Today was the last round. I did not know if that was good or bad. Today's game started at 10 am and it was going to end at around 2 pm. The award ceremony was going to start at 6 pm. My dad said if I won, I was going to get 8th place and get a prize. I was going to play Olga Badelko from Belarus. I had no idea where Belarus was. All I knew was that this round was going to be tough. My dad told me that Belarus was in Europe. We went to breakfast and went to play chess. It lasted over 2 hours and I .... WON!!! We were all so happy because I was going to get a prize. We went up to our room. My dad came up to our room and told us I got 9th place because there were too many upsets. I was a little upset. The rest of the day went great.

Austin Kids #11 - Results

2010-10-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

We had a record turnout with 52 players (13 in Open, 10 in U1400, and 39 in U900). The Open section had 2 Class-A players; another Class-A player pre-registered but could not make it. The U900 had quite a few new faces, including 5 first-time tournament goers.
Please click here for the complete results.

Congratulations to the winners:

Andrew Lu and William Liu: 1st place in the Open section.
Glen Liu and Mukund Pasapuleti: 1st place in the U1400 section.
Andrew Lu: 1st place in the U900 section.
Doru Gucer, Eric Ingram, Rohan Polavaram , Malcolm Jackson: 2nd place in the U900 section.
Vasfi/Doru Gucer and Mike/Eric Ingram: 1st place Parent/Child teams.
Daniel Xiong: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent over 500 points stronger.

Emily Nguyen was playing simultaneous games with U1400/U900 players.

We also added $230 in fundraising for Emily's trip to the 2010 World Youth Chess Championships.

Austin Kids #11 (10/16/2010, 12 pm – 6 pm) at the Austin Chinese Education Services

2010-09-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Time:
Saturday, October 16 2010, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
A one-day tournament for all ages.

Open section: USCF rated, 3SS G/60.
U1400 section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
U900 section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
In the Open and U1400 sections, we will subtract 5 minutes when using a delay clock.

Entry fee: $5.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, and the biggest upset in the tournament.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Austin Kids #10 - Results

2010-09-19T08:17:00.001-07:00

We had a good turnout with 8 in the Open section (2 Class A players), 7 in the U1400, and 14 in the U900 section.

Congratulations to the winners:

Vasfi Gucer: 1st place in the Open section.
Niteka Raina: 1st place in the U1400 section with perfect score 4.0/4.0.
Sendhil Sridhar: 1st place in the U900 section with perfect score 5.0/5.0. Sendhil picked up 250 rating points and also won the Puzzles Solving competition with 11/12.
Alexander Yi: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent 250 points stronger.

Austin Kids #9 - Results

2010-09-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

We had a good turnout with 12 in the Advanced-1 section (over 1400) including 1 Expert and 1 Class-A, 9 in the Advanced-2 section (900-1400), and 9 in the Novice section (U900).

Congratulations to the winners:

Alexander Quach: 1st place in the Advanced-1 section.
Niteka Raina: 1st place in the Advanced-2 section.
Andrew Lu: 1st place in the Novice section.
Andrew Lu: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent 655 points stronger.

Austin Kids #10 (09/18/2010, 12 pm - 6 pm) at the Salvation Army (Austin Citadel Corps)

2010-09-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Time:
Saturday, September 18 2010, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
The Salvation Army (Austin Citadel Corps)
1001 Cumberland Rd.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 442-3212

Details:
A one-day tournament for all ages.

Open section: USCF rated, 3SS G/60.
U1400 section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
U900 section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
Unrated section: unrated, 5SS G/30.

Entry fee: $5 for Open/U1400/U900 sections, and $3 for unrated section.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Austin Kids #9 (08/21/2010, 12 pm - 6 pm) at the Salvation Army (Austin Citadel Corps)

2010-08-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Time:
Saturday, August 21 2010, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
The Salvation Army (Austin Citadel Corps)
1001 Cumberland Rd.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 442-3212

Details:
Advanced section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
Novice section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
Unrated section: unrated, 5SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength.

Entry fee: $3 for Unrated and $5 for Advanced/Novice sections.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Austin Kids #8 - Results

2010-07-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

We had a good turnout with 16 in the Advanced, 11 in the Novice, and 6 in the Unrated section.

Congratulations to the winners:

Jonathan Manion: 1st place in the Advanced section.
Camille Kao: 1st place in the Novice section.
Christopher Johnson: 1st place in the Unrated section. Christopher chose the magnetic chess set for the prize.
Nhu Anh Nguyen: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent 500 points stronger.
Camille Kao and Adrian Diaz: winners of the Puzzles Solving competition. Both had 10 correct answers; Adrian worked on the more difficult set of puzzles. Camille picked up a trophy and Adrian a chess book.

2010 US Junior Open - Results

2010-07-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Austin Kids members that competed at the 2010 U.S. Junior Open in Houston 7/23-25:

•U8 individual trophies:
Emily Nguyen - 2010 US Junior Open - U8 Champion (6.0)
Dang Nguyen - 4th (5.0)
Camille Kao - 1st place for under 800 rating (4.0)

•U8 team trophy:
Austin Kids Chess Club (Emily Nguyen, Dang Nguyen, Shreyes Kaliyur, Camille Kao, Collin Le, Glen Liu, Kerem Uslu, Andrew Lu, and Nhu Anh Nguyen)- 1st place overall

•U11 individual trophies:
Duy Nguyen - 2nd (5.0)
Anthony Nguyen - 1st place for 9 years old and under (4.5)

•U11 team trophies:
Canyon Vista Middle School (Mukund Pasapuleti, Dustin Chang, and Saavan Nanavati) - 1st place school
Laurel Mountain Elementary (Nathaniel Li, Louis Fernandez, and Kevin Huang) - 3rd place school

Although the Austin Kids Chess Club U11 team did not win a trophy, the team performed very well with .5 point behind the first overall team.

Other winners included those who gained a lot of rating points: Andrew Lu (+204), Kerem Uslu (+160), Mukund Pasapuleti(+146), Leonard Wang (+137), and Collin Le (+106).

I am really proud of our club members who did not give up and worked as a team. I have seen stronger players providing coaching and game analysis to others, and that is what we want to maintain.

Click here for the USCF press release.

Austin Kids #7 - Final Results

2010-07-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

We had a good turnout with 16 in the 2 Advanced sections and 19 in the Novice section.

Congratulations to the winners:

Anthony Nguyen: 1st place in the 1st Advanced section.
Glen Liu: 1st place in the 2nd Advanced section.
Eric Ingram: 1st place in the Novice section.
Kayhaun Ahmadian: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent 477 points stronger.
Glen Liu: winner of the Puzzles Solving competition. We had 2 different sets of puzzles, one with more difficult problems for the Advanced section and the other one for Novice with easier problems.
Second(Kerem Uslu), third (Varun Rachakonda), and fourth place (Kevin Huang) finishers in the Novice section each received a medal.

Austin Kids #8 (07/31/2010, 12 pm – 6 pm) at the Salvation Army (Austin Citadel Corps)

2010-07-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

Time:
Saturday, July 31 2010, 12 pm - 6 pm

Location:
The Salvation Army (Austin Citadel Corps)
1001 Cumberland Rd.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 442-3212

Details:
Advanced section: USCF rated, 4SS G/45.
Novice section: USCF rated, 5SS G/30.
Unrated section: unrated, 5SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength.

Entry fee: $5.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 11:45 am. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

2010 US Junior Open (Houston 7/23-25)

2010-07-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

7/9/10:

Today is the deadline for the 2010 US Junior Open early registration http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2010/junior/.
This is the first time Austin Kids Chess Club competes in a national event. We have formed 2 strong teams:

- U8: Emily (1476), Glen (1104), Dang (1007), Collin (889), and Camille (643).
- U11: Duy (1772), Anthony (1693), Khoa (1499), and William (1392).

The U11 team is facing a strong Brownsville Chess Club (BCC). 5 of its 7 members have ratings of over 1300.

Please join us and support the Austin Kids Chess Club in its first national competition. We need more team members, especially in the U11 team.

A hotel reservation using priceline should cost less than $50/night, including tax. If you are interested in car-pooling or have other questions, please send Nam Nguyen an email.

7/22/10:

The master list from Franc Guadalupe showed that the Houston Chess Club (HCC) also form a very strong U11 team with Sam (17xx), Ethan (16xx), John (15xx), and Patrick (14xx). The HCC team seems stronger than the BCC team, and is neck-to-neck to our U11 team. Dylan and Leonard have joined the Austin Kids U11 team.

Nhu Anh, Andrew, Kerem, and Shreyes have also joined the Austin Kids U8 team. We have a very strong U8 team.

7/23/10:

Ethan dropped out of the HCC team, which has added Harini, Apsara and Aishwarya.
After the first day, our U8 was clear in first place, our U11 was also in first place with the BCC, HCC, and the Louisiana The Who Dats (LAWHO) not far behind.

The highlight of the day was a draw between Collin and Warren Palang. Collin managed to draw against the opponent almost 500 points stronger.

7/24/10:

At the end of the long day, our U8 and U11 teams still held the lead. Our U8 team extended the lead to 13.5/9.0 over the second team (LAWHO). The U11 team had over a small lead (13.5/12.0) over the HCC team. The LAWHO and BCC teams were still within striking distance with 12.0 and 11.0 respectively. The highlight of the day was Andrew Lu who overcame 2 losses yesterday and came back strong with 2 wins. Duy and Emily still had the perfect score of 4.0/4.0. William and Anthony had 3.5/4.0; Anthony had a good draw to an 18xx player from Dallas Chess Club. Camille, Dang, and Shreyes had 3.0/4.0.

7/25/10:

After a long and exciting game, Duy lost to the first seed (19xx) in the U11 section; he had 4.0/5.0. Emily won her game, and still had the perfect score of 5.0/5.0. Anthony won and had 4.5/5.0. William drew to the second seed (18xx) and had 4.0/5.0. Others with 4.0 included Dang and Shreyes.

Going to the last round:

- U8 team: With 16.5, 4.0 higher than the second team, our U8 team could claim the 2010 US Junior Open - U8 national championship.
- U11 team: The U11 had a slim 1.0 point over the HCC (16.0 vs. 15.0). The only game the 2 team faced in the last round was between Anthony and Sam. Their ratings were both in 17xx. The game would be very important for both teams.
- Emily was on board 1 for the U8 title. A draw would be good enough for her.
- Being one of two players with 0.5 behind the leader, Anthony had a shot for the U11 title.

The last round completed:

U8 team: won the first team trophy with 5.5 margin over the second team (LAWHO).
U11 team: The HCC made a very nice come back with 3.5/4.0. We had 2 losses with one being Anthony's against Sam. As a result, the HCC team took over the lead and could claim the U11 team trophy. Our team led in all the rounds except for the last one. It was a close and exciting race and hat off to the HCC team.

Emily won her last game. With 6.0/6.0, she could claim the U8 first place trophy.
Duy came second in U11 with 5.0/6.0.
Dang came fourth in U8 with 5.0/6.0.
Anthony received the first place trophy for 9 and under in the U11 section, with 4.5/6.0.

Austin Kids #7 (05/15/2010, 1 pm - 6 pm) at Austin Chinese Education Services

2010-05-02T22:06:00.000-07:00

Time:
Saturday, May 15 2010, 1 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
Advanced section: USCF rated, 3SS G/45.
Novice section: USCF rated, 4SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength.

Entry fee: $5.

Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. Without the pre-registration email, an additional $5 fee will be charged. On-site registration starts at 12:45 pm. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 1 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Results from 2010 Region VI Chess Championships

2010-05-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

The list is not complete. Please send me emails for missing or incorrect data.

Congratulations to the following Austin Kids Chess Club members:

High School Championship:

Serena Zadoo: 2010 Region VI Champion

Middle School Championship:

Dhurv Garg: 2010 Region VI Champion
Snnay Nanavati: 2nd Place
Kartik Kulkarni:
Rohith Kaliyur:

Elementary Championship:

Duy Nguyen: 2010 Region VI Champion
Kevin Li: 2nd Place
Saavan Nanavati: 3rd Place
Andrew Jacob: 4th Place
David Hsieh: 5th Place
Anthony Nguyen: 6th Place
Andrew Lu: 7th Place
William Liu: 8th Place
Shannan Chen: 9th Place

Primary Championship:

Khoa Nguyen: 2010 Region VI Champion
Emily Nguyen: 2nd Place
Chinmay Pingale: 3rd Place
Dylan Dong: 4th Place
Amogh Dambal: 5th Place
Nathaniel Li: 6th Place

Elementary JV:

Saket Myneni: 1st Place
Kayhaun Ahmadian:

Austin Kids #6 - Final Results

2010-05-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

We had a great turnout with 21 in the 2 Advanced sections and 24 in the Novice section.

Congratulations to the winners:

Andrew Jacob: 1st place in the 1st Advanced section.
Emily Nguyen: 1st place in the 2nd Advanced section.
Jonathan Qi: 1st place in the Novice section.
Grant Odama: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent 300+ points stronger.
Jonathan Tuck: winner of the Puzzles Solving competition. Jonathan got all 12 problems correct and picked the book The Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein for the prize. We had 2 different sets of puzzles, one with more difficult problems for the Advanced section and the other one for Novice with easier problems. The competition was very close; some in Novice section had a very good chance to win.

Austin Kids #5 - Final Results

2010-03-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

We had a low turnout with 10 in the Advanced section (average rating of 1450) and 12 in the Novice section.

Congratulations to the winners:

Herb Baumann and Duy Nguyen: 1st place in the Advanced section. Duy picked the book Chess College 2: Pawn Play as the prize.
Sandhya Zadoo: 1st place in the Novice section. Sandhya chose a free Austin Kids tournament entry for the prize.
Sarah Manion: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent 300+ points stronger. Sarah selected the book Alpha Teach Yourself Chess in 24 Hours as the prize.
Khoa Nguyen: winner of the Puzzles Solving competition. Khoa got all 12 problems correct and picked the book Basic Endgame Strategy: Queen & Rooks for the prize.

Results from the 2010 Texas Scholastic Chess Championships

2010-03-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the following trophy winners from the Austin Kids Chess Club:

Individual Trophies:

· Dang Nguyen: Champion - K1 Championship
· Yutika Raina: 4th Place - Elementary School Junior Varsity Championship
· Kevin Li: 5th Place - Elementary School Championship
· Khoa Nguyen: 6th Place - Primary School Championship
· Collin Le: 7th Place - K1 Championship
· Duy Nguyen: 8th Place - Elementary School Championship
· Shreyes Kaliyur: 9th Place - Primary School Championship
· Amogh Dambal: 10th Place - Primary School Championship
· Andrew Jacob: 10th Place - Elementary School Championship
· Alexander Quach: 11th Place - Elementary School Championship
· Anthony Nguyen: 11th Place - Elementary School Championship
· Dhurv Garg: 12th Place - Middle School Championship
· Chinmay Pingale: 16th Place - Elementary School Junior Varsity Championship
· Sunay Nanavati: 16th Place - Middle School Championship
· Emily Nguyen: 17th Place - Elementary School Championship
· Nathaniel Li: 11th Place - Primary School Championship
· Saavan Nanavati: Tied for 20th Place - Elementary School Championship

Team Trophies:

· Champion - Elementary School Championship: Laurel Mountain
Kevin Li 5.5
Andrew Jacob 5.0
Alexander Quach 5.0
Saavan Nanavati 5.0
· 2nd Place - Middle School Championship: Canyon Vista
Derek Chang 6.0
Sunay Nanavati 5.0
Rohith Kaliyur 4.0
Niteka Raina 4.0
· 3rd Place - Primary School Championship: Laurel Mountain
Nathaniel Li 5.0
Amogh Dambal 5.0
Louis Fernandes 3.5
· 9th Place - K1 School Championship: Cactus Ranch
Dang Nguyen 7.0
Nhu-Anh Nguyen 3.0
· 14th Place - Elementary School Championship: Forest Creek
Anthony Nguyen 5.0
Emily Nguyen 5.0
· 14th Place - Elementary School Junior Varsity Championship: Laurel Mountain
Yutika Raina 6.0
Chinmay Pingale 5.0

http://swchess.com/sce/tourney/tsc2010/pri/prires.htm
http://swchess.com/sce/tourney/tsc2010/elem/elres.htm
http://swchess.com/sce/tourney/tsc2010/ms/msres.htm

Austin Kids #5 (03/20/2010, 1 pm - 6 pm) at Austin Chinese Education Services

2010-03-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

Time:
Saturday, March 20, 2010
1 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
Advanced section: USCF rated, 3SS G/45.
Novice section: USCF rated, 4SS G/30.
Unrated section: not USCF rated, 4SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength.

Entry fee: $5 for rated sections and $3 for unrated section.
Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. On-site registration starts at 12:45 pm. On-site registration (without pre-registration via email) will incur an additional $5 fee. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 1 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Unrated G15 (03/13/2010, 12:30pm - 3:30pm) at Spicewod Springs library

2010-03-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

Location:
Spicewood Springs Library
8637 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 974-3800

Time:
March 13, 2010 from 12:30pm - 3:30pm

Activities:
- Unrated G15 tournament: 6SS, G/15 with 5s delay
- Unrated games

The event is free to Austin kids. Adults are welcome too. Please send an email to jinhongliu@yahoo.com if you plan to attend so that we can setup the tables in advance.

Austin Kids #4 - Results

2010-03-09T06:24:00.000-08:00

We had a great turnout with 12 in the Advanced section (average rating of 1450), 20 in the Novice section, and 7 in the Unrated section.

Congratulations to the winners:

Andrew Jacob: 1st place in the Advanced section
Jacob Taylor: 1st place in the Novice section. Jacob picked up the "Starting Out:The Sicilian Dragon" CD for the prize.
Ritvik Kona: 1st place in the Unrated section
James Hu: Biggest Upset for defeating an opponent 183 points stronger.
William Liu: winner of the Puzzles Solving competition. William got 11 out of 12 problems and picked the CyberChess software CD as the prize.

Unrated G15 (02/13/2010) - Results

2010-03-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

We had a nice turnout with 10 participating in the 6SS G15 tournament, and 9 in the 3SS G45.

Congratulations to the winners:

Duy Nguyen: 1st place in the G15 tournament
Neil Narvekar: 1st place in the G45 tournament

Austin Kids #4 (02/27/2010, 1 pm - 6 pm ) at Austin Chinese Education Services

2010-02-10T06:02:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Austin Kids Chess Club

Time:
Saturday, February 27, 2010
1 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
Advanced section: USCF rated, 3SS G/45.
Novice section: USCF rated, 4SS G/30.
Unrated section: not USCF rated, 4SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength.

Entry fee: $5 for rated sections and $3 for unrated section.
Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. On-site registration starts at 12:45 pm. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 1 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.
There is also a drawing for a chess prize, free to all participants.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Unrated G15 (02/13/2010, 12pm - 4:30 pm) at Spicewood Springs Library

2010-02-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

Location:
Spicewood Springs Library
8637 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 974-3800

Time:
Feb 13, 2010 from 12pm - 4:30pm

Activities:
- Unrated G15 tournament: 6SS, G/15 with 5s delay
- Unrated G45 games

Prizes:
Trophy or chess prize to the 1st place winner and the biggest upset of the G15 tournament.

The event is free to Austin kids. Adults are welcome too. Please send an email to nam67@yahoo.com if you plan to attend so that we can setup the tables in advance.

Austin Kids #3 - Results

2010-01-24T20:04:00.000-08:00

Click here to get to the USCF cross table.

We had a great turnout with 38 participants. The location was great; each section had its own quiet room. The kids had a lot of fun playing serious chess.

Congratulations to the winners:

Advanced section: David Hsieh with 2.5/3.0

Novice section: Kartik Kulkarni (highest tie-breaker), Naveen Yarlagadda, and Glen Liu, with 3.5/4.0

Unrated section: Prasith Sriam (highest tie-breaker), Ritvik Kona, and Max Schaffer, with 3.0/4.0

Biggest Upset: Yutika Raina with a win over an opponent 245 points stronger

Chess Puzzles Solving: Duy Nguyen and Emily Nguyen had 11 correct answers, but Duy finished it in less time

David Hsieh gained 73 points to reach 1,518. Glen Liu gained 70 points to get to 1,001.

Chess Puzzles Solution:

Austin Kids #2 - Results

2010-01-12T06:07:00.000-08:00

Click here to get to the USCF cross table.

We had a great turnout with 38 participants (35 kids and 3 adults), 17 being new comers. Although we had to start behind the schedule due to various issues with registrations (new members, expired USCF membership, members not showing up or coming late, kids put in the wrong section...) and the room was crowded/noisy, the kids seemed to have a lot of fun playing chess. I am not sure about those in the Advanced section who usually require a more quiet environment. We had to leave the library before wrapping up the last round in the Advanced section, but thanks to the gracious offer from Sunil Jacob, we were able to finish the game at his house. We were short handed because Jenwei, Huy, and Uyen went to other tournaments, but Sunil and other parents jumped in providing wonderful help.

Congratulations to the winners:

Advanced section: Sanjeev Dambal and Jonathan Manion, with 2.5/3.0
Novice section: Amogh Dambal and Chinmay Pingale, with 3.5/4.0
Unrated section: Prasith Sriam with perfect 4.0

Amogh and Chimay earned quite a few rating points, and approached the 1000 mark. Doru Gucer won 2 games in his first tournament and had a temporary rating of 500.

Austin Kids #3 (01/23/2010, 1 pm - 6 pm) at Austin Chinese Education Services

2010-01-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Austin Kids Chess Club

Time:
Saturday, January 23, 2010
1 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Details:
Advanced section: USCF rated, 3SS G/45.
Novice section: USCF rated, 4SS G/30.
Unrated section: not USCF rated, 4SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength.

Entry fee: $5 for rated sections and $3 for unrated section.
Registration: send email to nam67@yahoo.com for pre-registration. On-site registration starts at 12:45 pm. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 1 pm.

Side event: Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes: A trophy or a chess prize (clock, book, software, or magnetic chess set...) to the 1st place finisher in each section, the biggest upset in the tournament, and the winner of the Puzzles Solving competition.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Unrated Blitz (12/19/2009) Results

2010-01-08T05:53:00.000-08:00

We had a good turnout with 20 kids and 2 adults.

Anthony and Emily donated 2 trophies for the event: 1 for the 1st place and 1 for the biggest upset.

1st place: Sanjeev Dambal with 4.5 (4 wins and 1 bye)
2nd and 3rd place: Anthony Nguyen and Emily Nguyen with 4.0

Sanjeev indicated prior to the game that he did not want a trophy, so the 1st place trophy went back to Anthony/Emily.

Biggest upset:

Huy Nguyen (701) over Ernest Fernandes (1092)
Chinmay Pingale (610) over Amough Dambal (965)

Huy's win over Ernest was not really an upset with his latest rating being 14xx. Therefore, the biggest upset prize went to Chinmay Pingale.

After the Blitz tournament, some kids stayed and played an exciting simulateous game with Vasfi Gucer, a very strong player with rating of 2000.

One kid could manage to draw, a few lost to Vasfi, and 5 could hang on until we had to leave due to the library closing. The kids had a great time and learnt a lot from the event. We would like to thank Vasfi for helping out in this event.

Austin Kids #2 (01/09/2010, 12 pm - 4:30 pm) at Spicewood Springs Library

2009-12-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Austin Kids Chess Club

Location:
8637 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 974-3800

Time:
Saturday, January 9, 2010
12 pm - 4:30 pm

No entry fee and no prize.
Advanced sections: USCF rated, 3SS G/45.
Novice sections: USCF rated, 4SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength. Please send your pre-registration to nam67@yahoo.com so that we can pair and setup tables in advance. Registration: 11:45 am - 12 pm. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 12 pm.

We also have an unrated tournament for beginners.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Unrated Blitz and simultaneous games (Dec 19, 2pm - 4:30 pm) at Spicewood Springs Library

2009-12-17T06:34:00.000-08:00

Location:
Spicewood Springs Library
8637 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 974-3800

Time:
Dec 19, 2009 from 2pm - 4:30pm

Activities:
- Unrated Blitz tournament: 7SS, G/5 with 5s delay
- Simultaneous games with chess Expert(s)

The event is free to Austin kids. Adults are welcome too. Please send an email to nam67@yahoo.com if you plan to attend so that we know the tables we need to setup in advance.

Results from the 2009 National Scholastic K-12 Championships

2009-12-15T05:45:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the following trophy winners from the Austin Kids Chess Club:

Individual Trophies

· 10th Place - 1st Grade: Glen Liu - Spicewood
· Tied for 15th Place - 2nd Grade: Shreyes Kaliyur - Spicewood
· Tied for 15th Place - 2nd Grade: Emily Nguyen - Forest Creek
· Tied for 15th Place - 3rd Grade: Khoa Nguyen - Cactus Ranch

Class Trophies

· 1st Place - 1st Grade (800-999): Dang Nguyen – Cactus Ranch
· 1st Place for 5th Grade (800-999): Shannan Chen - Laurel Mountain
· 2nd Place for 7th Grade (1200-1399): Niteka Raina – Canyon Vista
· 3rd Place for 4th Grade (800-999): Neil Narvekar – Laurel Mountain

Team Trophies

3rd Place Team - 5th Grade: Laurel Mountain
· Andrew Jacob
· Shannan Chen
· Saavan Nanavati
· Dustin Chang

4th Place Team - 4th Grade: Laurel Mountain
· David Hsieh
· Kevin Li
· Neil Narvekar

7th Place Team - 7th Grade: Canyon Vista
· Niteka Raina
· Sunay Nanavati
· William Chen
· Dylan Moore

For more details: http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2009/k12/?page=RESULTS

Austin Kids #1 - Puzzle Solution

2009-12-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Austin Kids #1 - Final Results

2009-12-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

The event has been rated http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?200912056681

Congratulations to the winners:

U1700-1

1st place, $5 - Duy Nguyen with 2.5. Duy gained 51 points to reach 1597
3 players with 2.0 shared the 2nd/3rd place prize pool, each received $2: Kevin Li, William Liu, and Alexander Quach

U1700-2

1st place, $5 - Andrew Lu with 2.5. Andrew is close to reaching 1400
2nd place, $3 - Kartik Kulkarni with 2.0. Kartik gained 83 points
3rd place - 4 players with 1.5, each received $1: Emily Nguyen, Shannan Chen, Dustin Chang, and Binny Nanavati

U1000

1st place, $5 - Mukund Pasapuleti with perfect 4.0. Mukund gained 167 points to reach 987
2nd place, $3 - Dang Nguyen with 3.0. Dang gained 95 points to reach 941
3rd place - 4 players with 2.5, each received $1: Shreyes Kaliyur, Eric Bui, Glen Liu, and Chinmay Pingale

Chess Puzzles Solving

1st place, $3 - Both Andrew Lu and Anthony Nguyen had all 12 correct answers, but Andrew finished it in less time (12 min!!!).
2 had 11 correct, 3 with 10 correct, and most of the participants had over 7 correct.

Special thanks to Austin Chinese Education Services, Lori, Binny, Jenwei, Huy, and other parents for your wonderful support to this event. If you have ideas/comments/suggestions to make future events more fun/enjoyable to the kids and parents, please send email to nam67@yahoo.com.

Austin Kids #1 (12/05/2009, 1 pm - 6 pm)

2009-12-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 05, 2009
Hosted by Austin Kids Chess Club

Time: 1 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Entry fee: $5.
Advanced sections: USCF rated, 3SS G/45.
Novice sections: USCF rated, 4SS G/30.

Players will play against opponents with similar strength. For faster grouping, please send your pre-registration to nam67@yahoo.com. Registration: 12:45 pm -1 pm. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 1 pm.

Side event: free Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes:
Each section: 1st place $5, 2nd place $3, 3rd place $1.
Chess Puzzles Solving: 1st place $3.

We also have an unrated tournament for beginners.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Pre-Registration list (updated 9:11 pm 12/4/2009)

Open:

Dhurv Garg
Vasfi Gucer
Matthew Liu

U1700:

Dustin Chang
David Hsieh
Andrew Jacob
Kevin Li
William Liu
Andrew Lu
Binny Nanavati (tentative)
Saavan Nanavati (tentative)
Sunay Nanavati (tentative)
Neil Narvekar
Anthony Nguyen
Duy Nguyen
Emily Nguyen
Khoa Nguyen
Niteka Raina

U1000:

Kayhaun Ahmadian
Shauhin Ahmadian
Ted Cooper
Shreyes Kaliyur
Collin Le
Glen Liu
Dang Nguyen
Mukund Pasapuleti
Chinmay Pingale
Rohan Polavaram
Yutika Raina
Kerem Uslu
Leonard Wang

Unrated:

Adarsh Ashok
Arvind Ashok
Doru Gucer

We are changing the club name

2009-12-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

We no longer seek sponsorship from YMCA; YMCA McNeil has repeatedly broken their promises to our young kids, and that is not acceptible. We are changing the club name to Austin Kids Chess Club, and can now freely operate with Kids-First in our minds.

YMCA #2 - 12/05/2009 * Moved to new location *

2009-11-25T05:46:00.000-08:00

YMCA #2 has become Austin Kids #2 and been moved to a new location:

Austin Chinese Education Services
13581 Pond Spring Road, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78729

Please visit this link for more info

http://ymcamcneilchess.blogspot.com/2009/12/austin-kids-1-1-pm-6-pm-dec-5-2009.html

****

Saturday, December 05, 2009
1 pm - 6 pm
Hosted by YMCA Chess Club

Northwest Family YMCA
5807 McNeil Drive
Austin, TX 78729
(512) 335-9622

USCF rated 3SS G/45. Entry fee: $5. Players will be grouped into multiple sections to ensure they will play against opponents with similar strength. Adults are welcome to participate in this tournament. Registration: 12:45 pm -1 pm. Players may be required to take a half-point bye if registered after 1 pm.

Side event: free Chess Puzzles Solving competition.

Prizes:
Each section: 1st place $5, 2nd place $3, 3rd place $1.
Chess Puzzles Solving: 1st place $3.

Tournament is hosted by YMCA Chess Club for its club members, and participants are required to join the YMCA Chess Club in order to enter the YMCA building. The YMCA Chess Club membership is free and its members are not required to have YMCA membership.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

13th Annual Texas Grade Championships - Results

2009-11-25T05:31:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the YMCA McNeil Chess Club members for a great performance:

Andrew Jacob: 5th Grade Champ
Collin Le: 1st Grade Champ
Kevin Li: 3rd place in 4th Grade
Emily Nguyen: 3rd place in 2nd Grade
Dang Nguyen: 3rd place in 1st Grade
Dhurv Garg: 4th place in 8th Grade
Khoa Nguyen: 4th place in 3rd Grade
Duy Nguyen: 7th place in 5th Grade
Anthony Nguyen: 7th place in 4th Grade
Alexander Quach: 8th place in 5th Grade
David Hsieh: 9th place in 4th Grade
Neil Narvekar: tied for 10th place in 4th Grade

http://swchess.com/sce/tourney/tgandc09/results/k-5.htm

http://swchess.com/sce/tourney/tgandc09/results/6-8.htm

Puzzle Solutions 11/07/09

2009-11-07T21:48:00.003-08:00

YMCA #1 - Final Results

2009-11-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

The event has been rated: http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?200911077541

Congratulations to the winners:

Open

1st place, $5 - Jonathan Manion with perfect 4.0.
4 players (Sanjeev Dambal, Andrew Jacob, Sunay Nanavati, and Alexander Quach) with 3.0 shared the 2nd ($3) and 3rd place ($1) prize pool. Sanjeev and Alexander have not picked up the $1 prize yet.

U900

1st place, $5 - Glen Liu with 3.5
2nd place, $3 - Louis Fernandes with 3.0
2 players (Collin Le and Chinmay Pingale) with 2.5 shared the 3rd place prize

Chess Puzzles Solving

1st place, $3 - Dhurv Garg with 9 correct answers
2 had 7 correct, a few others with 5 or 6 correct.

Will post the puzzles and solutions later.

Special thanks to YMCA, Patricia, Lori, Binny, Jenwei, Huy, Mahmoud, Sunil, Edward, and other parents for your wonderful support to this event.

YMCA Chess Puzzle Solving competition

2009-11-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

With G/60, the waiting time between the games can be long. Kids are encouraged to play chess as quietly as they can outside the tournament room, or to participate in a free Chess Puzzle Solving competition.

Each participant can request a sheet of paper with about 10 chess puzzles (tactics excercises, ranging from easy 1-move checkmate to moderate and difficult) after he or she finishes the fist game. The time when the sheet is handed out will be recorded on the sheet. The participant does not need to finish all the puzzles. When the sheet is returned (by 5 pm on the same day), a second time will be recorded. Participants are not allowed to discuss the puzzles with others or use computers.

The winner will get $3 prize and be determined by:

- The most number of correct answers.
- If there is a tie, the least amount of time.
- If there is still a tie, the lowest rating.

Need help with these

2009-11-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Parents,

We had a good turnout. A lot of high rating kids showed up, and more to come. Please help us so that we can continue to use YMCA facilities and have a quiet room for the kids to play chess.

1. Respect and listen to the YMCA staff.
2. Kids should be supervised all the time. We understand that sometimes, you need to run errands, but make sure that others know so that they can help you. Leave a cell number in case we need to contact you. We should help take care of each other's kids, but avoid leaving your kids unattended every week or for an extended amount of time.
3. No running in the hallways.
4. No skating (Heely'ing) in the hallways.
5. No screaming/fighting in the hallways.
6. Wear tennis shoes in the gym and use the gym responsibly. It is great that we are allowed to use the gym. Do not do things that force YMCA to change that.

These are initial things we came up with and we will update the list as needed.

If a child gives YMCA staff problems, the child may be asked to leave the building and thus, to withdraw from the tournament or to forfeit the game(s). Repeated violations may result in the child's Y Club membership revoked and the child may not participate in future YMCA tournaments.

Complaints from YMCA staff

2009-11-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

We received this from YMCA Y-Club coordinator:

Subject: Saturday's Chess Club Tournament

Good Morning Nam,

Well, we certainly had a large turnout this past Saturday for our chess tournament. I was wondering if you had the total number of people who participated on hand. I wanted to make sure that they all registered for the Club House as we made it a condition for tournament entry.

Also, I'm writing inquiring as to how the Chess Tournament went after I left at 2pm. I ask because I received several complaints from the staff saying that the kids were 'out of control' in the hallways. I was told that several kids were roller-blading in the halls and screaming and continuously ignored the staff.

I've already sent out an e-mail to everyone allowing their kids to use the gym (with Shoes) and/or the outdoor playground. I also stated that kids needed to be supervised by parents at all times. I've spoken with my director and we decided that if this happens again we will ask the entire family to leave and revoke their Club House membership. I will send out another e-mail to the parents reminding them of the YMCA rules and the open gym while their other kids are playing.

Thank you for your work on the tournament and I look forward to hearing from you.

Patricia

--
Patricia Serna

Northwest Family YMCA
5807 McNeil Dr.
Austin, TX 78729
(512) 335-9622

Highlights of YMCA Chess Tournament #1

2009-10-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great turnout today for the first YMCA Chess Tournament. There were over 30 players showed up to play competitive or practice games. One of the highlights is Saavan Nanavati vs. Sarah Manion, the last board from the 1st round. Toward to the end of the game, Saavan was under time pressure and Sarah down one piece. They fought to the last seconds - Saavan won with 9 seconds left on the clock. Good game for both Sarah and Saavan.

Here's a picture captured during the 2nd round. Note that Sanjeev doesn't have more gray hair from the intensive chess games. It was reflection of sunlight on his hair.

YMCA #1 - Pairings for round 3

2009-10-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

We posted the pairings, but it seemed to cause issues/confusion more than it served its purposes. We have taken it down and will not post it in the future.

YMCA #1 - 10/31 - 11/7/2009

2009-10-31T06:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 31, 2009 - Saturday, November 07, 2009
Hosted by YMCA Chess Club

Northwest Family YMCA
5807 McNeil Dr.
Austin, TX 78729

USCF rated 4SS G/60 over two weekends. Two possible sections: U900 and Open. Up to two byes allowed (first bye 0.5 point, second bye 0 point). Adults are welcome to participate in this tournament.
10/31/09 & 11/07/09; 1:00-5:00PM First and second rounds on 10/31; third and fourth rounds on 11/7.

Entry fee: $5. All collected fees will be used for prizes (each section: 1st place $5, 2nd place $3, 3rd place $1), administrative cost, and donation to YMCA Partners of Youth Programs.

Tournament is hosted by YMCA Chess Club for its club members, and participants are required to join the YMCA Chess Club in order to enter the YMCA building. The YMCA Chess Club membership is free and its members are not required to have YMCA membership.

Please bring your chess set & clock if possible.

Location:
Northwest Family YMCA
5807 McNeil Drive
Austin, TX 78729
(512) 335-9622

For more information, contact Nam Nguyen (nam67@yahoo.com, 512-786-9242) or Jenwei Hsieh (p0pp0r@yahoo.com, 512-560-2760)

Pre-registration list:

Ahmadian, Kayhaun
Ahmadian, Shauhin
Chang, Dustin
Dambal, Amogh
Dambal, Sanjeev
Hsieh, David
Jacob, Andrew
Le, Collin
Li, Kevin
Liu, William
Liu, Glen
Lu, Andrew
Manion, Jonathan
Manion, Sarah
Manion, Steve
Nanavati, Saavan
Nanavati, Sunay
Narvekar, Neil
Nguyen, Anthony
Nguyen, Dang
Nguyen, Duy
Nguyen, Emily
Nguyen, Khoa
Quach, Alexendar
Selinidis, Gabriel
Uslu, Kerem