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

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

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

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

Austin Kids #1 - Final Results

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)

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

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 ***

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

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

YMCA #1 - Final Results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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