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

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.