2012 U.S.C.F. National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championship

Beginning May 11, Nashville Tennessee will host the 2012 U.S.C.F National Elementary Chess Championship. This is the paramount annual chess event for children ages 4-12. Below is a highly biased preview for this year’s event. The competitors listed in this article are all kids I have the pleasure of playing chess with on a weekly basis. What can I say . . . my job rocks!

Kids to Watch in the K-1

Collins Elementary first grader Milind Maiti possesses natural tactical abilities that are beyond anything one would expect from a player in high school! He is truly a chess prodigy of the highest level and will be a contender at the 2012 National Elementary Chess Championship.

MSJE kindergartener Kevin Pan is a rookie at this year’s Nation Elementary Chess Championship. Fresh from a State Championship win in California, Kevin is poised to make a big statement in Nashville.

MSJE student Rishith Susarla was nearly perfect at the USCF National k-12 Championship in 2011. If you talk with Rishith one of the first things you will notice is how quickly he speaks. When sitting across the chessboard from him, I often feel that he calculates much faster than the computer Deep Blue.

I first got to know Edwin Thomas (MSJE) at last year’s chess camp I ran at Mission San Jose Elementary School. Edwin progressed from a rookie to a trophy winner in just a few short weeks.

Amulya Harish (MSJE) and his father always seek me out at the local tournaments for extra instruction. I have no doubt that with his dedication he will quickly excel.

Rounding out the field for the fabulous MSJE K-1 chess team is Annapoorni Meiyappan, Aarti Abhijit Sant, and Stephen He.

Kids to Watch in the K-3

Luke Zhao is a third grader at MSJE and the only child from that school to be an official member of the Torres Chess and Music Academy All Star Team for the school year 2011-2012. Luke has played an important role in several successful championship runs for the MSJE team. Now he seems ready to play for his first individual championship.

Watch out for John Chan (MSJE) who recently claimed the title of K-3 champion at last month’s CalChess Scholastic Chess Championships.

Second grader Soorya Kuppam (MSJE) is my favorite opponent on Monday nights. It’s hard to believe that he has already been competing in chess for three years.

Don’t let Mihir Bhuptani’s (MSJE) quiet personality fool you. His crushing tactics are comparable to a rock concert.

Tommy Koh has played in integral roll in several MSJE championship victories.

The final touch to the MSJE powerhouse this year is Jeffrey Liu.

Ben Rood was also a part of the Torres Chess and Music Academy All Star Team for the school year 2011-2012. Ben has already won several National and State Championships and is playing the best chess I have ever seen from a second grader. Fresh off his k-5 State Champion win in California, this second grader is ready to win at the national level again. If Magnus Carlsen is the Motzart of Chess then Ben Rood is definitely the Beethoven.

Kids to Watch in the K-5

Sadly, MSJE was unable to bring a full team to the K-5 section this year. Despite being a player down, I am sure that the kids who were able to attend will give a phenomenal effort.

The first member of the K-5 MSJE Team is Amit Sant, of whom I am a huge fan. Drake Lin has grown from a nominal player out of dozens to a key player at MSJE over the last several years. Finally, we have Anjan Das who is attending despite his extremely busy schedule of other extracurricular achievements.

Kids to Watch in the K-6

We can only say that while we only have four competitors for our MSJE K-6 Team, these are the four kids I am most glad to see attending.

Eric Zhu is the first kids at MSJE to ever defeat me in a chess game. Alvin Kong is so eager to play chess he often arrives to chess class before any of the coaches and always gives Coach Joe Lonsdale the most trouble in their weekly skirmishes.  Sayan Das, Anjan’s elder brother, is similar to his brother in his prolific talents in all areas, especially on the MSJE Team. Finally, Shalin Shah is not only one of my favorite opponents, but one of my good friends. I look ahead with regret at the loss to MSJE as he and the other K-6 competitor’s graduate onto the seventh grade and greater challenges. I would like to add that we will be losing one other key asset to the MSJE Team as our sixth graders move ahead. Nimish Shah, Salin’s father, was a fantastic and devoted volunteer every Monday at MSJE. I have great respect for his dedication to his son and the MSJE chess Team.

It is a distinct pleasure to have played a role in all of these wonderful children’s chess development. Unfortunately, I will not be at this year’s tournament as I must stay home to help my pregnant wife. Yet I know that Coach Joe Lonsdale will successfully lead our Northern California Chess Competitors to victory. Check back daily for more updates on the exciting events from the 2012 National Elementary Championship.

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MSJE Chess Team Wins Big At State Championships (By Coach Joe)

MSJE Chess Team Wins Big At State Championships

Over 1,000 Northern California students competed in the Scholastic Chess Championships at the Santa Clara Convention Center the weekend of April 22^nd and 23^rd.   Mission San Jose Elementary School (MSJE) was the big winner in the Elementary School Section.  MSJE teams won all of the elementary school championship sections (K, K-3, 4-5, and 4-6).  Four MSJE graduates playing for Mission High School won the High School team championship.

The MSJE Kindergarten team was led by Kevin Pan who scored five wins in five games and won a large trophy and the title of Northern CA Kindergarten chess Champion.  Stephen He, Vasudeva Rao, Devansh Trivedi, Kevin Xu, and  Azlaan Khan also competed for the MSJE kindergarten team and won trophies. 

K-3 Championship

The primary school championship is the K-3 Championship division.  The MSJE K-3 team won first place by scoring more than twice the score of the second place team.  John Chan scored 5.5 points (five wins and one draw) and won a clear first place in this division.  He also won a large trophy and the title of Northern CA primary school chess champion.  First grader Rishith Susarla won four games and the ninth place trophy.  Tommy Koh and Luke Zhao each scored 3.5 points and won trophies.  Soorya Kuppam, Mihir Bhuptani, Lucas Sun, and Edison Zhang also competed for our K-3 championship team.

K-3 Junior varsity and other K-3 sections.

The K-3 junior varsity section, the K-3 booster and K-3 rookie sections are for grade 1 to 3 students that do not have the experience (or ratings) to play in the K-3 championship section.  Students with rating above 799 can only play in the K-3 championship section. The top eight MSJE grade one to three students (above) played in the K-3 championship section.  None of the teams we were competing against in the other K-3 sections had more than two children in the K-3 championship section.

Despite having our top eight players playing in K-3 championship MSJE still won the second highest K-3 section, K-3 junior varsity.

The MSJE K-3 JV team won the first place trophy with 12 points to 10 points for the second place team.  Edwin Thomas, Annapoorni Meiyappan, Jeffrey Liu, and Marcus Lee, each scored three points, won trophies, and tied for 14^th place in K-3 JV.  First graders Amulya Harish (2.5) and Henry Liu (2.0) also competed for our K-3 JV team.

Raymond Qian and Maxwell Yu each scored 4 points in the K-3 Booster section.  They each won trophies and tied for fifth place.  Jonathan Zhang, Connor Chen, Jack Lee, Trisha Jain, Azlaan Islam Khan, also competed in K-3 Booster section.  Alvin Lee, Diya Sen, and Balasura Balamungon competed in K-3 rookie. 

K-5 Championship

The top two elementary school sections are the K-5 Championship section and the K-6 Championship section.  MSJE won both of these sections by large margins.  In K-5 championship Amit Sant scored 4.5 points and tied for third place.  Drake Lin scored four points and tied for 6^th place.  Ian Wong, Kevin Zhu, Anjan Das, Edward Liu, Andy Tong, and Christopher Pan also competed for our K-5 championship team.

K-6 Championship Section

Alvin Kong, Eric Zhu, and Shalin Shah have been stars for the MSJE chess team since they were in kindergarten.  Two years ago Sayan Das earned his way onto the chess team and fought his way to the top of the ladder.  Suddenly we had four stars in one grade.  As has been typical, this group led the MSJE chess team to an overwhelming victory in the K-6 Championship section.  Shalin Shah and Sayan Das each scored five points and tied for second place.  Alvin Kong and Eric Zhu each scored 4.5 points and tied for third place.  Aditya Krishnan, Kavin Kumaravel, and Edward Liu also competed for the MSJE K-6 championship team.

K-6 Junior Varsity and other K-6 sections.

The top 13 MSJE 4-6 graders were playing in the championship sections.  None of the schools competing with us in the other K-6 sections had more than two students in championship sections.  Our K-6 Junior varsity team still took the second place team trophy.  Adrienne Tong scored 4.5 points, won a trophy, and tied for fourth place in the K-6 junior varsity section.  Nishant Yadav, Rajveer Oberoi, Parinith Rajkumar, Hiresh Jain, and Siddhar Mukherjee also competed for the MSJE K-6 junior varsity team.

The K-6 booster division is for players rated below 600.  In K-6 booster Sashank Rao scored a perfect five out of five won a large trophy and tied for first place.  Max Wang, and Jonathan Zhang each scored four points, won trophies, and tied for fourth place.  A chess team score is the score of the top four players on the team.  In the K-6 booster section our three player team took the first place trophy beating several teams of four or more players.

Aaron Mendoza and Baladithya Balamungon competed for MSJE in the K-6 rookie section.

Congratulations to the chess team for a tremendous victory at the 2012 state championships.

Chess Coaches

Joe Lonsdale   Chris Torres    Nimish Shah    Goutam Das   Div Harish 

Milind Maiti was Undefeated at the National Chess Championship

Torres Chess & Music Academy, Inc.

16691 Colonial Trail Lathrop, CA  95330 Phone (661) 699-8348 Chesslessons@aol.com

Press Release

Contact: Chris Torres Phone: (661) 699-8348

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 13, 2011

Kindergartener Milind Maiti Was Undefeated at the NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONship

Cupertino, CA, May 6-8, 2011: Cupertino five year old Milind Maiti was unbeatable at the 2011 United States Chess Federation National Elementary Chess Championships held in Dallas, Texas on May 6-8. Despite competing in a section with 294 of the best young chess players in the country, Milind won six games and had one draw which was good enough for a third place finish.  

   Milind Maiti’s path to becoming the top kindergarten chess player began at the age of four when his parent’s noticed his talents at solving jigsaw puzzles. A couple months later Milind’s interest moved towards building with Legos.  It was at this point that Milind’s father Chandan slowly introduced him to the game of chess which he enjoyed immediately.  For one so young, Milind’s desire to improve was immense. His parents began signing him up for tournaments very regularly. When he entered school, Milind started attending chess classes run by the Torres Chess and Music Academy. In spite of being a kindergartener, Milind quickly was promoted to the “advanced” class at the Collins Elementary School Chess Team. It was in this Class that Milind met chess coach Chris Torres, president of the Torres Chess & Music Academy. Chris has taught several national chess champions and he immediately recognized Milind Maiti’s remarkable talent and began training Milind to use tactics with greater effect.

In December of 2010, Milind Maiti traveled to Stockton for the Calchess Grade-level Championship. Milind won all his games easily and became the Kindergarten State Chess Champion. Over the next several months, Milind’s chess continued to improve at an incredible rate. In the first week of April, Milind Maiti competed in the Calchess Scholastic State Championships Kindergarten division, held in Santa Clara. During this tournament, Milind once again achieved a perfect score. For his remarkable performance, Milind Maiti became a State Chess Champion for a second time.

   According to his coach Chris Torres, Milind is the only kindergartener in California history to be undefeated at the State Grade Level Chess Championship, the State K-3 Chess Championship and the National Chess Championship in the same school year. Chris attributes Milind’s successes to his remarkable talent, love for the game, incredible work ethic and to the support that his parents Chandan and Smitha Maiti  provide.           

Chris Torres had other Torres Chess & Music Academy students to make him proud in the K-1 section. Chris’ other students included Ben Rood, from Walnut Creek, who tied for first in the individual competition. Five members of the Mission San Jose Elementary School team, Rishith Susarla, Chenyi Zhao, Soorya Kuppam, Jeffrey Liu, and Amulya Harish also placed third in the school competition.

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Ben Rood Becomes National Chess Champion

Torres Chess & Music Academy, Inc.

16691 Colonial Trail Lathrop, CA  95330 Phone (661) 699-8348 Chesslessons@aol.com

Press Release

Contact: Chris Torres Phone: (661) 699-8348

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 13, 2011

FIRST GRADER BEN ROOD BECOMES NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPION

WALNUT CREEK, CA, May 6-8, 2011: Walnut Creek seven year old Ben Rood was awarded the title of K-1 National Chess Champion at the 2011 United States Chess Federation National Elementary Chess Championships held in Dallas, Texas on May 6-8. Ben’s presence attracted interest in the section for kindergarten to first graders because he had the highest chess rating of all 294 contestants. Despite the tough competition, Ben won all seven of his games against the very best chess players his age in the country. The most challenging game for Ben came in round 5 when he was paired against last year’s K-1 champion, Praveer Sharan. It took Ben Rood 3 hours and 81 moves to finally defeat Praveer. He then had to continue his perfect record for two more rounds in order to be crowned a National Chess Champion.

   Ben Rood’s path to becoming a National Chess Champion began at the age of three when he decided that 300 piece jigsaw puzzles were too easy and his mother decided to introduce him to the game of chess. When he entered school, Ben started attending chess classes run by the Berkeley Chess School. For one so young,  Ben’s desire to improve was immense. His parents began signing him up for tournaments very regularly and taking him to the Friday Night Chess program run by the Berkeley Chess School. In spite of winning first place in the Kindergarten section at the 2010 Calchess Scholastic State Championships, Ben had reached the point of needing personal attention to draw out his natural talent. During the summer of 2010 Ben met chess coach Chris Torres, president of the Torres Chess & Music Academy, at a chess tournament. The two started training together a short while later. Chris has taught several other national chess champions. He immediately recognized Ben Rood’s remarkable talent. Chris then devised a plan to get Ben calculating more accurately while playing more aggressive openings that would better suit his personality and amazing tactical vision.

In December of 2010, Ben Rood traveled to Stockton for the Calchess Grade-level Chess Championships and used his newly found chess style very effectively. Ben won all his games easily and became the Grade One State Chess Champion. Over the next several months, Ben’s chess improved at a rate never before seen from a six year old chess player. By February of 2011, Ben was beating very strong chess players of all ages while taking care to record his games accurately for later review with his coach. In the first week of April, Ben Rood competed in the Calchess Scholastic State Championships K-3 division, held in Santa Clara. During this tournament, Ben once again achieved a perfect score and even defeated the reining second grade National Chess Champion, Josiah Stearman. For his remarkable performance, Ben Rood became a State Chess Champion for a third time.

   According to his coach Chris Torres, Ben Rood is the only first grader in California history to win the State Grade Level Chess Championship, the State K-3 Chess Championship and the National Chess Championship in the same school year. Chris attributes Ben’s successes to his remarkable talent, love for the game, incredible work ethic and to the support that his parents Robin Hultgren and Lisa Rood provide.           

Chris Torres had other Torres Chess & Music Academy students to make him proud in the K-1 section. Chris’ other students included Milind Maiti, from Cupertino, who placed third in the individual competition. Five members of the Mission San Jose Elementary School team, Rishith Susarla, Chenyi Zhao, Soorya Kuppam, Jeffrey Liu, and Amulya Harish also placed third in the school competition.

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Mission San Jose Elementary Takes Chess to a New Level

Mission San Jose Elementary School in Fremont, California has, for decades, fielded the most successful chess teams the Golden State has ever produced. Year after year, the relatively small public school’s chess club trains hundreds of students in the art of aggressive chess play. Those who excel at the club are invited to participate in the more exclusive Monday night team meetings. There, as he has done since the 1980’s, Head Coach Joe Lonsdale uses his demo board to show practical examples of masterful chess games played by the great masters of the 19’th century as well as recent gems played by the young Mission San Jose Elementary chess players.  After the lesson, students are paired into a stepladder tournament and compete using clocks while notating their moves. Every week, almost every game played gets analysed by Joe Lonsdale, Richard Shorman, Chris Torres or a graduate of the chess team. Joe’s labor of love has created a chess team that has an unrivaled success rate at major chess tournaments and a team jersey that can barely fit all the state chess titles the school has won.

    Mission San Jose Elementary School has also fares well at the national level despite the fact that the USCF National Elementary Chess Championships are rarely held on the west coast. In 2009, Mission San Jose Elementary School became the first school from California to ever win the National Elementary Chess Champion Title. The following year, the Mission San Jose Elementary School team placed second in the K-1 Championship Section, tied for fourth place in the K-3 Championship Section, finished third in the K-5 Championship Section and placed 9^th in the K-6 Championship section.  In 2011, we even did better! Mission San Jose Elementary School placed second in the k-6 Championship Section, fourth in the k-5 Championship Section, fourth in the k-3 Championship Section  and third in the k-1 Championship section. According to a long bearded USCF representative I road back to the airport with, this is the best overall achievement of any school in the history of the USCF National Elementary Chess Championships.

   Of course, as hard as us coaches work, it is the players who deserve the credit and recognition. Sixth grader Arman Kalyanpur was our team leader scoring an impressive 5.5/7. Fifth Grader Alvin Kong achieved a score of 4.5/7. Sixth Grader Erik Wong also scored well with 4/7. Our fourth member of the k-6 Championship Section was Alex Yin who completed the tournament with 3.5/7.

   Our k-5 team was led by fourth grader Amit Sant with a score of 5/7. Fifth graders Steven Li and Shalin Shah who both finished with an impressive 4.5/7. Another fifth grader, Eric Zhu, managed to score 4/7.  Fifth Grader Sayan Das scored 3.5/7.   

   Our k-3 team was led by second grader John Andrew Chan who finished with 5/7. Next came second grader Mihir Bhuptani and third grader Ojas Arun who both scored 4/7.  Second grader Alvin Zhang  had a strong showing with 3.5/7. Second Grader Luke Zhao, who had the flu, finished with 3/7.  Edward Liu, who attended his first Nationals,  finished with 2.5/7.

   The MSJE k-1 team’s top scorer was kindergartener Rishith Susarla with and impressive 5/7. Next came first graders Chenyi Zhao and Soorya Kuppam with a score of 4.5/7. First Grader Jeffrey Liu managed to score 4/7. The quickly improving Kindergartener Amulya Harish finished with 2.5/7.

  And to the MSJE Chess Team…

 It was a real pleasure to watch all of you achieve such great success in the most prestigious tournament of the year. As your chess coach, I am very grateful to have shared so many memorable moments with you during the 2010-2011 school years. Congratulations!