Back-to-School Bash and Blitz Recap

[imagefield_assist|fid=17011|preset=fullsize|lightbox=true|title=GM Ronen Har-Zvi delivered summer camp instruction at the Chess Club the week prior to our final scholastic tournament of the summer.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=700|height=459]

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis hosted its final scholastic tourney of the summer with the Back-to-School Bash following a week of summer camps. The field of 34 featured six new USCF members.

Round 1 went by quickly and Sansh Kumar, rated just 109, finished the round with a 600-point upset when he back-rank checkmated his opponent (who probably should have taken the time to watch GM Yasser Seirawan's Chess for Beginners lesson on back-rank checkmates!)

;

Controversy ensued in round 2. Zeve Burton “checkmated” his opponent with his pinned queen. His opponent eventually figured out it was not checkmate and won Zeve’s queen. Zeve was not dissuaded, and kept fighting and delivered an official checkmate. Sansh Kumar scored another huge upset.

In round 3, the better players were paired against each other. Charlie Pitt played the No. 1 seed to a draw. Samuel Chen, fresh off of a strong performance at the August Action, knocked off a player rated in the 1000s. Wilson Gao finally ended Sansh Kumar’s upset streak.

In round 4, three players were 3-0. Wilson Gao, Samuel Chen and Ben Liu. Liu’s extra rook proved to be a deciding factor in his victory, and Samuel Chen added to the No. 1’s demise as he joined Liu in the winner’s circle. Samuel Chen took the 1st-place trophy on tiebreakers over Ben Liu.

After a week of Summer Camp at the CCSCSL, Braden Starck was poised to win the Top U800 trophy.

Sansh Kumar gained over 200 points advancing to 319 and gobbling up the Top U600 trophy.

Arjun Puri played strong and was rewarded with the Top U400 trophy.

Charlie Rosenzweig outperformed the other new players as he won the Top Unrated trophy.

After the event, 10 kids stuck around for the nine-round USCF rated Blitz Round Robin. Each competitor played every opponent in the field once. With illegal moves ending the games, the event was sure to be exciting. Because kids are more interested in making threats than protecting against attacks, half of the games ended by disqualification.

Arjun Puri, ranked in the bottom half of the field, started slow, adjusted and caught fire to capture the 1st-place trophy. “Arjun is the real deal,” said his teacher Mike Kummer. “To be playing this good at such a young age is remarkable feat. With the resources in the Saint Louis area, there is no ceiling for these talented kids.”  Kummer also was referencing another one of his students, Charlie Pitt, who finished tied for first in the event but settled for the 2nd-place trophy on tiebreaks.

SwissSys Standings. Blitz: Kids

SwissSys Standings. Back-to-School Bash: Open