Schoolhouse Rook!: Chess Attracting Local Students

By on April 14, 2014 in

By Matt Barrett

There has been an all-time high of student traffic at the beginning of April, both on campus and in local scholastic programs.

Not only are classes experiencing higher attendance and an increase in overall student knowledge of the game, we have recently doubled our Sunday kids’ offerings from two classes to four to accommodate the greater numbers and enhance the scope of material covered. In addition we have new visitors to weekly classes and field trips and more participants for in-school and afterschool programs.

The April fun began with WGM Jennifer Shahade and a field trip by 20 girls from Woerner School. They had a packed agenda and spent much of the day on campus, learning chess fundamentals and taking in the club atmosphere. In turn, they visited the awesome culture and art exhibit A Queen Within at the World Chess Hall of Fame, had a lesson with our Resident queen of American chess, and played in their first official chess tournament in the cushy CCSCSL tournament hall. At the end of the day, the girls of Woerner left excited about the game, thankful for their encounter with celebrity author and top women’s player Shahade, and looking very much forward to their next competitive chess opportunity.

Next up was a near record attendance at what has become a yearly club staple. The third annual Parkway District Championship was held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis over two days the weekend of Saturday April 5th and Sunday April 6th. This tournament has become somewhat prestigious among local scholastic competitions, with National Master Kevin Cao as last year’s individual champion. As interest in chess has continued to spread like wildfire across the Saint Louis area and grown rapidly among area youth, so has it gained in popularity throughout the schools of Parkway. The extent of its development in Parkway in particular was clearly demonstrated by the nineteen schools that sent representatives! In all, 133 students between Kindergarten and 8th grade competed for trophies in their respective age groups.

Congratulations are in order for the many participants of this thrilling Championship! Sam Jerauld drew his first game, thereby implementing a technique sometimes referred to as the Swiss Gambit. This method worked to a tee for Sam, who then settled in to win his final four matches. As such, he finished with 4.5/5 to take the K-1 crown. Competition was heated in the 42-player 2nd-3rd grade division, where Wilson Gao was perhaps the tournament favorite. Early on he looked quite the part, steamrolling his way through the first several rounds. His final round opponent, Joshua Gollapudi, found a nice trick to force a three-fold repetition, however, holding Wilson to 4.5/5 and opening the door for Armaan Chandak, who was also 4-0. Armaan won his game smoothly to finish a perfect 5/5 and take the title in exciting fashion. In the 4th-5th grade section, 35 contestants were pitted together to decide district supremacy. Another pair of 4-0 players met in the final round. Jonathan Gollapudi, brother of Joshua, faced Aaradhya Diwan. Adi came out on top, 5-0, and a Champion for the second week in a row. Just the previous weekend he went 4-0 to take the Monthly Kids’ Beginner Tournament, also at the CCSCSL! This represents a nice 9-game winning streak for Diwan. In the 6th-8th grade division, Jeffrey Ying took home the hardware with a hard-earned victory over David McKnight. Parkway West Middle won the 6th-8th Championship with 23.5 cumulative points. Oakbrook Elementary could not be touched, however, emerging overall District Champions with an aggregate score of 47.

The very next day, John Burroughs held a school wide chess festival on Monday April 7th. At the morning assembly, the 600 members of the student body watched transfixed as GM Ben Finegold played blindfold blitz against High School Champion Grant Riew and Middle School Champion Jason Zhou. As if blindfold chess wasn’t hard enough, Ben agreed to play blitz without looking at the board, meaning he had three minutes per game to dispatch these experienced scholastic players. To the astonishment of the audience, Ben played his usual solid chess and demolished both opponents with time to spare. The rest of us were less surprised, but no less impressed. During an exhibition of this skill for staff the previous week, Ben not only defeated expert and Executive Director Tony Rich two out of two, but was also able in mid-game to tell within just a couple of seconds how much time was on both clocks!

Throughout the remainder of the school day, CCSCSL staff stayed on campus to play games, monitor DGT chess, and set clocks for the JBS students near the Olin Auditorium. As many as 45 students played and looked on at a time, during study halls, lunch periods, and free time from class. Clearly John Burroughs, which has recently taken on a Grandmaster Coach to teach the school chess club, is taking their chess seriously. Given the surprising overall knowledge and comfort level with the game among the countless students we met, JBS is likely to have a strong competitive team for years to come.

This has been a spectacular start to the month of April, kicking our “busy season” into full gear. Next up, on the heels of this weekend’s Saint Louis Open, we have an April Kids Beginner Tournament on Sunday April 13. Later in the month we have a Boy Scout Merit Badge Workshop on April 27th. Of course, as the weather warms up, so does our event schedule. Entertaining as April promises to be, the month of May will have something to say as well. The 2014 US and Women’s Championships are right around the corner, running May 7-May 20th!

SwissSys Standings. Parkway District Chess Tournament: K-1

#	Name	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Sam Jerauld	1	D4	W6	W5	W2	W13	4.5
2	Taylor Johnson	1	W28	W7	W14	L1	W3	4.0
3	Lucas Kleiner-skev	1	D6	W4	W17	W13	L2	3.5
4	Nick McBride	1	D1	L3	W26	W20	W15	3.5
5	Agastya Diwan	k	W27	D13	L1	W18	W14	3.5
6	M. Sreeram	1	D3	L1	W16	W25	D9	3.0
7	Dylan Koch	1	W22	L2	D18	W24	D8	3.0
8	Edward Ciemnoczolowski	1	W23	W10	L13	D15	D7	3.0
9	Sriharshita Vissapragada	1	D17	D24	W10	D14	D6	3.0
10	Tyler Burley	1	W21	L8	L9	W27	W19	3.0
11	Ethan Prowty	1	D25	D15	D19	D12	W20	3.0
12	Benjamin Wellborn	1	L14	W29	D21	D11	W17	3.0
13	Elijah Seeck	1	B---	D5	W8	L3	L1	2.5
14	William Biggs	1	W12	W19	L2	D9	L5	2.5
15	Pushpa Voleti	k	D18	D11	W27	D8	L4	2.5
16	Abigal Eickhoff	k	U---	D22	L6	B---	W27	2.5
17	Surya Nandakumar	k	D9	W25	L3	D19	L12	2.0
18	Andrew Kang	1	D15	D20	D7	L5	D23	2.0
19	Andrew Humphey-Paul	k	W29	L14	D11	D17	L10	2.0
20	Anthra Panwar	1	W26	D18	D24	L4	L11	2.0
21	Umar Rafiq	k	L10	D26	D12	D22	D24	2.0
22	Mihira Dola	1	L7	D16	D23	D21	D25	2.0
23	Rachel Sykes	k	L8	D28	D22	D26	D18	2.0
24	Lawson Robinson	k	H---	D9	D20	L7	D21	2.0
25	Rachel Bivens	1	D11	L17	B---	L6	D22	2.0
26	Ava Obryan	1	L20	D21	L4	D23	B---	2.0
27	Tyler Magill	1	L5	B---	L15	L10	L16	1.0
28	Sophia Fredrickson	1	L2	D23	U---	U---	U---	0.5
29	Ellie Yonkers	1	L19	L12	U---	U---	U---	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Parkway District Chess Tournament: 2nd-3rd Grade

#	Name	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Armaan Chandak	2	W32	W38	W12	W8	W10	5.0
2	Wilson Gao	3	W25	W14	W24	W4	D3	4.5
3	Joshua Gollapudi	2	W16	W11	D7	W9	D2	4.0
4	Michael Pugachev	3	W21	W26	W5	L2	W13	4.0
5	Kevin Li	3	W10	W13	L4	W7	W11	4.0
6	Rinat Venglovschi	2	W38	L10	W29	W28	W12	4.0
7	Isabel Yearian	3	W20	W15	D3	L5	W19	3.5
8	Aristo Paul	2	B---	D31	W17	L1	W22	3.5
9	Ali H. Syed	3	H---	W34	W22	L3	W18	3.5
10	Anuj Ketkar	3	L5	W6	W25	W14	L1	3.0
11	Iniya Swaminathan	3	W18	L3	W15	W17	L5	3.0
12	Benjamin Krougar	2	W31	W27	L1	W24	L6	3.0
13	Phillip Pernik	2	W35	L5	W21	W26	L4	3.0
14	Ajay Eisenberg	2	W29	L2	W28	L10	W26	3.0
15	Arnav Busani	2	W37	L7	L11	W31	W27	3.0
16	Will Martin	2	L3	W35	D18	D20	W24	3.0
17	Kyle Krozel	2	W39	W19	L8	L11	W25	3.0
18	Karthik Thota	3	L11	W39	D16	W33	L9	2.5
19	Joshua Inordee	3	H---	L17	W23	W27	L7	2.5
20	Madison Heyman	3	L7	D37	D31	D16	W33	2.5
21	Anushka Rawat	3	L4	W40	L13	D30	W34	2.5
22	Daniel Inordee	2	H---	W36	L9	W32	L8	2.5
23	Tigran Vasdanyan		H---	L33	L19	W40	W32	2.5
24	Hayk Darbinyan	3	B---	W28	L2	L12	L16	2.0
25	Benjamin Scott	3	L2	W29	L10	W38	L17	2.0
26	Saketh Byrabuneni	2	W40	L4	W33	L13	L14	2.0
27	Maanvi Aggarwal	3	W42	L12	W38	L19	L15	2.0
28	Eesha Jasti	3	W30	L24	L14	L6	W39	2.0
29	Evan Preston	2	L14	L25	L6	B---	W40	2.0
30	Dhruv Kadam	2	L28	D32	D39	D21	D35	2.0
31	Avon Brown	2	L12	D8	D20	L15	D36	1.5
32	Ian Pavkev	3	L1	D30	W36	L22	L23	1.5
33	Francesca Ocampo	3	D34	W23	L26	L18	L20	1.5
34	Parthiv Voleti	3	D33	L9	L37	W39	L21	1.5
35	Max Astafyev	2	L13	L16	D40	D36	D30	1.5
36	Ezana Eikhoff	2	H---	L22	L32	D35	D31	1.5
37	Charlie Graves	2	L15	D20	W34	U---	U---	1.5
38	Elliot Concannon	2	L6	L1	L27	L25	B---	1.0
39	Michael Russell	2	L17	L18	D30	L34	L28	0.5
40	Aisling Renner	3	L26	L21	D35	L23	L29	0.5
41	Lawson Robinson	k	L6	U---	U---	U---	U---	0.0
42	Eleanor Unhardt	3	L27	U---	U---	U---	U---	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Parkway District Chess Tournament: 4th-5th Grade

#	Name	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Aaradhya Diwan	4	W5	W11	W10	W6	W2	5.0
2	Jonathan Gollapudi	5	W9	W22	W16	W4	L1	4.0
3	Danny Faust	5	W14	W8	L4	W23	W10	4.0
4	Charlie Pitt	4	W34	W24	W3	L2	W18	4.0
5	Noah Tennant	5	L1	W35	W22	W7	D6	3.5
6	Aidan Johnson	4	W13	W29	W17	L1	D5	3.5
7	Kevin Gu	5	D17	W12	W28	L5	W19	3.5
8	Devon Meyers	4	W29	L3	W33	D12	W16	3.5
9	Rahul Jasti	5	L2	D34	W32	W20	W17	3.5
10	Duncan Bertier	4	W23	W31	L1	W25	L3	3.0
11	Porter Cowan	4	W27	L1	D18	D13	W25	3.0
12	Elijah Holt	5	D18	L7	W27	D8	W22	3.0
13	Eric Zhang	5	L6	W30	D20	D11	W23	3.0
14	Tristan Dolnick	5	L3	B---	L19	W30	W28	3.0
15	Nick Ice	4	L22	D27	D29	W31	W24	3.0
16	Andrew Zhang	5	W30	W20	L2	D19	L8	2.5
17	Nishant Reiyasamy	5	D7	W33	L6	W32	L9	2.5
18	Ali-Raza Rizvi	5	D12	D25	D11	W28	L4	2.5
19	Nayan Swaminathan	4	L24	W26	W14	D16	L7	2.5
20	Atharva Ketkar	5	W35	L16	D13	L9	W27	2.5
21	Joseph Layton	4	D25	L23	W30	L27	W29	2.5
22	Neel Nayak	4	W15	L2	L5	W26	L12	2.0
23	Bharath Sadagopan	4	L10	W21	W24	L3	L13	2.0
24	Maxwell Bivens	5	W19	L4	L23	W29	L15	2.0
25	Abhiru Palhan	4	D21	D18	W31	L10	L11	2.0
26	Ahmad Rafiq	4	L29	L19	B---	L22	W31	2.0
27	Nikhil Deshmukh	5	L11	D15	L12	W21	L20	1.5
28	Ishan Dhawan	4	D33	W32	L7	L18	L14	1.5
29	Cooper Russell	4	D32	L6	D15	L24	L21	1.0
30	Sanjana Panwar	4	L16	L13	L21	L14	W32	1.0
31	Riley Marino	5	B---	L10	L25	L15	L26	1.0
32	Sammie Lee	4	D29	L28	L9	L17	L30	0.5
33	Evan Graves	5	D28	L17	L8	U---	U---	0.5
34	Campbell Marino	5	L4	D9	U---	U---	U---	0.5
35	Amelia Marino	5	L20	L5	U---	U---	U---	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Parkway District Chess Tournament: 6th-8th Grade

#	Name	Grd	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Jeffrey Ying	6	W22	W17	W4	W14	W2	5.0
2	David McKnight	12	W26	W23	W5	W3	L1	4.0
3	Tanay Chandak	6	W18	W8	W7	L2	W11	4.0
4	Grant Johnson	6	W24	W10	L1	W15	W7	4.0
5	Paul Gipkhin	7	B---	W20	L2	W19	W23	4.0
6	Akhil Mulakala	6	W15	L7	D16	W21	W8	3.5
7	Amy Zhang	7	W19	W6	L3	W18	L4	3.0
8	Saikushal Marri	8	W21	L3	W9	W16	L6	3.0
9	Alex Okenfuss	7	L10	W12	L8	W20	W17	3.0
10	Jason Wan	7	W9	L4	L15	W27	W18	3.0
11	Ethan Hay	6	L14	W27	W24	W17	L3	3.0
12	Robert McKnight	6	L16	L9	W13	W22	W15	3.0
13	Chris Stephens	6	L23	B---	L12	W25	W16	3.0
14	Lenny Chen	7	W11	D16	W21	L1	L19	2.5
15	Frank Fu	8	L6	W19	W10	L4	L12	2.0
16	Andrei Krozel	6	W12	D14	D6	L8	L13	2.0
17	Justin Cupps	7	W27	L1	W20	L11	L9	2.0
18	Matthew Stephens	8	L3	W26	W23	L7	L10	2.0
19	Sandeep Kanamala	6	L7	L15	W26	L5	W14	2.0
20	Varun Shenoy	7	W25	L5	L17	L9	W24	2.0
21	Maxwell Gao	6	L8	W25	L14	L6	W26	2.0
22	Valentina Bostick	6	L1	L24	B---	L12	W27	2.0
23	Daniel Bugaran	8	W13	L2	L18	D24	L5	1.5
24	Rohit Chalamala	7	L4	W22	L11	D23	L20	1.5
25	Alex Karst	7	L20	L21	D27	L13	B---	1.5
26	Joseph Hayes	10	L2	L18	L19	B---	L21	1.0
27	Maxwell Kellen	7	L17	L11	D25	L10	L22	0.5