NYChessKids’ first chess tournament of the 2006-2007 school year drew a formidable 128 players across its 7 sections. More than 30 schools were represented! This many schools participating in the tournament may be a new NYChessKids record. A lot of the schools represented were actually from outside of the five boroughs of New York City; we are glad to see that the popularity of the NYChessKids tournaments are spreading!
The NYChessKids staff went hard to work since the end of the last tournament season to re-format some of the tournament sections and to try and get stronger scholastic players to participate. For the younger and beginning players, no changes were deemed necessary and none were made.
The No Score section drew 11 players; not a large total, but not a small one either considering that the youngest of students often do not feel comfortable beginning tournament chess at the very beginning of the school year. Expect to see this section double (or more) come January. As for today, the winners are…everyone! In No Score, for those who are not familiar with this section, we do not make public the results of the games played between the students (all games are scored as draws). This is because the purpose of the section is to introduce kindergarten and beginning players to tournament chess without any worry about the results of their games.
27 Players participated in the Novice 1 section, which was captured by Ryan Hoang of Horace Mann and Josh Gold of Dalton, each with perfect 4-0 scores. Ryan edged out Josh in the Modified Median tiebreak to win the 1st place trophy. Horace Mann won the team trophy in this division over second place Dalton 11-8.
Only 5 Players actually participated in the Novice 2 section, thanks to a couple of no-shows. Michael Morigi of P.S. 116 won the section 3-1, edging out Matthew Kim of Horace Mann on tiebreaks, who finished with the same score. Calhoun won the team prize.
20 Players registered for the rated Primary section, won by Amir Moazami of Horace Mann and Julien Loo of Dalton, each with 4-0 scores. Amir emerged with the better Modified Median tiebreak (the first tiebreak used in trophy events with trophies at stake). P.S. 116’s balanced lineup won the team prize with 8.5, beating out both Dalton and Horace Mann who each finished with 8.
Of the 31 players registered for Reserve, the largest section of the event, Columbia Grammar entered only Ulrik Olsen. He made the entry count, however, going 4-0 to finish ahead of the also-perfect Ameya Shiva of Collegiate on tiebreaks. P.S. 116 won the team prize over Dalton, 11-7.
The Open section experimented with additional prizes to the trophies awarded. The Top 10 winners (beginning with 1st Place) could choose the additional prize of ten they wanted. Then second place would choose, etc. Jehron Bryant of Howell was the only 4-0 score in this 18-player section. Some of the additional prizes included chess clocks, travel chess sets, and a chess combo set! Jehron and his twin brother Nigel scored the entire 7.5 points that would win the team prize over Dalton by a point.
The tournament wrapped up with the awarding of prizes for the brand-new Championship section. A star-studded cast was headlined by the winners Parker Zhao (rated 2212) of Dalton and Alec Getz (rated 2114) of Hunter who won their first three games and quickly drew their last-round encounter to assure themselves of having the best choice of prizes! Parker had the better tiebreak, so he was the champion of the event and instantly chose for himself a Video iPod! Alec had to “settle” for a Playstation PSP, but had the satisfaction of leading Hunter to victory with 7.5 points, 3.5 clear of Horace Mann. This section drew 14 participants, and we expect to see more next time!
Thanks to everyone for participating! The next event will be held on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 15, 2007, at P.S. 116.
-= The Results Of This Tournament =- |
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