November 11th saw 141 kids make their way to PS 116 for another in a series of great tournaments. In all kids from 15 public and 29 private schools participated on a chilly and overcast sunday.

On hand with her her niece and nephew who also played, was PS 116 Principal Jane Hsu whose solid efforts earned her school a straight A from Schools Chancellor Joel Klein last week. Since the beginning of her tenure, she has continued to be a staunch supporter of chess.

Joining the NYChessKids team as chief tournament director was Alex Beltre, formerly of Chess-in-the-Schools where he was Deputy Director, and for many years its chief director for teams and tournaments. The tournament went very well under his direction. There was a glitch regarding ratings the first round due to accessing the wrong ratings database, by the beginning of the second round, everything was smooth sailing.

In the NO SCORE section, there was a 12-way tie for 1st place. Fortunately for the NYChessKids staff enough trophies were on hand for all the winners. Notable standouts in this section were players MAYA SAPOZHNIKOVA whose adept play raised some eyebrows, and NICOLETTA LE CRICHIA whose poise and focus at the board was a marvel.

In the NOVICE 1 section 11 schools were represented, with PS 116 taking top team honors. JACKSON ROCKE from PS 116 took top individual honors with the only perfect score of 4.0 in the section, and WILL CHAPIN from Dalton took 2nd place with a score of 3.5.

The NOVICE 2 section was this tournaments smallest, but its most hotly contested. ALVIN SARKADI from PS 116 took 1st place through tie-breaks, and ATONIA HELLMAN from Dalton took 2nd by the same means. Every player in this section won at least 1 game. PS 116 took home the team trophy.

In PRIMARY, 32 kids from 18 different schools played, with ST ANN'S easily garnering the team trophy. JOHN KELLY took 1st place with the section's only perfect score, and ANDY PRICE from ST ANN'S took clear 2nd.

RESERVE had 31 players from 15 different schools. HUNTER wiped out the opposition for top team honors. RAY FISHMAN from PS 6 took 1st place with a perfect score, and ALBERT SHUB from BUCKLEY took 2nd though he also had a perfect score and was edged out of 1st only by tie-breaks.

The most diversified section was OPEN with 19 kids playing from 15 schools. HUNTER demolished the field for top team honors. CHRISTOPHER LEE from HUNTER had the only perfect score winning clear 1st, and his teammate MATTHEW ZAFRA took 2nd through tie-breaks.

CHAMPIONSHIP fielded 19 kids from 14 different schools. HORACE MANN muscled their way to top team honors. ANGEL LOPEZ from SATAL took top individual honors in a 3-game blitz play-off against KASSA KORLEY from DALTON who took 2nd.

All in all this tournament was one of the best, and seemingly fun was had by all. The next tournament is scheduled for SATURDAY DECEMBER 1st, registration available online at NYCHESSKIDS.COM. This tournament will feature a new section called K-1 UNDER 500 RATED for kids who want to begin playing rated games, but against kids who are younger than the typical PRIMARY section player. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!!