On Saturday May 31st, one of the first hot, muggy days of the new summer season, 93 kids from all over New York City made their way to The Alfred E. Smith School (PS 163M) on the Upper Westside for its inaugural NYCHESSKIDS Chess Tournament. Of course moms and dads came too, and even the Principal dropped by to view the excitement. Parents of PS 163 chess kids were on hand to sell breakfast and lunch to the hungry crowd.

The sections for the tournament were as follows: in the unrated tournament there was the NO SCORE section for kindergarteners, NOVICE 1 for 1st and 2nd graders and the NOVICE 2 section for 3rd and 4th graders, and in the rated tournament there was the K-1 section for USCF players rated under 500, the PRIMARY section for USCF players rated under 700, the RESERVE section for USCF players rated under 800, the CLASSIC section for USCF players rated under 1100, the OPEN section for USCF players rated under 1500, and the CHAMPIONSHIP for all USCF players rated over 1500.

The NO SCORE had 8 kids from 2 schools. PS 163 won its first ever team trophy for outstanding play of its students in this section and the LOWER LAB SCHOOL took 2nd. Although each student in this section tied for 1st PLACE, notable standouts were ISABEL ALPERT from PS 163 and RUDY POPPER also from PS 163.

The NOVICE 1 section had 21 kids from 6 schools throught NYC. PS 163 took top team honors, PS 41 took 2nd, and the ANDERSON SCHOOL took 3rd. Top individual honors went to RONIN BERZINS from PS 163 on tie-breaks, SARA ZEROF from PS 41 took 2nd on tie-breaks, and ELLIS SANTORO took 3rd.

In NOVICE 2, there were 9 kids from 2 schools, with PS 163 taking home the team trophy. Top individual honors went to ISAAC WEI from PS 116 who had a perfect score for clear 1st, BENJAMIN OJEDA from PS 163 took 2nd on tie-breaks and JAMES RYAN who took 3rd place.

K-1 had 9 kids from 7 different schools. PS 163 took home the top team plaque, PS 116 took home the 2nd place plaque, and TRINITY took home the 3rd place plaque. For top individual honors, JASON SONGCO from PS 116 took clear 1st with a perfect score, ESZTER MORVAY from HEWITT took clear 2nd, and RICHARD HE took 3rd on tie-breaks.

PRIMARY had 12 kids from 8 different schools. PS 116 dominated the field for top team honors with 9 points, PS 41 came in 2nd, and DALTON took home 3rd on tie-breaks. ISABELLA LeCRITIA from PS 116 had the only perfect score in this section and took home the 1st place trophy, FLORIZELLE SNGCO also from PS 116 took clear 2nd place with 3.5 points, and KAI KRONBERG from PS 41 took clear 3rd.

The RESERVE section had 10 kids from 7 different schools. SPENCE took top team honors, BANKSTREET took 2nd on tie-breaks, and PS 116 took 3rd. NICOLA FREDRIKSEN from BANKSTREET took home the 1st place trophy with the only perfect score in this section, ADITYA RAM from PS 89 took clear 2nd, and DANIEL TARALLO from PS 163 took home 3rd on tie-breaks.

The CLASSIC section had 9 kids from 7 different schools with PS 116 taking home top team honors, PS 6 took 2nd on tie-breaks, and BROWNING took 3rd. ALEX LIPAN from PS 116 took clear 1st with 3.5 points, LIAM FLANAGAN from PS 6 took 2nd on tie-breaks, and TAKAYUKI ISHIKAWA from Browning took 3rd.

In the OPEN section there were 5 kids from 5 schools, hence no team trophies were given. Top individual honors went to Alexander J Crump from PS116 who garnered the 1st place trophy, Aisara Chansakul Jr from BROWNI who took home the 2nd place trophy, and Jeffrey Wu from PS163 who took home 3rd.

CHAMPIONSHIP had 8 kids from 8 different schools. Though there were no team trophies in this section, KASSA KORLEY from DALTON took clear 1st place with 3 points, RAVEN STURT from BRONX SCIENCE took 2nd place on tie-breaks, and ANDREW BERGER from COLLEGIATE took home 3rd.

The NYCHESSKIDS team has one more tournament for the school year. It will take place next Sunday, June 8th at PS 116. We hope to see everyone there for one last match before the long summer break begins, so study hard this week, practice playing, and set your alarms next Saturday night. See you then ....