Pics

Here are some pics from my recent trip to Dallas:

http://picasaweb.google.com/caminator2000/2009K12Nationals

Several people have asked about my games during the tournament. Here is my final round victory against the tough (and underrated) Ryan Swerdlin from Colorado. We were the last two players in our section. The game lasted about 3 hours and 5 minutes (the time control was G/90 with 5 sec delay).

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Bay Area chess kids rock

Well, the nationals are finally over. The Bay Area kids came and represented very well. Here we are with our new hardware:



Unfortunately, Allan's dad made their flight too early, so he had to grab his trophy before the official presentation and head to the airport. Here is a shot of him before he left:



All told, the Bay Area kids took home several trophies, almost one of every flavor:

1st place - Rayan Taghizadeh (2nd grade)
2nd place - Kesav Viswanadha (5th grade)
3rd place - Cameron Wheeler (4th grade)
4th place - Kyle Shin (6th grade)
6th place - Vignesh Panchanatham (4th grade)
7th place - Allan Beilin (5th grade)
11th place - Jeffrey Tao (4th grade)
13th place - Daniel Liu (6th grade)
15th place - Anirudh Seela (3rd grade)

Day 3 coming up

So today is the last day. Lot's of exciting things happening.

In grade 2, Rayan T* has a perfect 5/5 and is in excellent position. The top seed in his group lost in the last round, and he has moved up to the #2 slot behind Annie Wang. The two games today will be the biggest of his short chess career.

In grade 4, my friend Vignesh and I are in a 7-way tie for 2nd place right now with two rounds to go. There is only one kid 1/2 point ahead of us, so anything can happen. Vignesh has a tough pairing against William Graif of New York (last year's champion), and I'm playing Amir Moazami, another tough New York kid. The picture in grade 4 will become a lot clearer after this round.

In grade 5, Allan Beilin is an amazing 5/5 and is playing the tough Christopher Wu from New Jersey. My dad and I hope that Allan "french fry"s the guy! Kesav V* has an excellent score of 4/5. He can place very well with a good showing today. Armaan K* is also doing well at 3.5/5; two wins today might nab him a trophy.

In grade 6, Kyle Shin is just a half-point behind the leader and plays him on board 1 this morning. His fate is in his own hands. Daniel Liu is also in contention, just a point behind the leader.

Good luck to all of the bay area kids!!!

Pre-game warm-up:

Trophies Plus All-American Team

Right before the start of the 4th round, they announced this year's All-American Team. I made the team for the first time, by having a peak rating over 1800 while I was still 8 years old. They gave us all monogrammed jackets:



Then they called us up on stage and presented us with a plaque:



Here is a short video of the presentation:

Short break before round 4

Round 3 is wrapping up and we are back at the room watching some basketball and eating a quick snack. My friends and I are doing well:

2nd:
Rayan (3/3)

4th:
Me (3/3)
Vignesh (3/3)
Jeffrey T (3/3)

5th:
Allan (3/3)
Kesav (3/3)
Armaan (2.5/3)

The games keep getting tougher and tougher. Still waiting for round 4 pairings, but several of the 'punks will have to play up.

Day 1 is in the books

So an exciting day 1 is complete. It is time to get a good night's rest for a busy day 2. I finished the day with a score of 2.0/2.0. Several of my friends have 2.0/2.0 as well: Allan, Vignesh, Kesav, Armaan, and Rayan. I'm happy to have the victories, but the games were much tougher than I thought they would be. Tomorrow is going to be very challenging.

My Uncle Darren was born and raised in San Jose, but he is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. Coincidentally, he and Auntie Desiree had planned to come to Dallas this weekend to see the Cowboys take on the San Diego Chargers. They are staying in a hotel just a few miles away, so Uncle Darren came by tonight to take us out to a nice steak house after the 2nd round. My dad and uncle both shared their steaks with me because for some reason I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. The steaks were very, very good! At the restaurant, they had this funny chair made from the horns and hide of cattle:

After dinner, uncle took us to a supermarket so we could stock up on some of my favorite tournament foods: crackers and cheese, fruit, yogurt, and cereal. Now we are all set! Thanks Uncle!!!

Round 1 is over

Round 1 started on time (1pm local time). I was sitting at the very front of the room, as far from the doors as possible, so my Dad couldn't see me. Luckily I had my lucky Orioles hat on. My opponent came in late, just as the round was starting. After an hour, I finally beat my opponent. He played much better than I expected for round 1.

By the time I finished, most of my friends were done. Allan, Vignesh, and Kesav all won quickly. We stayed to watch Rayan win his game. It looked like Armaan was going to win, but we needed to grab some food, so we had to leave before he was done (update: Armaan eventually won).

Now my Dad and I are playing hotel room football, just relaxing until the next round starts...

Settled in

We've safely arrived in Dallas. The trip was pretty uneventful. Kesav's family came to pick us up and we traveled to the San Jose Airport together. At the airport, we met up with Armaan, Vignesh, and little Muthu. Here we are waiting for our flight to board:

The flight was a little late leaving San Jose, but we got here quickly. Upon arrival, we grabbed a cab with Armaan and Kesav to the tournament hotel.

The hotel is very nice, with lots of Asian style art. After dropping our stuff in the rooms, we met back in the lobby to search for dinner. While waiting for Kesav to return from his 22nd story perch, we ran into Allan and his father returning from dinner. After a short chat, we parted ways and headed for dinner. We found a sports bar in the hotel where we could eat something and watch the Steelers get embarrassed by the Cleveland Browns. My dad's fantasy football team might be in trouble.

After dinner, we checked out the playing hall and bumped into a couple more Bay Area chess players: Shalin Shah and Jeffrey Tao. Now it is off to bed to get some rest before tomorrow's opening round at 1pm (11am PST). More updates then...

Cam gets a blog

Welcome to Cam's Chess Blog.

On this blog I'll keep people updated on my latest chess activities.