National Champions!!!

Coming into round 6, there were only three players left with a perfect storm: Michael Chen from Michigan, Udit and myself.  I got paired against Michael and Udit had to play the highest rated person a half-point below, Tommy He.  I got a good position out of the opening against Michael and I was able to use this advantage to generate a strong attack and force through a win.  Unfortunately, Udit made a mistake in the late-opening/early-middlegame and found himself in a lot of trouble very quickly.  The pressure proved to be too much and he lost an uncharacteristically short game to Tommy.

 That left just me with a perfect score after 6 rounds, and Tommy was the only player trailing by a half-point.  I would face Tommy for the 4th time.  Tommy and I recently played at the World Youth in Greece and I squandered a completely winning position, so I was eager to get a chance to play him again.  Both Tommy and I had played white in the previous two rounds, so one of us was going to get three consecutive whites in a row.  Turns out it was Tommy, but I still had draw odds to win the whole tournament.  In the game, I made a mistake early and went down a pawn, but I was able to fight my way back into the game.  At one point I was probably winning, but I knew that I only needed a draw to become National Champion, so I made sure that I wasn't going to lose.  Tommy fought hard, knowing that a draw wouldn't get him the title, but in the end the position was a clear draw and I became the champion.

 Udit won his final game to finish with a score of 6.0/7.0 to tie for second place.  He had the best tiebreaks of the all of the 6.0s, so he got the second place trophy!  Here is a shot of Udit and I with our first and second place trophies.

 For most of my "chess career", I've been the only serious chess player at Regnart.  That all changed last year when Pranav moved from New Jersey.  We still didn't have enough players to make a team, but at least I wasn't the only tournament chess player at the school.  This year, Udit moved to my neighborhood and he goes to Regnart.  Now we finally had the makings of a real team.  My dad started an official chess team at the school, and this nationals was our first tournament together.  Pranav, his brother, Pramodh, Udit, and I all came to play in the tournament.  All of us played exceptionally well and in the end, Regnart won the team competition for grade 5!  In this photo, we are showing off our cool new team shirts and our new "hardware".  Having a team really added something new to the whole competition.  I was still trying to do my best, but I also wanted the team to do well too.

The Bay Area was well represented at this year's Nationals.  Josiah Steerman won in 2nd grade.  Udit and I got second and first in 5th grade.  Pranav tied for 12th.  Kesav was co-champion in 6th grade and got the second place trophy on tiebreaks.  Allan took home the sixth place trophy in that same section.  Anirudh and Pramodh also had strong results in the fourth grade section.

 After it was all done a group of Bay Area kids and their parents went to Downtown Disney to play at DisneyQuest and have a celebratory dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with everyone and finally get a chance to relax.

Our flight home didn't leave until the late afternoon.  That meant we had about a half-day to play at Disney.  Despite the late night celebration with our friends, we got up early, packed our stuff, and headed off to Disney's Animal Kingdom for a breakfast. The food was really good and lots of characters came to our table to visit.  My mom took this picture of my brother and I with Mickey.  After breakfast we had a chance to explore the park for a few hours and ride lots of cool rides.  What a great way to end the trip!

A long day 2

Day 2 of the nationals is always a tough day because you have to play 3 games in one day and the last game, round 5, is usually against a very tough opponent. This year was no different.

After my scare yesterday in the 2nd round, it was important to bounce back with a strong game.  I got a good position early against Prateek Pinisetti of Arizona.  I was able to convert the win and keep my win streak alive.  Udit also won his game. The most impressive feat was Pranav's draw against the tough William Graif of New York.  This draw could be critical, as William also has a strong team in the section.

Often times when I go to chess tournaments, it is just me and my dad, but this time my mom and little brother, Lucas, also came.  Lucas gets to go and play at all of the Disney parks while I do chess, but he took some time out to wish me good luck and see me get an award.

Prior to the start of the fourth round, they announced the Trophies Plus All-American Team.  I was named to the team for the second year in a row.  This is a nice award for some of the top kids in the country.  They gave us a very nice plaque and a jacket with our name on it.  I was pretty happy to make the team again because I lost last year's jacket.

 In the fourth round, I had to play Noah Fields of Washington.  I met Noah and his family a couple of years ago and Nationals and he even came down to Mechanics Institute in SF one time for a tournament.  I knew this game would be tough because WA kids tend to be underrated.  I was able to get a better position in the game and force through a win.  My teammates Udit and Pranav also won to extend our team's lead.

In the fifth round, I faced James Wei from Illinois.  James is a teammate of Alex Bian and Conrad Oberhaus.  Conrad couldn't make it to this year's nationals, so their team only has two players, but they will definitely be a force to contend with in the spring.  James and I played a long game, but I got a comfortable position early and felt that I had the upper hand throughout.  The game ended with a funny checkmate.  My teammate, Udit, took out the #2 seed, Andrew Tang.  Unfortunately, Pranav was not able to pull out a victory against his opponent.  Our team still has a 1.5 point lead in the section.  Meanwhile, the top board, Tommy He, drew, so there are only three of us left with a perfect 5.0/5.0  Tomorrow I will play Michael Chen from Michigan and Udit will have to face Tommy.  Round 6 will be very critical for our team and individual title chances.

Day 1 is Done!

My family and I traveled to Disney World (via Philadelphia) on a red-eye flight from San Francisco.  We arrived at our hotel on Thursday morning a little tired, but happy to be here and with a whole day to play before the tournament began.  We stopped off at Downtown Disney to have a quick lunch at the cool Rainforest Cafe and then we went to Disney Hollywood Studios.  It was a lot of fun, but the whole family was exhausted from the overnight flight and we had to get back to the hotel early to make sure we got enough rest.

Day 1 started off pretty well.  Tommy O He from Dallas, TX registered at the last minute, so I was bumped down to the #5 seed, but they didn't accelerate the pairings so my first round game was against a pretty low-rated opponent.  His name was Andrew Mayorga and he lives right here in Florida.  I won the game pretty quickly, but the best part is that my teammates, Udit and Pranav, also won their games and our team was tied for first place right from the start.

Between rounds 1 and 2, Udit came back to my room and we relaxed by watching Over The Hedge.  Check out our cool team t-shirts!

In round 2, I gave everyone a bit of a scare.  My opponent was Akhil Goel from Virgina.  He was only rated 1267, and perhaps I took him a little too lightly.  I got off to a poor start, lost a pawn in the middle game, and then got into a bit of time pressure.  Fortunately, I was able to pull off the win with only 1 minute 50 seconds left on my clock.  I was very relieved to have escaped the tight spot, and my teammates also won their games so Team Regnart is now a perfect 6.0/6.0 and tied with one other team for first place.  Tomorrow is going to be a tough day with 3 rounds each of increasing difficulty.  Go Roadrunners!!!

The Happiest Place on Earth

This week I'm traveling to Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida for the 2010 National K-12 Championships.  I'll be competing in the super tough 5th grade section where I'm currently the #4 seed going into the tournament.  One of the most exciting parts is that for the first time ever, I will be a member of a chess team.  My schoolmates, Udit and Pranav, are also coming to the tournament and together we will try to win a national championship for Regnart Elementary!  Stay tuned to this blog for all of the updates on Bay Area chess kids and hopefully some photos of my brother and I having fun at Disney too.