It feels like déjà vu all over again...

Dallas was my seventh national championship: four grade-level championships and three elementary championships.  Each one has had its own differences, but there was something vaguely familiar about this one...

Déjà vu #1
After a short round 5 last night, we went to the same steak house that Uncle Darren took me to last time I came to Dallas for nationals.  I had an awesome Buffalo Filet Mignon.  All that protein is powerful brain food.

After five rounds, there were only three players left with a perfect score: myself, #2 seed Roland Feng from Washington, and #4 seed Vignesh Panchanatham (my good friend and training partner from Cupertino).  I'd never played Roland before but I knew he'd be tough.  As a fourth grader he was already the second highest rated in the section.  I first learned about Roland after his amazing performance in Las Vegas back in December.  The filet mignon must have really done the trick, because I won the game in nice fashion.  Vignesh unexpectedly drew his game, so I was the only perfect score going into the final round. 

Déjà vu #2
Last year in Atlanta, I had my worst nationals ever; losing a won game in round 1 against a much lower opponent.  Basically my tournament was over before it ever started.  However, my good friend and fellow Chesspunk, Allan Beilin, found a way to win the K-5 national title.  In round 6 I thought he might have a chance to repeat the performance in K-6.  He faced the newly-minted master, Jeffery Xiong and played a tough 4 hour match. The position reached a theoretical draw, but in extreme time pressure, Allan blundered and lost the game.  The repeat was not to be...

Déjà vu #3
My first elementary school nationals was the Supernationals in Nashville, TN.  I was fortunate enough to win the K-3 section for my first national title.  The victory was bittersweet because I had to face my friend, Vignesh, in the final round.  History has a funny way of repeating itself, and here we were in Dallas, once again playing for the title.  Vignesh and I have played each other many many times.  In our last "serious" game together he beat me.  Also, prior to the nationals, Allan, Vignesh, and I had a little competition and Vignesh kicked my booty.  Needless to say, I was pretty nervous about playing him.  The main thing I had going for me was the half-point lead.  Even though I was playing black, I only needed a draw to secure the title.  This was very much like the situation between Allan and Kesav in the final round of the K-5 nationals last year in Atlanta.

Vignesh knows my playing style very well, so I was also nervous that he would have a special opening prepared for me.  I was a little surprised when he played a drawish line in the French that we both knew quite well and steered the game towards the endgame.  We rattled off our opening moves quickly and soon the game looked to be a draw.  Vignesh could not afford to draw the game and pressed for the win.  Unfortunately for Vignesh, the win wasn't there and he blundered and wound up losing.  It is hard to prepare with your friends and then face them over the board for such a serious game.  Each of us really wanted the win.  The sad thing about the swiss system is that you can go from playing for the title to sixth place in a single game.  In my mind, Vignesh really came in second here in Dallas and in Nashville.

Déjà vu #4
At the grade-level nationals in Florida last December, I won the national title and my friend and classmate, Udit Iyengar, took second place.  Together with Pranav Srihari, we won the team title as well.  I didn't expect so many great things to happen in a single tournament.  Yet, 5 months later, the exact same thing happened again.  Despite an unexpected draw in round 2, Udit buckled down and played tough chess throughout the entire tournament, never giving up.  When the dust settled, he had reached the number 2 spot again, and with Pranav and his brother Pramodh, we won a second team title. Wahoo!

All photos in this post courtesy of Shaun M. Smith from New York's Chess in the Schools