Greetings, ICA players and families.
I normally direct ICA’s tournaments in Livingston, but this last weekend I had the honor of serving as Chief Tournament Director of one of New Jersey’s largest scholastic chess tournaments - the NJ Elementary and Junior High Championships.
Here’s a copy of my report on the event, adapted to bring you highlights specifically pertaining to ICA’s community of players.
Stephen Lorimor
Another tournament has come and gone, and there’s a lot of great news to report.
For the first time since we moved the event to Brookdale Community College, we reached the occupancy limit of the playing area (400 players) requiring us to close registration early. We received dozens of emails from people hoping we could squeeze in one more player. In the end we had just enough cancellations and no-shows to admit a lucky few. We’re already considering ways to expand capacity for next year so that everyone who wants to can participate.
Rounds began on time. Crowds moved in an orderly fashion. Kids were generally well behaved. And a terrific time was had by all. This is no easy feat for such a large event. Kudos to the players, parents, coaches, and staff who made this possible.
There was so much good chess going on that it’s impossible to describe it in anything other than visual terms. There were four hundred chess players hunched over their boards. It was a moving site for all of the tournament directors, both in terms of the sheer volume of chess going on, and in how we know the players are growing, learning, and maturing. Childhood is a time of great change and development, and we were honored that this event could be even a small part of so many lives.
There was also the occasional bit of humorously questionable chess as well. We spotted at least one knight that sped diagonally across the board like a bishop. Kids’ chess tournaments have their unpredictable moments.
The day ended with the traditional awards ceremony.
Here’s how the ICA folks did.
Section 1: Grades K-2
98 players
Guy Naveh (4.5 points) - 3rd place *trophy winner*
Maxim Lokhov (3 points) - 30th place
Section 2: Grades 3-6
208 players
Vihaan Jambudi (4.5 points) - 7th place *trophy winner*.
Vihaan was part of an eight-way tie for second place.
Yujeong Yeo (4 points) - 10th place *trophy winner*
Michael Lokhov (4 points) - 14th place *trophy winner*
Leah Khoroshevski (4 points) - 16th place (So close! Trophies went to the top 15.)
Michael, Leah, and Yujeong were all part of an 18-way tie for 9th place.
Kian Zarineh (3.5 points) - 35th place
Rayan Zarineh (3 points) - 68th place
Kian and Rayan are in second grade, but elected to play up in a more difficult section. Had they played in the K-2 section then one or both might have won trophies. Kudos to both young men for their sense of adventure.
Section 3: Grades 7-9
98 players
David Milstein (4 points) - 6th place *trophy winner*
David was part of a nine-way tie for 3rd place.
A full list of all players and teams, along with their final standings is available HERE
Congratulations to all of the players for a great tournament. We hope you had fun and that you will join in our future youth tournaments.
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