Spring has arrived and the weather is warming. The 2022-23 school year is beginning to pay off. They’re emotionally maturing and as they slowly, oh-so-slowly, grow into the adults they will someday be.
That growth was evident today as everyone calmly arrived at the tournament. Sometimes our events have a bit of chaos about them, with kids scampering everywhere and getting into minor mischief. Other days, like today, everyone arrives focused and ready to play. That has its downsides as well. Focus can breed strong competition and an intense desire to win, which can cause arguments and minor meltdowns. A sense of pressure, really. As I looked across a room full of young faces I wondered how well they’d handle it.
Quad 7 (our youngest and newer players) was an absolute delight. By virtue of being our youngest players they always need the most attention. They’re not familiar with how chess tournaments work, they’re not savvy enough to introduce themselves to each other to determine who should be playing who, they have difficulty understanding the score reporting chart, etc. All of this is entirely normal for new/young players.
To our happy surprise all four players were chipper and upbeat today. Samriddhi Shah, arguably the youngest, has the most challenging time and did not win any of her games. Yet she was cheerful the entire time. Winning or losing didn’t mean much to her. As her mother explained to me later, they had agreed that today’s goal was just to experience what a tournament was like. And in that goal she succeeded admirably. If I had to describe Samriddhi in a single phrase, it would be “grace under pressure”. She played her best, kept her cool, and kept a positive attitude about the whole experience.
Marcelo Nava was another quad 7 player. He has a stronger sense of competitiveness about him. I’ve worked with him in the past and have noticed this trait in him. He likes to win, and is willing to work toward doing so. That effort paid off for him today with a 3-0 sweep of the newcomer’s quad. His rating will take a jump on April 1st, and I suspect may jump again on May 1st. So the difficulty of his games is going to rise slightly giving him new challenges to face.
Quad 6 was technically Quint 6, as it had five people. Like Quad 7, they were newcomers to chess. They were slightly older though, so we matched them against each other with the understanding they’d naturally adopt a slower and more patient playstyle that comes with being able to sit still for longer.
Five players means that one receives a bye (ie; a “free” win because they have no opponent) each turn. Today’s bye went to Jualu Yuan, Yan Haikin, and Alexander Wu. All of whom were surprisingly patient even though having a bye isn’t very fun. In the end victory went to Joshua Cherin with a 3-0 score.
Quad 5 stepped things up a bit. These are players who for the most part have played in several tournaments before. They aren’t necessarily strong players, but they’re not rookies to tournaments either. Matthew Koffman pulled off a 3-0 win after a series of patient, well thought-out games. Right behind him was Alexis Lin with a 2-1 score, who was oh-so-close to coming in first.
Quad 4 was won by Lucas Pingel with a 3-0 result. If memory serves me correctly, Lucas is less than half the age of Matthew from the previous (lower-rated) quad. Therein lies the reminder that the relationship between age and chess skill among young players isn’t as strong as people think. Lucas defeated Liam Fan, Arjun Korada, and Ethan Zuo over three well-fought games. Yet all three happily played their best without the slightest bit of negativity. It warmed my heart to see four players celebrating a mutual love of chess and sportsmanlike respect for one-another.
Quad 3 had a wide age discrepancy to it, with Aaditya Jha coming out on top with a 2.5-0.5 win in the quad. Age may not be everything at the lower levels of chess, but it does come with its advantages. Second-place winner Jeremy Turtel game almost pulled off a two-way tie for first place, but Aaditya eked out the draw he needed to win first place.
Quad 2 was a bruiser of a competition between Shaashwat Singh and Elijah Turtel. Both won their games in the first round, followed by Elijah winning over Shaashwat in the second round. As they began the final round both games were temporarily halted while the players complained that too many people were crowding around their table and talking. Sure enough, their competition had attracted an audience, including one small child who somehow managed to wedge himself into a 4-inch gap between the table and the wall. I shooed them out so the players could finish their games in peace. Grace under pressure only goes so far. Shaashwat won her final game bringing her final score to 2-1, but Elijah drew opponent Kevin Zhang giving him half a point and the win at 2.5-0.5.
The final quad, Quad 1, involved the tournament’s top players, with an average rating of 798 per player. Ethan Karni and Isabella Lebersfeld knocked out early wins before playing each other in round two. Ethan won that game giving him a 2-0 lead in the quad to Isbaella and Abhiram Vasanthavada’s 1-1. Abhiram defeated Isabella in the third round giving him 2-0. Ethan knew enough that he’d win the quad if he drew his final game. So he played toward that end and quickly achieved his result for a 2.5-0.5 result. He was magnanimous in victory, congratulating his opponents on games well played.
As I shut down my computer after the last of the players left for the day, I slammed my fist on the table and yelled “Darn it!” *. I realized that I had forgotten to take pictures during the event, something I’m supposed to be doing. As tournament director Noreen Davisson looked at me askance, I gave her a sheepish grin. Apparently my own grace under pressure needs a bit of work.
Congratulations to all who won today. Here’s the final winners list.
Quad 1: Ethan Karni
Quad 2: Elijah Turtel
Quad 3: Aaditya Jha
Quad 4: Lucas Pingel
Quad 5: Matthew Koffman
Quad 6: 1st: Joshua Cherin; 2nd: (tie) Yan Haikin and Alexander Wu.
Quad 7: Marcelo Navas
* My wording might have been somewhat stronger than “Darn it”.
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