ICA represented well at the NJ State Grade Championship. We played fighting chess through the different sections. There was a lot of competitive energy, and the ICA players rose to the occasion. For some players it was their very 1st tournament for States, for others they were competing on the top boards in contention for first place! We had some great results - Teddy Bernstein from ICA’s Do Re Mi location tied for first in the 8th grade section, among many other great finishes!
Some testimonies from players and parents:
- Sanat and Samuel described the tournament as a great experience, and they are excited for future scholastic championships!
- Karina’s favorite moment was receiving her medal.
- Roman’s favorite moment was when he checkmated his opponent in round three with just one second left on his clock! Talk about clutch!
- One parent’s favorite moment was watching the kids play soccer in between rounds - a great way to relax at a competitive tournament!
Coach Sean enjoyed reviewing games between rounds, encouraging players, and participating in their excitement. We hope it was a great experience for everyone!
4th Grade Section (by Rayan Zarineh)
I participated in the fourth-grade section of the New Jersey State championship. I got a score of 4 out of five. My only loss was against 1800. My opponent Raben played the English. He used his pieces to get a huge attack on my king. After two brilliant moves my position collapsed and I had to resign. Here is the game we played:
I was very nervous prior to the tournament. I was shaking the entire chess rounds prior to my 3d round. Then I got more relaxed and started enjoying my games. I did notice that there were more people playing than I have ever seen before. After this loss in the third round, I managed to come back with two more wins. I ended up in a tie for second place and got 6th place. Overall, I am happy with my result and hope to do better next time. It was nice seeing friends from different chess clubs. It was a very exhausting and long day but we celebrated our achievement with some ice cream in the end!
My brother and I were the only children from Gould 4th grade, and we managed to get 3d place prize! Now our trophy is proudly displayed at our school!
Results can be seen at NJSCF: Individual and Team
Below are results of ICA (Glen Rock, Livingston and Virtual) students
- Kindergarten
- Eddy Wang, tied for 2nd with 4 points, earning the 3rd place trophy
- Roman Prakash, tied for 8th place with three points, earning 10th place
- First Grade
- Patrick Rightmire: 1 point, medal
- Second Grade
- Tracy Chen: tied for 2nd with four points, 6th place trophy
- Novak Yang, 17th place with 3 points, medal
- Third Grade
- Gillian Gao, 4.5 points, 2nd place trophy
- Dylan Tsui, 4 points, 4th place trophy
- Grace Chen, 3.5 points, tied for 12th, 14th place, medal
- Ryan Ying, 2 points
- Hannah Khoroshevski, 2 points
- Lucas Wang, 2 points
- Dave Manvik, 2 points
- Anderson Lau, 2 points
- Fourth Grade
- Rayan Zarineh, tied for 2nd with four points, 6th place trophy
- Emma Sevelenko, tied for 2nd with four points, 10th place trophy
- Kian Zarineh, tied for 12th with 3.5 points, 13th place medal
- Kate Stripunsky, tied for 12th with 3.5 points, 14th place medal
- Neil Rao, 3 points tied for 16th place
- Fifth Grade
- Agam Bhardwaj, 3 points, tied for 17th, medal
- Sanat Kashyap, 3 points, tied for 17th, medal
- Samuel Liang, 2.5 points
- Julian Gorczynski, 2 points
- Omar Parvez, 2 points
- Sixth Grade
- Bashjawish Zakareeya, 3 points, tied for 12th place
- Arhaan Rao, 3 points, tied for 12th place
- Alexander Wang, 2.5 points, tied for 28th
- Blake Chang, 2 points
- Leo Wang, 1.5 points
- Seventh Grade
- Mark Kogan, 3.5 points, tied for 5th place trophy
- Siddhanth Nidhin, 3 points tied for 12th place
- Dylan Rosa, 3 points tied for 12th place
- Eighth Grade
- Teddy Bernstein tied for 1st place with 4.5 points, 2nd place trophy
- Leah Khoroshevski, 3 points, tied for 7th, 9th place trophy
- Ninth Grade
- Ido Alkin, 3.5 points, tied for fifth place, 6th place trophy
- Eva Vinokur, 3 points, tied for 9th, 10th place trophy
- Aaron Kustanovich, 3 points, 15th place
- Eleventh Grade
- Goktug Bas, 3.5 points, 4th place trophy
- David Milstein, 3 points, tied for 6th, 7th place trophy
- Jane Stripunsky, 2.5 points, 11th place medal
- Twelfth Grade
- Albert Abzalimov, 3 points, tied for 4th place, 7th place trophy
- Jack Crowley, 3 points, tied for 4th, 8th place trophy
- Adam Darack, 2 points, 10th place trophy
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