US Grade Nationals

ICA Students Cause a Category 5 Storm in Florida Championship

 

There were about 10 students from ICA playing in different grade levels in Florida.  The competition was extremely fierce, with students showing higher skill levels than in many previous years.  There were a lot of upsets, and surprises in the tournament, in addition to the expected outcomes.  ICA students trained very hard for this, both through studying theory, and playing many practice matches.  It was exciting to see all that hard work pay off, as well as all the new experience gained. 

We want to congratulate the Bergen County Academies Team, who won 1^ST Place in the US Grade Nationals (for 9^th grade).     

BCA students showed exactly what they were capable of at the tournament, leaving no doubts in anyone’s mind.  The following students got 1^st place:

Eve Litvak

Max Yelsky

Ilya Krasnovsky

David Shekhtman    

This is the first time ICA students placed 1^st place at Nationals. We are very proud of them! 

  This talks to the fact that strong schooling and great chess performance go hand in hand.  Both require excellent logic, and planning, and any improvement in one, often translates into an improvement in the other.  We’re also amazed at how far our students have progressed, because all of them started from scratch almost 9 years ago.

It was a very tough tournament for Gregory Gabovich, but he was able to pull it together.  Gregory played really well in a difficult (152 players!) 6^th grade competition. He had 5 points out of 6 going into the last round and lost to the #2 seated player ( rated 2031). Gregory won the 15^th place trophy and added 60 points to his rating!  Good job Gregory Gabovich.

Kyler Mcvay also competed at the 6^th grade level and scored a distinguished 4 points out of seven!

Many thanks to ICA coaches, Irina Levitina, and Diana Tulman, and to BCA Team coach, GM Alexander Stripunsky.

They could not have done it without all the help and dedication from their parents, and grandparents.  Keep up the good work!  We’re very proud of all our students, and regret to inform them that we will expect even more from them, from now on.