Chess was the topic for 293 kids from the Bay Area and other parts of the country who gathered at the Santa Clara Convention Center on January 24-25 to vie for coveted National Titles. Fremont-based chess club, NorCal House (NHC) of Chess, dominated Team Championships winning three national team titles out of the five sections they participated in. Impressively, the other sections got 2nd place!
In the 16-under section, NorCal House of Chess triumphed by scoring 10.5 points (5.5 pts. ahead of the 2nd place finisher). The 16-under team, composed of Fremont kids, led by National Master Pranav Nagarajan (who is a co-National Champion), Calvin Tam (4th place) and Seth Castro (5th place).
In the 12-under division, NHC scored 11.5 points, a half point ahead of Berkeley Chess School. The team was bannered by Chenyi Zhao (2nd place finisher) from Warm Springs Elementary, Ronit Pattanayak (Delphi Academy), Mihir Buptani (Mission San Jose High School), Alan Yao (Hopkins Junior High), Rithwik Narendra, Steve Rong, and Nivedha Kumar.
In the 8-under section, 3rd grader Ahyan Zaman from Parkmont Elementary in Fremont became the National Junior Champion by winning all of his games. He won in an exciting fashion in the last round by beating the highest rated opponent from Berkeley. Ahyan is currently coached by Ted Castro and his dad, Ashik Uzzaman (who is also an expert chess player). He has played at the Nationals in Florida and also won $ 1,000 at the Millionaire Chess Tournament in Las Vegas last year.
Several East Bay competitors helped NHC bag the hotly contested 8-under section winning it by half point with a total of 13 points. The team included: Katherine Pask, Pranav Bellanagari, Prisha Jain, Prathul Ganesh, Anand Hadli, Erin Law, Brickman Jones, Nik Sadeghi, Sriram Venkatesh.
Other Tri-City kids who did very well in this tournament were: Sriram Krishnakumar (National Champion 6-under), Aditya Kumar (4th place in the 12-under) from Forest Park, Kory Hui (3rd place in the 18-under) from Irvington High School, Shaurya Palusa from Forest Park and Shreyas Jay from MSJE both tied for 2nd place in the 6-under; Louis Law (10th place) from Weibel; Ryan Dong (16th) from Chadbourne.
For more information, visit www.norcalhouseofchess.com or email norcalhouseofchess@gmail.com.
In the 16-under section, NorCal House of Chess triumphed by scoring 10.5 points (5.5 pts. ahead of the 2nd place finisher). The 16-under team, composed of Fremont kids, led by National Master Pranav Nagarajan (who is a co-National Champion), Calvin Tam (4th place) and Seth Castro (5th place).
In the 12-under division, NHC scored 11.5 points, a half point ahead of Berkeley Chess School. The team was bannered by Chenyi Zhao (2nd place finisher) from Warm Springs Elementary, Ronit Pattanayak (Delphi Academy), Mihir Buptani (Mission San Jose High School), Alan Yao (Hopkins Junior High), Rithwik Narendra, Steve Rong, and Nivedha Kumar.
In the 8-under section, 3rd grader Ahyan Zaman from Parkmont Elementary in Fremont became the National Junior Champion by winning all of his games. He won in an exciting fashion in the last round by beating the highest rated opponent from Berkeley. Ahyan is currently coached by Ted Castro and his dad, Ashik Uzzaman (who is also an expert chess player). He has played at the Nationals in Florida and also won $ 1,000 at the Millionaire Chess Tournament in Las Vegas last year.
Several East Bay competitors helped NHC bag the hotly contested 8-under section winning it by half point with a total of 13 points. The team included: Katherine Pask, Pranav Bellanagari, Prisha Jain, Prathul Ganesh, Anand Hadli, Erin Law, Brickman Jones, Nik Sadeghi, Sriram Venkatesh.
Other Tri-City kids who did very well in this tournament were: Sriram Krishnakumar (National Champion 6-under), Aditya Kumar (4th place in the 12-under) from Forest Park, Kory Hui (3rd place in the 18-under) from Irvington High School, Shaurya Palusa from Forest Park and Shreyas Jay from MSJE both tied for 2nd place in the 6-under; Louis Law (10th place) from Weibel; Ryan Dong (16th) from Chadbourne.
For more information, visit www.norcalhouseofchess.com or email norcalhouseofchess@gmail.com.
