With the leaves falling and the prelude to the winter chill becoming, we welcomed the Autumn Knight Tournament.  No mindless horseman could keep our youth from showing their colors on the chess board.  There were plenty of tricks that lead to these treats…

K-6 U200 Individual:                      K-6 U200 Team
1.  Rama Are 4                                1. Titus 10.5
2.  Nicholas Feng 3.5                     2. Audubon 6.5
3.  Kayden Tang 3.5
4.  Max Light 3
5.  Nigel Pierman 3
6.  Henry Nevin 3

7.  Caroline Marg, Darius Yakubov, and Ethan Guo with 3 each

K-6 U500 Individual:                    K-6 U500 Team:
1.  Reed McKnight 3.5                   1.  Ithan 6
2.  Gretchen Lutz 3.5                      2. Radnor Elementary 6
3.  Lucas Moon 3                                                       
4.  Andrew Hu 3
5.  Siddhant Suresh 3
6. Dean Moon 3

7.  Neel Chakraborty 3

K-12 U800 Individual:                    K-12 U800 Team:
1.  Aakash Jha 4                              1. The Philadelphia School 8.5  
2.  Nicholas Akins 3.5                       
3.  John  Leitzell 3
4.  Mahika Ralhan 3
5.  Dominic Incognito 3
6. John Krasnick with 3 pts

K-12 Championship Individual:               K-12 Champ Team:
1.  Kathrik Murugan 3.5                           1.  Merion 4              
2.  Nikki Khmelnitsky 3                                   
3.  Hemanth Kolluri 3                                 
4.  Aaron Lutz 3

This was a very well received tournament by both players and audience.  Thank you for great participation and spirit.  See you at the Queen’s Harvest on Nov 19^th!

Saturday, May 14, 2016 in Narberth, PA was a day of outstanding chess.  84 students of various ages battled for trophy and spirit.  19 new members of the United Chess Federation played in their maiden tournament.  There were plenty of happy smiles and forged friendships.  We love the attendance and energy of the parents and coaches! Here are the top finishers followed by points earned:

K-6 U200 Individual:                      K-6 U200 Team
1.  Connor Nguyen 4                      1. Radnor 
2.  Liam Connelly 4                         2.  William Penn Charter
3.  Jay Dabral 3
4.  Rhea Howard  3
5.  Marko Vucetic 3
6.  Jacob Kestenbaum 3

7. Thatcher Adams 3

K-6 U500 Individual:                    K-6 U500 Team:
1.  Samuel Weisz 4                        1.  The Philadelphia School
2.  Deeya Mulchandani 3               2.  Chesterbrook
3.  John Krasnick 3                                                      
4.  Ryan Partidge 3
5.  Agastya Vangala 2.5
6.  Gretchen Lutz 2.5

7. Nathaniel Keller 2    

K-12 U800 Individual:                    K-12 U800 Team:
1.  Devesh Mani Posa 4                   1.  Penn Valley Elementary 
2.  Daniel Friedlander 3.5                2.  Skyview
3.  Nathan Luo 3
4.  Raymond Liu 3
5.  Fiona Feng 3
6.  Jake Anderson 3

7. Nathan Schneider 2.5

K-12 Championship Individual:               K-12 Champ Team:
1.  Kathrik Murugan 3.5                           1.  Merion            
2.  Seth Kellan Casel 3.5                              
3.  Andrew Malinsky 3                                    
4.  Noah Thomforde-Toates 3

5. Micah Dubnoff 3

Saturday, April 9, 2016 was a day filled locally with incredible snow and dancing chess pieces in Bryn Mawr, PA.  105 students of the game came together to compete in a chilly but alert environment.  More than a dozen new members of the United Chess Federation played in their maiden tournament.  Even with some signs of fatigue and growing pains, we saw all happy faces upon conclusion of the day.  Here are the top finishers followed by points earned:

K-6 U200 Individual:                      K-6 U200 Team
1.  Aiden Chinwalla 4                      1. Radnor  7
2.  Mark Kotlyar 4                            2.  Penn Valley 5.5
3.  Rebecca Bushee 3
4.  Andrew Szperka  3
5.  Max Westrup 3
6.  Alexander Petriw 3

K-6 U500 Individual:                    K-6 U500 Team:
1.  Samuel Hamilton 4                   1.  Ithan Elementary 10
2.  Conan Chen 4                           2.  The Philadelphia School 4
3.  Liam Cassidy 3                                                      
4.  Dean Moon 3
5.  Kevin Li 3
6.  Lucas Moon 3    

Honorable mention to Antonio Fidelibus, Cole Kelman, and Deeya Mulchandani each with 3 pts!

K-12 U800 Individual:                    K-12 U800 Team:
1.  Peter Judge 4                          1.  West Chester Library 7.5 
2.  Justin Xu 3.5                            2.  Jamison 7
3.  Lilian Wang 3.5
4.  Ved Tiwari 3
5.  Andrew Solovyev 3
6.  Ryan Hu 3

     Honorable mention to Mohit Dutta, Devesh Posa, Mason McClintic, and Alexander Szperka each with 3 pts!

K-12 Championship Individual:               K-12 Champ Team:
1.  Noah Thomforde-Toates 3.5                1.  Merion 7             
2.  Micah Dubnoff 3.5                                2. Bala Cynwyd MS 1       
3.  Seth Casel 3                                    
4.  Andew Fan 3

A big shout out to the parents and coaches who support all of the 105 players who weathered the April storm to mentally compete, build comradery, and have some good old fashioned fun!  Hope to see you all at our next tournament on May 14th!

           Shining Knights would like to congratulate all of the Pennsylvanians who just finished competing in the National Grade School Championships.  More than half of the participants have competed in Shining Knights tournaments.  Special congratulations to Shawn Wang.  This fifth grader starting playing chess in the Shining Knights class at Eagleville, attended numerous chess camps at Methacton and played in various Shining Knights tournaments, before his fifth place finish in the fifth grade section of this national tournament.