On November 16th, 10 players met in the 47th Friday Night Action.  In the U1000 section, we had four players, so they played a quad, where each person plays another once.  This section was won by Sai Musunuri.   In the Open section, Joe Mucerino successfully returned to the event with a score of 3.5 - 0.5.

     Seventy – five people arrived at Maple Glen hoping to win one of three City Chess Championships.  In the K-3 section, Aneesh Raparla, fresh off his undefeated win in the Autumn Knight tournament, went 5 – 0.  Risa Azim and Jack Lieberman both were 4 – 1, losing only to Aneesh.   Eight players went 3 – 2.  The top team was Whitemarsh Elementary with 7 game points.
        In the K-6 section, Tate Park scored a perfect 5 – 0 result.  Three players, Julien Mackensen, John Sachenik, and Peter Kimball, each scored 4 – 1.  There were 9 players that went 3 – 2.  The top team was Bridge Valley, which scored 12 game points.
        In the K-12 section, three players, Angel “Josh” Hernandez-Camen, Andy Weng, and Adam Serota all scored 3.5 points.   Josh won first place and the invitation to the Philadelphia Junior Invitational this summer.   Eight players were within a game of the three winners.  The top team was Pocono Mountain East.
        If anyone has a game they feel is particularly good, please feel free to send it to me, as I am the editor of The PennsWoodpusher, the state chess magazine, and I might be able to use the game in my article on the event.
          Hope to see everyone in Wayne Elementary on December 8th for the December Crush!

        Here is the link to the final standings.  Please remember that the USCF lists ties based on final rating, not tiebreakers.

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201211107602

      On October 8, over 50 people met for the first Saturday tournament of the fall (Friday Night Action's occur once a month throughout the year.)  There were three sections for the event this year.  The largest section, the U400 K-6, is a great section for kids just starting out, had five new players.  There were trophies for places 1st - 7th.  There was a tie for first place between two players who had been to a couple of tournaments, with Nathan Tai and Henry Platt both going 4 - 0.  Platt taking first on tie - breaks.  The top team was Wayne Elementary with 9 total points.

        In the U700 section, Aneesh Raparla had the only perfect score to take 1st place, 4 - 0.  The top team was The Philadelphia School with 5 points.  In the Open section, Jack Lieberman and Ana Hallman tied for 1st with a 3 - 1 score.  The Independence Charter school won the team prize with a score of 4 total points.

       On November 10th, Shining Knights will host the 2012 Greater Philadelphia Scholastic Chess Championship at Maple Glen Elementary in Fort Washington.  The event is listed under the tournament tab!  Look forward to seeing you all there!

       Ten players, with a range of almost 2000 rating points competed in the June 15th, Friday Night Action.  With that range of ratings, there is definitely someone for everyone to play against.  In this event, we had two players tie for first with a 3.5 - 0.5 score: Senior Master Peter Minear and the young expert, Yuhao Xu.  Frank Jackson and Dorde Dokanovic tied for the Under 1800 prize with scores of 2.0 - 2.0.  We look forward to seeing even more players at the 43rd FNA on July 13th.

     On, May 19th, over 50 people played in the Spring Finale. In the Under 400 section there were 2 perfect 4 - 0 scores - William Knipe (1st on tiebreaks) and Kevin Cui.  There was a log jam of 7(!) players who went 3 - 1.  They were Akshay Mody, Julien Mackensen, Kathleen Koemer, Alexander Szperka, Patrick Li, James Heller, and Jack Bullington, respectively.  The top team was Audobon Elementary with 7 points.

      In the K-12 U700 section, there were 5 people who went 3-1.  They were Daniel Cohen, Neel Jay, Peter Kimball, Adam Behar, and Kevin Koemer.  In sixth place, was Luke Kline who edged out Sean Li for a trophy, when they both went 2-2.  The top team was Bridge Valley Elementary with 6 points.

      In the top section, there was again a group at 3-1 who won the event.  David Weger was 1st on tie breaks, followed by Shawn Wang and then Gloria Cao.   In 4th place, at 2.5-1.5 was Maanas Tammara, followed by Alex Wang and Claire Cao who both scored 2-2.  The top team was again Bridge Valley Elementary with 5 points.

     Though this is the last Saturday tournament for the school season, we will have our monthly Friday Night Actions in Bryn Mawr on June 15, July 13, and August 24th!.

On April 15, 2012, over 35 players met in Wayne for the Chess Pieces of April tournament.  In the U400 section, Neel Jay went 4-0 to win the section.  He was closely followed by Lee Miller, Kenji Moriuchi, and Connor Mulgrew, who all went 3-1, and finished 2nd through 4th respectively.  In the U700 section, Aneesh Raparla, fresh off his Bryn Mawr chess camp experience, was the only 4-0 score.  Seth Casel and Paolo Marchiano, finshed 2nd and 3rd, with a 3-1 score and Aryn Singh finished 4th with a 2.5-1.5 score.   Manaas Dhawan, also a participant in the Bryn Mawr camp, led a quartet with a 3-1 score in the Championship section.  Alexander Skvortsov, David Weger, and Malcom Hillman, rounded out the 3-1 score group, finishing 2nd to 4th respectively.