Arlington Scholastic Open
Yorktown High School, Arlington, Virginia
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Tournament Summary
Region's K-12 chess players compete at the Arlington Scholastic Open
Praveen Balakrishnan Wins $1000 First Place Prize, 3-Way Tie for 2nd
Nearly fifty student chess players, including many of the strongest from thirty-five schools across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. competed Saturday, June 9, in the Arlington Scholastic Open held at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia.
Region's K-12 chess players compete at the Arlington Scholastic Open
Praveen Balakrishnan Wins $1000 First Place Prize, 3-Way Tie for 2nd
Nearly fifty student chess players, including many of the strongest from thirty-five schools across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. competed Saturday, June 9, in the Arlington Scholastic Open held at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia.
K-12 SectionIn the K-12 rated section, International Master Praveen Balakrishnan, the top-rated player in Virginia and the winner earlier this year of both the Virginia state championship and the Virginia scholastic championship, scored 3.5-.5 in the 4-round Swiss system tournament to take the $1000 1st place prize.
Balakrishnan, a Centreville resident and a 10th-grader at Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology, was never in any serious trouble in his games, and his last-round draw against U.S Master Isaac Chiu, a 10th-grader at Langley High School, was agreed to only after it appeared that he had safely nailed down the 1st place finish. Three players tied for 2nd place with 3-1 scores, namely, in Swiss tiebreaker order: Isaac Chiu; U.S. Expert Jason Liang, a 5th-grader at Belmont Station Elementary in Ashburn; and U.S. Expert Sam Schenk, a 10th-grader at H-B Woodlawn and the highest rated K-12 player in Arlington. The three split the $750 2nd place prize and Schenk won an additional $250 prize as the top Arlington County finisher in the K-12 section. Also in the K-12 section: Sergey Patsuk, a 6th-grader at Oak Hill Elementary in Fairfax, scored 2.5-1.5 to finish alone in 5th place. Four players posted 2-2 scores, namely: Andrew Diep, an 8th-grader at Burleigh Manor Middle in Ellicott City; Kevin Su, a 3rd-grader at Oak Hill Christian in Herndon; Thomas Diep, a 4th-grader at Centennial Lane Elementary in Ellicott City; and Christian Aliferis, an 11th-grader at Madison High. Link to the K-12 Cross Table K-8 SectionIn the close-fought K-8 rated section, Lock Grigsby, a Potomac resident and 5th-grader at Georgetown Day School, and Lang Xiong, a 4th-grader at Churchill Elementary in McLean, both finished with 3.5-.5 scores. Grigsby took the 1st place trophy on tiebreaker rules and they split the combined 1st and 2nd place $175 prize money.
Roland Foster, a 6th-grader at Gunston Middle, and Lisa Koniuhova, a 2nd-grader at Lees Corner Elementary in Fairfax, finished close behind with 3-1 scores. Foster took the 3rd place trophy on a tiebreaker and they split the 3rd place $50 prize, with Foster picking up an additional $50 prize as the top Arlington student finisher. Five K-8s scored 2-2: Caleb Chang, a 5th-grader at McKinley Elementary in Arlington; Alexis Qin, a 5th-grader at Sunrise Valley Elementary in Reston; Chi Tong Song Nguyen, a 4th-grader at Mosby Woods Elementary in Vienna; Kevin Shen, a 1st-grader at Floris Elementary in Herndon; and Demetra Tudoroche, a 5th-grader at McKinley Elementary in Arlington. |
K-3 Section
In the K-3 rated section, Zane Wood, a 3rd-grader at the Creative Minds International Public Charter School in D.C., posted a 4-0 score to take the 1st place trophy. In a three-way tie for 2nd place with 3-1 scores were: Lucia Huang, of Fairfax and a kindergartener at Alpha STEM for the Gifted in Chantilly; Justin Yuan, a 3rd-grader at Churchill Road Elementary in McLean; and Aaron Zhang, a 2nd-grader at Navy Elementary in Fairfax.
Five K-3s scored 2-2: Cyrus Chang, a 2nd-grader at McKinley Elementary in Arlington; Thalia Grigsby of Potomac and a 2nd-grader at Georgetown Day School; Leo Su, a 2nd-grader at Oak Hill Christian in Herndon; Chetan Le, a 3rd-grader at Key Elementary in Arlington; and Andrew Gao, a 3rd-grader at Forestville Elementary in Great Falls. Link to the K-3 Cross Table K-3 Unrated Section
In the K-3 unrated section, Jordan Martin, a 2nd-grader at Grace Miller Elementary in Bealton, took 1st place with a 3-1 score. Three players tied for 2nd place with 2.5-1.5 scores: Sean Banh; Cameron Lieberman, a 1st-grader at Barrett Elementary in Arlington; and Aaron Harman, a 3rd-grader at Key Elementary in Arlington.
Finishing with 2-2 scores were Rohan Le, a 1st-grader at Key Elementary in Arlington; and Benjamin Kerr, a 3rd-grader at Barrett Elementary in Arlington. Link to the K-3 Unrated Cross Table Link to Full List of Participants |
