Region's K-12 Chess Players Compete at Arlington Scholastic Open
– H-B Woodlawn's Sam Schenk Upsets Isaac Chiu to Take $1000 First Place Prize
– Maryland 2nd-grader Youran Wang Dark Horse Winner of K-8 Section
– Fairfax 2nd-grader Maximilian Bao Takes K-3 Section
Fifty-three student chess players from some forty schools across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. competed Saturday, June 8, in the Arlington Scholastic Open held at Yorktown High School in Arlington.
(Photos by Genny Go)
– Maryland 2nd-grader Youran Wang Dark Horse Winner of K-8 Section
– Fairfax 2nd-grader Maximilian Bao Takes K-3 Section
Fifty-three student chess players from some forty schools across Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. competed Saturday, June 8, in the Arlington Scholastic Open held at Yorktown High School in Arlington.
(Photos by Genny Go)
K-12 SECTION
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In the K-12 section, Sam Schenk defeated Isaac Chiu in a dramatic last-round game to take the $1000 1st-place prize. Chiu, an 11th-grader at Langley High and a U.S. Master, was heavily favored over Schenk, an 11th-grader at H-B Woodlawn Secondary and a U.S. Expert who is the top-rated scholastic player in Arlington County. Chiu had won a pawn in the middle game and enjoyed a significant positional advantage with a protected passed pawn but allowed Schenk to find a perpetual check that forced Chiu to choose between a draw or a loss of a rook for bishop exchange. When Chiu opted for the exchange the game was still drawish but with both players under time pressure Chiu dropped two pawns and Schenk forced a win.
(See Sam Schenk's more detailed account of his game against Isaac Chiu below.) Schenk's win left Chiu with a 3-1 score and in a 3-way tie for 2nd-place with 7th-grader Sergey Patsuk and 8th-grader Rick Sun, both students at Rachel Carson Middle in Herndon. Chiu, Patsuk, and Sun split the combined 2nd- and 3rd-place prizes, netting $250 each, and Schenk won an additional $250 prize as the top-finishing Arlington student in the K-12 section. Barzin Badiee, an 8th-grader at Harper Park Middle in Leesburg, finished in 5th-place, and Neel Bhaskar, a 3rd-grader from Oakton Elementary in Vienna, “playing up” two sections, finished in 6th-place, both with 2.5-1.5 scores. Four players posted 2-2 scores in the K-12 section, namely, in Swiss tiebreaker order: Chen-chen Ye, a 6th- grader at Cabin John Middle in Potomac, Maryland; Lang Xiong, a 5th-grader at Churchill Elementary in McLean; Constantine Tsibouris, a 11th-grader at St. Albans in D.C.; and Jesse Webb, a 5th-grader at Capitol Hill Learning Group in D.C. |
K-8 SectionIn the large, competitive K-8 section, Youran Wang, a 2nd-grader at Luxmanor Elementary in Bethesda, playing up in the K-8, posted a 4-0 score to finish alone on top and win the $100 1st-place K-8 prize. In a remarkable performance, Wang finished above 10 more highly rated opponents (and raised his own rating some 200 points in the process). Braeleigh Crowell, a 3rd-grader at Silverbrook Elementary in Fairfax Station, also playing up, finished alone in 2nd-place to win the $75 prize.
Five players scored 3-1 and split the $50 3rd-place prize five ways, namely, in Swiss tiebreaker order: Christina Liu, a 4th-grader at McNair Elementary in Herndon; Rithika Kobla, a 5th-grader at Legacy Elementary in Ashburn; Jordan Go, a 6th-grader at Martin Luther King Middle in Boyds, Maryland; Lulu Huang, a 5th-grader at Alpha STEM in Chantilly; and Jason Xu, a 4th-grader at Haycock Elementary in McLean. Three K-8s scored 2.5-1.5: Kevin Shen, a 2nd-grader at Floris Elementary in Herndon; Justin Yuan, a 4th-grader at Churchill Road Elementary in McLean; and Daniel Gao, a 4th-grader at Navy Elementary in Fairfax. Seven K-8s scored 2-2: Kyle Zhang, a 2nd-grader at Floris Elementary; Zach Bensky, a 7th-grader at Alice Deal Middle in D.C.; Rohan Agarwal, a 2nd-grader at Mays Chapel Elementary in Timonium, Maryland; Camron Shehabi, a 4th-grader at Washington International School in D.C.; Zhongee Yao, a kindergartener at Spark Matsunaga Elementary in Germantown, Maryland; Yanwen Zhao, a 6th-grader at Fairfax Villa Elementary; and Ethan Stroud, a 4th-grader at McKinley Elementary in Arlington. Ethan Stroud won the $50 prize for top Arlington student finisher in the K-8 section. |
K-3 Section
In the K-3 section, Maximilian Bao, a 2nd-grader at Lemonroad Elementary in Fairfax, posted a 4-0 score to take the 1st place trophy. In a tie for 2nd place with 3-1 scores were: Ashlyn Crowell, a 3rd-grader at Silverbrook Elementary; and William Wu, a 3rd-grader at Colvin Run Elementary in Vienna.
Two K-3s scored 2.5-1.5: Anushka Khare, a 3rd-grader at McNair Elementary; and Tanishq Badhan, a 3rd-grader at Floris Elementary.
Three K-3s scored 2-2: Bhargav Raghavan, a 3rd-grader at Legacy Elementary; Elizabeth Patsuk, a 2nd-grader at Lees Corner Elementary in Fairfax; and Josh DeLong, a 3rd-grader at McKinley Elementary.
Two K-3s scored 2.5-1.5: Anushka Khare, a 3rd-grader at McNair Elementary; and Tanishq Badhan, a 3rd-grader at Floris Elementary.
Three K-3s scored 2-2: Bhargav Raghavan, a 3rd-grader at Legacy Elementary; Elizabeth Patsuk, a 2nd-grader at Lees Corner Elementary in Fairfax; and Josh DeLong, a 3rd-grader at McKinley Elementary.
My 4th-Round Game Against Isaac Chiu
by Sam Schenk
Sam and Isaac have met head-to-head in 23 USCF-rated tournaments since 2012 -- Isaac is now 13-4-6 against Sam.
Going into the 4th and final round, I had a 2-0-1 score (2 wins, 1 draw) while Isaac had a clean 3-0 score, and I was paired with Isaac with the black pieces. Isaac needed a win or a draw to clinch 1st place, and I needed an outright win to clinch 1st. My goal was to play aggressively in the opening, create some complications, and look for the win. Obviously this was a tough task versus such a strong, US Master-level player rated almost 200 points above me. But I had to remain optimistic, as having a positive mindset is one of the most important things to have in chess tournaments.
In the early middle game, I stranded my knight in the middle of the board, which led to a string of simplifications and a loss of a pawn. At this moment we both had around 20 minutes on the clock, so it was important for both of us to look for active moves while attempting to keep a slight edge on the clock. The game progressed normally until Isaac made some inaccuracies, leading to this position:
In the early middle game, I stranded my knight in the middle of the board, which led to a string of simplifications and a loss of a pawn. At this moment we both had around 20 minutes on the clock, so it was important for both of us to look for active moves while attempting to keep a slight edge on the clock. The game progressed normally until Isaac made some inaccuracies, leading to this position:
In the diagram above it is black's move. Here I have a perpetual check draw coming. After Rg3+, Kh4, Rf3+, Kg4, the position will repeat itself, and the game will be called a draw. I was okay with a draw here, even if it meant I would get a second place finish, because my two pawns were isolated and weak and I expected my position to further deteriorate.
Isaac, meanwhile, knew full well that a draw would give sole possession of first place. But Isaac has a fighting chess mentality, something that has served him very well in many games. So after Rg3+, Kh4, Rf3+, Isaac decided to play Rxf2 and after ...Rxf2, Nxg6, we reached a position that according to the computer is still drawn. Isaac has two pawns and a knight versus my lone rook and pawn. However, with both players were in severe mutual time trouble and moving very rapidly, Isaac somehow blundered his pawns away while trying to force a promotion. In the end, I had a rook and pawn versus knight, and I was able to seek out a victory with just seconds remaining on the clock. With this dramatic finish, I was able to take the 2019 Arlington Scholastic Open championship.
Isaac, meanwhile, knew full well that a draw would give sole possession of first place. But Isaac has a fighting chess mentality, something that has served him very well in many games. So after Rg3+, Kh4, Rf3+, Isaac decided to play Rxf2 and after ...Rxf2, Nxg6, we reached a position that according to the computer is still drawn. Isaac has two pawns and a knight versus my lone rook and pawn. However, with both players were in severe mutual time trouble and moving very rapidly, Isaac somehow blundered his pawns away while trying to force a promotion. In the end, I had a rook and pawn versus knight, and I was able to seek out a victory with just seconds remaining on the clock. With this dramatic finish, I was able to take the 2019 Arlington Scholastic Open championship.
