Top County Chess Player Scores 4.5 out of 7 in Nationals
The top-ranked student chess player in Arlington performed strongly in the National Scholastic K-12 Championships held December 13th through 15th in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Sam Schenk, a 6th-grader at Williamsburg Middle, scored four wins and a draw in seven games (4.5 out of 7) to place 25th out of 117 in the Grade 6 section of the tournament. Sam, whose Elo rating was 1675 going into the tournament, is also among the top 100 eleven-year-olds ranked by the United States Chess Federation.
During the Florida tournament Sam suffered a tough, hard-fought loss to Nithin Kavi of Massachusetts. Kavi, whose 2000-plus Elo rating qualifies him as a U.S. Expert and who placed 2nd in the competition, played a relatively unusual variation of the Sicilian Defense. Sam stayed with him for 53 moves but Kavi forced a pawn promotion to end the contest.
Sam Schenk, a 6th-grader at Williamsburg Middle, scored four wins and a draw in seven games (4.5 out of 7) to place 25th out of 117 in the Grade 6 section of the tournament. Sam, whose Elo rating was 1675 going into the tournament, is also among the top 100 eleven-year-olds ranked by the United States Chess Federation.
During the Florida tournament Sam suffered a tough, hard-fought loss to Nithin Kavi of Massachusetts. Kavi, whose 2000-plus Elo rating qualifies him as a U.S. Expert and who placed 2nd in the competition, played a relatively unusual variation of the Sicilian Defense. Sam stayed with him for 53 moves but Kavi forced a pawn promotion to end the contest.
Sam Schenk, right, in post-game analysis with Nithin Kavi at Nationals in Orlando
Sam had an easier time in his game against New York’s Elias Stedman. Sam played the white pieces in the Exchange variation of the French Defense. His aggressive queen and rook moves in the center led to a Stedman blunder, a loss of a rook under pressure on move 25. Thereafter it was systematic mop-up time for Sam, and Stedman resigned a hopeless position on move 39.
