First chess tournament at Westwood Chinese School

Westwood Chinese School, located at Westwood High School, held its first official Chess Tournament (though not rated with USCF – that’s coming later, maybe!) in the spring of 2012.  The participants were the students of the Beginning and Intermediate Level Chess classes.  Trophies were awarded to first, second, and third place winners, and medals were awarded to any players who scored three or more points without earning a trophy.

In the Beginning class, with only four students, the tournament was run as a 4-player round robin over three weeks.  In the Intermediate class, 9 students participated altogether, and the tournament was a 6-round Swiss held over six weeks.  The time control for both events was G/10; d3.

A student named Gavin won the sole prize in the Beginning Chess class.

In the Intermediate class, the winners were Bernard (1st place), Zachary (2nd place), and Jeffrey (3rd place).  Two players were awarded medals: Isaac (fourth place with 4 points) and Anthony (fifth place with 3 points).   Remarkably, at the conclusion of the 6th round, there was a three-way tie for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places with 4 points each, necessitating a nail-biting round-robin blitz playoff.   In the end, Zachary prevailed and settled in 2nd place behind Bernard, whose win in 1st place with 4.5 points was uncontested.

I would like to thank both the students and parents for participating and the school for hosting this truly exciting tournament.  It was a great event to direct, and I look forward to directing a USCF-rated tournament with Westwood Chinese School in the future.

Nicholas P. Sterling, Ph.D.

USCF, Tournament Director