Silver Knights Chess

USCF Rating Report

Forty chessplayers in grades K-8 competed in the April Showers chess tournament at Ithan Elementary School in Bryn Mawr. Joseph Donato of Ithan won a chaotic, upset-filled K-3 section with a 4-0 score. Joseph's victory was especially impressive because all four of his opponents won all of their other games. Seven players tied for second place at 3-1, with the trophies going to John Peterson of Beaumont Elementary (2nd), Jeremy Miller of Friends School Haverford (3rd), Clayton Johnson of Beaumont (4th), and Michael Sydnes of Ithan (5th). Ithan Elementary (12.0 team points) beat our Beaumont (9.0) for the top team prize.

In the K-8 section, the tournament was dominated by the top two seeds, Lucas Knight of New Hope Academy and David Arias of Media. Lucas and David won their first three games and drew each other in the fourth round. They were tied at 3.5 points each and 8.5 Modified Median tiebreak points, so it went to the Solkoff tiebreaker, which David won by a score of 10 to 9.5. Rounding out the top five with scores of 3-1 were Benjamin Seligsohn of Benchmark, Yasasvi Hari of Goodnoe Elementary, and Richard Wang of T/E Middle School. Eagleville Elementary was the top team.

USCF Rating Report

On March 29th, twenty-eight students competed in the March Madness chess tournament in Newtown, PA.  Rishi Rajendran took clear first with an undefeated score of 4-0.  The rest of the awards went to two pairs of brothers, with 2nd and 3rd being captured by Jonah and Jacob Taranta, at 3-1 and 4th and 5th by Jacob and Jonathan Feibusch at 2.5-1.5.

In the K-8 section, 10th seeded Joshua Pilchik scored 3.5-0.5 to take first place.  He clinched first in the final round, when he defeated previously 3-0 Max Polichuk.  Max, Benjamin Lu, and Daniel Gildenbrand tied for 2nd-4th place with  scores of 3-1.  Lucas Knight and Teddy Willis tied for 5th and 6th at 2.5-1.5, with Lucas recieving the trophy on tiebreaks.

USCF Rating Report

On March 15, thirty-six players competed in the March Mirage chess tournament in Horsham, PA. Kindergartener Anand Bhatt went 4-0 to win the K-3 section, defeating top seed R.J. King in the final round. Finishing tied for 2nd-5th place at 2.5-1.5 were King, Ben Verbofsky, Andrew Brownlie, and Stuart Sumner. Interestingly enough, Bhatt defeated each of those four players on his way to the title.

In the K-8 section, top seeded Brice Huang cruised to a 4-0 score. The crucial win came in the third round, when Brice outplayed Benjamin Lu in a time scramble. Daniel Gildenbrand, Yoni Weiss, Rachel Yakobashvili, and Michael Sydnes all finished tied for 2nd-5th place at 3-1.

PSCF Results Website 

Nearly 1,000 chessplayers from all over Pennsylvania traveled to Carlisle the weekend of March 7-9 to compete in the state scholastic championships. Many of our regular players made the trip, and some did quite well. A group of our players in grades K-3 won 4 out of 5, good enough to place in the top 15 in the state. Special congratulations to Benjamin Lu, who finished in 7th place overall and 1st place among kindergarteners to become kindergarten state champion. Nearly half of the players finishing in the top 20 in the K-3 section were either from a Silver Knights class or are regular participants in our Philadelphia-area tournaments.

Other notable results include:

- Ithan Elementary scoring 10 team points in the K-3 section and finishing in 4th place.
- Praneeth Denduluri finishing 3rd in the K-8 championship section.
- Gabe Tkach finishing 2nd in the K-6 championship section.

Congratulations to all the players who competed, and we look forward to even more success next year!

USCF Rating Report 

Seventeen chessplayers in grades K-8 competed in the March Blast chess tournament in Highlands Ranch, CO. Fourth-grader Ryan Cochran of St. Thomas More was the only player to survive undefeated, winning first place with a 4-0 score. Ryan defeated several higher-rated players, and picked up over 200 rating points!

The competition for first place school was fiercely contested between Flagstaff Academy and Mountain View Elementary. In the end, Flagstaff was victorious by a score of 11.5 to 9.5.

USCF Rating Report

The State Warm-Up chess tournament was held on March 1 at Wayne Elementary School in Wayne, PA. 53 players competed (a record high!), many of whom will be traveling to Central Pennsylvania next weekend for the state K-12 championships.

Beaumont Elementary took first place in the K-3 section with a whopping 11.5 team points. They beat out Ithan Elementary (6.0), The Philadelphia School (5.0), and Eagleville Elementary (5.0). First-grader Kyler Shinkle-Stolar of Nether Providence Elementary was the only 4-0 score of the day, winning clear first place and picking up nearly 200 rating points. (Now we know why he usually plays in the K-8 section!)

In the K-8 section, a strong contingent from Mother of Divine Providence won the team prize with 8.5 points. Ithan Elementary (5.5), The Philadelphia School (5.0), and Eaglesville (4.5) again took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Competition for the top individual awards was hard-fought, with the 4th-8th grade students facing a tough challenge from a large group of younger players playing up in the higher section. In fact, seven of the top ten rated players in the K-8 section were in grades 3 and below! In the end, the winner was fourth-grader Pranav Ranganathan from Pickering Valley Elementary, taking clear first place with a score of 3.5/4.

Look for videos of some of the games from the State Warm-Up to get posted on the Online Training Center later this week!