o   First of all, congratulations to Coach Hans for winning the State Championship (and $1000) this year and keeping it as a CCL tradition for the 4^th straight year.  Although this was Han’s first state championship he looked like someone who wins it every year.  He took a 1^st round bye then won 4 in a row before giving up a ‘clinch the tournament’ draw in the last round.  From what I could see, he never seemed in trouble throughout the event, playing relaxed and with focus.

o   On a personal note, I had a rough going. I decided not to take morning byes and consequently was paired against CCL players Noah Keating-Adams and Blake Baumgartner on two consecutive mornings.  They both simply outworked me, making me feel like the old man that I am becoming.  I was torn between being disgusted and proud, saddened and happy.  It stinks to lose but there is also an immense joy that I experience when I see how well you are all playing.  I dropped out of the tournament in the last round and watched your games.  I cannot express in words how impressed and blissful I felt watching you play.  You have come so far and you are so young.  So mature beyond your years.  I tried to hold back my smiles, not wanting to appear like a father who thought that their kids were the best ‘Sneetches on the Beaches’.   I am so proud of you, and of the excellent coaching staff that we have at CCL.  I doubt that there is anything, anywhere, quite like what we are doing now.  It is an honor to be part of this experience.

o  

o   They had a ceremony before the last round where they singled out 5 kids as being the future of chess in Ohio.  They were CCL players (l-r) Dakshin Pisini, Vincent Baker, Alan Zhang, Jason Wang, and Emma Cheng.  Chris Shen was wondering why he was not chosen since he is so young and higher rated than anyone else in that group.  That is obvious, it is because Chris is not part of the future of chess in Ohio, he is part of the present!

o   You all played so well that I hate to single out just a few but I will

• 2014 – 2015 State of Ohio Chess Champion = Coach Hans Multhopp
• U – 2000 Clear 2^nd place = Abhi Ramaswamy
• U-1400 was dominated by the CCL girls:
  • Clear 1^st place = Stella Huang
  • Clear 2^nd place = Emma Cheng
  • Clear top U-1100 = Victoria Baker
• Gained most rating point (143) = Dakshin Pisini

–          The 25 Club

o   Dakshin Pisini              +143    1496    Ohio Chess Congress

o   Emma Cheng              +100    1324    Ohio Chess Congress (2^nd Place U-1400 $350)

o   Elton Cao                     +93      1613    Ohio Chess Congress (2-way tie for 3^rd place in U-1700 $125)

o   Stella Huang                +75      1429    Ohio Chess Congress (1^st Place U-1400 $650)

o   Kevin Wang                 +59      1654    Tennessee Open

o   Austin Yan                   +36      1775    Southwest Open

o   Vikram Srivastava       +35      2037    Ohio Chess Congress (2 way tie for u-2200 money – $225??)

o   Luke Xie                       +33      2095    Ohio Chess Congress

o   Abhi Ramaswamy       +28      2001    Ohio Chess Congress (2^nd in U-2000 $500 ??)

o   Sujan Rachuri              +26      1660    Ohio Chess Congress (top U-1700

o   Almost (Alan Z, +19, Victoria +20 (won U-1100 money in U-1400 section $200), Nolan +20, Blake +23, Joshua +23)

o   Noah Keating-Adams  –  (2 way tie for u-2200 money – $225??)

o   Coach Hans – $1000 and title of State of Ohio Chess Champion

[royal cats=5]

Congratulations to our latest and 13th CCL graduate, Abhi Ramaswamy.

• Abhi earned his graduation at the Ohio Chess Congress, last weekend,  coming in 2nd place in the U-2000 section (details on this tournament will be posted in a couple of days)
• Abhi has just started 9th grade.
• This Who’s Who chess list has been growing with great talent at an increasing fast rate.  Abhi has worked extremely hard for this honor, as has all of our CCL graduates.  They have all learned the value of perseverance and hard work.
• What is a CCL graduate?  It is an honorary degree that we give to any CCL player who has worked their way through the ranks while in CCL and has made a USCF experts rating (>= 2000).   This group is becoming a who’s who of the top young talent around.  It entitles them to lifetime membership in CCL, based on good behavior, without the requirements of taking lessons.  They are allowed to receive email spam from me for the rest of their lives!!
• Who will be next?
• CCL graduates are (in order of obtainment):
• • John Hughes
  • Walker Griggs
  • Maggie Feng
  • Rahul Ramaswamy
  • Annorjan Naguleswaran
  • Luke Xie
  • Chris Shen
  • Noah Keating-Adams
  • Sam Massick
  • Anagh Kulkarni
  • Vikram Srivastava
  • Aristo Liu
  • Abhi Ramaswamy

o   Walker beat IM Calvin Blocker in the last round to tie for first and take home $633.  This brought Walker’s rating up to the very respectable 2348.  Hopefully Walker will make it to the Ohio Chess Congress to win another State Championship for CCL.

o   The Bakers, Vincent and Victoria, had a field day at the tournament.  Vincent earned $457 for his 1^st place tie in the U-2100, Victoria earned $200 for her 2^nd place finish in the U-1200 and they won the Mixed Doubles Teams to take home another $600.  In total bringing home $1,257.  Vincent is now within striking range to qualify for the 2015 World Youth Championships.  He will probably need to gain 100 rating points in about the next 8 months.

o   Also in the prize money was John Xiang, taking home $200 for a share of the U-1600 class prize, in the U-1800 section

o   Complete results can be seen at http://chessevents.com/clevelandopen/

o   Members of this weeks 25 club are:

• Alan Zhang          +116      1181       Sunday in the Park
• Vincent Baker    +105      1950       Cleveland Open
• John Xiang          +104      1697       Cleveland Open
• Om Borkar          +74         1721       Cleveland Open
• Victoria Baker    +65         1160       Cleveland Open
• Jason Wang        +47         1944       Cleveland Open
• Evan Huang        +43         1696       Cleveland Open

The first part of ChessMath has arrived and we are starting it off with two 1.5 hour lectures by perhaps this countries greatest math prodigy (got his PhD from MIT at 18 years of age),  Dr. Harvey Friedman.  All CCL students and family are welcome to attend.  The classes are:

–          Where : Mulligan Columbus Chess Club

–          Address: Panera Bread, 875 Bethel Road, Columbus, OH

–          Dates:  Saturday August 9^th  and Saturday August 23^rd

–          Time:  1:00 – 2:30

Below are Harvey’s notes on ChessMath.

ChessMath

I will give two 90 minute talks focusing on the 8 x 8 chess board. These lectures will be given at 1 PM on August 9 and August 23 at the Mulligan chess club. It’s at the Panera Bread on Bethel Road near MicroCenter.  There is a considerable body of elementary mathematics of great educational value leading up to the main ongoing ChessMath research projects. The first ChessMath lectures will be confined to this lead up material.

In the first two lectures covering the lead up material, I discuss the precise mathematical treatment of:

1. The 8 x 8 chess squares.

2. Ranks, files, diagonals.

3. Knight moves.

4. Symmetries.

5. Counting very simple positions.

Any student comfortable with:

i. The chess board and how the pieces move; and

ii. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; and

iii. Sets and set notation; and

iv. The use of letters for unknowns (as in elementary algebra).

should be able to understand enough of these two lectures to justify attendance. Generally speaking, strong math students grades 5-12 should find this accessible and challenging. Of course, any *unusually* strong K-4 student is welcome.

1. CHESS BOARD MATHEMATICS 1

2. CHESS BOARD MATHEMATICS 2

The ways in which aspects of chess are mathematized serve as an introduction to the ways in which many concepts from science and engineering are mathematized. Such mathematical treatments are crucial for computerizations.

The creative leveraging of chess experience to advanced mathematical development in K-12 is an ongoing process in its early stages. I should learn a lot about how to proceed at various grade levels based on feedback from students and parents.

Congratulations to Maggie for tying for 1st at the 2014 US Girls Invitation.  Below is information on both the tournament and Maggie taken from http://relyeachess.com/subpages/closed.html.  There is also coverage on the USCF web site which has one of Maggie’s games at http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12736/770/

History

In 1966, the United States Chess Federation started the Boys Closed Championship, which provides the winner a seat into the prestigious US Championship. This year, F. Alex Relyea, FIDE arbiter and Associate National Tournament Director based in Bedford, NH, decided that an equally prestigious event for girls should exist. “There are some amazing young girls playing. We need to have the same prestigious titles for them that we have for boys.” He worked with the United States Federation to create and host the inaugural event in New Hampshire. UNH Manchester will provide a $2,500 award renewable up to four years and Relyea Chess will provide a total prize fund of $6,200 with top prize of $2,000 and lowest prize of $200.

From organizer, Alex Relyea: “The quad-champions of the 2014 US Junior Girls Invitational were Claudia Munoz, Apurva Virkud, Maggie Feng, and Akshita Gorti.  Munoz was awarded the scholarship to the University of New Hampshire on tie-break. This tournament was very hard fought, with the lead changing almost every round.  Quad-champions, with two more players just half a point back shows just how tight the tournament was.  Special thanks to the University of New Hampshire for its sponsorship.  All of the players are very nice people, and it was an honor to spend five days with them.” 

Maggie Feng

Title: Woman Candidate Master
Rating: 2173
Residence: Ohio
Age: 14
Status: Accepted

I started to play chess when I was 8, and entered my first tournament three months later and won my section. In less than two years, I won my first big chess tournament, the 2010 National All-Girls Championship in 10 & Under Section with 5.5/6 points. My chess successes continued to grow as I gained 600 rating points in two years to become an expert. In the summer of 2012, I got silver in the 2012 Pan-American Championship in Girls U12 Section in Lima, Peru. I was pretty happy about that. My chess started to improve quickly this year and my rating went from 2100-2200 in six months. I become a National Master after 2014 Chicago Open. My next goal is to be over 2300 in USCF rating and play in the US Women’s Championship.

I really like chess because it is challenging and fun. Chess requires tactics, strategy, planning, risk-taking, and bravery which makes it a perfect game to play. My favorite chess player is Magnus Carlsen because of his will to win, and he never gives up. Also, in chess, you can make new friendsand meet all kinds of people.

Chess Highlights:
Champion of 2010 National All-Girls in 10 & Under section
Silver Medal of 2012 Pan-American Championship in Girls U12 section
1st place (tie) of 2012 Cincinnati Open in Open section
1st place (tie) of 2014 Pittsburgh Open in Open section