December 2024 at John Green
116 youth and adult players competed for fun, glory and 40+ trophies and $400 in cash prizes at the Tri-Valley Open on Dec. 7th, a co-presentation of Emerald Hills Chess and Tri-Valley Chess League and part of our monthly tournament series.
(See more action and trophy photos on Facebook or Instagram.
And grab early bird discounts for our January Tri-Valley Open and our 12+ spring classes and after-school clubs around the Tri-Valley AND Central Valley.)
The Open section was won by FIDE Candidate Master Joel Ganta, who went undefeated for the second month in a row to win the $100 first prize.
Emerald Hills Chess Coach Wilfredo Sabobo took second for the second month in a row, gaining a stalemate in the final game time scramble versus Ganta. Tied with Sabobo at 3-1 were Damyan Dysart, Rayan Jain (Emerald Hills/Fallon Middle School), and Austin Chen, who all won $50 each.
(Cash winners will be contacted later this week. Trophy winners that left early may pick up their prize at the Tri-Valley Open Jan 2025, during our regular Sunday AM classes in Pleasanton, or by arrangement with Admin@EmeraldHillsChess.com .)
In the 26-player Experts (U1200) youth/adult section, Aneesh Banerjee (Hart MS and Emerald Hills Chess) and Fallon’s Naman Jain tied for first with undefeated 3.5-0.5 scores. Banerjee edged Jain on tiebreak, while the two shared the $100 first prize.
There was a six-way tie for 3rd at 3-1, led by Fallon’s undefeated Arnav Solan, and followed by Ishaan Philar (Quail Run Elementary), Dev Rawal (Wells MS and Emerald Hills Chess), Rohan Priyadarshi (Quarry Lane, top U1000), Nathan Wen Wang (Hart, 2nd U1000), and Abhi Arun Kumar.
In the 33-player U800 Premier youth and adult section, Adhvik Nuti (John Green and Emerald Hills Chess) went a perfect 4-0 to take sole first and boost his rating by more than 300 points!
Arham Shah (Wells MS) tied with Aven Nagata (Kolb Elementary) for 2nd with undefeated 3.5-0.5 scores.
Seven players tied for 4th with strong 3-1 scores: Sriniket Srikanti (Fallon), Rithvik Gudivaka (Fallon), Advaith Subramonia (Mohr), Jace Kim Le (Fallon, top U600), Luke Zhong (2nd U600), Aarush Noothi (Fairlands) and Ethan Sam.
In the 28-player K-12 U400-rated Challenger, Cottonwood Creek School players dominated the top spots for the second month in a row. Michael Haddad went a perfect 4-0 to take first, followed by Maxim Mironov with 3.5-0.5.
There was a seven-way tie for 3rd, in tiebreak order: Joshua Wu, Eileen Zhang (Fallon), Adrel Coutinho (Coyote Creek), Advik Nevse (Tom Hawkins Elementary), Haasika Somireddy (Emerald Hills Chess, Top U200), Benjamin Charles Toone (2nd U200), and Malcolm Glover (Hidden Hills).
Finally, we had 13 competing in the non-rated Novices section for first-time youth players.
Trophy winners (above) from the 6 or 7 player round-robin groups (first, second, and anyone else scoring at least 3.5 out of 5) were:
1st Places - Raghav Tiwari (Mohr), Nihira Madireddy (Cottonwood) and Duncan Glover (Hidden Hills)
2nd Places - Nirvaan Boraskar (Hidden Hills), Samarth Vineeth (Cottonwood Creek), and Dexter Lee (Hearst)
US Chess Federation-Rated results and rating system explained
Big Thank Yous! from lead organizers Emerald Hills Chess’s Eric Lai (Chief TD) and Bhavna Jain to our floor TDs from the Tri-Valley Chess League - Aryan Kumar, National Master Aryan Achuthan, and Nirav Jaiswal.
In our first full year holding tournaments, we averaged nearly 120 players for our eleven events (1200+ youth and adult players in total). Thank you for joining us!
We will kick off 2025 at the Jan. 18th Tri-Valley Open at Wells Middle School in Dublin. It will be open to youth AND adults, and feature 40+ trophies and an increase to $500 in guaranteed cash prizes in the top sections.
Register now for early bird discount
Registration Open for our Spring Youth Classes and After-School Clubs
Open to Gr1-12 students across the Tri-Valley, our small group (4:1 to 6:1 student:coach ratio) classes help players excel (see the many trophy winners this weekend from our tourney training classes as well as our after-school clubs).
Competitive Practice: USCF-rated games to put newly-learned strategies into play
Personalized Feedback: One-on-one game analysis with expert coaches.
Fun Variants: Play Blitz, Bughouse, and more!
Flexible Scheduling: see below
Click for more info and register:
Discounts are available for siblings and early and multiple enrollments. Trial classes are also available.
Our after-school clubs are led by dedicated adult professional coaches, who provide tailored, engaging lessons, and oversee competitive play with trophies.
A great way to improve and have fun with friends and classmates!
Register by mid-December for early bird discounts for:
Trial classes and half-sessions and sibling and multi-session discounts are available.
For Fallon Middle School’s Thursday after-school club, email FallonChess@gmail.com.
Central Valley Mini-Camp Coming January 11th
We are holding a half-day event on January 11th with SAM Singapore Math-Lathrop for area K-12 players!
Attendees will get a lesson from an Emerald Hills coach followed by a quad tournament with players of similar level. Trophies for top finishers.
The mini-camp is open to seasoned USCF-rated players, past and present chess club members, online chess enthusiasts, and even novices learning the rules.
It is also a prelude to a weekend Lathrop chess club coming in early 2025.
And please pass this on to your friends in Tracy, Mountain House, Manteca, River Islands and more!
Join Weekly Chess.com Tourneys with Prizes
All Emerald Hills players and students (and their friends) are eligible to join our Friday night online tourneys and win prizes!
Go to the Emerald Hills Chess club page on Chess.com and request to join the club.
After you’ve been accepted, visit the Emerald Hills Chess home page before 6:30 PM on Friday nights and click on the event link to join and play.
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Questions: admin@emeraldhillschess.com
Ph: 650/740-6361