East Bay Open 2024

Two hundred and thirty five youth and adult players competed in Saturday Sept 9th's East Bay Open 2024.

A co-presentation of Emerald Hills Chess, Fallon Chess Club, Tri-Valley Chess League and the Contra Costa Chess Club.

(More pictures at our Facebook post)

Held at Fallon Middle School in Dublin, there were five rated and non-rated sections for the 60+ trophies and $2,000 in cash, and was a revival and merger of two major tournaments (read history here).

The 19-player Open section was headlined by two-time defending champion GM Enrico Sevillano and National Master Emmanuel Perez. Sevillano lived up to his rating by going a perfect 4-0 to take the $500 first prize and win the overall championship.

Candidate Master (CM) Demetrius Goins took the $300 second prize at an undefeated 3.5-0.5. CM Sana Tsogtsaikhan, Shubham Patankar and Robert Thayer shared $200 for third place at 3-1. Vedant Verma, also 3-1, took home the Under-1600 $300 first prize, while Sachit Hegde won $200 for second place U1600.

(Trophy winners - if you left before receiving your award, you may pick it up at our next monthly Tri-Valley Open in October (details coming soon), during our regular Sunday AM classes in Pleasanton, or by arrangement with Admin@EmeraldHillsChess.com .)

Henry Xiao went a perfect 5-0 to win the 40-player U1500 Experts section and the $150 first prize over second-place and $100 winner Preron Chakrabarty who scored 4.5-0.5.

There was a three-way tie for third and the $50 prize: Harshit Ramesh (Top U1200), Vihaan Joshi and Austin Bo Chen.

Four players tied for sixth place with 3.5-1.5 scores: Kanav Maheshwari, Michael Liu, Na Kadaba Pradep, and Matthew Ringue. Shreyan Goli picked up the second place U1200 trophy.

In the 77-player U1000 Premier youth and adult section, Arjun Shenoy went a perfect 5-0 to take first place and $100 home. Dev Rawal and Ansh Shah tied for second with undefeated 4.5-0.5 scores, splitting $50.

Anastasios Arvanitis took fourth on tiebreak over eight other players with excellent 4-1 scores, including: Jai Yadav, David Minjoon Kim, Ansh Doshi, Evan Lim, Wilson Han, Neil Mallu, Matthew Hernandez (Top U700 trophy and $50 prize) and Pranav Mehta.

There was a five-way tie for 13th with 3.5-1.5 scores, in tiebreak order: Nathan Wen Wang, Anika Prasad, Davin Cale Unardi, Enming Zhang, and Ivan Al Pokrovsky.

In the rated 63-player K-12 U500-rated Challenger, Snehal Umrigar, Andy Yep, and Dingding Chen tied for first, all with undefeated 4.5 out of 5 scores. Akshay Bansal, Joshua Taylor and Advaith Sheela tied for fourth with excellent 4-1 scores.

There was a nine-way tie for 7th place with 3.5-1.5 scores, in tiebreak order: Simha Tulla, Neel Mehta, Brendan Ma, Xiaoxi Sha, Guatham Prasanna, Akshara Arun, Dylan Plise, Adhith Sakthivel, and Atharv Aggarwal. 

Thirty-six K-12 players competed in the half-day non-rated Novice section for first-time youth players.

Trophy winners for first and second-place finishers from the six player round-robin groups included: Aarush Odugu, Nivaan Pradhan, Jace Le, Adrel Coutinho, Eileen Zhang, Maxim Mironov, Devarsh Nalam, Aadit Vekatesan, Asmit Maiti, Sean Bhimani, Reyansh Arise and Chris Jason Ephraim.

Finally, in the team competition, host Fallon Middle School Chess Club took first place over Fremont’s Shoreview Chess Club.

Dublin’s new Emerald High School placed third, while Fresno’s Sanger Chess took fourth, followed by Dublin High School in fifth. Dublin’s John Green Elementary won for top elementary school team.

Final Standings and US Chess Federation-Rated results

Big Thank Yous! from the lead organizers (Emerald Hills’ Eric Lai, Fallon Chess’s Bhavna Jain, and Tri-Valley Chess League’s Aryan Kumar and NM Aryan Achuthan) to:

- Head Tournament Director Scott Mason

- Fallon PFC’s Enrichment Co-Lead Peggy Chook

- Contra Costa Chess Club organizer Michael Treschler

- Jacob Muller and Heena Gandhi of Mathnasium Pleasanton for providing water on a hot day and co-sponsoring the cash prizes

- Our floor TDs from the Tri-Valley Chess League - Nirav Jaiswal, Austen Yee, Advay Bajpal, Jaymin Byun, and Skand Bajpal  

Thanks for an amazing tournament, everyone! Look for an email soon about our next Tri-Valley Open in October, open to youth AND adults and featuring trophies and Ca$h prizes.

Lead Organizers and Sponsor

Tri-Valley Chess League is a Pleasanton student-led non-profit organization holding free classes and tournaments. https://tvcl.vercel.app/

Emerald Hills Chess holds weekly small-group classes and after-school chess clubs teaching more than 250 students in 10+ locations around the Tri-Valley, as well as monthly low-cost tournaments.

Learn more and Register: https://emeraldhillschess.jumbula.com

Fallon Chess Fallon Middle School Chess Club is a two-time middle school state co-champion and 2023 national online team champion. Invites to Fallon Chess 2024-25 will be e-mailed soon.

Mathnasium’s enrichment programs will elevate your child's learning beyond traditional school curriculum, helping them achieve their greatest potential and reach new heights.

Contact them for a free assessment. Mention Emerald Hills Chess and receive $250 off your enrollment.

https://www.mathnasium.com/math-centers/pleasanton/

Mathnasium of San Ramon - (925) 806-0600

Mathnasium of Pleasanton - (925) 462-8411