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Spring 2026 Tourney Training and After-School Clubs
Thanks for being among the 147 players competing at the Tri-Valley Dec Open at Hidden Hills Elementary in San Ramon, a co-presentation of Emerald Hills Chess, the Tri-Valley Chess League, and Emerald Knights Chess Club and part of our monthly tournament series.
In our second edition of Championship Quads, our section winners were:
Group 1 (1600+, $100 first): Calvin Hou
Group 2 (1500+, $100 first): Kadir Baki (Emerald Hills Chess coach)
Group 3 (1400+, $80 first): Rayan Jain
Group 4 (1300+, $80 first): Alexandru Chu
Group 5 (1200+ 6 player mini-swiss, $120 split): Ahaan Jain, Pradyun Mekala, and Mahat Aravind
(Cash winners will be contacted this week. Trophy winners that left early may pick up their prize at the Tri-Valley Jan 2026 Open or by arrangement with Admin@EmeraldHillsChess.com .)
In the 29-player Experts (U1200) youth/adult section, Johan Qin* (Emerald’s free Thurs Adult(ish) Club) took first place with a perfect 4-0 score, winning $100. Another adult, unrated Ahsan Khan, went an undefeated 3.5 out of 4 to win second place and $50.
(* denotes one of the 300 students of Emerald Hills Chess’s tourney training classes and afterschool clubs. Early bird discounts expiring over next 1-2 weeks.)
There was a five-way tie for third place at 3-1, in tiebreak order: Noah Toy* (Tri-Valley Homeschoolers), Agastya Gannavarapu, Anvit Nadendla, Sairaghav Kumar, and Ryan Banerjee* (Thursday tourney training).
Rounding out the top 10 were Evan Li* (Sunday tourney training), Dhruv Jadhav, and Nirbhay Rana. Xiaoxi Sha took first place U1000, while Adrel Coutinho took second place U1000 on tiebreak.
In the 44-player Premier (U800) section, Vincent Winderl* (Tri-Valley Homeschoolers and Thurs Adult(ish) Club) went a perfect 4-0 to take sole first.
Shreyak Porecha and Vihaan Sirupa* (Sunday tourney training) tied for second with undefeated 3.5/4 scores.
Tying for 4th-10th place with strong 3-1 scores were: Samedh Jaiswal, Shauryveer Chaundkar, Vihaan Annam* (Wed Tourney Training), Alex Chai, Gautham Prasanna, and Rishvik Paruchuri.
Winning Top U600 trophies with 2.5/4 records were: Vvihaan Chanana, Harshith Potnuru, and Krish Kaudinya* (Sunday tourney training).
In the 30-player K12 Challenger (U400), Aarav Nayak* (Thursday tourney training) placed first with a perfect 4-0 score.
Advik Angayarkanni* (Sunday tourney training) and Arinjay Dhole tied for second with undefeated 3.5/4 scores.
Six players tied for fourth place at 3-1: Rayyan Khan* (Wed Tourney Training), Proneil Chakrabarty, Nicholas Li, Runav Raghuwanshi, Kade Pascal, and Ishan Dwivedi.
Top players Under 200 or unrated were: Nevaan Rana, Arjun Karthik, and Alina Razdan* (Walnut Grove).
In the 20-player non-rated Novice, Pranavi Abburi went a perfect 5-0 to take first. Saketh Kollipara* (Fairlands) tied for second at 4-1 with Harish Thandapani.
Maxwell Du* (Wednesday tourney training) placed 4th with a very strong 3.5-1.5 record. Four players tied for 5th-8th place with 3-2 records: Karthikeya Muthamsetty, Vasude Gonegandla, Jonathan Edward, and Maneet Raj Sisodia* (Mohr).
Final Standings in prize tiebreak order and Tiebreakers explained
US Chess Federation-Rated results (NOT in prize tiebreak order) and Rating system explained
(Note: Your rating from the Tri-Valley Open is still unofficial for up to thirty days. Official ratings are updated and published once a month. See your official rating on your player profile in the USCF rating database, which is used by tournaments for section placement.)
Thank Yous
Thank Yous
From lead organizers Emerald Hills Chess’s Eric Lai (Chief Tournament Director) and Bhavna Jain to:
Floor TDs Viren Sethi and Neil Mallu from Emerald High School Chess Club.
Floor TDs from our co-organizer Tri-Valley Chess League: Vatsal Srivastava, Shulin (Tiger) Lu, and Saathvik Dharmapuram.
Coming Tournaments
Coming Tournaments
Jan 2-4: Cornerstone Academy Tournament
Compete for a guaranteed $13,500 in cash prizes alongside IMs and GMs in this USCF/FIDE-rated tournament in Sunnyvale.
Seven different sections, from 2200+ to U1200.
Use the code EMHILLS15 to get 15 percent off the entry fee. And register by (tomorrow) Monday December 15th to avoid late fee.
Kick off the year at Wells Middle School in Dublin!
On offer will be 50+ trophies and ~$700 in cash prizes over five rated/unrated sections, including additional cash in the Championship Quads for larger and higher-rated sections.
Register by Tuesday January 13th to save up to 33% off the entry fee.
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