Jan 2025 at Wells Middle School
142 youth and adult players competed for fun, glory and 40+ trophies and $500 in cash prizes at the Tri-Valley Open on Sat Jan 18th, a co-presentation of Emerald Hills Chess and Tri-Valley Chess League and part of our monthly tournament series.
Check out our 12+ spring classes and after-school clubs around the Tri-Valley. And the registration link to our next tourney Feb 22nd in Dublin coming soon!)
The Open section was won by National Master Emmanuel Perez, who went a perfect 4-0 to win the $150 first prize.
Austin Chen continued his streak for a third month in a row to finish 3-1 and claim part of the second and third place cash prizes. Chen, Emerald Hills Chess Coach Kadir Baki and Jaideep Godara, each won $46.66.
Caleb Leong (2nd from right) won the $60 Top U1200 prize with a 2.5-1.5 score.
(Cash winners will be contacted later this week. Trophy winners that left early may pick up their prize at the Tri-Valley Open on Feb 22nd in Dublin, during our regular Sunday AM classes in Pleasanton, or by arrangement with Admin@EmeraldHillsChess.com .)
In the 36-player Experts (U1200) youth/adult section, John Green Elementary’s Jason Sun won clear first and the $100 cash prize with a perfect 4-0 score.
He was followed by Fallon Middle School’s Reyansh Nuti and Aaron Ahsan, who tied for second with undefeated 3.5-0.5 scores and shared the $50 second prize.
Nine players tied for 4th at 3-1, led by Nivedh Panchal (Mendenhall MS/Emerald Hills Chess), Sakshi Buregoni (American HS), Pranav Mehta (Top U1000, Emerald Hills/Fallon), Spencer Hu (2nd U1000), Ansh Shah (Pleasanton Middle), Mason Deeble, Jerry Lu (Emerald HS), Aditya Kotecha, and Shlok Narayan.
Ryan Chan Saha won the 41-player Premier (U800) youth/adult section with a perfect 4-0 score. Saurabh Singh and Shreyan Bose tied for second with undefeated 3.5-0.5 scores.
Seven players tied for third with very strong 3-1 scores, in tiebreak order: Benjamin Tooney, Dhruv Jadhav (Coyote Creek Elementary/Emerald Hills Chess), Pradyun Mekala, Michael Haddad (Cottonwood Creek/Emerald Hills Chess), Anay Patel (Hart Middle, 1st U600), Yash Shah (Cottonwood Creek, 2nd U600), and Advaith Subramonia (Mohr Elementary).
In the 29-player K-12 U400-rated Challenger, Alan Chen and Ronav Chhibber (Emerald Hills Chess) tied for first with perfect 4-0 scores.
There was a six-way tie for third at 3-1: Anish Kumar (Cottonwood Creek/Emerald Hills), Nihira Madireddy (Cottonwood Creek), Josiah Choi, Rutvik Kumpatla, Krithik Bharani (Wells Middle School, 1st U200) and Utsav Godara (2nd U200, and part of a father-son winning duo!).
Finally, 18 first-time youth players competed in the non-rated Novices section.
Trophy winners from the 6-player round-robin groups (first, second, and anyone else scoring at least 3.5 out of 5) were:
1st Place - Kavin Jayakumar (Foothill HS), Evan Li, Samarth Vineeth (Cottonwood Creek) and Shreyas Deepak (Hidden Hills/Emerald Hills Chess)
2nd Place - Haritaa Ramesh (Iron Horse MS), Vedant Rao (Coyote Creek Elementary)
US Chess Federation-Rated results and rating system explained
Thank Yous
From lead organizers Emerald Hills Chess’s Eric Lai (Chief TD) and Bhavna Jain to:
Our floor TDs, including:
Aryan Kumar, Nirav Jaiswal, Ethan Varghese, and Ratul Chakraborty from the Tri-Valley Chess League
Rishi Jain, Abhijoy Mukherjee, and Shivam Prasad, all Dublin High School students and assistant coaches at Emerald Hills Chess
Our tournament host, Sara Quintero, head of the Wells Middle School Chess Club
Accelerate Your Gains at our Tournament Training Classes
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 our many trophy winning students listed above) by providing:
Personalized Feedback: One-on-one game analysis with expert coaches
Competitive Practice: USCF-rated games to put newly-learned strategies into play
Fun Variants: Play Blitz, Bughouse, and more!
Flexible Scheduling: see below
Click for more info and register:
Discounts are available for siblings. Trial classes are also available.
Our nine popular after-school clubs are led by dedicated adult professional coaches, who provide tailored, engaging lessons, and oversee competitive, USCF-rated games with trophies for top finishers.
A great way to improve over-the-board, practice critical mental skills, and have fun with friends and classmates!
Trial classes, half-sessions and sibling discounts are available.
For Fallon Middle School’s nationally-ranked Thursday after-school club, email FallonChess@gmail.com.
Lead Organizers
Emerald Hills Chess teaches more than 300 students through competitive after-school clubs and small-group tournament training classes in 12 locations in the Tri-Valley.
Tri-Valley Chess League is a Pleasanton student-led non-profit holding classes and tournaments.