May 2nd & 3rd, Manzanita sent 13 chess players to the State
Championships up in Gilbert, near Phoenix. This was a huge event, with 500
players from all over the State attending. We had enough players to form
three teams, in the Kindergarten/1st Grade section, the Primary (up to 3rd
grade) section, and the Elementary (up to 5th grade) section. And our teams
absolutely rocked! We took 5th in the K-1, 11th in the Primary, and 5th
again the Elementary - three team trophies for one school! Our youngest team
was composed of Evan Yin, Daniel Myerson, and newcomers Nathan Wu and Zayd
Krunz. Among these, Evan scored the best, winning 5 games out of 7 and
taking home the trophy for 9th place overall. Our Primary team contained
Jesse Delong (the highest scorer), Tommy Lundgren, Isaiah Liu and Gabriel
Lopez-Diggins. And our five players in Elementary were Yulia Savine, Elliot
Liu, Franklyn Delong, Ani Altounian, and Suraj Shah, who won the prize for
17th best in the State. This was a fabulous performance, that might well
have gone even better had some of our strongest chess players not moved to
other schools last year, thereby ending up the star players of several of
Manzanita's chief rivals. It was also the climax of another excellent year
of chess, with some truly stellar performances: Daniel Myerson and Suraj
Shah winning awards at the State Grade, Austin Troike scoring 11.5 out of 12
in League competition, Evan Yin winning first place Primary at the Tucson
Scholastics, Yulia Savine winning first place in the Championship section of
the Tucson Scholastics, and so on.
We have a wonderful crop of chess players at Manzanita. Congratulations,
team!
Coach Ken Larsen
Championships up in Gilbert, near Phoenix. This was a huge event, with 500
players from all over the State attending. We had enough players to form
three teams, in the Kindergarten/1st Grade section, the Primary (up to 3rd
grade) section, and the Elementary (up to 5th grade) section. And our teams
absolutely rocked! We took 5th in the K-1, 11th in the Primary, and 5th
again the Elementary - three team trophies for one school! Our youngest team
was composed of Evan Yin, Daniel Myerson, and newcomers Nathan Wu and Zayd
Krunz. Among these, Evan scored the best, winning 5 games out of 7 and
taking home the trophy for 9th place overall. Our Primary team contained
Jesse Delong (the highest scorer), Tommy Lundgren, Isaiah Liu and Gabriel
Lopez-Diggins. And our five players in Elementary were Yulia Savine, Elliot
Liu, Franklyn Delong, Ani Altounian, and Suraj Shah, who won the prize for
17th best in the State. This was a fabulous performance, that might well
have gone even better had some of our strongest chess players not moved to
other schools last year, thereby ending up the star players of several of
Manzanita's chief rivals. It was also the climax of another excellent year
of chess, with some truly stellar performances: Daniel Myerson and Suraj
Shah winning awards at the State Grade, Austin Troike scoring 11.5 out of 12
in League competition, Evan Yin winning first place Primary at the Tucson
Scholastics, Yulia Savine winning first place in the Championship section of
the Tucson Scholastics, and so on.
We have a wonderful crop of chess players at Manzanita. Congratulations,
team!
Coach Ken Larsen
