There is a widespread assumption that with its large number of grandmasters and top-flight players, the New York City area is the center of the chess universe in the United States. Judging by the results of the SuperNationals tournament last weekend, New York has a lot of competition, at least when it comes to scholastic chess. Skip to next paragraph, Separate championships are held most years for elementary, junior high and high school students. But every four years, all of the championships are held at the same time. This year’s SuperNationals, held in Nashville, attracted almost 5,300 children from 45 states and Puerto Rico. Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan captured the top section (the K-12 Championship, open to st
udents through the 12th grade), Solomon Schechter School of Westchester took the K-9 Championship, and Hunter College Campus Schools, also in Manhattan, won the K-1 Championship. But the other championship sections were won by schools from other states, and most of the sections that limited competition to players according to their ratings were also won by schools far from New York.The K-8 Championship was won by Canyon Vista Middle School in Austin, Tex. A team from Mission San Jose Elementary School in Fremont, Calif., won the K-6 Championship. Stevenson Elementary in Bellevue, Wash., won both the K-5 Championship and the K-5 section for players whose ratings were under 900. Half Day School in Lincolnshire, Ill., was the runaway winner of the K-3 Championship. In other rating-limited sections, winning schools came from Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Minnesota and other states. Canyon Vista defended its title (it had edged out Hunter on a tie-breaker last year). Canyon Vista was led by George Qi, an eighth grader, who took the individual K-8 title by winning all seven of his games. In the diagram at left, from George’s Round 6 game against Robert Perez of Florida, Black had just played 33 ... Bc4 to launch a desperate counterattack. In his annotations to the game, George wrote that after the move, “I got really scared,” and his opponent offered him a draw. But he settled down and calmly marched his king across the board and out of danger. The game concluded 34 Ke1 Qg1 35 Kd2 Qf2 36 Kc1 Qe1 37 Kc2 Qe2 38 Kb1 Qe1 39 Ka2 Qg3 40 hg3 Bf7 41 Qf6, and Black resigned. In the diagrammed position, White could have accepted the bishop by playing 34 bc4 because after 34 ... Rf8 35 Bf3 Ke1, Black has run out of checks. In the K-3 section, Half Day School was led by Alex Bian, a third grader, who scored 6.5 points and tied for second. In Round 2, in the diagram above, he was winning easily, but he finished up nicely against Christopher Cardenas of Texas with a forced checkmate in five moves. The game ended 23 ... Rh2 24 Kh2 Re2 25 Kh1 Bg2 26 Rg2 Qh3 27 Kg1 Qg2, mate. Note that 23 ... Ree2 would have been less precise because after 24 Rg8 Ka7 25 b5 Rh2 26 Kg1, it would still have taken several moves to वीं.
udents through the 12th grade), Solomon Schechter School of Westchester took the K-9 Championship, and Hunter College Campus Schools, also in Manhattan, won the K-1 Championship. But the other championship sections were won by schools from other states, and most of the sections that limited competition to players according to their ratings were also won by schools far from New York.The K-8 Championship was won by Canyon Vista Middle School in Austin, Tex. A team from Mission San Jose Elementary School in Fremont, Calif., won the K-6 Championship. Stevenson Elementary in Bellevue, Wash., won both the K-5 Championship and the K-5 section for players whose ratings were under 900. Half Day School in Lincolnshire, Ill., was the runaway winner of the K-3 Championship. In other rating-limited sections, winning schools came from Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Minnesota and other states. Canyon Vista defended its title (it had edged out Hunter on a tie-breaker last year). Canyon Vista was led by George Qi, an eighth grader, who took the individual K-8 title by winning all seven of his games. In the diagram at left, from George’s Round 6 game against Robert Perez of Florida, Black had just played 33 ... Bc4 to launch a desperate counterattack. In his annotations to the game, George wrote that after the move, “I got really scared,” and his opponent offered him a draw. But he settled down and calmly marched his king across the board and out of danger. The game concluded 34 Ke1 Qg1 35 Kd2 Qf2 36 Kc1 Qe1 37 Kc2 Qe2 38 Kb1 Qe1 39 Ka2 Qg3 40 hg3 Bf7 41 Qf6, and Black resigned. In the diagrammed position, White could have accepted the bishop by playing 34 bc4 because after 34 ... Rf8 35 Bf3 Ke1, Black has run out of checks. In the K-3 section, Half Day School was led by Alex Bian, a third grader, who scored 6.5 points and tied for second. In Round 2, in the diagram above, he was winning easily, but he finished up nicely against Christopher Cardenas of Texas with a forced checkmate in five moves. The game ended 23 ... Rh2 24 Kh2 Re2 25 Kh1 Bg2 26 Rg2 Qh3 27 Kg1 Qg2, mate. Note that 23 ... Ree2 would have been less precise because after 24 Rg8 Ka7 25 b5 Rh2 26 Kg1, it would still have taken several moves to वीं.
