Chess Players in Fremont, California are the Best in the United States

Two Schools in Fremont, California won National Championships at the recent United States Chess Federation’s National Elementary (k-6) Championships in Nashville, Tennessee.  Both Mission San Jose Elementary School and Weibel Elementary School have reputations of excellence in chess due to being the dominate teams at both state and national events. After their incredible results at the 2012 National Elementary (k-6) Championships, both teams seem determined to put Fremont, California on the map for being the city with the strongest scholastic chess clubs in the United States.

It was not an easy path for Weibel Elementary School at the 2012 National Elementary Chess Championships. In order to clinch the k-6 national championship, Weibel had to make a stunning comeback after being in fifth place with just one round to go.  Head Coach Alan Kirshner informed his team that the only chance they had to win the national title was if all four members won their final round games. Team members Kevin Moy(National Chess Champion), Michael Wang, Anthony Zhou and Steven Li answered his call and did just that. In doing so, Weibel became the second school from California ever to win the National Elementary k-6 chess championship. The first school to do this, in 2009, was their rival Mission San Jose Elementary School.

Winning first place team chess trophies is a regular occurrence at Mission San Jose Elementary School. Having taken all the Team State Championship trophies possible at the Calchess State Championships, Mission San Jose Elementary headed out to Nashville Tennessee with another National Championship in mind. Head coach Joe Lonsdale knew his kids’ chances were good of bringing home another national championship but also was acutely aware of the many other strong teams present at the National Elementary Chess Championships. At the end of the weekend, his youngest players in the k-1 championship section proved themselves to be the big heroes of the chess club. Rishith Susarla won six of seven games and tied for third place.  Rishith took home the fourth place trophy.  Edwin Thomas won scored 5.5 points (five wins and a draw) and tied for 15th place.  Amulya Harish, Annapoorni Meiyappan, and Kevin Pan each scored four points. By winning the k-1 national chess championship for the school, these young MSJE players have signaled to the other scholastic chess teams in California that Mission San Jose Elementary School’s supreme dynasty is likely to continue for years to come.

It is worth noting that players from both schools regularly attend camps and classes put on by the Torres Chess and Music Academy. For more information on our summer chess camps please visit www.FremontChess.com