Calchess Scholastic Winter Chess Report

Below is an excerpt from the Calchess Scholastic Coordinator’s Winter Chess Report:

In January, Ray Orwig once again did a stellar job running the Calchess Girls’ State Championship in San Rafael. This was Ray’s seventh year running this event and, as always, it proved to be an ideal showcase for California’s girls to demonstrate their chess talents. On lookers quickly recognized that the largest contingent of girls wore the black shirts of the Weibel Elementary School Chess Team . Head Coach Alan Kirshner’s efforts in promoting chess to girls at Weibel Elementary School evidently paid off as his team won first place in most of the team divisions.

February’s feature scholastic event was Alan Kirshner’s CalNorth Age Level Championships. Despite the tournament being held on Super Bowl Sunday, 500 children showed up and the Newark Pavilion was once again filled to capacity. Coaching demonstrations, simultaneous exhibitions and televised action of the Superbowl kept everyone who was not playing a game of chess thoroughly entertained.

March’s premier scholastic event will be the United States Junior Chess Congress on March 23 and 24. Salman Azhar will again be organizing the event which brings National Championship titles to the Bay Area.  More information on this event can be found at http://www.CalChess.org.

Finally, the winter season is the time of year when astute chess parents make plans for their child’s summer chess camp. The Torres Chess and Music Academy will once again be offering an all-day summer chess camp in Fremont, California at Mission San Jose Elementary School. 15 year veteran chess coach Chris Torres will work with the Mission San Jose Elementary head coach Joe Lonsdale and other talented teachers to run the famous Fremont Summer Chess Camp. In the past this camp has attracted attendees from all over the Bay Area and even as far away as China. As is usually the case, space will be limited and parents are encourages to visit http://www.ChessAndMusic.com to sign up as soon as possible.