On Saturday, April 22, I hosted the Daily Chess Musings Spring Invitational Chess Tournament at the Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills, California. This was a very special event for me as it was the first invitational chess tournament I have organized since the onset of the pandemic. As is my tradition, there was no entry fee for this event and spots were awarded to my students based on merit as a reward for their hard work in class.
The format for the Spring Invitational was a four player round robin known as a chess quad. Waiting at the board for each child was a goody bag full of Daily Chess Musings merchandise. After my brief opening remarks, Round 1 began at 10:00 am. Lunch was provided to participants at noon with Round 3 will beginning at 12:30. The day ended with an award ceremony as each quad finished which included chess trophies that are led Knights for the first place finishers.
While children competed, the parents enjoyed the casual ambiance of the Fremont Hills Country Club in which to socialize. The high point for me was watching twenty of my students meet, compete in person and forge new friendships. During the coming week, I will look through all the games with the participants in order to show each player where he or she can make improvements.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that April 22 was also the birthday of Anushka Patil. Though she didn’t win first place in her quad, the birthday girl had a blast competing at the DCM Spring Invitational in Los Altos Hills. Those who pay attention to detail might also recognize this talented youngster as one of my chess students featured on the cover of the CalChess Journal standing next to Magnus Carlsen!
It was truly inspiring to walk around a chess tournament made up entirely of hardworking young chess players. As you might expect, the event featured plenty of exciting chess. Below is remarkable position which caught my eye as I passed by. Kevin Huang (black) found a game winning tactical combination beginning with 20… Bh3. However, black actually had more accurate continuation that was a mate-in-6. Can you spot it?
Congratulations to all the players who participated and especially those who took first place in their sections. For more information on Daily Chess Musings invitational chess tournaments and/or to have your child participate in a future event, please send a letter of inquiry to DailyChessMusings@gmail.com.