Disney Dominates Kennicott Meet

But Ray kids win trophies

Disney Elementary Magnet School under Coach Trevor Scott may be the hottest team on the city chess circuit these days following back-to-back victories in the last two tournaments of the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago. After winning first place in the beginner division at the Ray School tournament in March, Disney repeated the feat at the May 19 match at Kennicott Park.

Ray had a small squad at the tournament, as often happens this time of year, but two of our kids won individual trophies nonetheless. Sonam Ford, playing in only his second YCFC tournament, took first place in the intermediate division, while Phillip Parker-Turner finished second in the outstanding advanced field, where almost all the players are older than him. With a 3.5/5.0, Phillip finished just a half point behind Burbank Elementary superstar Christopher Velazquez. Sonam, meanwhile, beat 18 of the best elementary-school chess players in town to finish on top in his category.

Disney’s team victory was in no small part the result of the school’s top two performers, who finished first and second in the beginner category. Delvin Hajdarevic’s 4.5/5.0 landed him in first place, and teammate Jonathan Klein finished right behind him with 4.0/5.0.

Hyde Park was well represented in the standings, by Ancona’s Kamal Bilal and Lab’s Jason Chang, who finished third and fourth respectively on tiebreaks, each with 4.0/5.0.

Full standings here.

Congratulations to Trevor and the whole Disney team; to Christopher, Sonam, Phillip and all the other kids who won trophies.

And finally, thanks to the YCFC squad for another year of excellent tournaments: Mike Cardinale, John Lee, Val Halliday, Saadiq Sajjaad, and their many volunteer helpers. These folks make it look easy, though it certainly is not.