He Goes To 11

Phillip leads Illinois 11-year-olds; Ray shows up big at Wells tourney

Ray School sixth-grader Phillip Parker-Turner is the number-one eleven-year-old chess player in the state of Illinois, according to the latest ratings supplement from the United States Chess League. Phillip, whose rating has risen sharply this year, is now at 1631, which makes him number 65 nationally in his age group and higher than any eleven-year-old in the Land of Lincoln.

Phillip won another tournament earlier this month, finishing first in the Advanced section at the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago meet at Wells Prep.

Ray was a big factor in that event overall, it turns out. Acquiting themselves well while being forced to play in the tournaments's combined Intermediate/Advanced section were Ray School's Abdel Raoul and George Vassilatos. The competition there is really tough, but both boys scored victories.

Making what may have been her tournament debut was George's youunger sister Angeliki Vassilatos, who also got on the board with a victory. Ray’s Oliver Jiang, a player with whom I admit I’m not familiar, scored a very impressive 3.5/5 to finish 26th among 129 players in the Beginner section.

Congratulations to all Ray chess players, and good luck in 2010.

Trophy Kids

Phillip Parker-Turner gets taller every year, but so do the trophies he wins.

Congratulations to Ray's George Vassilatos for winning a trophy at November 8 Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago tournament at Burbank School, and to Phillip Parker-Turner for finishing in first place in the 5th-grade section of the Illinois All-Grade Championships.

More photos from the All-Grade here, courtesy of Phillip's dad.

And Howe!

It wasn’t the best of times, it wasn’t the worst of times; for the Ray School chess squad it was somewhere in between at yesterday’s tournament at the Julia Ward Howe School on the West Side, organized and directed by the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago.

Ray’s Sonam Ford and George Vassilatos did win trophies at the sparsely attended meet, though the big winner of the day was Coach Trevor Scott’s Disney Magnet School, which won the team competition as it has so many times in the past year. Disney may now have eclipsed Burbank as the dominant elementary school in the Chicago public schools.

Peterson Elementary’s Jace Miyagi won the intermediate division, and top honors in the beginner’s section went to Justin Buschnyj of Burley School. The tournament’s overall champion was Brandon Truitt of Burbank, who won the advanced section, though not before Sonam spoiled Brandon’s perfect score for the day by beating him in a thrilling final-round game. Sonam finished in second place overall with 3.5/5. George’s 4.0/6 gave him an eighth-place finish and his second trophy this year in the beginner section.

More photos here; complete standings here.

All Is Wells

Small Ray squad scores big at South Side tourney

Only four kids from Ray School played in Saturday’s chess tournament at Wells Prep, but every one of them went home with a trophy, the first time that’s happened in a citywide event.

(Full standings here for the tournament, sponsored by the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago and hosted by nearby Wells Prep on Pershing Road. More photos here.)

Competition for overall tournament champion came down to a head-to-head match between two Ray kids: Phillip Parker-Turner and Sonam Ford, who entered the final round leading the heady advanced section. It was not the first time that has happened: Phillip and Sonam have each won the section in previous tournaments, and they have been battling for the league’s top spot all year.

This time Phillip won the fifth-round game between the two to emerge as the day’s top player among a throng of 150. In other divisions, Ray third grader George Vassilatos won his first trophy, with a 4.0/5 eighth-place finish in the beginner section, and fifth-grader Andy Margulis, playing his first tournament as an intermediate, proved that he certainly belongs in that highly competitive section by winning a fourth-place trophy, also with a 4.0/5 score.

Congratulations to Disney Magnet School and Coach Trevor Scott for winning its fourth YCFC team competition; to Lorenzo Grego of Ancona School for winning the beginner competition; and to Jabari Dean of Cook School for finishing first in Intermediate.

Thanks to the YCFC for another great tournament and to David Layne and everyone at Wells for their first-rate hospitality.

Click for more:

Final Standings
More photos

In the Magic Kingdom

Host school Disney triumphs in YCFC opener, as Ray kids shine in all divisions

Walt Disney Magnet School on North Marine Drive yesterday hosted the long-awaited season opener of the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago. The tournament saw outstanding performances by both new and veteran players.

Tournament results are here and more photos are here.

Top Ray players

The Disney Team

Some of the highlights:

Four Ray players won trophies at the event, including fourth grader Phillip Parker-Turner, who was the tournament’s top player overall, finishing first in the Advanced division.

Tournament host Disney Magnet School, under Coach Trevor Scott, won the team competition (Beginner division), continuing a surge the up-and-coming program began at the end of last season.

Ray’s Sonam Ford, playing his first tournament in the Advanced group, won a trophy for coming in third in that category. Finishing second, between Phillip and Sonam, was Burbank Elementary star Christopher Velazquez, who handed Phillip his only defeat of the day.

Allen Dai, a Ray second grader, finished second in the Intermediate division with an outstanding 5.0/6, losing first place to Lab School’s Arthur Chang only on statistical tiebreaks. Disney’s Delvin Hajdarevic, who came in third, also scored 5.0/6.

Fifth grader Andy Margulis of Ray finished fifth in the 80-player beginner division, which was won by Cook School’s Nyshya Pollard, who was playing in her first YCFC tournament. Since it was Andy’s third top-ten finish, he will advance to Intermediate at the next tournament, as will Nyshya automatically for coming in first.

Two Ray students, Joshua Anderson and Zion Richardson, played in their first tournament. They joined returning veterans Kaytlyn James, Lauren James, and George Vassilatos. All together, nine Ray kids played in the tournament.

Two new schools, Cook and Clinton, joined the league for the first time, and Fulton School, under Coach Eric Santos, returned after having made its first YCFC appearance last spring.

Unsolved chess mystery: Powerhouse Burbank Elementary, 21 strong, came with its normally huge contingent of players, yet I didn’t see one of their signature blue shirts all day. Is being inconspicuous part of Burbank’s new strategy?

Congratulations to the YCFC’s Mike Cardinale, John Lee, Saadiq Sajjaad, and their legions of volunteer helpers, for an excellent season opener. Next tournament: December 15, at a location to be announced. Watch this space for details.

Home Court Advantage

Ray kids stand out at neighborhood tournament

The last chess tournament of the school year turned out to be one of the best, as Ray kids took advantage of their superior numbers at a meet held here in Hyde Park yesterday to win three team trophies with a clean sweep of all elementary-school divisions.

Chess Education Partners’ Zack Fishman with the trophy-laden Ray School team

In the first of what we hope will be many tournaments at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club conducted by Chess Education Partners, Ray took first place in the K-1, Grades 2-3, and Grades 4-5 categories.

Ray students also brought home eight individual trophies, a school record for a single event. Leading the way was Phillip Parker-Turner, who finished first in the Grades 2-3 division with a perfect five victories in as many rounds. Other Ray kids who won trophies were Allen Dai, Karen Dai, Sonam Ford, Gonzalo Higuero, James Liu, Nikolaj Reiser, and George Vassilatos.

Kids from other schools who posted excellent records included Mickey Li, Brian Lorenz, Noah Weeks-Brittan, Zackery Mateo Montes, and Stone Tao. See the complete results here.

It was a great way to finish up the season, and we didn’t even have to leave the neighborhood. Thanks to Zack Fishman, Jan van der Mortel, and Bruce Haffner from Chess Education Partners and to Peter Cassel of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club for hosting the event. Look for more programs from CEP at the Neighborhood Club in the fall.

More photos here.

And don’t forget: We’ll be back playing chess again next Saturday afternoon at the University of Chicago. See you there.