Lu is perfect, three tie in U1000, and Eftimies top U500
Eric Lu scores 4.0/4 to take first in the Open section. Noah Gin finished second, and Leo Peng took home third. Gabriel Sam continues his strong play to win Best U1200. There were three co-champions in the U1000, but Cassidy Van Vooren topped Shrinidhi Jayakumar, and Carson Van Vooren on tiebreaks. Marc Eftimie won the U500 with 3.0/4 followed by his sister Mara and younger brother Andrew for second and third, respectively. Max Peng won Best U800, Adriana Perkins won Best Unrated.
Karl Tolentino, 2011 ChessPalace Junior Champion
Tolentino is capping his final year of scholastic tournaments with success. Following his American Open crown on Thanksgiving weekend, he wins the 2011 Junior Open with a perfect 4/4. Shyam Gandhi and Steven Molotnikov tied for second with 3/4 each. Molotnikov completed a stellar performance with a 141 rating point gain. Gandhi is in the middle of his consecutive scholastic event, Junior Open was his third in 3 weeks. The Booster saw a three-way tie for first, Leo Peng, Gabriel Sam, and Neil Tendolkar with 3/4 each.
Jin, Belair, and Gandhi Knighted at Regionals Part I
Edward Jin of Beyond Chess, Scott Belair of Chess Palace, and Shyam Gandhi of Irvine Arts and Music championed K-3, K-6, and K-12 sections respectively. In light of the pre-American Open warm-up tournament, these three will battle out two more events to win the Fellowship award. CYCL, ChessPalace, and St. Jeanne win top team honors. Click on the official Regionals site for complete report, photos, and details on Part II and III coming up on October 2nd and 30th, respectively.