Category: Chess Club News

    Chess Club News Chess Tournaments
    Karl Tolentino Wins Club Championship
    NM Karl Tolentino

    National Master Karl Tolentino is San Gabriel Valley Chess Club’s 2023 Club Champion. He scored an impressive 6.5 out of 7 rounds in a field of 53 players. The event ran from March 21 to May 2 with an awards ceremony held on May 9. Club President John Wright presented Karl with the SGVCC Champions Cup, a perpetual trophy that now bears his name, as our first Club Champion. Karl has been SGVCC’s top rated player since it reopened in Altadena in October of 2021 and has finished first in 10 of the 14 events we have held. His dedication to SGVCC is most appreciated and he is a very deserving Champion!

    Engraved plaques were also given to Best in Rating Class winners. They were as follows:

    – Linus Eisenberg, Best Class B and clear second place;
    – Henry Castro, Best Expert and Nathan Gan, Best Class A and co-third place;
    – Ashley Lin, Best Class C;
    – Derek Li, Best Class D;
    – Jon Serrano, Best Class E; and
    – Leya Daftuar, Best under 1000.

    Local FIDE Master David Bassett donated $50 for an Upset Prize Award for most cumulative upset points. Joshua Sang was the winner, gaining 100 rating points for his effort.

    Congratulations to all the winners! Our 2024 Club Championship will start in March of next year.

    Chess Club News Chess Feature
    Annie Wang Simul and Lecture on May 30, 2023

    We are pleased to announce that International Master Annie Wang will conduct a simultaneous exhibition on May 30, 2023 at our SGVCC location in Altadena.

    International Master Annie Wang started playing chess at the age of five, after encountering the game in a local park. Since then, she has won many local, state, national, and international titles. In 2013, at the age of 11, Annie became the US’s youngest-ever female National Master, breaking Irina Krush’s longstanding record. A few years later, she won the Girls’ Under 16 section of the 2017 World Youth Chess Championships with a score of 10.5/11 and a performance rating of 2589. Annie was the runner-up at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Championship and the winner of the Open section at the 2019 Pan American Junior Chess Championships. More recently, Annie became the 2021 US Girls’ Junior Champion and qualified for a spot on the 2022 US Women’s Olympiad team. Today, Annie is a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she studies computer science.

    Annie will give a lecture starting at 6:30p.m. and the Simul games will start at 7:00. The costs is $25 per player and you can pay at the door (cash or check only). But due to the anticipated interest we recommend you register in advance (please ignore the bye request section, this is not a tournament). Register: here

    Contact John Wright at jw84771@gmail.com or at (626) 864-5744 for more information.

    Chess Club News
    Meet the SGVCC Board of Directors

    San Gabriel Valley Chess Club is a non-profit corporation under IRC Section 501(c)(7). As such, all monies collected or any donations received are used for the benefit of our members. All Board members serve as volunteers without compensation. Please contact us if you would like to donate to SGVCC!

    SGVCC
    John Wright, SGVCC President
    Axel Muller, SGVCC Vice President/Treasurer
    Laura Nystrom, Secretary Emerita
    Randy Hough, Member at Large
    Chess Club News Chess Tournaments
    Play in the SGVCC Championship!

    We are pleased to announce our first Club Championship, a seven round event in one Open Section starting March 21, 2023.  The winner will have their name engraved on our new Perpetual Trophy, a large Loving Cup style trophy that will show the winners for many years to come. We will also have engraved plaques for top Expert, Class A-E, Unrated, and Under 1000.  Each plaque will have the SGVCC Logo and the winners name.  We encourage you to register early as we will likely have to cap entries at 70.  You can sign up at the link on our Calendar page. For further information contact me at wright.john82@yahoo.com.

    The “perpetual trophy” will list Club Champions for many years to come. It’s at the workshop waiting to be engraved.
    “There can be only one!”

    Tentative pairings and standings here: https://caissachess.net/live/2502

    John Wright, SGVCC President

    Chess Club News
    SGVCC Recognizes Laura K. Nystrom

    On March 1, 2023, the San Gabriel Valley Chess Club Board of Directors presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Laura K. Nystrom, who served as Secretary of the Club and was a founding member of the Board of Directors. Laura’s vision of “chess for all” was embodied in the Club Website that she designed and maintained. The Website not only helped to boost the Club’s membership but also served as a resource for the larger chess community. There you could find everything from chess classes for kids to the doings of the burgeoning “LA Chess Social” scene.

    Laura also provided much needed guidance in 2020 when the Club had to close down in Sierra Madre due to COVID after we had only been open four weeks. Her background as a Public Information Officer was essential in helping to establish best practices and the eventual re-launch of the Club in October of 2021 in Altadena. She is stepping down from the Board to focus on her very busy work life and return to graduate school and we wish her all the best. Her many contributions will live on.

    Laura K. Nystrom
    Chess Club News
    NM Tolentino Plays Blitz vs Super GM Nakamura

    Hey Folks- Check out our own Karl Tolentino playing blitz with Nakamura recently. Took place at this Culver City coffee shop Laura has featured in our LA Chess Social Blog. Quite the scene down there these days! 

    John

    First Time (second half of the video, first person was ~expert strength):

    Second Time (second half of the video, first person was master strength):

    Chess Club News Chess Feature
    IM Shlyakhtenko Shows His Prowess!

    IM Robert Shlyakhtenko showed he’s a tough guy to beat at his Simultaneous Exhibition on November 29, 2022. Facing 23 adversaries ready to make their mark he went 22-1, giving up only one loss against Expert Leo Wang. Despite our collective thumping everyone was appreciative that Robert visited the Club. The Simul was preceded by a very instructive lecture where Robert went over one of his many impressive wins. Special thanks to Senior TD Phil Chase for arranging Robert’s visit.

    Leo Wang saves the day with our only win!
    Chess Club News Chess Tournaments
    Happy Holidays from SGVCC!
    Holiday OTB Chess Club in Pasadena
    PLAY IN THE NEW YEAR OPEN

    Hello SGVCC Members – We’ll start the New Year Open, a six round tournament, on January 3, 2023. There will be three sections and the last round ends on February 7th. A registration link with more details is below. The Club is closed on December 20 and 27. On behalf of your SGVCC Board, thanks to our players, parents, and volunteers for a great year. Membership is open to all chess enthusiasts and we hope to see a lot of new faces in 2023!

    https://caissachess.net/online-registration/index/2154

    LA Chess Social
    Chess Club News
    Chess Social!

    (via @chess_social) — Today the Los Angeles Chess Social announced the July event will be held at Griffins of Kinsale in South Pasadena! “As usual, there will be ooooodles of chess, some new live music acts, adult liquids and food!” the announcement, which was sent via email explained. “Chess games will be held on the lower floor, but we may be able to grab some tables outside as well! This may be the last meet at Griffin’s for a while as a remodel is coming, so don’t miss out!”

    • Griffins of Kinsale  [1007 Mission St. South Pasadena 91030]
    • July 30th, 2022
    • 8:00pm-12:30am
    • 18+
    • $10 Suggested Donation

    Please bring a mask!