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The Mount Wilson Challenge concluded June 4, 2024, with tough competition in both sections. Rohan Daftuar and Axel Muller tied for first place with 4-1 in the over 1400 section. Five players tied for third place, including Mladen Kolar, Forest Sherwood, Kevin Ludwig, Kaiwin Yu and Haig Amloyan. Renton Chandler was clear first in the under 1400 section with a score of 4.5 out of 5. Haoxuan Huang took second at 4-1. And, just like in the top section, another five-way tie for third place with Andrew Chang, Leya Daftuar, Annie Liu, Lawrence Preciado and Daylen Riggs sharing the honors. Congrats to all!

We start Summer Fun 3, a six round tournament, on June 11. See our Calendar for a registration link.

With a surprise visit from Professor Dumbledore (Tim Thompson), the Hogwarts Swiss saw magic and good competition by all 67 participating wizards. The six round event in three sections with a $900 prize fund concluded on August 27, 2024. In Harry’s Over 1600, Ethan Hsiao and Warren Zhang shared first place with scores of 4.5-1.5. It all came down to the last round, with the outcome depending on the results of the top three boards. Zhang and top rated Axel Muller had a hard fought draw on Board 1. This gave Hsiao, who had lost to Zhang in Round 5, a chance to share first with his win over the always tough Amin Zoghlami. Muller, Mladin Kolar, and Andersen Yang shared third place at 4-2.

The Hermione Under 1600 section saw some impressive rating gains by the top finishers. Renton Chandler took clear first with an impressive 5.5-0.5 score and raised his rating from 1266 to 1533. Roberto Argueta and Ryan Lu shared second at 4.5-1.5. Roberto raised his rating from 1030 to 1324 and Ryan went from 1322 to 1455. That’s nearly 700 rating points among the three of them and quite a magical potion we’d all love to discover! In the Ron Under 1000 section, Aron Rivin scored an outstanding 5.5-.5, especially considering this was his first USCF rated event. Alejandro Lopez and Dave Best shared second place with scores of 4-2.

We start the Mount Lowe Swiss on September 10.  Sign up by going to our Calendar.

If you’ve played at San Gabriel Valley Chess Club (SGVCC) it’s very likely you have played a member of the Daftuar family. First, there’s 10 year old Rohan, rated 1867, his eight year old sister Leya, rated 1357, and also dad Sumit, who only started playing last June and has a respectable 1200 rating. Mom Lilyn is part of the team too, helping with much needed transportation and sometimes getting the kids back home early when dad has a long game. It has become quite common to look at the pairings chart and see that all three won their games on a given night. In fact, at the Mount Lowe Swiss in October of 2023 this trio all won prize money. And don’t look now, but little brother Ojas has just started playing rated events.

This ability for everyone in a family to engage in the same activity is truly one of the unique aspects of chess. Unlike other sports or activities, age, gender, or size matter not. You don’t have to be the fastest or the strongest, just play good chess moves! At SGVCC we are pleased to have quite a few chess playing families. Plus, we discount our club membership dues by offering a family membership plan. So as they say, if you’re looking for a night out the whole family can enjoy, SGVCC is your place!