Results of the October Scholastic
(Photo, left to right: TD Damian Nash, Liwen Liang, Eric Arikura, Josh Lewis, Caleb White, Benjamin Kim, TD Ed Seid.)
High School and Middle School Combined Section
Congratulations to Josh Lewis, the only player to go 5-0 at the October Scholastic tournament on Saturday, October 22nd. Ranked #2 going in, he managed to upset top-ranked Benjamin Kim in the fourth round. Ben took second place in the High School division and Caleb White finished third.
In the Middle School category, 6th-grader Aurelia White played high-school students in all five rounds, winning four of them and losing a tough game to top-rated Benjamin Kim. She took home the winner's trophy to commemorate her great performance. Here is her second-round victory, which highlights the importance of correct move order in the London System.
Meanwhile Koapaka Satterfield defeated four middle-school players, including an upset victory over Austin Uezu, rated 621 points above him! In the final round on board 1 he finally fell to Josh Lewis, who said he "got lucky" at the end of a long day of chess. Austin Uezu and Avyay Nair tied for 3rd place at 3-2. Austin took home the trophy on tie-breaks.
Elementary and Primary School Combined Section
When the dust settled in the Elementary School section Kulia Shirota-Kapalu was the only 5th-grader with 4 points out of 5. He took home the big trophy despite losing to Rohan Sudagar, who took second place at 3.5. Tom Antin also fell to Rohan but played a great tournament and finished in third place at 3.5.
Because we haven't had a big turnout of kids in grades K-2 yet, the third-graders were included in the Primary division, which is different from the categories at national chess events. Top-rated Aaron Uezu came out on top with a 4-1 score, losing only to 5th-grader Kulia Shirota-Kapalu in the combined section. Second place went to Ta'imua Satterfield who held two fifth-grade trophy winners to draws. Third place went to second-grader Tiago Lum who had a wonderfully upbeat attitude all day, like many of the youngest players.
Official US Chess Federation Rating Report
Mahalo nui loa to the parent volunteers who helped make this tournament possible. Special thanks to Sean Uezu, the HCF Treasurer, who took care of all the entry fees and expenses of the tournament. Very special thanks to Ed Seid, a life-long Honolulu chess enthusiast who brought his directing experience on a day when HCF Secretary Rob Turner couldn't stay for the day to assist.
