200 Players Competed in the 2010 US Junior Chess Congress in Indianapolis
By Scott Reisinger   
February 24, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA-Multiple snowstorms did not stop two hundred scholastic players, representing fourteen states, from arriving in Indianapolis, Indiana from February 19-22, 2010 for this year’s US Junior Chess Congress.  The event was held in a new venue this year at the Radisson Hotel at the Indianapolis International Airport.  Also new this year was a change in format in which players competed in sections based on grade level.

In the 12th grade & Under section, Josh Matti from Wawasee, Indiana turned in the only undefeated score of the weekend and won the section by a full point.  Matti defeated both second and third place finishers, expert Daniel Gator and Daniel Ryker.  Here is one his games:

4209

The team championship was dominated by the Canterbury School from Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Jacob Weaver came up with timely victories in both rounds on Sunday to emerge as the 8th grade & Under champion with five points.  He was closely followed by four players, Amador Delamerced, Aravindakrishna Ganapathy, Bryan Kapke, and Benjamin Nielsen, all scoring four and a half wins.  Nielsen also led the team champions, the Twin Cities Chess Club from Illinois, to victory.

Two players tied in the 6th grade & under division with five and a half points.  Shangbo Liao edged out Peter Chen on tie breaks to be crowned champion.  They were closely followed by Shayna Provine in third place with five points.  Liao and Chen were teammates that led the Michigan Maniacs Chess Club to victory in the team competition.

In the 3rd & under section, Canterbury School’s Sam Witwer won on tiebreaks over Jason Zhou after the two finished the tournament with a draw in the final round to both finish with five and a half points.  Witwer repeated as champion as he was also the age 8 & under champion in 2009.  The Twin Cities Chess Club won the team championship with seventeen and a half points, followed closely by the Canterbury School with sixteen.

The Friday night blitz tournament, played in two sections, was won by Sameer Manchanda in the 12th & under section, and Justin Chen of Michigan in the 6th & under section.  In a second side event held on Saturday night, two bughouse teams were also crowned champions.  The team of David Witwer and Michael Tzolov won in the 12th & Under, while the 6th & under team of Justin and Joy Chen were victorious.

Special thanks to tournament directors Terry and Tracey Vibbert for donating DGT chess boards to broadcast the top games in progress into the skittles area. The chief tournament director was Walter Brown.  The organizer was Scott Reisinger.  Full results can be found at http://www.2010ChessCongress.com.