8th
Boston Youth Chessfest
January
14, 2001
by Gus Gosselin
The
8th Boston Youth Chessfest was held on
Sunday, January 14 at the Jamaica Plain Community Center also known as English
High School. The success of the event was created by the 125 youngsters attending
the event and the numerous volunteer helpers. The Community Centers of Boston again obtained the site for the
children, and provided a small snack and refreshments. Sandy Holden of the
Community Centers of Boston deserves a big thank you for her effort.
The
event was well covered by the press and TV stations. Many of the newspapers
carried pictures and articles about the Chessfest and TV stations aired it on
the 10:00PM news. The Chessfest had a total 8 sections determined by age and a
Shark sections for players that had a ratings 900 or over. The tournament
attracted many inner-city children and first time players.
Life
Master Eric Godin conducted a series of
lectures on how to improve your game using a demonstration board. He
also held a simultaneous match. The lecture guaranteed better chess for those
participating in them.
This
year three teams from high schools played and were able to hone their skills
for team play in their respective leagues. The coaches were excited about the
tournament experiences their players were having. Many thanks to the coaches
who made the effort to get their teams to the tournament. Next year trophies
will be given out to top teams.
The
tournament winners by section were:
In
the Age 8 & Under Section Michael Keselman of Newton placed first with a
perfect score of 4-0, Jeffery Hu of Wayland placed 2nd with a score of 3
1/2-1/2, Andrew Harvey of Portsmouth, NH placed 3rd with a score of 3-1 on a
tie break. Top female trophy was won by Elizabeth Harvey of Portsmouth, NH with
a score of 3-1. Winning Chess Medals were Joshua Barron of Newton , Emilio
Stranbel of Amesbury, and Glennon Montgomery of Roxbury all with scores of 3-1.
Andrew
Mui of Dover finished 1st in the Age 10 & Under Section with perfect score
of 4-0. Paul Kreiner of Hyde Park won the 2nd place trophy with a score of 3
1/2-1/2, Steve Chen of Boston won the
3rd place trophy with a score of 3-1.
The top female trophy was won by Sara Itani of Easton with a score of 3-1.
Matthew Arbesfeld of Lexington won a Chess Medal with a score of 3-1
Scoring
a perfect 4-0 Andrew Koines of Sharon won 1st place in the Age 12 & Under
section. Adrian Zalewski of Central
Falls, RI captured 2nd place with a score of 3-1. Third place went to Jordan
Davis of Boston on a tie break with a
score of 3-1. Nitta Ramvineth of Natick
won the top Female trophy.
Picking
up a Chess Medal was David Toropov of Middletown . .
In
the 14 & Under Section Ke Zhang of Boston captured 1st place with a perfect
score of 4-0. Following in 2nd place was Ari Shatz of Brookline with a score of
4-0 on a tie break. 3rd place was taken by Edgar Garzon of Central Falls, RI on
a tie break. Yodelnis De’Jesus won the top female trophy. Chess Medal winners
were Derek Gavelis and David Murphy of Natick with scores of 3-1.
Due
to the low number players in the Age 19 & Under Section it was combined
with the Age 16 & Under Section. Scoring 1st in the U16 section was Dan
Newman of Pawtucket, RI with 3 1/2 - 1/2. Ryan Bersani of Brockton won 2nd place in the U16 Section. Third
place U16 was captured by Chris Fitzgerald of South Boston. First place U19 was
won by J. Guenson Lotin of Dorchester,
Second U19 was won by Jerry Trabucco of Dorcester. Joe Gavin of South Boston
won 3rd place.
A
total of 14 players played in the Shark Pool. (No Guppies) here, ratings were
basically 820 to 1409 and competition keen. The players fell into two Shark
Sections, Age 12 & Under over 900
and Age 19 & Under over 900. Age 19 & Under produced the following
winners, Christo Estremera of Boston won the first place trophy with a score of
3 1/2 -1/2. Nikita Konovalchuk of Natick won the second place trophy with a
score of 3-1. Alex Lee of Natick won a Chess Medal. Age 12 & Under had the
following winners based on tie breaks, 1st Daniel Holstein of North Easton with
a score of 3-1 , 2nd Jason Stroll of
Lincoln with a score of 3-1, 3rd was John Liu of Cambridge with a score
of 3-1
I
would like to thank the following people who helped in making this event a
success, Charley Clearly of Dorchester,
Mary Durr of Newton, Steve Frymer of Lexington, Anthony Gavelis of Natick, Life
Master Eric Godin of Boston, Lisa Kupstas of Roslindale, Bob Messenger of NH,
Peter Lee of Natick, Maryanne Reilly of Newton, Harvey Reed of Natick and Paul
Taylor of RI. The tournament started on time more or less and was over at
3:05PM. It was fun for the children and I’m sure they learned a lot from Eric
Godin’s lectures.
Participation
Certificates were presented to all players. Every year the Boston Chessfest
improves, and next years Chessfest will be even better with the Shark Section
being rated, and with the addition of team play. Donations to the Living
Memorial Chess Fund makes the “ Boston Youth Chessfest” possible. The Event was
organized by Gus Gosselin of Malden.
Gus
Gosselin