League Match #1 / October 20th.
The first of 4 League Matches traditionally held in Tucson for all the scholastic players took place October 20th. Our local Chess Organization (SACA) was able to secure the very comfortable and spacious Harelson Elementary School for our first match of the new school year. This tournament was the successful flashback from 3 years ago when such an event catered to both Team and Individual sections in the same tournament.
There were 7 sections in the Team Division (typically with 8 teams per section) which were further divided into K-1, K-3, K-5 and K-8 sections. Some players actually can end up play older kids in a different section to help schools make better teams. That is where the individual knowledge of each student is so important for a successful coach.
The Individual sections saw numerous young chess enthusiasts of all ages ranging from a Pre-K age group all the way to 8th grade compete for trophies and medals.It was very exciting to see how many 6 year olds concentrated throughout the entire game and tried everything possible to swing the chances to their side.
I am very pleased to announce that IST had 3 teams represented in this event and both teams competing in K-3 came on top, placing 1st and 2nd in their divisions! I do hope for the next event we can have even more players with more teams represented across the board.
Congratulations to all who played, all the involved parents who didn’t mind spending the Saturday afternoon away from home and Coach Matt for such a wonderful result. And this is just the beginning of the season! I am looking forward to the next event (which will be held in exactly same format as the League Match #1) on November 10th.
Good luck,
IST Coach IM Levon Altounian