Maryland Chess Association

1. by John D. Rockefeller V
I first met Ralph through a mutual friend, John Sprague, at the Maryland Open in 2010. Because he knew I had been giving my son, John, chess lessons ever since he turned 2, John Sprague said I had to meet this other Dad who was doing the same thing with his son, Kevin. When Ralph told me that he was a Fide Master and that his wife, Annett, had been the top Under 16 girl in the former East Germany, I joked that John would never be able to catch up because of Kevin’s insurmountable advantage: in-utero chess training. John and Kevin soon became friends, hanging out at tournaments and going to each other’s birthday parties. When Ralph first invited John to 1 of Kevin’s birthday parties, he made it very clear that I should understand what we were agreeing to. Ralph warned me that I wasn’t being invited to some typical American birthday party that lasts only 2 hours; no, we had been extended a European invitation—which meant we should count on being at the Zimmers’ all afternoon and most of the evening. The other thing I remember learning that day during my first visit to the Zimmers’ house, was that Ralph put hot sauce on everything. According to Ralph, there wasn’t anything that didn’t taste better with hot sauce.

Click below for more of the 3 eulogies:

2019 Maryland Sweet 16 - Jason Daniels is Champion!

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by Chris Y Kim

Day 2 of the 2019 Maryland Sweet 16 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country (UMBC) exhibited some excitement at the top in addition to the snowy weather. In Round 3, co-leaders Jason Daniels and Bijan Tahmassebi (the top 2 rated players) met on the top board. Daniels prevailed in a tight game with the black pieces. This set up a round 4 matchup with the other co-leader Jeffery Du, who had won his 3rd round match with Ryan He. Both Daniels (White) and Du (Black) fought in a tense match that ended in an agreed draw - leaving both players tied for first at 3.5 points.

An Armagggedon quick game playoff followed with White having 15 mintues (increment 5) and Black having 10 minutes (increment 5). Daniels (leader on tiebreaks) chose to be Black. With an audience of around 20 watching, Du started with an English opening, and 20 minutes later Daniels emerged as the victor and the recepient of a tuition scholarship to UMBC.

In tiebreak order, here are the final standings with the USCF ratings:

3.5: Jason Daniels (2187), Jeffrey Du (2043)

3.0: Bijan Tahmassebi (2107)

2.5: Douglas Malcolm (2014), Chen-Chen Ye (1927)

2.0: Andrew Diep (1964), Ryan He (1937), Bradley Guo (1841), Max Mathura (1834), Ariel Joshi (1686)

1.5: Sean Power (1950), Joseph Tarantin (1874), Anthony Granruth (1778)

1,0: Ritz Ballares (1871), Satvik Lolla (1888)

0.5: Emerson Holcomb (1746)

2019 Maryland Sweet 16 - Day 1

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by Chris Y Kim

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Day 1 (2 rounds) of the 2019 Maryland Sweet 16 tournament has a 3-way tie for the lead - the top 3 seeds Jason Scott Daniels, Bijan Tahmassebi, and Jeffrey Du. It has been a competitive two rounds so far in this annual invitational tournament showcasing the top Maryland scholastic players and is increasing in strength every year. [Former winners of the tournament are not allowed to compete.] Half the field played last year. This has a potential for an exciting Day 2 tomorrow with the top two seeds meeting on Board 1 in Round 3! There is a threat of snow for Round 4, which may make the finale interesting.

In Ratings order, here are the standings with the USCF ratings:

2.0: Jason Scott Daniels (2187); Bijan Tahmassebi (2107); Jeffrey Du (2043)

1.5: Ryan He (1937)

1.0: Douglas Malcolm (2014); Andrew Diep (1964); Sean Kee Power (1950); Chen-Chen Ye (1927); Joseph Tarantin (1874); Bradley Guo (1841); Max Mathura (1834)

0.5: Ritz Ballares (1871); Emerson Holcomb (1746); Ariel Joshi (1686)

0.0: Satvik Lolla (1888); Anthony Granruth (1778)

Here are the pairings for Round 3 that will start at 10:30 Sunday morning (White listed first):

1: Bijan Tahmassebi (2.0) vs Jason Scott Daniels (2.0)

2: Ryan He (1.5) vs Jeffrey Du (2.0)

3: Douglas Malcolm (1.0) vs Joseph Tarantin (1.0)

4: Chen-Chen Ye (1.0) vs Andrew Diep (1.0)

5: Max Mathura (1.0) vs Sean Kee Power (1.0)

6: Ritz Ballares (0.5) vs Bradley Guo (1.0)

7: Emerson Holcomb (0.5) vs Ariel Joshi (0.5)

8: Anthony Granruth (0.0) vs Satvik Lolla (0.0)

MD-Sweet-16 2019 FINAL STANDINGS 2019.02.24

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by John D. Rockefeller V & Chris Y. Kim

Welcome to the 2018-2019 qualifying season for the Maryland Sweet 16 2019 on 2019.03.02-03. Since 1995 this annual invitational tournament has featured 16 of the top K-12 Maryland players competing in a separate section of the UMBC Open at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The MD-Sweet-16 tournament-announcement page contains all tournament details, including qualification rules & Varsity-Points scoring rules. The MD-Sweet-16 Champion will receive a MD-Sweet-16 UMBC Chess Scholarship, valued at $47,112. (There are 2 additional types of UMBC Chess Scholarships for which high-school seniors from any state are eligible.)

9 of the 9 scheduled MD-Sweet-16 Qualifiers in this qualifying season have been completed. The Final Standings include the results of MD Chess Roland Park February II on 2019.02.23.

Click below for the current MD-Sweet-16 Qualifiers, 2 Alternates, Backup Alternates, & Full Standings.

MD's National Champion Sahil Sinha at K-12 Grade National Championships 2018

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by John D. Rockefeller V

Congratulations to MD’s Top-20 Finishers at K-12 Grade National Chess Championships 2018:

Tied for 1st: Sahil Sinha (2329), 12th grader at Poolesville High School
Tied for 13th: Max Mathura (1799), 9th grader at Blake High School
Tied for 9th: Hanchi Yao (1467), 2nd grader at Spark Matsunaga Elementary School
Tied for 12th: Zhonghee Yao (671), Kindergardener at Spark Matsunaga Elementary School

Click below for the tournament’s US Chess Crosstables, Trophy Winners, Individual Standings, Team Standings, & Tournament-Announcement Page.

Greater Baltimore Scholastic 2018 Champions

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by John D. Rockefeller V

Congratulations to the Greater Baltimore Scholastic 2018 Chess Champions:

HS Champion: Isaac Chiu (2276), 11th grader at Langley High School (VA)
HS Team Champion: Montgomery Blair High School
MS Champion: Charles Hua (2086), 7th grader at NEST+m School (NY)
MS Team Champion: Burleigh Manor Middle School
ES Champion: Tyler He (1295), 5th grader at Cold Spring Elementary School
ES Team Champion: Cold Spring Elementary School

Click below for the tournament’s Final Standings (MD Chess's Crosstables), US Chess Crosstables, photos (if any), highlight video (if any), & a list of the 10+ annual open tournaments run by MD Chess to any 3 of which each of the HS, MS, & ES Individual Champions will receive free Early entry.

Results of MD's Denker, Barber, Girl, & Senior 2018 Representatives

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by John D. Rockefeller V

Congratulations to Maryland's Denker, Barber, Girl, & Senior 2018 Representatives:

Sahil Sinha (2336), 11th grader at Poolesville HS, tied for 5^th place at the Denker Tournament of HS Champions & received MD Chess's Denker Stipend of $750;
Pieter Heesters (2228), 8th grader at Calvert S, tied for 22^nd place at the Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions & received MD Chess's Barber Stipend of $750;
Anushka Skariah (1104), 4th grader at Northfield ES, tied for 26^th place at the National Girls Tournament of Champions & received MD Chess's National Girls Stipend of $750;
MD's team of Denker, Barber, & Girls Representatives tied for 18^th place;
Stuart Varden (1870) tied for 30^th place at the National Senior Tournament of Champions.

Click below for the Final Standings of the Denker, Barber, Girls, & Senior tournaments—& MD's team standings:

Mid-Atlantic Blitz & Bughouse Scholastic 2018 Champions

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by John D. Rockefeller V

Congratulations to:

Mid-Atlantic Blitz Scholastic 2018 Champion: Philip Keisler (2056), 12th grader at Edmund Burke School;
Mid-Atlantic Bughouse Scholastic 2018 Team Champions: Max Mathura (1762), 8th grader at Heights School, & Shiyam Rupeshkumar (1717), 7th grader at Chesapeake Science Point Charter School.

Click below for the tournament’s Final Standings (MD Chess's Crosstables), US Chess Crosstables, photos (if any), & highlight video (if any):

Mid-Atlantic Spring Scholastic 2018 Champion

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by John D. Rockefeller V

Congratulations to the Mid-Atlantic Spring Scholastic 2018 Chess Champion: Isaac Chiu (2216), 10th grader at Langley High School (VA).

The Champion will receive free Early entry to 3 of any of the 15+ annual open tournaments run by MD Chess or Baltimore Chess.

Click below for the tournament’s Final Standings (MD Chess's Crosstables), US Chess Crosstables, photos (if any), highlight video (if any), & a list of the 15+ annual open tournaments run by MD Chess or Baltimore Chess:

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Maryland Chess Assn.