Saturday, May 13

SuperNationals VI - Saturday Update

What a spectacular venue for a record setting chess tournament! (credit: GM Maurice Ashley)

Saturday is usually the wildest day at any national scholastic championship with three challenging rounds. Some strong players will spend up to 12 hours at the chess board, where just one mistake can doom the dream of finishing in first. Upsets are the norm and a brutal round 3 this morning has already taken its toll on the competitors. Who will be left standing tonight?

As SuperNationals VI continues, this weekend offers a good opportunity to review past champions. Only a few juniors from Northern California have ever won a national title. However, the Bay Area has become much more competitive over the past five to ten years. Teams from Mission San Jose Elementary in Fremont won a half dozen team championships since 2009. A mini dynasty sprung up in Cupertino as a tight core group tasted victory at Regnart Elementary, Kennedy Middle and Monta Vista High.


NorCal Champions at Nationals (since 2000)

  • K-12 Champs: Vignesh Panchanatham (2016), Kesav Viswanadha (2016), Michael Zhong (2007)
  • K-9 Champs: Vignesh Panchanatham (2014), Gregory Young (2007)
  • K-8 Champs: Siddharth Banik (2013)
  • K-6 Champs: Andrew Hong (2015), Vignesh Panchanatham (2012), Kevin Moy (2012), Daniel Liu (2010)
  • K-5 Champs: Rayan Taghizadeh (2013), Cameron Wheeler (2011), Allan Beilin (2010)
  • K-3 Champs: Balaji Daggupati (2014), Cameron Wheeler (2009), Rahul Desirazu (2006), Daniel Naroditsky (2005)
  • K-1 Champs: Chinguun Bayaraa (2013), Ben Rood (2011), Tanuj Vasudeva (2008), Nicholas Nip (2006)

Champion School Teams (since 2000)

  • K-12 Teams: The Harker School (2016), Monta Vista HS (2015)
  • K-9 Teams: none
  • K-8 Teams: Kennedy MS (2012)
  • K-6 Teams: MSJE (2016, 2015, 2013, 2009), Gomes ES (2014), Weibel ES (2012)
  • K-5 Teams: Gomes ES (2013), Regnart ES (2011)
  • K-3 Teams: MSJE (2014), Weibel ES (2010)
  • K-1 Teams: MSJE (2012)

GM Maurice Ashley signs autographs.
Please contact me if you see a missing name or school. It seems plausible that the US Chess Yearbook may have omitted some winners, especially in case of a tie for first place.

Now back to 2017. The tournament finishes with two rounds on Sunday. Expect high drama, tension and lots of excitement. Will any of the Bay Area kids finish at the top? Stay tuned!


GM Sam Shankland (credit: US Chess)



Standings after Round 5 (minimum 3.0) 



K-12 Championship

IM Cameron Wheeler (credit: US Chess)
  • IM Kesav Viswanadha (MVHS) 4.5 (1st place)
  • IM Vignesh Panchanatham (Harker) 4.0
  • NM Michael Wang (Harker) 4.0
  • IM Cameron Wheeler (MVHS) 3.5
  • Christopher Pan (Mission) 3.5
  • nm Pranav Srihari (Mission) 3.0
  • nm Udit Iyengar (MVHS) 3.0
  • Pranav Senthilkumar (Mission) 3.0
  • Michael Tang (Harker) 3.0
  • Monta Vista High School 14.0 (1st place)
  • The Harker School 12.0 (7th place)
  • Mission San Jose High School 11.5 (9th place)

K-9 Championship

SM Rayan Taghizadeh (credit: US Chess)
  • SM Rayan Taghizadeh 4.5 (2nd place)

K-8 Championship

  • Shaashwath Sivakumar 4.0
  • Abhinav Koka 4.0
  • Jaisuraj Kaleeswaran (Hopkins) 3.0
  • Stanley Ko 3.0
  • Hopkins Junior High School 9.0 (14th place)

K-6 Championship

  • Milind Maiti 4.0
  • William Sartorio 4.0
  • Annapoorni Meiyappan (MSJE) 3.5
  • Shreyas Nayak (MSJE) 3.0
  • Leo Jiang (MSJE) 3.0
  • Mission San Jose Elementary 12.0 (3rd place)

K-5 Championship

  • Vyom Vidyarthi 4.5 (tied for 3rd place)
  • NM Christopher Yoo 4.0
  • Kevin Pan (MSJE) 4.0
  • Maurya Palusa 3.5
  • Abhinav Penagalapati 3.5  
  • Aghilan Nachiappan (MSJE) 3.0
  • Stephen He (MSJE) 3.0
  • Allyson Wong (MSJE) 3.0
  • Leo Jiang 3.0
  • Mission San Jose Elementary 13.0 (3rd place)

K-3 Championship

  • Sriram Krishnakumar 4.0
  • Adrian Kondakov 4.0
  • Nitish Nath 4.0
  • Shaaketh Sivakumar 4.0
  • Nikhil Parvathaneni 4.0
  • Shawnak Shivakumar 3.5

K-1 Championship

  • Kavya Meiyappan (MSJE) 4.5 (6th place)
  • Jason Li-Shen Liu (MSJE) 4.0
  • Lucas Jiang (MSJE) 4.0
  • Omya Vidyarthi 3.0
  • Elizur Fisher-Kirshner 3.0
  • Mission San Jose Elementary 15.0 (1st place)

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