MetroWest Chess Club 2006 Scholastic Program

The MetroWest Chess Club (MCC) held its seventh annual summer scholastic program on six consecutive Thursdays from June 27 through August 3, 2006. A total of 44 players turned out for this year's event.

The program followed the format introduced last year. There was an Open tournament (called the "Challenge" tournament last year) that was open to all players under 15 years of age at the end of the tournament. The Open tournament was a six round event with a time control of G/60. One round was played each Thursday. There were also two consecutive Reserve tournaments open to all players under 15 years of age rated under 900. Each Reserve tournament ran three weeks with two rounds per week played at a time control of G/30.

This year's Open tournament drew 18 entries. Michelle Chen of Concord, MA, won the Open tournament convincingly with a score of 5.5. Jeffrey Yao (Lexington), Adam Yee (Andover), Ziv Scully (Brookline), and Zachary Spitz (Westborough) all tied with 4 points. Jeffrey Yao won second place and Adam Yee won third place on tiebreak.

The First Reserve tournament had 20 entrants. Jacob Fong (Wayland) and Siddharth Arun (Medfield) tied for first place with 5 points; Jacob Fong won first place on tiebreak. Tal Puhov (Shrewsbury), Natasha Scaria (Framingham), and Christopher Eddins (Milford) tied for third place with 4 points; Tal Puhov won the third place trophy on tiebreak.

The Second Reserve tournament had 22 players. Nelson Pang (Westborough) and Tal Puhov (Shrewsbury) tied for first place with 5 points. Nelson Pang won the first place trophy on tiebreak, and Tal Puhov won second place. Laurie Chen (Concord) won a clear third place with 4.5 points.

In addition to trophies for the top three finishers, baseball caps embroided with the MetroWest Chess Club logo were awarded to players who scored at least

3.5 points in the Open tournament or 7.5 points in the two Reserve tournaments combined (not counting half point byes). In the Open tournament, hats went to Anirudh Arun (Medfield), Michelle Chen (Concord), Ziv Scully (Brookline), Zachary Spitz (Westborough), Jeffrey Yao (Lexington), and Adam Yee (Andover). In the Reserve tournaments, hats were awarded to Siddharth Arun (Medfield), Tal Puhov (Shrewsbury), and Natasha Scaria (Framingham).

The club thanks all the volunteers who helped make light work of this year's program. In particular, IM Igor Foygel was on hand at the beginning of the program to talk to parents and to answer questions. Congratulations to all our players, and we hope to see you next summer!