This is not meant to be a comprehensive coverage of the championships itself but mainly about players from Loudoun County. Yep, that means students from Loudoun schools, players that frequent Leesburg Chess Club and the Carver Center events.

This year's Virginia State Scholastics Championships were held in Charlottesville, home to Thomas Jefferson at his Monticello estate.

This year there were about 580 competitors from all over the state. The most interesting new thing was the introduction of a blitz event split into K-5 and K-12. As usual, Fairfax county turned out their usual A list chess schools of Greenbriar West, Bull Run, Churchill Road, Thomas Jefferson High and a whole host of others. The Richmond area were well represented by Three Chopt and Echo Lake to name a couple.

From Loudoun County, we had the following players in no particular order:
Clinton May (GMU)
Carlo del Mundo (Stone Bridge HS)
Matthew Montera (Stone Bridge HS)
Abhijeet Prasad (Stone Bridge HS)
Nihar Sannala (Stone Bridge HS)
Jerad Engebreth (Stone Bridge HS)
Eric Cawi (Stone Bridge HS)
Andrew Simmons (Stone Bridge HS)
Nishanth Sajja (Weller ES)
Sowmya Sajja (Weller ES)
Akshita Gorti (Liberty ES)
Sai Bhavesh Kodali (Weller ES)
Wyatt Marvil (Mountain View ES)
Clark Smiley (Belmont Ridge MS)
Jennifer Smiley (Sanders Corner ES)
Alex Chang (Newton Lee ES)
Joseph Tan (Horizon ES)

I was able to meet with and talk with everyone except for one. We can't forget the support crowd and they were (besides yours truly):

Mark and Cathy Smiley
Albert Faraone
Dino and Lance Obregon
Herky del Mundo
David Marvil
Vijaya Saradhi Sajja & the Mrs.
Steve Cawi
Eric Engebreth
Sam Chang
Claire Tan

Please forgive me if I have forgotten anyone. Thanks to everyone for coming and participating as a community. Thanks also for the water and drinks that some of you brought in.

The event was very well run and organized. There were many parent volunteers as well as TDs that put in time and energy into making it all work for the kids.

The tournament started Friday night with the Stone Bridge HS kids and the Tan family arriving early. Jared Engebreth and Matthew Montera from Stone Bridge HS and Joseph Tan participated in their repective sections for the Blitz event. Watching more than a hundred kids playing blitz is just a little odd as you hear a constant rattle of chess pieces and clocks getting punched. It was tremendously fun though and certainly got the endorphins flowing. The best rule for blitz was that if both you and your opponent didn't have a clock, the TD would rule it a double forfeit! The highlight for Joseph was beating an opponent that he didn't expect to beat due to their rating difference. That in itself was worth the evening.

At this point, I'd like to introduce Al Faraone, who is the main teacher sponsor of the Stone Bridge HS chess club. Previously, I had met Al at our most recent LCC tournament at the Carver Center but that had been rather busy for me so we didn't get to chat a whole lot. This time I was able to meet him and get to know him a little better and recognize that their chess club could excel hugely because of his strong support and guidance at Stone Bridge.

The blitz event went late and it is tough getting enough sleep because the younger ones are all excited and you want to rush back to the hotel and make them hit the sack because tomorrow is the big day for the Main Event.

Saturday started out with the usual briefings for competitors and last minute instructions. The pairings were already up as the organizers had put them up the night before after everyone had left. We got into our team room and met for the first time as a group. There were a few last second issues like 'Where did we put the clock?'

The K-12 and College sections were in a separate room than the younger sections. Clinton May had told me that the George Mason University team was there as defending champions. The cafeteria was chock full of parents and their kids during the whole time. Clusters formed around parents and families that knew each other either through schools or through local tournaments.

Things got going pretty quickly and as a TD, I can tell you that the first round is the hardest administratively because so many things need to be worked out. After that, things settle down and people know the routine - most of them anyway.

This was the second time that I had seen a state level scholastic competition so I had some idea of what to expect. With the school teams that had a tradition of being at these tournaments, there were always the more experienced parents or coaches helping the first timers (I mean the parents, not the kids) get used to the sheer scale and chaos that seems to surround them. Often, the reaction is to buckle down and face the basic issues like, "Have you gone to the restroom?" or "Are you hungry?" There is always anxiety and the environment and atmosphere just makes it more acute. At some point in the morning, within the first two hours or so, it finally hits the parent... "This is serious. This isn't just another silly little local tournament anymore. The competition here is good."

I didn't see any adult running and screaming out of their mind when those thoughts went through their mind but let me assure you, there were at least a couple with eyes wider than usual for about 10 seconds. After that, the pressure beings to build. You try not to have too high an expectation and you begin to search for the right level of support, encouragement and/or nonchalance to project. It is always harder on the parents than the competitors.

Between Al, Herky and Dino, the biggest question in the morning was how well the Stone Bridge HS team was going to do. Would there be a wipeout or would they actually be able to pick up a few games? The truth be told, things did not go easily but they did manage to score points which helped them feel better and more confident as the rounds went on. In between rounds, the players diligently went through their games like veteran competitors. The learned from their mistakes and started to build for the future even as they were working to do the best they could for this tournament.

In one round, Carlo del Mundo faced an opponent that was far higher rated than he was but was able to obtain a better position. Even Fritz agreed that he was about 2.5 pawns ahead. Unfortunately, the clock wasn't cooperating and he lost this particular game on time but left him knowing that he can do well against stronger opposition.

As the rounds wore on, Herky, Dino and Al were trying to calculate their chances of getting a trophy or getting into the top 5 teams in the High School section. There were times when it was too close to call a particular result since there were some teams that were within striking distance. The powerhouse in the high school section was Thomas Jefferson who had won the team title for 10 years in a row.

So, how did things end up for Stone Bridge?

Looks like all three of them can't quite agree on who's taking it home. Here's the team photo:

Stone Bridge finishes at 3rd in the team event. For a new school, that is like a bolt from the blue.

What about the rest of the players from Loudoun?

Well, this is Nishanth Sajja I believe getting his trophy in K-3. Weller Elementary School, which has Nishanth, his sister Sowmya and cousin Sai came in 10th team in K-3.

Carlo for coming in 15th in K-12.

I don't have am individual photo of Alex Chang but he got 18th in K-3 knocking out players much higher rated than he was along the way.

Here with a slightly overweight piece of hardware is Joseph who got 5th in K-5 and 3rd in K-5 blitz.

As a final word, this really isn't on just the players that won some hardware. It is about everyone that backs them up. It is about everyone that they learned from and played with over the years. I remember bringing Joseph to Leesburg Chess Club way back two years ago and his getting beaten over the board by Larry and Lloyd who were kind enough to play him even though he was only 7. If it wasn't for those humble beginnings, he wouldn't have improved. Every player has a similar story of the same sort. It is easy to measure progress by trophies but it is more meaningful to measure progress by remembering who helped you and shared the games with you.