York Prep's First Chess Tournament
by Michael Ward
York Prep's inaugural Chess Tournament included 22 high school bracket students and 20 middle school bracket students. The standard of excellence was incredibly high throughout the tournament and some brilliant matches were played, starting in the early stages of the competition.
York Prep's inaugural Chess Tournament included 22 high school bracket students and 20 middle school bracket students. The standard of excellence was incredibly high throughout the tournament and some brilliant matches were played, starting in the early stages of the competition.
Early on in the middle school bracket, some very strong and dominant players emerged. Chess club stalwarts (and rivals) Isaac Mah, 6th grade and Andrew Ryabkov, 6th grade were progressing swiftly through the early rounds. Haroun Prospere, 8th grade and Carter Zhang, 7th grade were also surprising the competition with their thoughtful and strategic gameplay. Isaac defeated Kaiden Viashnavi, 6th grade and Carter produced a huge upset against Andrew to set up an exciting final between Carter Zhang and Isaac.
Carter and Isaac were closely matched and commenced the final with a solid opening. Carter tested Isaac’s defensive play early in the match, but Isaac’s defense came up strong and he managed to gain control of the board. Carter’s defense was now put to the test and he too rose to the occasion and found ways to protect his King. Isaac continued to mount the pressure on, but the game ended up in stalemate – Carter was not in check, but didn’t have any available moves to make that would not then place him in check.
The match then went to a tie-breaker, a times 15-minute each game. This game was certainly moving faster and had an electric feel to it. Both players played a strategic and courageous game, but it was Isaac who came out on top.
Meanwhile, a lot of excitement was building around the high school tournament. There were many chess club heavyweights like Daniel Rosenkranz, 11th grade; Kai Hong, 9th grade; Myles Acker, 9th grade; Kaan Akbalut, 9th grade; Eden McKinney, 9th grade; and Imani Chisolm, 9th grade, who had never faced off floating around in the early rounds of the bracket. Two middle school wild cards, Isaac Mah and Andrew Ryabkov were entered into the high school bracket on merit of their excellent play at club meetings. Some newcomers also made a name for themselves early on including Spencer Olshaker, 10th grade; Jack Strang, 10th grade; Tim Barker, 10th grade; and Gabriel Rigolosi, 10th grade.
After some intense competition and some major upsets, we ended up with our four semi-finalists: Andrew Ryabkov, Tim Barker, Kaan Akbulut, and Jack Strang. Andrew defeated Tim and Kaan defeated Jack to set up a final between Andrew and Kaan – a noteworthy achievement for Andrew who made the high school bracket in 6th Grade. This is also a nod to the standard of both competitions as Andrew made the high school final but was knocked out of the middle school bracket. Every game in the latter stages of the tournament was incredibly close and could have gone either way.
The stage was set for the final – both players would face off with no clock. The game had a slow start, both players carefully choosing their moves to make sure every pawn was protected. Some punches were pulled but both players showed that they had strong defensive moves in their arsenal. There was nothing between both players, however Kaan was beginning to press. Andrew played a spectacular move with his queen taking a pawn from Kaan and putting his king under some pressure. Kaan fought off the attack and the intense match continued. Moves were made and pieces were traded but it was Kaan who came out on top, claiming victory in the first ever High School Chess Tournament at York Prep.
Congratulations to Kaan Akbulut and Isaac Mah on winning their respective brackets and thank you to everyone who participated in the tournament. The Chess Club is always open to new members. We meet on Monday’s at lunch time and will be starting back up as soon as we get back from summer break.
